Shadow And Smile

chapter 2

When I woke up, I realized I had been sleeping on Shane's lap. Embarrassed, I quickly got up. Shane's friends teased me, saying, "You sure had a good sleep on Shane's lap," and laughed. I stayed silent, but deep inside, I felt a bit happy. They said we needed to go home before it got too late.

While we were walking, Shane's friends told us that before entering our houses, we needed to rub our feet with ashes so ghosts wouldn't follow us inside. I got scared. Slowly, Shane's friends reached their homes, and Shane also left on his motorcycle, leaving me behind. It was around 6 PM, and I had to walk alone down a dark road lined with large trees.

As I walked, I suddenly felt a chill and kept looking back. I saw a human figure that looked like a girl in a long white dress standing there. Terrified, I ran as fast as I could, but the figure seemed to follow me until I reached an area with lots of houses and lights. I stopped to catch my breath and continued walking home.

When I arrived, I heard my stepdad and my mother fighting. My feet felt heavy, and I got nervous. My heart was beating fast as I slowly walked up and knocked on the door. When it opened, my stepdad grabbed me, slapped me across the face, and punched me hard in the stomach. I fell to the ground, clutching my belly in pain.

"Because of you, Jeon, our family is always fighting," he shouted. "You're stupid and useless. I wish you would die so this family could be happy again. You won't eat tonight, and you won't go to school tomorrow because you can't even do simple things right." He kicked me in the stomach and went outside.

I lay on my bed, crying in pain. Slowly, I stood up and went to my room. Later, I felt hungry. It was already 11 PM, and I thought they were asleep. I sneaked into the kitchen to find some food and found a cup of noodles. I boiled water, poured it into the noodles, and made some milk.

While eating, I struggled because my lips were bleeding from the slap. Suddenly, the room door opened, and my stepdad walked in. He saw me eating and got angry, demanding to know why I was eating the noodles. I didn't respond, which made him angrier. He grabbed my hot milk and splashed it on me. I screamed in pain as my skin burned. He slapped me again, making the pain worse, and then locked me in my room.