Word count : 2339

Time: 9:08pm Halloween is sooo close y'all😆👻

Everything was different. It had come to my notice that in the past few days of living with the Hendersons, I mean apart from their new home, obviously. Kion was different too. He was more playful than when we were 12. I thought he'd gain some semblance of maturity yet he flirted with everyone! He always greets me with a "Good morning, darling" 

Or make lewd jokes whenever we passed by each other to head to the bathroom. "We could have breakfast in bed, you don't have to come on down" He would say and I would very obligingly wipe him with my towel which he would cackle to as he scrambled away. At first, I was awkward when he freely spoke his mind and then the annoyance came but when he flirted with the granny just next door I knew I wasn't his only victim.

It gave me relief to know I wasn't the only one receiving this onslaughter of second-hand embarrassment. Of course, I can't say what got the granny flushing that she almost had a heart attack because of parental guidance...

"Good morning Ash" Daisy greets me, rubbing her pouty eyes. Her hair is a bird's nest and traces of last night's dinner cling to her PJs. I knew I should have used a bib. "Good morning Angel" I smirk at her dishevelled form, she's so cute with how big her cheeks are bloated. She hurriedly blinks her brown eyes open as she catwalks to where I stand and hugs me by my waist.

"Thanks for last night" She muffles into my waist, raises her head to look up at me and flashes me her award-winning baby-fever smile. I'd have to find a boyfriend and then a husband before we can talk about that. Ahh~ how lonely I am.

I've always wanted to meet my 'someone' like in a dream. So pure, the clouds would be big and as bouncy as jiggling jello. Two rainbows would be in the sky and the world would slow to halt. The breeze would be still but the air would be waiting right in front of you for you to sniff in...Weird description but the point is it would be love at first sight. Like I would know when I have found my soulmate right there and then. I wish...

Helen and Mike were as pleasant as the morning smell of tea. This morning their smiles had been even bigger when they suggested we had our own Bonfire gathering.

 Miranda was still...well Miranda. When Kion told me he didn't understand her I thought he said so because he was a guy but I couldn't tell why she would, one morning be smiling at me and indulging me in her activities but the next second she would switch up so fast. Whether it was with the family or not, she'd suddenly act cold. At first, I thought it might be as a result of some friendship struggles but she's been doing this all week and I was getting tired. I still know deep down though that she cares about me, that I could right my wrong but how can I improve when I don't even know the exact cause of all this?

But surely, the problem was with me.

"Good morning darling"

"Good morning chicken legs" I smirk as I turn around to face a half-naked Kion. He's wearing black slacks but his upper body is left to see as steam rises from his back, his shoulders rise and drop. I notice the little drops of water that cling to his hair slide down to his broad shoulders.

"What sports do you play?" I inquire about this. Why are all parts of him toned? Superior masculine genes? What the heck??"Volleyball" He shrugs his shoulder as he dips his head into the white towel in his hand when he comes up for a breath he completes with " And badminton"

I've seen TikToks on badminton and if I knew someone that played badminton I'd have asked why they were not toned!

"Ready for the bonfire?" He quirks his eyebrows at me. Oh yes, the bonfire. Helen wanted a family-only gathering but I never really took the Hendersons as Halloween Enthusiasts. Helen had even stopped me from packing to help her out with planting skeletal figures around the pool. But everything was different, even the state of their wealth.

****

Different kinds of fruits and meat are splayed across the long, seemingly never-ending table. Jamaican Beefy Jerky, cakes, fish, turkey, chicken, papaya. Why was there so much food for just one event? The food on the table looked like it could feed my family for months!

I almost feel bad for having to eat this much when my mom and dad were probably working their butts off. But it's not like I could do anything with the food, I couldn't ship it or gift them by flight but yet...this wasn't sitting well with me.

Was I a bad person for wishing all this food would be sold and sent to my parents? The Hendersons were trying hard to support my family but I felt they weren't trying hard enough. Gosh, that felt so bad, I take it back. Just because we were family didn't mean Helen should abandon her family in the gutters to raise somebody else's up. What would I do if Daisy needed my help in the future?

"Ready for the bonfire? It starts in 6 hours" Kion comes from behind me to pluck a grape from the table. His eyes barely graze over the food.

"I feel tired" I rub my cosy sweater into my bodice. Why was the Aircon always on? Did the Hendersons not understand the concept of humans being warm-blooded?

"You won't be tired by night time hopefully" I side-eye him at the innuendo. I don't think he means to be this flirty. It's just his nature.

"And where are you going? Kion" Helen walks in with an apron, her dirt blonde hair is tied into her bun and her shape peers through the apron she has on. 

The marvelous scent of pumpkin pie floats into my nose. It transports me into a world filled with orange, yellow and golden leaves. I can see every single leave on the tree, the sun is peeking between the branches and there is silence. The air has a tinge of this sweet-smelling candy that makes you want to inhale. I'm pushed out of my mindscape when the smell fades away. You know those moments when you remember a place, a setting or an event in your childhood just by the smell of something very specific but it only lasts 3 seconds and then the aroma vanishes.

"Nowhere Mom" he rolls his eyes behind his mother's back and I look down to see him dressed in less than casual clothes.

"Did you just roll your eyes at me?" His mother inquires while she sets the tray of food down on the stove without looking back. What was she a witch? Oh my gwosh. She might be! Was this why she came to Salem? Because her powers are stronger here?

"I did not" Kion quietly scoffs but his face twists in horror probably thinking what I am thinking as we lock eyes with each other.

