"Marina, are you okay?" Ely, my younger brother, asked. He was tapping something on his phone but when he heard me descending down the stairs, he decided to be meddlesome to me. "You look like you're going to faint any moment."
"Mind your own business." I rolled my eyes on him and head out to go to school.
"You're not going to eat?" Dalia, who was in her usual scrubs and pants (which is apparently our maid's uniform), asked. "Grab a bite before going to school." I just ignored her.
I saw my mom on front of the door, stepping out of her white shoes and checking the insides. She looked at me briefly but averted her gaze when our eyes met. I went past her and go to the garage.
"How long are you gonna keep this up?" She asked and I stopped on my track. Why is everyone so noisy all the damn time?!
"You always stay up all night and do whatever you want and you've been slacking off with your studies. You even screamed your lungs off last night for nothing. You've been causing troubles for everyone. Are you even thinking about college?"
Last night...
Great. She just reminded me of my nightmare last night.
"Do you think you nagging will make you a great mom?" I asked without looking at her.
"What?" she asked in disbelief.
"I am thinking about college. My grades are fine. Don't look down on me. Just because you went to a med school doesn't mean you have the right to. If you want straight A's like Ely you're free to disown me."
Before she could even utter another word, I walked away. She didn't yell my name or run after me. She's not that kind of mom. Sure, her pride must have taken a blow. But she never actually cared about me. Maybe she just wanted to belittle my existence just like how her parents belittled hers.
Some adults harbor hatred and grudge from their parents. And they fail to heal themselves that that hatred just grows and when it's time to raise a kid, they just take those toxicity out to their children. That's how some generational shit goes on.
Before I could even get to my scooter, I heard Dalia's voice behind me.
"You can't hate your Mom forever."
"Shut up."
She tries to hand me a brown paper bag but I just ignored it.
Instead of going to the school, I went straight Daniel's studio which was just behind the campus. Everyone would think it was just some abandoned haunted house. From time to time, stupid teenage boys would trespass in the middle of the night and would roam around.
Daniel loves to pull a prank and creep the hell out of them with his childish yet morbid ways.
How did I discovered someone was staying here? Well, I used to be one of those stupid teens. However, I'm not stupid enough to fall into Daniel's schemes. As a result, I came to know him and found out that at the basement of this house was his studio.
That place was the best. The temperature was perfect. The smell of paint was addicting. And the food. If there's gonna be zombie apocalypse, one can stay alive for years with those fridge and pantry. I fished out the key he gave me and went in the house, hearing that same old creaky sound of his door. I would never get use to it. Listening to it makes my teeth ache like they're gonna fall off from my gum.
I walked straight to the basement, where Daniel's studio is located.
"I'm so sorry, Marina." was the first thing he said to me as soon as I opened his door. Like he was patiently waiting for my arrival and apologize.
