-------------♥-------------
It hurts to know that
I'm alone in the world
In the midst of so many...

-------------♥-------------

>>>>>>>>>

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear yara, happy birthday to you" Yara fluttered her eyes open to see the happy faces of her parents, sister Josie, Eliakim and even benny singing to her with a small cake written Happy twelve years old Yara.

Her mum gathered them all to pray, kneeling down beside her bed with eyes closed.

"dear God, thank you for adding one more year to my daughter's life. Lord, as my sweet little daughter becomes plus one today, I pray you'll be with her, guide her every step in life. Be her light in darkness and May her years be as pleasant and full of fulfilment. Amen"

"Amen" they all said in unison.

"Happy birthday my baby girl -mum loves you so much"  Yara's mother said, tugging her cheeks playfully as she engulfed her in a tight embrace

"I love you too mummy" she replied kissing her mum softly on her cheeks. Her mum pulled away giving space to her dad who had crouched down to her bed with a proud smile, cutting a piece of the cake before feeding it to her

"My baby girl has grown alot- daddy is so proud of you " he pinched her nose softly, grinning at the cute childlike face giggling back at him

"Happy birthday baby sister-you're twelve even though you still look like a five year oldie to me " Eliakim said earning a glare from Yara and a hard knock from her mum, making him yelp whilst causing them all to laugh at his expense.

"Happy birthday my little butterfly-" sister Josie said coming closer to her, smiling so affectionately as she began stroking her soft black hair gently

" small butterfly signifies life and hope and change, it's an all shade of intense beauty, a beauty which you're going to discover as you go through life. A beauty which you'll experience and accept and while you go through that phase of your life, mum, dad, Eliakim and me- Josie, we'll always be there. To cheer you on and to lend our shoulders when you feel like giving up on life and to be the hope and light at the end of the tunnel. This promise, " Josie smiled at little Yara who fixed a soft stare at her

"Is my first birthday gift to you " Josie finished off, kissing her sister on her forehead before wrapping in a tight hug

"You didn't have to say so much yunno ?" Eliakim said, smirking at Josie who just snorted in response

"Happy birthday miss Yara" Benny smiled warmly at the twelve year old Yara grinning brightly at her.

"I love you all too. You are the best family I can ever have in this life and in the next " Yara said heartily. her small face, all rosy in happiness.

"Awwn that was so touching. I love you kids so much that I feel like I would burst soon " her mother cooed pulling them all into a group hug

"Okay so how are we celebrating today? " Josie said when they all pulled out from the hug

"It's Yara's day, chose anywhere you wanna go baby, whatever you wanna do and we'll do just that" her father said, turning to his daughter who was so giddy with excitement

"Can I have a party in kids inn? I can call my friends and everyone. Please daddy, please mummy? " she pouted giving them a puppy look

"Or maybe we can just have a sit at home fun party" her mum said suggestively

"Please mummy. I really want to go to kids inn"

"Umm...kids inn? I should have know how kids celebrate parties " Eliakim cut in earning this time a slap from Josie

"Shift jhare..shey is club house you want us to start going na ? "

"I was joking na " he retorted holding the back of his head in pain and muttering something about how violent she was

Yara turned to her dad "please daddy..what do you say? Can we go to kids inn?"

Her dad smiled "of course honey, it's your day. And besides we'll start now getting everything ready " her mum smiled in resignation

Two hours later and the car was bubbling with so much excitement. Her father handled the wheel while her mum sat beside him. Josie and Eliakim were seated at the back while Yara sat in between her parents

Eliakim had kept talking and talking of how he wanted to own a plane when he turned 20 while Josie teased him about crashing all his passengers and little Yara busied herself with eating lots of chocolate her mother had made specially for her.

Little Yara held the chocolate up to her dad's lips "daddy say Ah.." she opened her mouth, gesturing for him to do the same

"Ah" she put the chocolate into his mouth with a genuine smile watching him smack his lips in pleasure

"This is so good.." he exclaimed, looking at his daughter who giggled

"Mummy made them"

"Wow my beautiful wife is so talented" her father said tugging her mum's cheeks affectionately as her mum beamed widely while Yara watched them both in ecstasy

"Will you like some more daddy? " She asked, raising the chocolate up to his mouth. He turned to her, opening his mouth for more-

It happened so swiftly. No one even saw it coming. One minute everyone was in ecstasy and the next, her mum was screaming 'watch out', a trailer crashing into their car and the car summersaulting into flames

