The Mystery Continues...(VW2)

Chapter 17: Let them be

Returning back home, I told my parents and grandparents all about the day and showed them the gift packet which included a big part of the chocolate cake and a dairy milk bar. Mom stole a big piece of the cake from me and gave a part of it to Toffy, and the others took a fair share of it. Riley kept messaging about how my individual photo with Robby was really cute, how we looked like a couple and how she felt so single. Then she asked me if there was some ring or rose inside the gift packet since he'd purposefully given it to me first. Feeling slightly dubious when she said that, I checked - but of course, I knew he wouldn't do such a thing, and that was obviously proved when I checked too.

'Robby hides a rose for Rose inside a gift packet, haha, ironic! See how genius I am??' Riley texted me. I rolled my eyes and texted back a blank 'haha' to signify my annoyance at her and how I was planning to get her back for it later using her and Antony's name for a great comeback. I heard someone clear their throat.

"So," Mom said, "You'd probably have to call these people for your birthday too, right?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I mean they're obviously my friends, and Robby invited me, so isn't it fair for me to invite him back?"

Mom nodded hesitantly, "I guess. But be sure to call only a few people, we really don't want to spend too much. We got a lot of errands coming up."

Sure. Mom said this last time too and bought a whole lot of stuff for me for my birthday. She's just a little egoistic to accept something right at the second I tell her that, that's not my fault. Dad too is kind of like that, but he relaxes when he's in a better mood unlike mom. Mom's a real tough one. But either way, I knew she'd permit soon afterwards and that she loves me a lot. 

"Okay," I said, then sat down on the floor besides Toby and fluffed his fur. Grandmother shook her head, "Rosie, you just had a bath..."

"So what, grandma?" I groaned, "Toffy's a family member too, right? Why can't I touch a family member after bathing?"

Grandma couldn't fight against that. So she shrugged, making it seem like she was disappointed in me, but it was just that she ran out of words when I mentioned Toffy being a family member. She can't possibly deny that, right? She couldn't deny that Choco is - was - a family member even after he went, so how can she do that for Toffy?

My eyes slowly drifted over to a little lavender cushion that Toffy loves to sleep on and remembered the things that happened a few years ago, the time when I nearly lost my conscience, when I was at the edge of...suicide.

I looked at the lavender cushion that Choco used to sleep on everyday. It was a little dulled out, gloomy and sad, just like I was right now, and it's gentle lavender colour now looked unhappy. But I didn't bother about all that as I began hugging it to my chest, letting the teardrops fall over it rapidly and crying, crying, trying to get over it all with some few drops of tears. A few days ago he was here, happily sleeping over it with his little paws and wagging tail, but now he's gone from there...forever. It laid empty, and it broke me. Broke me a lot, that it's unspeakable through simple words. 

And to think I'll be able to live peacefully without him, without his cute little tail wagging when I got home, without his puppy-eyes bothering me everytime I ate food, without his soft fur being my only companion when my parents made me sad? Choco never understood my feelings; he won't, of course, because he's an animal, not a human. But he understood them better than my parents did sometimes. He was the only one not scolding and blaming me when something happened mistakenly, and I loved him for that. I just wanted someone with me who wouldn't judge me and call me an irresponsible, useless person. Choco, though just a dog, was like a brother to me, a person my age who understood me better than anyone else in this house. To think that I just lost him was like a part of my heart being taken away...