I began to hear the whispers of the other students:
"Is she serious?"
"Maybe she doesn't know him."
"Doesn't know him, but can't she see his face clearly?!"
I was sitting in my usual seat by the window while still trying to understand the strange decision this new student had made.
I pretended to be watching the outside world through this window, while in reality, I was trying to escape the gazes of my classmates.
I tried to ignore the whispers and suppressed laughter that reached me like arrows in my back.
With the end of the class and the arrival of break time, I had to seize the opportunity.
The voices began to quiet down a little, but Kiara approached me with her calm smile.
She was carrying her pink bag, which didn't seem to match a personality like hers.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked, looking at me intently.
"No... nothing, I'm just a little tired."
She looked at me with some suspicion but didn't comment.
She asked me to show her around the school, and I agreed. We went out together while many glared at me with strange looks, whether they were girls or boys.
We continued walking as I showed her the place.
Kyojima Public Elementary School.
It looked like the product of two different eras. Its first half was a dilapidated facade with a pale brick color, peeled by time,
And metal windows groaning under the weight of the winds. The other half was a wide and beautiful courtyard,
Planted with cherry trees.
They stood like silent guards, giving a truly good aesthetic appearance. Honestly, the school wasn't ugly. It would have been good if it weren't hell for me alone.
After our tour in the courtyard, Kiara was smiling at me while I didn't understand why.
This is the first time someone has smiled at me like this.
Despite her being beautiful,
Doesn't she feel disgusted by my face?
Or has the black birthmark on me become smaller so that her wide red eyes can't catch it?
We returned to the hall.
The corridors were bustling with noise and the sound of quick footsteps and the whistles of teachers trying to impose order. The corridor walls were decorated with childish drawings,
Some pale in color and some defying time with a childish brightness that age couldn't erase. Every corner here told the story of a child.
Well, they seemed really happy, but how?
How can I do the same?
How do I find happiness in an endless sea of pain?
As we were walking in the hall, Kiara spoke and said in a voice and a calm smile,
"Leon Martinez, right?... You're from the famous Martinez family."
This is the question I had been dreading.
And for the first time in my life, I found myself lying.
"No... of course not. I think the family name is just similar." I said it sarcastically, but it seems she didn't argue because my appearance and clothes made it impossible to suggest to her that I was from a wealthy family. But she didn't seem completely convinced.
Irony of fate.
After that,
I felt a very severe heaviness in my head and violent dizziness.
I tried to hold myself together, but my thin body could no longer bear it. It seemed as if it was collapsing.
I suddenly fell to the ground amid Kiara's astonishment and some nearby students.
Leon woke up in the school clinic to the sound of the doctor who was talking to Kiara.
"Blood pressure is very low... it seems he doesn't eat well."
"What will we do?" Kiara asked with genuine concern.
"We'll call his parents. We must inform them."
When I heard these words, I tried to get up nervously, but I could barely sit up.
"No... no, please don't do that." I said it nervously while looking at that syringe she was holding.
The doctor smiled and said with a suppressed laugh, "Don't worry, it's not for you."
"I don't mean the syringe, I mean calling my parents."
The doctor looked at me in surprise.
"But your condition is bad. It's my duty to tell them."
I felt as if the world was collapsing around me. I couldn't bear the thought of my weakness being exposed to my family, and I would also be in a real disaster if my mother came here.
Tears began to gather in my eyes, and I said in a broken voice while appealing to her with all the pleading I had:
"My mother has cancer... I don't want to make her condition worse... and my father... my father works far away, and I only see him once a month. I'm really fine, please don't tell them." I said it with tears in my eyes as I held the edge of the doctor's coat.
These words were seeping into the doctor's heart like threads of silk mixed with pain. She sat beside me and patted my head gently.
This was the first time I had lied in this way, but I found no other solution.
My conscience was reproaching me a lot, but a lie that wouldn't harm anyone but would save the life of its teller.
"Alright, I won't tell them, but you must take care of yourself, my son." This doctor was really kind. She was about 45 years old. It seems she's from the generation of good people, the generation that doesn't care about appearance.