"So you're not going out? Come help me then" Helen's voice is smiling as she turns to her son, Kion is looking anywhere but at his mother. "Help your mother?" She urges.

"Mom when you put it like that..." Kion groans.

"I wanna help Mama" Daisy is rushing into the kitchen with a sheet of paper she's coloured on. She shows it to her mother. Helen inspects it with a face that soon melts into joy. She turns it towards me and it's a picture of 5 people standing in front of a lawn but what draws my attention is the stick girl with a luggage standing beside them. There's a yellow smiley face at the corner of the picture.

"How sweet of you, Daisy. Don't be like your brother Kion, understand me? You're my last hope" Helen pins the picture up to their refrigerator's door and stares at it melancholically, I'm so lost in her smile I don't notice Kion sneaking behind me to get away from the kitchen with mad ninja skills.

"Kion Danielson Henderson, help your cousin unpack" Helen turns around and brands a wooden spoon as a sword.

"Unpack? Why would he need to help me unpack?" I smile confusedly. "I thought today's gathering was for us to usher me for leaving tomorrow" Mom told me I would be living here for only 10 days.

"Didn't you know? Your mom wants you to live with here for another month" My smile drops. Wait, wait. Why was I here for a month without my knowledge? My parents never spoke to me about this.

"I don't understand" I lick my lips.

"Your parents used the last of their money to send you here, they are in a very dire situation but they don't want you to be suffering with them" Stop. Stop.

"I can't stay here for any time longer than a week. I have exams, I have friends, I have school and dreams and hopes a- and and...I have everything. Th-they... couldn't just..." It clicks.

"Send me" I stop for a second, was that why Miranda was forced to give me her room? Was that why they bought new clothes and shoes for me? Was that why they'd been urging me to follow Kion to school all this while. I wasn't supposed to stay here for just a month was I?

I look up at Helen with a deep sinking feeling. What wasn't she telling me? Why was she always smiling? Stop.

 Stop smiling.

 Don't smile. 

My bagpipe lesson, hours of learning how to speak Gaelic, days, months, years of learning more about Celtic history than England's was all for me to give it up. All for nothing. Thrown away like it meant nothing. it didn't but now it meant the world

"I want to go back home" I start with a sentence I would have never guessed I would ever say in my life. "My flight tomorrow is at 6am"

"Honey, you'd have to pack up for the flight tomorrow" Was that why she's been distracting me from packing up. Every time. All this time? She knew...

"I want to speak with my mother" I clenched my fist. 

"No, right now Aisling. Your parents are bu-"

 "I said. I. Want. To. Speak. With. My mother." I grit out the words with much fury. "Helen"

Helen makes a hurt expression then her lips go up to a sneer. "You and your mother are alike in those ways. Always quick to abandon people or get angry when things don't go your way" What? You betrayed me and now you're angry I'm angry? This was the problem with everyone. They always assumed I would turn out to be my mother. When Daisy first asked if I was a true Irish. When you were concerned I'd be angry for them not installing Halloween decorations on my first day.

Mathair.

"You could get me on a plane right now. You could get me to the other side of the world three times in a luxury-class jet if you wanted. But you can't even help your family?" Helen flinches away, visibly hurt by these words, but it's too late. The words have come tumbling out of my mouth, and Helen retreats away.

"Why should I spare change on someone who is not related to me?" Change? Freaking change?

I rush upstairs to call Mother. The line rings once.

 Twice. 

Thrice.

 It keeps ringing. Pick up. Pick up! Why doesn't she pick up?! I raise my hand to smack the phone against something.

*Knock* *Knock* I hear someone knock and I almost answer them out of habit. Habit? Mother never knocked on my door but would barge in uninvited yet it had only taken me 10 days to fall into the habit of answering Helen or Kion whenever they knocked.

Sold. 

I have been sold to my buyers. 

It would only be a matter of time before I was forced into being a housemaid. I would have killed to spend the summer with Henderson but not anymore. My god, I have fucked up so bad. So bad. What have I done? I recall Helen's cold voice as she uttered those words that made me run up to my room. This wasn't even MY room. I was ungrateful, illiterate, self-centred, mindless, too dumb, and always having my head in the clouds.

I am. I still even after all these years. I reiterate the words to myself. I find myself unable to breathe as the knocks start again.

I find myself rushing to the window. Pale sickly hands knock on my window and I grab them to cling to the tall tree. The hands let me work my way down from them.

As soon as my legs hit the grass I'm running at full speed out their gate. I don't hear anyone yelling at me to come back and I don't hear Helen's laughter echo through the kitchen instead it's Mike's low words but I can't make anything out. 

Facing all these bright white buildings makes me feel sick. So perfect. Too perfect. Why perfect? Why wasn't average good? Why was perfection always the goal? Why wasn't I perfect. My legs float. 

Why couldn't I ever be perfect? Feel Perfect. Why was I ugly? Inside and out? Never good, never bad but still below average. My feet thud heavily on the asphalt.

 I wasn't a good person. My lungs hurt badly. Not wasn't I not a good person. My eyes hurt. Who's crying? Not me! So why were my eyes watering?

"You and your mom are the same" No. Please no.

"You know your mom has always never liked this so I thought you..." I do, I love it. It's not okay, it's awesome.

Why was I abandoned? Again and again and again. Friends left and I turned to family until we were cut off from the family after my 13th birthday. And now Mom and Dad have left me. I feel my throat closing up. Why is the air leaving me? Am I so Abadonable?

I want to sleep...foreve-

"Wake up"