It was 4 pm in the afternoon, the school bells rang, and the class hours ended. The students were free to return to their homes. Amongst them was a young lady walking down the hallway with her hair and clothes wet.
She had an annoyed expression on her face while others kept glancing at her from afar. Her name was Kiara Reed, the little sister of Mercedes. A lot of good news has been happening back home. Her older sister had gotten over the computer and was now rehabilitating.
Although she hadn't forgiven her older sister, it was a relief for Kiara.
Life was getting back on track at home. However, it was different in school. Kiara became an outcast after not getting along with the popular students. They wanted an exception to some rules, such as smoking in school, but Kiara reported them.
For anybody, it would be a dumb move to offend the popular ones. Though, Kiara didn't care whether they had positive or negative feelings toward her.
As the news about her report on them came out from the blabbering mouths of the teachers, it was then Kiara became an outcast. She wasn't bothered by it at first. Her classmates started ignoring her, and her so-called friends were now avoiding her.
Kiara observed everything unfold without any emotions erupting from her heart. The pain of being betrayed by her friends didn't occur to her at all.
Nonetheless, she had a question in the corners of her mind.
What did her older sister feel?
Kiara understood that this was what being bullied meant. At first, she would become an outcast in the school. Second, they would try all kinds of teasing as a way of testing the waters. Then, the bullying will finally start. If they get caught by the teachers, they'll simply make it seem like a joke.
At that moment, Kiara had reached the second point. When she was in the bathroom, someone threw a bucket of water into the stalls. She could hear some snickering in the background, which made her realize that it was other students.
Fortunately, it happened when the clock was nearly at 4 pm. Even then, it was annoying for Kiara. Insults and abuse from others wouldn't affect her. That was the kind of person she was. Such was the reason why she couldn't forgive her older sister.
After all, her older sister was the first one that managed to hurt her.
'This sucks...' Kiara thought while walking down the hallway. Other students continued glancing at her from afar, and she ignored their gazes. She sighed to herself while thinking about the future.
Kiara knew it was going to get worse from this day on. She wanted to tell her mother about the bullying and probably transfer schools. However, there was one person she didn't want to hear about it.
Her older sister, Mercedes Reed.
In reality, Kiara and her mother weren't ignorant of Mercedes's problems during middle school. They investigated it and went on to punish the ones that bullied Mercedes. It took time and effort since the teachers didn't care about it, though justice was served.
When they concluded the problem, Kiara and her mother wanted to take Mercedes out of her depression. It was the reason why her mother wanted to go outside to have a fun time with them.
As Kiara got out of middle school, she noticed someone standing on the opposite side of the street. It was a person wearing pajamas in the afternoon. Kiara would have considered it a weirdo if not for the fact that it was none other than her older sister, Mercedes.
Meanwhile, Mercedes didn't have a good expression on her face. What replaced her happy smile was a cold frown that pierced through everyone. Kiara might not have noticed, but the students around them were avoiding Mercedes for one reason.
They feel chills when they stare at her sapphire-like eyes.
"Mercedes, what are you doing here?" Kiara calmly questioned as she wondered why her older sister was in front of their school. Mercedes glances at Kiara before answering with a cold tone.
"Mom wanted me to take you home after school. She still seems worried about the attacks in the news."
"I see... There's no need for her to worry. Our district is rather safe compared to our neighbors." Kiara remarked as the two of them walked together on the sidewalk. Mercedes shook her head and denied it. "The district might not be so safe anymore."
"What do you mean?" Kiara asked since she was curious about what made her older sister say that. Their district has become among the top-listed safest districts in the city. Why would that change when the district had worked hard for a peaceful environment?
"I'm sure you'll understand what I mean." Mercedes didn't answer her question and kept walking through the streets. Kiara thought about it for a short while before realizing the problem.
"The development plan of the district."
"That's correct. The development plan has been attracting people throughout the city. Many of them are investors and customers. Though, some have negative intentions for this district."
