Recovering

Faithful servent

Swallowing dryly, the bible she held in her hands started to slip slightly from her palms as her gaze lowered each time she stared at them.

Her mother, who noticed her gaze, had crossed her arms with a disapproving look. Her actions caused the younger women to stand straighter while nevervously looking away. She already planned that both her parents wouldn't have bothered coming, but there they were; sandwiched between unknown people with irked faces.

People who had noticed the poor girl thought she was just nervous from the large audience. More people had showed up than anticipated, which left people to squish each other in discomfort. And since there was no more room left inside the church, people had to stand outside looking through the windows.

Although most would have been uneasy from the number of people, [Y/N] felt more uncomfortable that her own parents showed up. She had hoped she had the strength to ignore them, but of course, you wouldn't expect that from her.

The young maiden couldn't help but steal one last glance before grimacing in discomfort. The pastor who had been speaking suddenly turned his attention to her, praising her for the successes she did in the school. She itched to rub her fingers as suddenly everyone looked at her. Smiling wearily, she gripped the Bible harder and pressed it to her chest.

"[Y/N] has been on top of every class she took, but most importantly- she had done so much for the community! So let's pray that she continues to work hard to help people in need, in the name of Jesus."

Amens and claps were let out from everywhere as they chanted her name.
Her eyes watered slightly as soon as those words hit her. This was a day she longed for. But now- all she felt was dread. All because of her own parents.

From a young age, both parent's agreed to drop their child in front of the church steps. Which confused the poor child as to why they did, considering that they weren't Christians. From then on, they never reached out to her or replied to her letters.

As years went on, she confirmed that if she saw them, she wouldn't want to do anything with them. But at the moment, her heart felt nothing but despair at each glance she gave them. The knot in her throat became worse as the pastor mentioned her parents, too. "Let's also welcome her parents who came from afar to see their daughter becoming a lead role in society."

People turned their heads towards them and started to praise them for how wonderful their daughter was.

Suddenly, they became prideful. Their smug faces made the young women's guts twist. Not only are they gaining praise for being "good parents" but also being full of themselves. Sighing tierdly, she started to find comfort in fiddling with the Rosary beads that laid on her wrist.

The person next to her noticed her distress form and slightly reached over to tug her dress. "You okay? You look upset. " Her fingers stopped fiddling around the beads before lying,"I'm a little nervous from the huge crowd today." The other girl rolled her eyes at the obvious lie but nodded nonetheless. "Let me know if you need something." She smiled softly as she wiped her hands on the dress and soon took firm of the Rosary, placing the cross on top of her knuckles.

After the interaction, she peeked at her parnetal figures, who, of course, stared at their daughter with a look that made the short female shuffle uncomfortably.

"I can't handle their stares anymore. My chest feels heavy. Each time I-"

In the midst of her thoughts, she became startled as the pastor put his hand on her shoulder and told the audience that she'll be ending the ceremony with a prayer.