It was around 6 pm when Cyrus pulled up in front of the house. He packed up the files laying on the seat next to him and glided out of the car looking quite exhausted. He sauntered with heavy feet to the corridor slowly pushing the door open.
"Good evening mum–" He called to his mother who was busy setting up the table. She was about to reply when Jess walked in from the kitchen with some dishes in hand; involuntarily cutting in.
"Hey– just got in?" she gently placed the dishes on the table beside her mother. "Hm..." he mumbled sharply, slightly tilting his head simultaneously.
"Go change and join us." Mrs. Daniels uttered without looking up from the table she was setting. "How was work by the way?"
By this time, Cyrus was already gliding up the stairs. "It was great mum..." He replied, his voice fading into the corridors.
"That's good to hear." His mother answered but he was already gone. Not long have they finished the table that Mr. Daniels joined them. He pulled back the chair, settling on it. Jess also took her seat right beside him whiles Mrs. Daniels also sat opposite him. Cyrus then joined them shortly.
"Go get your sister Jess–" Mrs. Daniels mumbled as she served the meals.
She sighed, slowly pushing the chair back. She hurried up the stairs and soon was at Alisa's door. She tried to pull it open but then, it was locked.
"Gosh, this girl..." she whispered to herself before giving a light knock on the door. "Alisa....?"
Alisa was sitting in front of her laptop in front of her study desk working on her research assignment when she heard her name at the door. She instinctively knew it was Jess at the door and was coming for her for dinner as it was a usual routine. "I'm not hungry Jess, you guys should go ahead."
Jess who stood behind the closed door scoffed at her reply. "Shouldn't you open up first?" She taunted about to tell her a piece of her mind when her parents and Cyrus' words rang in her mind reminding her to be patient with her. She sighed, involuntarily closing her eyes as she took in a deep breath to calm herself first.
"Jess..?" her mother's voice echoed from the dining hall.
"Coming mum–" She replied and without any hesitation, went downstairs to join the rest of the family. Alisa had earlier on sensed the little anger in Jess' voice so decided to go open up because she was in no time ready for her little whining as she had already had enough from that bully, Nick. Looking glazed, Alisa expectantly pulled it open but Jess had already left. She crinkled her nose in disgust, closing the door. But this time, she did not lock it. She returned to her seat and continued with her assignment.
DINING HALL
"Where is your sister?" Mrs. Daniels asked Jess as she settled down on her chair once again.
"Why do you guys always send me to call her when you know well she won't bother coming down with me," she murmured, mixing sauce to a small portion of the rice on her plate; not bothering to look up at the staring eyes fixed on her. "You should let Cyrus do that the next time." She scoped a spoon of rice into her mouth as she lifted her eyes from her plate only to meet the quizzical looks of her parents and brother on her.
Mrs. Daniels sighed, tilting her head sharply. "Hope you didn't quarrel with her."
"Hell no mum..." she replied amidst a chuckle, staring at her meal she murmured under her breath. "Wish I did though."
"Why not try and understand her just like Cyrus here Jess?" queried Mr. Daniels who was all along glancing at them like he wasn't interested in what they were saying but was listening attentively to them.
"No wonder she doesn't get on so well with you Jess," Cyrus commented but sounded more like a tease.
"Whatever." she snubbed him. Cyrus chuckled, slightly shaking his head as he went back on her meals. The rest of the meals continued with little talks about work and the day as a whole.
*****
Alisa was still seated behind her laptop working on her research assignment with her phone laying on the table beside her when she felt it vibrate for a short second.
She glanced at the screen and noticed that it was a LINE message from an unknown number.
"An unknown number?" she murmured with a surprised look on her face as she hardly gives out her number to anybody. It was only her family members who had her number and if you should ask her too, they were all at home at the moment. Moreover, they hardly send her a LINE message.
And considering things, who would even bother to get closer or take the LINE ID of a nerd and a selectively mute person like herself? She slightly pushed her lens well on her nose bridge; opening up the message.
"Nick–?" she gasped after reading the first line of sentence and didn't even bother to continue as she hauntedly switched it off and placed it down; returning to what she was doing.
She had her eyes fixed on the laptop, reading something and jotting down some important information she will need for the assignment when the door clicked open. She deftly turned her gaze towards it and saw Cyrus peeking through.