Mercedes was somewhat pragmatic to the circumstances of the city. Well, it was understandable since that wasn't the subject her mind was tackling.
"How did you get wet, Kiara?" Mercedes softly asked with a smile which made Kiara abruptly stop before answering. "I accidentally soaked myself in the bathroom. It isn't much of a problem."
"I only have to take a bath. After all, I don't want to get a cold out of nowhere." Kiara confidently smiled though Mercedes wasn't convinced of her words. The abrupt stop was already a sign that Mercedes easily confirmed.
"*Yawn...* Be careful then, Kiara. I'll have to warn you that Mom will be angry seeing you drench." The two continued walking through the sidewalk as cars passed by them. Kiara kept glancing at her older sister, who had changed a lot this month.
"There's a story I want to tell, Kiara."
"It was a novel I had read on the internet."
"Long ago, one was born as an ugly duckling. But despite being a horrendous duck, her mother duck and little sister duck supported her. The ugly duckling went through life with the positivity of the things she had experienced. However, it all changed when the ugly duckling entered the duck school."
"In the duck school, the ugly duckling was bullied by other ducks of her age. Because of her horrendous appearance, she became an outcast to other ducklings. She still persevered through it even when the world seemed against her. Then, the ducklings saw her family. A beautiful and seemingly perfect family."
"The ducklings couldn't believe that it was the family of the ugly duckling. It was too unbelievable. Was the ugly duckling an adopted duck? Or was the duckling born from another drake? Many questions emerged of the ugly duckling's birth."
"Even with all the insults of the world, the ugly duckling kept it in. Not wanting to worry her family, she made the tension in her heart shackled deep within it."
"However, as the ugly duckling hears the words of the ducks and glances at her family from afar, the duckling realizes they were actually a perfect family. A beautiful mother duck and an intelligent daughter duck. Jealousy? Anxiety? Anger? Anguished? The ugly duckling didn't know what to feel."
"Though, she realized what her existence meant to the world. It was nothing."
"Time passes by, and the ugly duckling closed herself off from the outside world. Then, when she met her perfect family once again, the pent-up tension within her heart surged. Unspeakable horror escaped her beaks as she caused pain to her family. What does the duckling feel? Nothing."
"The ugly duckling didn't care. The ugly ducking shouldn't care."
"As for the ugly duckling, she wasn't in the so-called perfect family of ducks."
"Hahahaha, do you know what the ugly duckling did wrong?"
Mercedes chuckled and glanced at Kiara with a question. Kiara couldn't utter a single word and did nothing more but stare at Mercedes's sapphire-like eyes. The story that her older sister talked about wasn't from the internet.
The story was her older sister's perspective of life. The ugly duckling could never fit within the perfect duck family. With all the comparisons in life, the ugly duckling wanted to be out of it.
Since the duckling was a stain of the perfect duck family. Someone that should have disappeared from the face of the earth.
After a short while, Kiara got out of her trance and decided to answer Mercedes's question. Looking at Mercedes directly in the eye, confident words left Kiara's mouth.
"The ugly duckling should have been honest with her perfect family."
"That's right... There's no need to keep your problems from your family. You aren't alone in this world. You have a mother and a sister." Mercedes uttered with a determined smile while patting Kiara's head.
"That's the mistake the ugly duckling made."
"I know what you're going through, Kiara. What should I do about it?" A smirk emerged on Mercedes's face as she whispered beside Kiara's ears. Kiara couldn't help but blush for some reason. However, it faded in an instant and was replaced with an ignorant expression.
"What do you mean, Mercedes?" Kiara asked since she was confident in stalling the interrogation until they got home. What she least expected was Mercedes using physical violence against her.
*Flick!*
"Ow! That hurts."
Mercedes flicked Kiara's forehead. She didn't have time to go through a mental duel against her little sister. She wanted answers and details of the problem instead.
"If you don't want to be honest with me, then it seems that you'll be walking home with a reddish forehead. I'm sure that you don't want that ending, right?" A scary smile was on Mercedes's face, which made Kiara instinctively nod.