Friendship And Family (Currently undergoing a rewrite. Do Not Read.)

CHAPTER 28. Love

Maria's POV

Riding home with Mathias and Francis in the school bus was more overwhelming than having Juliet in our house, which explained why I was joining my siblings in Juliet's car after school today. Those two were that annoying and wouldn't shut up for a second about my new adjustment and let me think. It seemed like a plan on their part to stress me out of the bus, and it worked. Plus, I owed Mrs Amanda my gratitude for being consistent with picking up her twins these past few days, else I wouldn't have made the second bus entry if Andrew had been with them.

I heard a snort from Mish after I settled in the passenger seat and rolled my eyes, blaming the ice-cream he and Mel were both having at the back seat that Juliet had further bought them off with.

"Maria!" Juliet exclaimed, but her excitement to see me in her car felt like mockery. "How was school?" she then asked. All my efforts to remove her mask didn't seem to be working. She was gradually dipping her claws inside our home. The fear of Dad falling for her grew bigger with each passing day because she had Mum's qualities. She was a good cook, friendly, kind, funny, and the worst of all, Mel liked her.

"Okay..." She slowly turned her head forward after getting no response from me, sounding more comical than hurt, as though she'd experienced enough of my predictable attitude to be bothered by it, especially when she had three of my family members on her side, making me the only fool. She took it further by engaging Mish and Mel about their day in school while she drove us home, and I was singled out of the group as they all began chattering with glee. Mish's overly cheerful demeanor seemed spiteful, as if getting back at me for leaving Mel in his hands the other morning. This alliance was far more worse than Mathias and Francis'.

There hadn't been any good news from the hospital, and it felt like I'd been living the same day of the incident, a day that stretches to no end. It scared me how familiar I was becoming with the situation; of Mum's absence, Juliet's presence and Dad's scarcity. My life had also taken up a different routine. I missed hanging out with my squad at the park, but doing so at this time felt insensitive, and so I made studying my new life, pouring all my energy, anger and frustration into it, with my grades ironically moon-walking down the stairs of excellence.

"Need any help?" I met Juliet in the kitchen after one of my academic session. She turned around, and Mum's apron was the first thing I noticed on her, taking me back to the day we were all baking in the kitchen for the fundraiser. Every item in the house held a memory of her. The kitchen utensils smelled like her, and the floors and furnitures bore marks of her nurturing hands.

"Don't worry, dear, I have everything under control," Juliet said cheerfully, but I couldn't just leave, because the goal was to make up for my harsh judgements.

"Well, I do need help," I managed to say, shocking her eyes out, and over-stretching her smile. "I..." I repeatedly tapped the island with my fingers. "I don't know how to cook," I said in a muffled and hurried voice.

She chuckled. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. I can teach you all there is to know." She went on to stir the sauce cooking in the pot, the aroma gracing into my nostrils and causing my stomach to grumble out in hunger. "It's really not difficult, and before you know it, you're making the best recipes," she spoke joyously, like one reuniting with an old friend. But rather than celebrate the success of my mission, I started to feel traitorous.

"What's the matter?" She paused on noticing the lack of enthusiasm in my request to learn.

"I've always wanted my mum to be the one to teach me," I said sadly.

She flashed me a sweet smile. "What if you made her a good meal when she recovers?"

I felt my cheeks warming up at her splendid idea. "Don't you have kids?" I then asked as she made to tend to her sauce, and she paused. I thought that her kind of job would take all the attention from her family, if she had any, and if not, she definitely would want one, seeing how much she enjoyed being around children, and I wondered how she managed both duties, or would in the future.