Under the Umbrella ✓

-04-

Coffee Break didn't have much people inside when Aria set her foot inside, and an hour later, it was just the same. Not many people came in and from the few that did, most of them didn't stay back like Aria did. Sandra had yet to respond to Aria's missed calls but she didn't want to lose hope. She simply didn't want to go back home without seeing her.

Or maybe she just didn't want to go home for as long as she could and she just wanted a reason, that reason being Sandra. It was cruel of her to stay away from home when her eighteen-year-old sister, Kierra could be out doing what an eighteen-year-old would be doing while Aria kept a watch on their mother. She knew she was being downright selfish but she couldn't help it.

She told – and did not promise – herself that the next time she got a hold of those rare free days, she would stay back at home and let her sister have a day off from the ugly four walls of their depressing house. Regardless, the rest of her sisters would be returning from school by now so it wasn't all that limiting for Kierra.

She didn't order anything yet, anticipating Sandra to return her calls as she gazed through the window on to her right. She was fortunate to have finally been able to catch this seat since it had a great view of the street outside. Whenever she used to drop by, the seat was always occupied by a regular.

It was only a few hours ago when her clothes were drenched in sweat from how hot it had been and now, all of a sudden, dark clouds were emerging from the sky, tainting the whole place from a bright yellow to a dreary gray.

Aria absentmindedly sighed as she hoisted her elbow over the table and leaned her cheek against her hand. She flinched as soon as she did, her cheek stinging from the slap she received earlier in the day. The miserable feeling she suppressed all day returned with a grander and fiercer force as if it had only been brewing itself under the lid. Almost instinctively, she ran a hand through her hair as if to make sure her mother hadn't pulled off a chunk of it amid the chaos. It feels fine, she thought sulkily.

Another sigh escaped her lips. It was ridiculous the things she had to worry about now. For someone whose goal in life six years ago was to travel the world, write about it and find a Disney-love, it was hilarious how her life twisted out. She climbed the ladder of dreams for far too long that when she had woken up, she fell hard and fast. How could one escape a lethal shatter from a height that mystically high?