Rain was pouring heavily on the earth accompanied by thunderstorms. It looked like the rain wasn't going to stop soon. The road was clear except for a girl who was walking silently in this awful weather. Her jet black hair was damp and a few strands were on her face. The white frock that she wore was now brown due to mud.
" Lia! What are you doing here looking like this?" a girl seeming of the same age as her, ran towards her. She was holding her umbrella tightly in one hand while the other one grabbed Lia's hand.
" Where did you go? And did you cry? Grandma is worried about you. I was trying to find you for the past two hours." the girl scolded her and pulled both of them under the umbrella.
" Bella, I don't want to see Grandma. She would scold me. Mike, he stole all the money. I went to take that money back from him." the girl named Lia said and hugged Bella. Bella was shocked when she heard Lia.
" You went to Mike's place? Why? Did he hit you?" Bella asked her, checking Lia head to toe.
" The money. It's all gone now." Lia said and started to cry loudly. Bella patted her back and tried to calm her down.
" It's okay. Grandma already knows about it. Forget about this incident." she said consoling her.
" Don't cry, Lia. Let's go home first. Grandma must be waiting for us and will be getting impatient." Bella said and loosened the hug. Holding Lia's hand in her, she started walking towards their home.
Inside a cottage that was located in the outer shrubs of the town, an old lady was standing by the window watching the entrance. When she saw her two granddaughters coming, she hurriedly went to open the entrance door for them.
" What happened to Lia? Where did she go in this bad weather?" their grandmother asked as they both sat on the floor near the fireplace.
" She went to the town to meet Mike," Bella replied to her grandmother.
" Mike? I already told you not to meet him. Why did you go there?" grandma asked and went towards Lia with a towel in her hand.
" She went to take the money back that he took from Lia. But, of course, he didn't give it back to her." Bella explained and her grandma sighed.
" Oh, silly child. I told you that you should forget about that incident." grandma said to Lia while drying her hair with the towel.
" But, how can he take all the money? It was your hard-earned money. I was a fool to believe his words and request you to give him all the money." Lia said and started to sob, her head hung low.
" Don't cry, Lia. It's worthless to cry over something that is already gone. Mike lied that his parents were ill and you gave him the money. Though he cheated on you, he showed you that you have a generous heart. Now don't cry, dear. Get up and take a bath first or you will catch a cold." her grandma said, consoling her. Lia obediently listened to her grandma and stood up to go and take a bath.
" Bella, you go and check that you have packed everything that is needed for tomorrow." grandma said to Bella who was watching the flames rising up in the fireplace.
" I have checked it twice already. Don't worry." she said and continued to sit there like a statue.
" Get your lazy self to work. I have talked to someone who is renting a one-bedroom house on rent. You and Lia can move there. It's only five minutes away from your new college." grandma said and stood up to go and prepare dinner in the kitchen.
" I don't want to leave you here. Please come with us." Bella pleaded her grandma but she just laughed.
" Don't say that you are feeling homesick already. You know that I can't go. Whenever you want to come and see me just come here. But remember not to skip classes." her grandma said and started to chop vegetables.
" But, we'll miss you." she said and went to the kitchen to help her grandma.
" I'll miss you both too." she said and both of them started to prepare dinner.
While they were preparing the dinner, Lia came out of the bathroom wearing a pajama set. She went outside her room to the kitchen where Bella and grandma were preparing dinner. She also joined them with the dinner.
After they had prepared the dinner, all of them sat in front of the fireplace with their food.
The weather in the outer shrubs of the town was extremely cold and due to unmetalled roads, there was mud everywhere.
They started to dig in their supper while their grandma kept on reminding dos and don'ts to both the sisters when they go to the town. Both Lia and Bella did their high schooling at the local school in their area and were known as the "Google Sisters" here. Both were extremely intelligent. Their intelligence was not contained in the boundary of books only. They were intelligent in every field and seeing their capabilities, their grandma decided to send them to the country's top school of elites. Studying in that school is a dream for every student but a middle-class family can't afford it. Thankfully, the school started a scholarship for children with high capability to learn things. The top five students who gave the entrance exam for the scholarship would be provided 100% tuition fee and admission fee reduction. Lia and Bella sat in the examination and scored 1st and 3rd position respectively. On that day, their grandma threw a party to the whole village.
Tomorrow, they both will be saying their goodbyes to grandma and would be heading to the town. Though none of them are saying, they all are emotional inside. Since Lia and Belle were young, they have lived with their grandma only. They never saw their parents. From what they have heard from their grandma, they know that their parents were a factory worker but died due to an explosion in the factory. None of them have any photos with their parents since at that time, taking pictures was a part of upper-middle-class families.
" Lia, Bella. Go to bed now. You should sleep early since tomorrow, you both will have to go to the town. I'll go and wash the dishes first." her grandma said, collected the plates, and walked towards the sink.
" I'll help you with the dishes." Lia said and walked towards her grandma.
" No need. Just go to bed and sleep. I'll wake you both at 4 a.m. tomorrow." grandma said.
" 4 a.m.? Why?" Bella asked walking toward her grandma.
" Because you will have to go to the town that will take about two hours and your classes will start from 9 a.m." grandma answered her.
" What about our clothes? How are we going to take these from here to the rented house?" Bella asked.
" Uncle Tony will give you both ride to the house. You will reach there by 7 a.m. if you leave the village at 5 a.m. He can help you to move your luggage inside." she answered.
" Why are you both still standing here? Didn't I say to go to bed, huh?" grandma said when she found out that they haven't moved yet.
" We are going to sleep, grandma. You sleep early too." Bella said and dragged Lia with her to their room. When they both entered, Bella made Lia sit on the bed and locked the bedroom door.
" Lia! I have something very interesting for you." Bella said clapping her hands.
" What?" Lia asked, uninterested in whatever Bella is going to show her.
" Have you seen the pictures of our school yet?" Bella asked her sister and she shook her head.
" I got some pictures of our school. Let me show you." Bella said excitedly and hurriedly walked towards the drawer and pulled out some pictures.
" Here! See it." she said and handed the pictures to Lia. Lia also got excited when Bella gave her those pictures. It was the first time she was going to see her new college. On the day of the entrance examination, they didn't go to the college since the center of the examination was in more than one place, and among them, one was their local school too.
" Where did you get these from?" Lia asked as she checked the photos with sparkling eyes.
" I stole them from Mike's bag on the last day of our school. I think he is also going to the same college." Bella said and Lia's face became dull again.
" Don't be sad. Who cares about that cheater?" Bella said, trying to feel her better.
" Hm, maybe you are right. I should not think about that jerk." Lia said and Bella patted her back.
" Now, let's sleep. If grandma hears us gossiping she well beat us till we are flat." Bella said and laughed. She took the photos away from Lia's hand and kept them back in the drawer. They both lay on the bed and drifted to sleep not knowing how their life is gonna change really soon.