Rewind

Chapter Eight: Risking It

Dedicated to: @GirLOnCloud9

"Brie, are you having trouble finding the box?" Mommy cried out from downstairs. "I'll go up there if you need any help."

I snapped out of my reverie and my eyes widened. I must've been scouring through the B-Box for quite a long time already!

"Oh, no, I'm alright here, Mommy!" I shouted. "I can manage."

"Fine, whatever you say, love."

Phew, that was a close one, I thought, breathing a sigh of relief. The last thing I would've wanted to happen was for any of my parents to find out that I had discovered their box, whatever name they call it. That would ruin everything. I had to be careful with what I was doing.

I stood up and fixed my gaze at the farthest corner of the attic. A medium-sized brown box labeled "Lea's Things" was sitting on top of a bunch of other boxes.

I made a makeshift staircase using whatever large enough boxes I could find since I couldn't reach Mommy's box by standing on my tiptoes alone. Slowly, I climbed up, then retrieved the box.

As I made my way down, I heard something crumble beneath my feet. One of the boxes fell out of place.

Oh, no.

I shrieked horrendously as the pile of boxes collapsed over me. In a matter of seconds, I was flattened to the ground.

Very nice, indeed.

--

Mommy ran towards my direction with a look of shock and worry on her face.

"Brie! Are you alright?" she asked, cupping my face with her hands.

"I'm absolutely fine, don't worry about me!" I replied. "But please get me out of here."

One by one, Mommy removed all the boxes which were all over me. "Next time, do be more careful, will you?" she said.

I was freed in no time thanks to Mommy. She helped me get up and in return, I gave her the box.

"Oh, you found it! Thank you, Brie!" she smiled.

"You'll never know how much trouble I had with getting that thing. It was risky, but I survived," I joked.

"Risky?" she laughed. "Aren't you overreacting or something? Those are just boxes, not big chunks of stones."

"I know, I was just pulling your leg, Mommy."

"Aren't you going to come down with me yet?" Mommy asked as she lifted the box.

"I'm looking for some of my old stuff here, too. You can go ahead without me."

She nodded and went down the staircase, carrying the box.

--

With Mommy out of sight, I found myself facing a new problem.

How on earth would I be able to bring down the B-Box without anyone seeing it? I don't want to be reprimanded for snooping around Mommy and Daddy's stuff. And what's worse, what if they take it away from me?

I have to protect it at all costs, I thought.

Of course, it would be impossible to insert the box under my shirt and walk towards Mommy's car looking like a pregnant woman. That would have been too obvious, so I trashed the idea.

I didn't want Aling Berna or Kuya Dennis to find out about the box, too. Not that I didn't trust them, but they might accidentally give out hints about it to my parents and then eventually discover about my plan. Trashed that one, too.

The rest of my ideas seemed useless or too obvious. I internally panicked, because any minute Mommy might get suspicious as to why I spent a great deal of time in the attic. I had to get the box down as soon as possible.

Just then, I spotted a box filled with gift wrappers in different colors. Most of them look like they were used before.

All of a sudden, I had one of those "lightbulb moments" characters in TV series usually experience. With some scotch tape and a pair of scissors, I could wrap the box, put it inside the car, and think of a reasonable excuse as to why I'm bringing it along with me.

I ran downstairs, went to my room, grabbed the scotch tape and scissors, ran back upstairs, and immediately got to work. I selected a pink, polka-dotted wrapper and even got a white ribbon to go along with it.

Honestly, it wasn't easy doing it, especially having to make all those folds and creases without messing up the wrapping paper. I'm not the person you should trust when it comes to wrapping gifts; I'm actually terrible at it! That's the reason why I always head to the department store and get my presents wrapped there.

After all the folding and cutting, I finally finished the job after nearly twenty minutes (it would normally take a skilled person five). Looking at it, I think I did just fine. Except for the crumpled edges and some gaps giving away the box's black color.

--

Mommy was about to close the door of her car's back compartment when I arrived with the box, my legs nearly succumbing to its weight.

"Wait, don't close the door yet!" I screamed as I waddled towards her.

She glanced at me and said, "Alright, but please do tell me what on actual earth do you have with you."

I took a deep breath. "Er... it's a gift for my best friend, Allie. I saved up enough money to buy her her favorite books that were burned to ashes when their house caught fire last year. I put them inside this box and wrapped it myself. What do you think?"

"Honestly, Brie... your gift-wrapping skills are terrible. Very," she replied, unimpressed. "I am more than willing to wrap it up again for you just for the sake of you not being humiliated in front of your best friend."

"No, no, you don't need to do that, Mommy. Allie's used to receiving presents from me which are in a similar state as this box. She appreciates my efforts, I tell you!"

She stood silent for a while, her hand placed on the car door. "Well, if that's the case... fine, then. You're very lucky to have an understanding best friend like her."

"I know," I smiled. "But let's say you were in Allie's place. Would you accept my gift even if I wrapped it terribly?"

Mommy replied with a straight face, "No."

I frowned. "So, all of my efforts are going to be put to waste?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed. "I was only pulling your leg, come on! Kahit na may makita pa akong tumutulong glue sa regalong binalot mo, I'll accept it. I know you, Brie. You're that type of girl who does everything and gives everything wholeheartedly. But always remember to make room for improvement."

I grinned and nodded my head in agreement and was relieved that my plan worked out just fine.

Mommy helped me load the box into the compartment. It was nearly dusk when we finished, so we began to walk towards the door leading to our house to help Aling Berna prepare our dinner.

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A/N: Consider this as a celebratory chapter since I promised everyone that I'll update this story if #LeaWorldClassFilipina trended, and it did! Congratulations to all of us! Sorry if it isn't as good as the previous chapters because my mind's pretty rusty right now, haha, but I'll make up for the next chapters, I promise. Thanks for supporting my stories! Votes and comments are appreciated! =)