Looking For A Companion

Chapter five

At 12:00 PM,

I entered the hall, clutching my carefully chosen gift for Amelia. My steps faltered as I took in the scene before me, realizing I didn’t belong here. The atmosphere was suffocating, a garish mix of flashing lights, pounding music, and the clinking of glasses. The hall resembled a nightclub, not a place to celebrate family.

Boys and girls dressed in clothes I considered indecent swayed to the beat of the music, drinks sloshing in their hands. Laughter and whispers filled the air, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was the punchline of someone’s joke.

Clutching my gift tighter, I resolved to simply drop it off and leave before anyone noticed me. But, of course, fate had other plans.

“Excuse me, who do you think you are?” came Amelia’s sharp voice, cutting through the noise like a blade.

I turned to find her glaring at me, her perfectly styled hair and flawless makeup only highlighting the sneer on her lips.

“I don’t believe you’re invited,” she added, crossing her arms in mock indignation.

“Sister, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and give you this,” I replied softly, holding out the beautifully wrapped gift. My voice carried a tone of genuine kindness, hoping it would melt her icy demeanor, if only for a moment.

To my surprise, her expression shifted to something resembling curiosity. “Oh, really? A gift? Let me see.” She stepped closer, her voice dripping with feigned sweetness, and for a fleeting second, I believed she might actually appreciate my gesture.

But then, in a move so swift and cruel, she grabbed the cake box out of my hands, opened it, and smashed the entire thing into my face and dress.

The hall erupted into laughter.

I froze, the sticky frosting dripping from my hair and onto my clothes. My heart sank as I saw phones flashing—people were recording the scene, immortalizing my humiliation.

Amelia smirked. “That’s where you belong,” she said, her words stabbing deeper than any physical wound ever could.

I couldn’t take it anymore. My vision blurred with tears as I turned and bolted for my room, the laughter still ringing in my ears.

“Why?” I whispered as I slammed the door behind me, collapsing onto the floor. The tears flowed freely now, soaking my cheeks as my mind echoed every cruel word Amelia had ever said to me.

“You don’t belong here.”
“No one loves you.”
“You’re a burden.”

The pain was unbearable. My chest felt like it was caving in as I hugged myself tightly, desperate for comfort that wouldn’t come.

Daisy padded over to me, her gentle presence the only solace I could find in the moment. “It’s okay, girl,” I whispered to her, stroking her soft fur. “I’ll figure this out. I’ll miss you, though.”

I wasn’t even sure what I meant by that, but deep down, I knew something had to change.

To distract myself, I grabbed my phone and started scrolling aimlessly, trying to bury the pain under meaningless notifications. But what I found only made things worse.

Instagram was flooded with posts about the party—more specifically, about me. My humiliation was now trending, with over 99+ tags and comments filled with cruel words:

["You're such a loser."]
["No one even wants you around."]
["Why don’t you just disappear already?"]

I kept scrolling, each comment slicing through me like a blade. My heart felt heavy, the weight of their words crushing me. And then, one particular comment caught my eye.

["You’ll never be enough."]

For some reason, that one stung the most.

Without thinking, I clicked on the user’s profile and followed them. Then, as if in a trance, I began liking all their posts, one after the other, as though trying to prove something to myself—or to them.

What I didn’t realize was that this single, thoughtless act would set off a chain of events that would change my life forever.