BAM!
Ahara kicked open Damien's bedroom door before walking in.
"Wake up! You're going to be late for school."
Groaning, Damien slowly opened his eyes. "What time is it?" He mumbled.
"Seven thirty."
"But my alarm hasn't gone off yet!"
"That's because your phone..." a defeated sigh echoed in the room paired with a low whacking sound as Ahara slapped her forehead. "You have thirty minutes to prepare before your school bus arrives."
It was a rather posh service Damien got to experience for someone who lived five blocks away from the institution, but what could he do when Ahara wouldn't listen to his saving money late-night talks?
Flipping himself out of bed, he passed by his giggling sister, rubbing his eyes as he made for the door. Then he paused.
'Ahara is back!'
"You're back!" Damien yelled mid-turning to face Ahara.
"What do you mean I'm back? I was here the entire time."
Damien froze. Of course, she'd ask such a question. She hadn't seen him notice her leaving last night.
Sighing, he took one lengthy stride in her direction by the bedside stand and was all over her face the next moment—only to forget the question he wanted to ask when he noticed the thin long scratch by Ahara's hairline. It was so small only a needle could've done it—but Damien still wasn't taking any chances.
"Where did you get this?" He asked, pointing at it.
Ahara squinted her eyes at him. "If you're looking for an excuse to not attend the parent-teacher conference then I'm sorry buddy, but it's not working. Now go take a bath."
"You've got another wound on your forehead," Damien interjected, taking her hand and guiding her finger to the scratch.
Finally getting what her brother was saying, Ahara let out a low hiss, mumbling some inaudible gibberish as she covered her forehead with her palm.
"What?" Damien asked.
"Nothing, I got it whilst applying hair gel earlier. Thought it was just an itch…Never mind this, go and get ready for school. I've already prepared breakfast so make it quick or you'll eat cold food."
Without waiting for Damien's reply, Ahara hurriedly dashed out of the room, leaving the boy to wonder why she was being so secretive over something so simple. Then again, her behavior last night left him both confused and curious, and the feeling was still ongoing.
In her defense though, she was the adult here and could do whatever she wanted. But still…
"I'll be done in ten minutes!" Damien yelled after his sister and headed straight for the bathroom, deciding to ask his questions later.
*****
True to his word, the boy was done in ten minutes. The only thing left to do was eat and that's why he was heading for the kitchen now. He had at best twenty minutes to spare—more than enough time to eat breakfast if you asked him.
The clanging sound of chains on a cage drew his attention to the secluded kitchen corner where Ahara was cleaning Silky's home, a little too concentrated on her task to even notice Damien approaching from behind. That was until he lightly tapped on her shoulder.
"What the!"
Damien had no time to react. Ahara immediately pirouetted and grabbed his hand, violently twisting it before forcefully placing it behind his neck after the boy bent himself in her attack's direction.
"Argh. It's me Ahara," he groaned, tapping nonstop on her hand.
"The hell?! I thought I was being attacked," Ahara let him go in an instant, laughing dismissively and returning to her cleaning. "Your food's in the microwave."
Damien flexed his hand and adjusted his blazer, his eyes set on his sister. He was sure of it now. There was something big going on with Ahara that she wasn't telling him. She looked stressed. From the puffy red eyes, her disheveled morning hair, and the untouched steaming black coffee on the kitchen counter she hated so much, Damien could have sworn she'd just arrived from a night shift.
Then again, she did leave the house late last night.
'Don't tell me…is she doing that kind of work?'
Clearing his throat more to get his thoughts in check, Damien set the microwave for two minutes and placed his hands on the kitchen counter, leaning forward until he could see all of his sister from head to heel. There was only one way to get Ahara to talk—asking tons of questions until she gave in.
It always worked like magic.
"Ahem!"
For a split second, he noticed Ahara freeze. But then she returned to cleaning the cage again. Although, Damien had already gotten what he wanted.
"Are you sure you're okay Ahara?" He began, his eyes set on her body and waiting to see how she'd react.