Kiara entered the room holding a small bag:
"I brought you juice and a sandwich. Do you feel better?"
"Yes, thank you for coming."
The doctor smiled and said:
"Kiara, make sure he eats everything. I don't want to see him here again."
The doctor left, leaving Kiara and me alone. I began to eat the food eagerly. I was very hungry. The sandwich was ordinary, but for me, it was the most delicious thing my skinny hands had eaten.
My only regret was that I missed the school meal. This sandwich was smaller in size for my stomach, but... I found myself happy.
Kiara was laughing because when she was about to take a bite of her sandwich, she had already begun to hear the sound of the shrinking juice box as I sucked the last of its contents through that straw.
"W-where did the sandwich go?" she said as she looked at the paper piece that contained its crumbs, and I said shyly, "Umm, sorry, was that too fast?"
When we returned to the classroom, I noticed that the atmosphere was different.
There were no sarcastic laughs or mocking whispers. It seemed that Kiara's presence beside me had created a temporary protective aura.
The students were looking at me with new gazes full of confusion and perhaps with some implicit respect.
A week passed without anyone bullying me. This change was strange for me, but I didn't dare to delve into it. I was afraid it might be just an illusion,
A mirage that would turn against me at any moment.
When Leon returned to the palace, the atmosphere was different there too, but in a negative way as usual. I heard my siblings' whispers when I entered the gate.
"Strange... we haven't seen any bruises on him this week."
"Maybe he started eating at school."
"Let's leave him alone."
I felt those words piercing my heart like knives.
But I continued walking, ignoring everyone.
As I was walking, I met Yi Lian, that sister with the sharp tongue. I passed by her with some tension, but she smiled and said, "Hey, you ugly one, you dare to pass me like this?"
I stopped immediately after she said it, and my hands began to tremble a little as I held the edge of my bag and turned slowly. She was still giving me her back and hadn't turned around.
She immediately began speaking in her malicious voice, "You eat in the cafeteria of that disgusting public school, don't you?"
"Y-yes, sister."
"I'm not your sister!... Call me that again, and you'll regret it." She said it after looking at me over her shoulder with eyes overflowing with poison. I swallowed hard while waiting for what she would say next.
"Well, anyway, you pig... You eat at the school restaurant, but have you thought about what you'll do during the holiday?"
"W-what?"
She began to laugh as she continued her walk.
There was great harm in her words, but it was logical... It would be difficult. They are waiting for the holiday for fun and play, and I'm waiting for it to struggle to find a way to survive.
I will be in trouble, but it's not like I haven't been through it before.
In the basement, the cat was waiting for me. The cat jumped into my lap and began to rub and rub its head and body against me.
"Are you hungry, Noel? I brought you something."
I took out the small tuna can I had brought from the school restaurant and opened it for the cat. I watched the cute animal as it ate eagerly.
Its condition isn't much different from mine. We both get little food. The difference between me and it is that it doesn't get beaten.
And I felt some comfort, like every time I lie on my worn-out bed with this cat lying beside me, but that comfort soon began to fade when the sound of my empty stomach returned to remind me of hunger.
"Don't stomach birds sleep at night?" I said as I scratched that cat behind its ear.
I waited until silence fell over the palace after my family had dinner in the great hall. The dim lights were seeping from under the door of my dark basement as usual, leaving dancing shadows on the concrete walls surrounding me.
After two hours, when I knew the kitchen would be empty of the maids who had finished their daily duties of washing dishes and cleaning that white marble,
I sneaked with cautious steps like every day. I could hear the echo of my interrupted breaths as I tried to hide my presence while walking on my tiptoes.
I opened the door of the huge refrigerator, and a cold white light emanated from it, illuminating my tormented face while the cold air touched my features.
And there,
As if it were waiting for me,
A shiny red apple settled in the middle of a silver plate.
It was alone like me.
Gleaming under the light as if it were a red jewel adorned with a small sticker confirming its freshness. It seemed as if it were calling me,
Inviting me to share its isolation.
With a hand trembling from the intensity of the hunger desire that possessed me, while the sound of my stomach seemed as if it were calling it,
I picked it up and took a bite. Its taste was sweet, caressing my empty stomach, which had long been deprived of food because of the contemptuous looks from my family.
