Mistakes Made ✅

Chapter 20: Jordie's Sister

A/N
Chapter title sounds 'promising' huh? 💀

"First place; Jackson Kim!"

The auditorium burst into a lively applause as the audience gave Jackie a standing ovation. The plump Asian girl, looking all notable in her graduation robes, made her way upstage, beaming from ear to ear. The cheers and whistles proceeded and grew more vehement as she received her certificate. Flashes of lights burst everywhere, each and every one of the people in the audience keen on taking her pictures, press photographers forcing their way towards the stage to get a better view.

Amidst the energy in the room, the solid darkness just had to descend upon Errol. He couldn't stand this. So he got up from his seat and waited at the aisle where Jackie would walk past.

"You know what I think?" he spoke when Jackie was within earshot. She paused in front of him, a befuddled look plastered across her face and rosy cheeks. "That the only reason you get all these attentions and those high marks is 'cause they pity you."

Her mouth opened and her lips were moving, but no words came out.

"People can't stand you, that's the truth. Your face, your weight – you. But instead of letting you down, they treat you like this so you don't get to be all miserable. People are too kind," Errol proceeded, the words tumbling out of his mouth as if they had been recorded before. His tongue was dominating his mind and heart, and he had no control over his sentences. He felt a few years younger – reckless and angry. "But me? I'm showing you the truth. You're smart, top-class, whatever. But you're also hideous and ... bloody hell, what do you eat? Didn't know a person could fit food into their stomach like that."

"Leave me alone," her words came out hoarse and cracked, different from her exuberant mien.

"People hang out with you only 'cause they're too nice,"

"That's not true,"

"You think? You and your brain make all of us look like complete idiots," he pointed a finger at her face. "I bet your mummy paid the ministry to give you those straight A's."

"I studied hard," she mumbled. Tears gleamed in her eyes, but she kept her chin up. Errol remained undeterred by this. He wasn't himself.

"Hey, Jackie!"

Jordie appeared out of nowhere beside her, a wide grin stretched across his face and a camera in his hands. As though Jackie hadn't exchanged a word with Errol, she turned to her brother and hugged him. Jordie's eyes landed on Errol, and a frown decorated his forehead.

"The bloody hell is this berk doing here?" he asked.

The auditorium was suddenly quiet and deserted. Errol was now standing in a familiar environment; he recognised the fireplace first before his eyes swept over the antique armchair and threadbare carpet. A pendulum clock stood near the door, missing the short needle, though Errol could deduce that it was three in the evening. Dull sunlight that spilled through the windows cast the living room into a golden hue, and shafts of light were stretched across the wooden floor.

Jordie and Jackie were still standing before him, wearing the same clothes. They didn't appear fazed by their surroundings, and Jordie was still looking daggers at Errol. Behind them, children stained with earth and supporting small cuts across their legs and arms started spilling in, screaming and laughing and just flat out chattering. Errol recognised all of their faces; the faces that he'd grown up with, played with, and eventually hurt. One of them, a girl in a ponytail, gazed up at Errol.