Guessing Sparkles (WA 2013)

Be Careful What You Wish For

A/N: Hello, new novel here! This chapter is dedicated to my online bff, ForeverIceAngel. She's a fanfic writer and her books are awesome. Don't forget to comment and vote, lovelies! Thanks.

"Marry the girl who reads or better yet— marry the girl who writes." - Anonymous

 Chapter One: Be Careful What You Wish For

 It was raining that day, which was a bad news for me. The sett pavement was glowing like someone just scattered diamonds upon it; and the people were avoiding raindrops like it was a horrible virus or something. My original plan for today was supposedly to stay in my room and write my manuscript, but my aunt called and asked me to run an errand for her. So, being the obedient niece I had always been, here I was walking down my way toward the apartment building that housed my Aunt Josie, looking like a damped cat.

 A handsome man passed me without so much as a glance. Well, I wouldn't blame him. Compared to those  girls who looked like they were ramp models even though it was raining pretty hard; I looked like someone who just survived an awful drown that almost cost me my life. My wet hair was  anything but manageable, and I was aware that my coat was very soaked with water—which made me looked even more horrible. Thank you so much for that, Mr. Rain!

Okay, so maybe I was humiliating myself way too much.

 The umbrella that I borrowed from Miss Daisy, who lived next door, turned out to be a broken one. I guess, that was the reason why she gave me a weird smile while taking the umbrella from her. People nowadays could be so cruel. No wonder why those folks, who passed me, shot some weird glances in my direction. They were probably thinking of how dumb I was to carry a broken umbrella with me at times like this.

    I walked up the stone stairs and pressed the door bell that was used by my aunt. She asked me to make her favorite food which was cheesecake because according to her— it was the only thing she could eat during sick days that won't make her feel sick at all. And since she was the only person who cared about me, I couldn't say no to any of her requests. Not that I felt obliged, I just thought it was the least I could do to let my aunt know that her efforts never go unappreciated. My parents and other siblings were acting oblivious; and treated me as though I was a servant or something. Some people even dubbed me as "Cinderella", but it was utterly not cool. It finally dawned on me that Cinderella wasn't as fun as the other girls thought she was. And oh yes, just in case you people had forgotten about it— prince charming never existed in this world. Never was and probably never will. 

    A few more minutes passed when someone finally took the liberty to open the door. Yes, it took that long before someone realized that a guest was ringing the bell. The door opened, revealing Dorothy—my Aunt Josie's personal nurse. She flashed a smile in my direction; and motioned me to come inside. The building was small and the hallways were very narrow. Aunt Josie could afford to live in a bigger space, but she still chose to live in this old apartment building that looked way more awful than her previous nursing home— which was a big surprise for us. Her room was located on the second floor. Dorothy didn't talk much as we walked up the stairs. She was actually not very friendly too— or maybe because she just didn't know how to socialize. Her hand grabbed the golden door knob and opened the door for me. I walked in and inhaled a beautiful fragrance coming from the fresh flowers inside. There were so many of them that I thought Aunt Josie started running a flower shop or something. I looked at Dorothy with furrowed brows, mentally asking her what was going on at my aunt's apartment.

"Her friends sent her those beautiful flowers," Dorothy said sweetly, answering my thoughts. "Isn't that a sweet thing?"

To be honest, I don't think so. Now, don't get me wrong, it was sweet at one point— but twenty or more dozens of them would be quite over for me. And it kind of implied that something bad just happened. But then again, I couldn't tell my thoughts out loud to her. She was too sweet to hear my lame opinion. So, I just smiled and nodded. According to Dorothy, Aunt Josie had been suffering serious heart problems for the past few weeks, but the doctor said she was getting way better now. It was a big relief for me. I couldn't afford losing her, most especially because she was the only human being who made me feel like I wasn't worthless at all. She made me believe that my mom was wrong  to think that I was a piece of garbage in this world. That my birth was just a mistake. I had always wanted Aunt Josie to be my mother, and not the one written on my birth certificate.