And with the second bite, I felt a sharp and terrible pain, like a sting penetrating the surface of my mouth and my upper gum.
I retreated in terror, putting my hand on my mouth to suppress a scream of pain,
While the apple rolled on the polished, shiny tiles until it settled at slender feet.
My heart pounded with intense fear when I turned to find Yi Lian,
My ten-year-old sister like me (like everyone, we're all ten years old),
Standing there opposite me like a ghost. She was still wearing her pajamas.
She picked up the apple with her thin fingers.
Her cunning smile split her beautiful, flawless face.
She peeled off the sticker with deliberate slowness.
Her black eyes, those gray rings surrounding the pupils of her eyes, gleaming in the darkness. After I saw her intention as she tried to take a bite, I tried to warn her in a choked voice: "N... nooo... stop! There's something wrong with it..."
But she, with cruel sarcasm,
Took a bite of the apple with clear confidence.
I remained shocked in my place, and it didn't seem that anything bad happened to her, but... what exactly happened to me?
Then my eyes widened in shock.
After seeing Yi Lian extend her hand toward the site of my bite, and with a theatrical movement, she extracted a thin needle that had been carefully hidden inside the apple.
The blood that flowed from my gum was conclusive evidence that she was the perpetrator.
Her cold laugh filled the silent kitchen: "You're really stupid... Even in theft, you fail. The smart one chooses the site of his bite carefully."
Then she threw the apple toward my disfigured face, her voice full of contempt: "This is just a warning. The palace is not a place for outcasts at night. Theft is a bad thing, do you understand?"
Bad?
.
.
.
Really a disaster.
After she said these words, she left the kitchen and
Left me behind while I was still trying to comprehend what happened. I found myself really destroyed.
I thought that... the situation wouldn't get this bad, but I was wrong.
My hand was still on my mouth while blood was flowing from the tips of my fingers. I left quickly before I stained the white tiles.
And I returned to my desolate refuge. I slept without food that night too, while remembering her words and looks. For a moment, she reminded me of Histori, but
She
Will go too far, I'm certain of this.
The next morning at school:
I had entered the classroom, and it seems that everyone was busy with some conversation.
Each of these children has something to play with.
While I went to my last seat, and it seemed that Kiara hadn't arrived yet. I sat down and found myself waiting for her.
My mind was recalling memories of what happened last night.
That injury resulting from that needle was still burning my gum and the surface of my mouth.
If the situation continues as it is,
I don't think I'll become a teenager.
Kiara came and entered the classroom with that smile and reached my seat. "Good morning."
"Good morning." This was the first time I had heard the words "good morning" in my entire life. Part of me wished to hear it from one of my family members, but it was greedy to aspire to a better situation than this, given all I had been through.
Or... what I will go through.
That teacher known for her harsh temperament began. Most children hated her. Even Kiara noticed that she was talking to me during class just to avoid focusing with her.
Within 5 minutes, everyone began to imitate Kiara and ignore the teacher and engage in chats, which made the teacher angry.
In the end, the classroom calmed down because it had wasted enough time. Looking at the circular clock above the blackboard, it pointed to 11:55 AM. Only 5 minutes remained, no more.
The content of the lesson was about the security elements of the state government, such as the police. They were polishing their image in a normal way, as happened to each of us in our childhood.
Can I really resort to them to solve my problem?...
Haha.
Of course not. In this world, I realized that my family is almost stronger than the government.
Money is the real power in this world.
Do you know why? Because even the strong are bought with money.
The break bell rang, and I left the classroom and found Kiara accompanying me to the cafeteria. I said with a nervous expression, "Kiara."
"What? Am I bothering you?"
"No, but there are some girls who wanted to talk to you. Isn't it good that you don't spend your time with... a child like me?"
I remained silent for some time, and it seems she understood the hint, but she didn't back down and said, "I don't care about your face. What is this birthmark? Did you suffer from some kind of burns?"
"N-no, I was born with it. It's a mutation or some kind of black rash."
Silence remained with us, broken only by footsteps. We reached the restaurant, and this was my only opportunity that allowed me to eat something decent.