Unfortunately, Ahara didn't fall for his trap. Not with her bodily gestures at least. She snapped her head in his direction, brows furrowed and mouth set into a thin line—the very reaction Damien was waiting for. He fought hard not to smile at his momentary victory.
"What do you mean exactly?" Ahara asked, brushing away loose hair strands from her face.
It was then that Damien noticed something shocking. Her scar was gone! It had completely vanished, leaving no trace of it being there in the first place.
'Are my eyes playing games on me?' Damien asked himself, leaving the counter and slowly making his way towards her, eyes wide from shock. With each distance he covered between them, his eyes continued to widen that by the time he had a clear view of Ahara's hairline, they'd reached their maximum circumference radius.
"Your scar…" Damien trailed off, squinting his eyes at his sister's forehead.
Ahara blinked at him. Then as if she'd finally realized what he was talking about, her eyes widened too.
"I-it's makeup," she stuttered.
"Makeup? But I can't even see any dent on—"
BEEP! BEEP!
The microwave set off before Damien could finish analyzing his sister's scar. Ahara immediately returned to cleaning Silky's empty cage. She'd let him loose as per her routine now and then, after all, the bird always found his way home.
"Eat. Your bus will arrive soon," Ahara announced, her tone set with a hint of warning in it.
Damien clicked his tongue in his head and did as she'd said but not before giving her one last suspicious side glance and swearing in his head to get to the bottom of whatever Ahara was hiding from him. But for now, pissing her off was the last thing he wanted to start the day with.
*****
Two hours later, Damien still couldn't shake Ahara from his thoughts. The parent-teacher conference had commenced an hour ago, but she was yet to arrive and take him away from this make-do jail called school. But that wasn't what was bothering him so much he was now in his empty little world where no one disturbed him despite the noise his classmates were making.
It was Ahara and the strange happenings around her lately. The scar on her back, the secrets and her leaving the house at noon, the scratch mark that suddenly vanished this morning, and the way she looked so tired she could probably faint at any given time of the day.
'What's going on with her?' Damien wondered, yawning.
He'd been awake until 1Am this morning, waiting for Ahara's return, but she'd never returned.
SNAP!
"Damien Amaris!"
Flinching at the fingers in his face, Damien wasn't surprised to see mischievous light brown eyes gazing into his when he backed away. It was Lucy Monroe, his best friend and neighbor.
"Too close."
"Well, I wouldn't need to be this close if you'd just answered me when I called you from the door. What are you even thinking about that's got you staring out the window?" Lucy asked loudly, flipping her hair to the side and crossing her arms.
It didn't escape Damien's notice that the entire class was now staring at him—not that he was invisible considering his height and build.
"Can you speak a bit lower? I'm not far away from you you know."
"Tell that to your ears, you seem to be having trouble hearing today." Then she dramatically gasped, eyes widening as she closed in on Damien's face. "No, way! Did you get dumped?!"
That managed to silence the entire class in an instant. Of course, they'd be interested in hearing about his love life. He was the odd one out in the entire class—if not school—when it came to anything romance-related. Rolling his eyes at Lucy, the boy abruptly stood, sending his chair rasping on the floor as he grabbed his friend's hand and dragged her out of the classroom.
Once they were away from prying ears down the corridors, Damien finally came to a halt and glared at Lucy, but the girl was too busy laughing to even care about his rage.
"What the fuck was that, Lucy?!" Damien barked at her either way.
After a few minutes of catching her breath, Lucy finally replied to him. "A wake-up call hun. Can't you see that you look better now?"
Damien blinked at her. He was indeed feeling better now. Not the anxious boy he was turning into whilst thinking about his sister a while ago.
"On a serious note though, I was sent to get you by Mrs. Fuggerson. She said to tell you that your parents are here."
'Parents?' Damien furrowed his brows in confusion.
Mrs Fuggerson was their new class teacher who'd started her job around October that year. She'd never met Ahara yet, obviously, but why would she say "parents" when Ahara attended the parent-teacher conferences alone?
"Okay, thanks. I'll meet you in class soon," Damien notified Lucy, already heading for Fuggerson's office.
"I'll call Ahara just in case you get kidnapped," Lucy blurted out in a mocking tone.
"You wish."