"Hey–" He murmured with a smile, gliding in with a tray in hand. "You didn't come down for dinner so I thought of bringing a beverage and biscuit."
He gently placed it on the table and pulled a chair; settling beside her. Alisa glanced at him with a smile, "You shouldn't have bothered. Anyway, thank you." she murmured and turned her gaze back to the laptop.
Cyrus sat in silence for some seconds examining his sister secretly and noticed the bruise on her wrist. He was careful not to draw her attention. Moreover, he came there for that purpose but didn't want to make it obvious as he knew well Alisa doesn't like people poking their nose into her personal life.
"Hmm...Alisa?"
"hmm?" she mumbled in response without looking at him.
"Anything you want to talk about? Like school or anything in general?" He queried, not bothered with Alisa's indifferent attitude.
"No, nothing I can think of."
Cyrus knew Alisa will not willingly tell him what happened to her but then, he had to find out one way or the other as everybody was worried about her and the thought of her being bullied at school was the scariest part of it all so he decided to be straight forward with it. "Are you being bullied in school?" he questioned, making Alisa freeze in whatever she was doing. "Was that the reason for the bruise on your wrist?"
"N–no Cyrus." she stammered, "Is not what you're thinking of. I just fell."
"Fell...?"
"Yeah. Anyway, can I be left alone now? I still have the assignment to complete before tomorrow if I don't want my grades dropping." she replied, this time her expression was hard. Cyrus didn't want to push any further as he knew Alisa may choose to ignore him if he persists.
"Alright, hurry up and get some sleep then."
She nodded in response and Cyrus left. She gave a sharp sigh and continued with her work.
Jess and her parents kept glancing expectantly at the stairs in wait for Cyrus to return. After a short while, they saw him descending the stairs. He sauntered to the living room with inquisitive eyes fixed on him. He knew they were all waiting for answers to satisfy their curious minds. He collapsed into the couch with a sigh as he raised his hands dramatically in the air. They instinctively knew what that meant without Cyrus opening his mouth to say a word. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels shrugged up from their seats with a sigh.
"You guys should go have some rest now. You have work tomorrow," said Mr. Daniels.
"Alright Dad.." they both chorused and their parents went up into their room. Jess and Cyrus kept each other's company for a while before separating into their rooms.
ALISA'S ROOM
Alisa did a final check on her assignment and when she was sure it was done, packed it into her bag. She checked her clock and it was already getting late. She closed the laptop and sauntered into the washroom to freshen up. After a short while, she returned to her room and tucked herself under her blanket.
******
Alisa didn't want to answer any questions from her parents or siblings so she woke up early and got herself ready for school. She checked the time and it was 7:00 am. She knew it will soon be time to join the others at the table for breakfast but that wasn't in her plans. She picked up her bag and trod out of her room. She glided down the stairs to meet Cyrus in the sitting room working on some files with their Dad next to him, his face buried in the morning's newspaper. On the other hand, Jess was with their mother helping her with the breakfast.
"Good morning Dad..., Good morning Cyrus."
"Good morning." they both replied with Cyrus quite surprised to see Alisa out this early and also ready for school. Mrs. Daniels glided out of the kitchen to meet Alisa standing in the hall.
"Oh Alisa, you're up so early and ready too. Aren't you having breakfast with us?"
"No mum.." she shuffled over to her. "I'll take mine along. Besides, I have the assignment to submit before lessons begin."
"Alright, dear." Mrs. Daniels replied and hurried off to the kitchen to pack her breakfast for her. After a few seconds, she returned and handed it to Alisa. Alisa in turn took it and shoved it into her bag. Without wasting much time, she staggered out of the door. The school bus wasn't in by then so she stood in front of their house and stopped a taxi.
"To HILBERT'S COLLEGE please–"
The driver nodded and sped off. After 30minus, it pulled up in front of the school. Alisa shoved her bag over her shoulders and glided out of the car. She hurried into the compound, taking up the corridors to Mr. Hayford's office. After 5mins walk, she got to the office. She knocked on it but there was no answer. She glanced through the window and saw that he was not yet in school so she decided to go in and leave it there on his table. She held the handle of the door; pulling it open but then, someone pushed it shut. She deftly looked up only to see Nick's hand tightly pressed against the door with eyes glinting with mischief and a devilish grin on his face.
Alisa gulped saliva down her throat as she instinctively shook with panic.