WISHING

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER 1

"Elise Marissa Jaunt, I promise you that I'll never leave you. And protect you from the bullies. You'll be my best friend forever!!" Those were the words coming out from Daria when we were 12. She's my favorite person in my whole wide world! She's also my one and only cousin whom her family and my family lived together as her mum was my dad's twin sister.

Unfortunately, she didn't keep her promise like she said she would. Her family moved far away as her parents felt like it's awkward to stay with us when Dad left mum and me for some girl younger than him by many, many years.

But before they moved away, Daria tormented me. She would say mean things to me if I didn't do anything like she asked me to. She doesn't bother me that much if mum was around. She would treat me like I'm her personal slave. Aunt Caroline was aware of this situation, but she didn't do anything. Sometimes, I could see a smirk on her face when Daria ripped my clothes off. Aunt Caroline and Uncle Sam would ignore us completely. Daria's bullying was the worse.

No, she didn't hit me or anything. It hurts the most because she was the one who said that she'll protect me from the bullies. But now, she's the one who's bullying me. She would say hurtful things to me and maybe destroy a few things of mine.

She would say stuff like "Your dad left you because you're so stupid! I'm so glad we're moving away from you! i can't wait to leave and never see your ugly face again! You're just so pathetic! I can't believe I had the urge to become friends with you! Oh wait! BEST friend! Screw you Elise! By the way, I told everyone about your crush!"

Her family left quietly one night and I didn't see them after that. Dad was gone long before. He left quietly too. It was just mum and I after that fateful night.

But those hurtful words haunt me every night till these days. I get nightmares a lot. Usually, when I get nightmares, I would be comforted by Dad. He would sing to me soft lullaby and we would fell asleep together. No matter how much I resented my dad for not saying at least goodbye, I couldn't hate him, though he didn't even try to contact me after he left. Oddly, after they left it was as if they've never existed in my entire life. It was like an imagination of mine because there was not a single trace of them in the house.

Mum was strong for the first few years. Although I could see she was heartbroken. She didn't even go on a date. I could still see that she's still in love with dad. I bet that if dad came back one night, she'll take him back right away. But she didn't neglect me. She helped me go through my life every day. She became my support system for a while. And I became hers.

Mum had to work around the clock. We had to move a lot because we couldn't afford to live lavishly like we used to. But when I was 16, mum was diagnosed with some weird cancer. She had to stop working. I took over the household duty after that. Although we have always been chased out because we couldn't pay the rent on time, we vowed to be strong as long as we had each other to rely on.

After a few years and few thousand miles around the states, here I am wishing that this is the last place we'd ever move to. I managed to buy an old car for us to travel around with the spare money from the jobs I took. I had no friends in any school I went to because I couldn't bring myself to go through the pain that Daria put me through. She was my family and yet, she did that to me. I couldn't imagine what other people would do. So I decided then that mom is my only best friend.

"Honey" Mum called me.

"Yes mommy?"

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"I think so. This is the address stated."

This place looks okay. We had worse. This house is in a very good condition. I helped mum out from the car and let her rest at the first couch I found in the apartment as she gets tired really easily. After that, I went out to collect all the stuff we brought around. We had no help at all, so I carried them all by myself. Fortunately, we had no furniture at all. The only thing we had other than clothes is an air mattress I purchased during a sale at this cool local market for mom as I want her to sleep comfortably.