Secret Kiss

A Sharp Turn of Events

How long had it been since she sat down at the small round table and looked at the thick folder that rested in the center of it? How many seconds, minutes, hours had passed since her parents had told her that they needed to talk? How many times had the ticking of their kitchen clock rung out in the otherwise dead silence of the room? She couldn't tell how long it had been since her father uttered the earth shattering words that kept repeating over and over in her mind like a broken record or an old cd that continuously skipped. Just two words were all it took to shatter her world around her;

Bankruptcy

Foreclosure

Business had not been going well for her family and she had been too busy (fighting Akumas), or distracted (obsessing over a certain blonde boy) to notice this fact. Her father explained that a new bakery and café had opened less than a block away from them nearly three months before and they simply could not compete with the large verity and low prices of the new establishment. On top of this, as if to add insult to injury, the place was open 24/7. She knew but did not want to believe that they had lost their bakery, their HOME, due to this fact.

"Where," her voice cracked as she finally found the strength to speak, "w-where are we going to go?"

"For now we are going to stay here for the week, pack our things and move them to storage. After that your father and I have decided to stay in a hotel until we can find a new place. I have already put my application in a few places around the neighborhood." Her mother stated in a smooth comforting voice as she covered her hand with her own, "Mari we will be okay, everything will work out. We just need to tough it out through the hard times. Alright baby." She tried and failed to stop her bottom lip from quivering as she gave her mother a soft nod in response.

"I-I think I should go lay down." She stated softly as she stood and looked away from her parents sad faces.

"Of course dear, you should rest." Her father smiled sadly as he watched her shuffle slowly up the stairs and open the trapdoor that lead up into her room.

Once she was inside the sting of tears caused her to shut her eyes tightly she felt sick to her stomach as flashes of hot and cold rocked her body. The world was spinning around her as she stumbled forward to land face down on her small day bed and let out a small strangled cry. A small red and black blue flew out of her purse and rushed to her cheek when this happened, causing her to turn her face towards the tiny Kwami and pinch her eyebrows together as she attempted to hold back the tears that spilled from her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Tikis small voice was enough to release the torrents of emotions running through her. They had to leave their home, the place where she grew up and the place that she felt safest in the world. It was all her fault, if she had just paid a bit more attention to what was going on here rather than the rest of Paris she would have realized and she could have helped out in even a small way. Who knows maybe she could have helped her parents keep their small bakery up and running.

"You need to stop beating yourself up over this. It's not your fault okay?" The tiny voice of her small red and black dotted friend caused her to open her eyes and look down at the little god who was currently sitting on her crossed arms.

"I should have paid better attention. I should have helped out around here." She stated in a horse voice that cracked after every few words, clearly she was nowhere near done with her crying session.

Tiki didn't know how to respond to her clearly hurting charge. No scenario that popped into her mind seemed to end right for her. She could tell her it wasn't her fault but she knew the Blackett wouldn't listen to that. She could suggest helpful ways she could go about packing for her parents but that seemed too cold hearted and nothing like what the young girl needed in that moment.