The Perfect Riley

CHAPTER 2

Ms. Jacob became my pillar of support next to Mark who did everything for me. They knew exactly what I wanted without me having to tell them. Ms. Jacob especially knew some days more than others.

Most people in the town who entered the bakery would complement Ms. Jacob on her cooking

She is a beautifully aged with a beauty mark near the creases of her vibrant light blue eyes.

Her voice was always relaxed, as if she knew exactly what to say and when to say it; she did not pry about my insecurities, and she would say. 

"Everyone has them dear. You have to learn to make them disappear on your own." She would say this when she knew exactly how I would be feeling that day.

It was uncanny that Ms. Jacob knows exactly how I would feel and have the right words to sooth me. I am unconditionally fond of her, she is sometimes really strange, she would talk to herself and look at me strangely but that didn't change the fact that I am happy to have her in my life. A life worth living now that I know that there are people that are willing to love me. 

Whether or not other people would come to love the way I am didn't matter to me ever since Ms. Jacob and Mark started to take care of me. For the longest time I thought  that is what I needed to do but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

They were about to finish singing the song while I blew out the candles. Everything died down after a while and we started cleaning up the clusters of napkins, spoons, and forks. It was getting late and the sky was the witness to that, the sun disappearing into the horizon.

I bounced up and down with the need to go outside again not caring how dark it was.

"You don't feel tired do you." Ms Jacob remarked, I shrugged it was a normal reaction I never felt tired .

Mark who sat beside me watched me intently, this was a weird habit of Marks, since the very beginning he would constantly stare. He would have the look of concentration eyes flashing in confusion and worry. He would become strangely needy holding me close to him, kissing my nose or my lips, saying how cute and beautiful I looked in what i was wearing even though I would be wearing the something plain. Unlike Ms. Jacob it took me a while to warm up to Mark.

I was not used to people touching me very of. Ms. Jacob always told me that this is the way that Mark showed that he liked me, and that was a good thing since Mark did not get along with many people especially people who he would meet for the first time. Mark was a confrontational and protective person. He was well-known for his brawls and built.

The fact that he made cupcakes and cakes for a living did not change his reputation.

His actions were aligned with how people treated me. There was always scrutiny and judgement visible people stared at me, and for that very reason I never wanted to look at myself. I would not let a mirror into my line of sight for the fear of seeing something that I did not want to see. Perhaps I am a monster, or a thing with an extra fingers and toes. All I really needed was validation from Mark and Ms. Jacob.

"Riley. It is getting late, I know you don't ever feel tired you still need to get some sleep." Ms. Jacob cut in through my thoughts.

Mark nodded "I'm heading out too." His eyes lingered on me a little bit longer as he walked over to me and kissed my cheeks.

"You better sleep well. Little Angel." My irises enlarged by his statement. I quickly replied positively. Mark had many sugary sorts of nicknames for me, and they would ahock me every single time. Enough to silence and embarrass me at the same time.

Ms. Jacob rolled her eyes "Just go home Mark, stop being creepy. You have an early shift tomorrow." Mark nodded and gave me one last look and walked out the door to his car.

Ms. Jacob patted my head " Lets get to bed now." she said as we both walked up the stairs.

She had an upper floor in her bakery and that had three rooms. One was an office, another her bedroom, and the last one was a bedroom that was designated for me.

She occupied the bakery during the day cooking and tending to her costumers. At night when I slept in my room I would see her walk into her office, and sometimes never come out until morning, It was a daily occurrence since I started to live there.

I would become increasingly worried for her health, as it seemed that she would not go back to her room. On those days i would ponder on what to do i order to get her to sleep properly. I had tried approaching her about her strange sleeping habits but she would successfully avoid the subject entirely.

That night was no exception, I heard the click of the door knob as footsreps faded into the walls. I sighed rubbing my eyes thinking i should just retire for the night and attempt to confront her again in the morning.

I walked into the bathroom being careful to not look at myself. I washed my face, and brushed my teeth trying to avoid this nagging feeling in my stomach. I always got this feeling when i would stand in front of my

I started to dream.

I was floating off my bed, going higher and higher into the air until the only thing I saw around me was the color of the ocean. I just laid on my back suspended in air not being able to move. Suddenly my lungs felt like It was constricted, and I started gasping for air.

My hands connected with my throat and I pushed trying to even out my breathing. The more I tried the harder It became to continue letting out air through my lungs. I am wheezing, gasping, and weeping; I was being tortured by my own subconscious.

It was fighting a battle within me trying surface into my physical being. A series of voices started to echo through the mess. Voices that were warning me of something.

Rapid blurs of images started to swirl around me. Some were clear enough but some were not. Most of them were my attempts to avoid funding out my identity

Who I was? Where I came from?

Thats right. I never tried to look for answers. I wanted to remain in the dark about myself, because it was much easier.

My whole being kept pulling at me, manipilating my senses into believing that everything was a lie.

My name is not Riley, Mark and Ms Jacob are lying to me. I need to look at myself, I need to finally confront my reflection, and I had to do that before It was too late.

The paranoia persisted until everything started to get physical.