The food was rice with meat broth with... an apple... a red apple.
Are you kidding me?
I found myself frowning as I stared at this fruit innocent of that sin.
"Do you hate apples?" Kiara asked, trying to understand.
"No, but... I hate red apples."
Kiara smiled happily and said, "How wonderful! I love it very, very much! Do you want to exchange green and red?" She said it while winking as she extended to me her apple of a different color.
I accepted that immediately.
And after eating, I felt that I wasn't completely full, which is normal for a child like me who hardly eats anything. The school restaurant is the main resource for me, and I hate the holiday because of its interruption from me, which leads to hunger that is almost deadly.
I found Kiara offering me a sandwich wrapped in that paper they use for sandwiches.
Before I spoke, she interrupted me, "Eat it and be quiet. I don't like cheese sandwiches anyway."
I began to eat it. "It's delicious."
Kiara smiled for a reason unknown to me, but for her, she smiled because her mother was the one who made it.
I found myself getting used to the company of this nice girl.
< After another week >
I found Kiara's behavior somewhat strange. After she discovered that my academic achievement was low, she began to give me her assignments and ask me to solve them under the pretext that she was teaching me. I don't deny that I was benefiting, but I felt something wrong happening.
She also began to ask me to carry her bag under the pretext that I was weak and needed to get stronger, or under a second pretext that she was tired.
Until another week passed.
She began to ignore me and suddenly changed her seating place, and she sat with a group of girls.
I tried to talk to her several times, but she rebuffed me coldly.
I didn't do anything to her, I'm sure, but because of her sudden actions, I began to doubt myself, especially after I saw someone laughing at me in a distant seat.
Did they tell her something bad about me?
After that, and specifically after 3 days, everything returned to its painful course. The chain of abuse became more intense. During the break, some children, boys and girls, began to throw stones at me and compete with strange rules, such as the one who hits the head gets 5 points, and the one who hits other than the head gets one point, and so on.
When I heard that, I began to protect my head, but some children were devils in the form of angels. They began to focus on hitting my legs. The pain was unbearable until I lowered my hand to protect my skinny legs from all that barrage of pebbles.
And they took advantage of the situation. I began to receive pebble hits on my face and head. They weren't that strong, but one of the children threw large pebbles, or rather stones, on my forehead, causing me to bleed, and for the irony of fate, it hit me on the healthy side of my face, not the disfigured one.
Irony of fate.
I found myself crying and asking myself repeatedly,
"Why?"
I put my hand on my forehead, but they didn't stop stoning me as if I were a devil they enjoyed hearing his sobbing. Rather, the cruelty increased many times over its previous levels.
I was shocked by the amount of cruelty that was increasing from mere children my age, but humans are humans, and age is just a number, no more.
Their brutality increases according to harsh circumstances, whether on them or on others.
They began to insult me, and here my legs finally moved, and I ran away. I found myself going to the bathroom and began to wash my face, but my forehead continued to bleed, although I see that the wound isn't that bad.
I found a child entering the bathroom and looking at me. "Are you Leon?" That child seemed older than me by a year or two. I answered nervously, "Y-yes."
He said to me in a tone of voice that seemed serious, "Kiara... stay away from her if you want what's good for you."
I didn't understand what he said, but he left immediately after saying this. I found myself going to that kind doctor in the school clinic, but she... asked me about my name, and I said, "I-I'm Leon."
Did she forget me so quickly?
Looking at that, I visited her just 3 weeks ago.
After that, she began to disinfect the wound with that antiseptic. It was stinging. I found myself tearing up as I endured it, and finally, a final bandage ending her work.
"You're fine now. Take care of yourself, my son."
She's still the same kind woman. I began to try to talk to her, but she really didn't remember.
After that, I realized that this woman has Alzheimer's and almost forgets everyone she knows, but how does she not forget how to do her job?
I was a little sad because she doesn't remember me.
Haha, I told you and I repeat,
Irony of fate.
Either someone hates me and remembers me,
Or someone is good to me and ignores me,
Or someone is kind to me and forgets me.
This... is really
Painful.