The next minute was her dad being stuck in his seat, her mum helping Eliakim to out of the car and little Yara dashing out as the car set ablaze. Josie's lingering stare on her as she watched her get caught in the flames

Dad was out with the help of the ambulance and fire service but Josie-

Josie was gone

>>>>>>>>>

"What was that with you being unnecessarily rude?! " Mrs Waje questioned. Her brows tightly knitted in anger as she fixated a stern look on April

April had used the back of her hands to dry out the tears from her eyes not perturbed about giving any response. Was she even suppose to give one anyway? She was the one who had the bottle flung at her. It wasn't the first time. She had seen him smile at her injury. It made her wonder if he wasn't slowly turning psychotic. One minute he smiled satisfactorily at her fearful self and the next, he was looking all sober trying to apologize.

She bent down slowly, picking up the broken pieces of the bottle as her mum continued to ramble to her ears about how stubborn she was. Lord knows, she wanted to yell so badly at her, to say alot of hurtful things to her and to make her feel the pathetic way she did right now still she couldn't.

"Why did you want him to stay for dinner?" Her voice came out so quiet-so broken like she was slowly crumbling in sadness

Her mum gave a long sigh "don't you see? You're going to have an interview with House of glamour in two days time and they'd be interested to know everything about you.." her mum started off in a conspiratory manner of speaking

April bit the insides of her cheeks, digging a piece of the glass into her palms, trying woefully to control her heart which looked like it was about to rip into shreds

"So?" She manage to reply

"It's going to be bad to let the media know about your dad. You're the perfect teen model people dream about- you're supposed to keep that dream alive afterall, it's worth it " her mum divulged futher.

April looked at her in utter disbelief and disappointment. This got to be her having a horrible dream. No! This has to be her in a nightmare. She peered intensely at her mother's face, breaking into a round fit of humorless laughter, digging the broken glass harder into her palms-her mother was joking right? This was a fucking nightmare.

It had to be!!!

The sharp stinging pain she felt each time the glass dug into her palms, the rush of thick red blood which dripped slowly from her palms, the confused expression of her mother staring at her in bewilderment, the painful tug at her heart-all these were more than enough to tell her that the woman, her mother. Standing right in front of her was NOT kidding

Her cheeks hurt. Her whole self was hurting and all her mum cared about was the media, the stupid interviews, and she being the freaking perfect model to people who knew not a tip of how she lived everyday. People who knew nothing of how many sleeping pills she had to take in every damn night before she fell asleep....

"You think what I'm saying is a joke?" Her mum asked in reference to why April had laughed. The latter shot the woman a cold stare, the coners of her lips tilted into a grimace

"No. I think you're a joke " she sassed

Her mum scoffed loudly in annoyance, looking at her like she suddenly grew three heads. "The nerve of you to dare call me a joke huh?!" She snapped

"So what?! Are you going to fling something at me?" She retorted trying so hard to hold back the tears bristling in her eyes as she continued, her voice breaking down in between every word

"You saw the cut on my face, the broken pieces of glass. Heck?! You may even have seen him fling the bottle at me and what do you do? Ask him to stay for dinner? Tell me to forgive him? Don't you feel horrible about saying that? "

"He said he was sorry. April you and I clearly heard him say that. Why are you blowing it so out of proportion? "

"Really?" April looked at her in a stunned expression

" i'm blowing it so out of proportion? He came back dead drunk to ask me to forgive him, blamed me for his failure, had hit me, smiled at my pain and later on apologize and yeah this was one of the umpteenth time he was doing so and yet I'm the one blowing it out of proportion?!"

"April.." her mum called softly, taking a deep inhalation "okay fine. I'm sorry for saying that but he is your father. And no matter what he remains your father. But what? If he says he's sorry then why don't you just let it go? What would people say when they hear you have riffs going on with your dad who would apparently tell your fans that he's trying to change and be a good person to a stone cold daughter who's has doubts about him...it's going to be some news and it'd probably affect your gigs all over the world..."

April chuckled dryly "it's funny how no don't know who's worse between tou two..." she fixated her eyes into nothingness, her face devoid of all emotions. Even her voice sounded so dead as she continued

"All you care about is what the media will say, my fandom and whatever shit that's going on with me in the entertainment world.." she took a deep breath

"I'm just trying to look out for you April "her mum cut in "it's not like your life is crumbling right now"

"It is!" April interjected, still staring blankly into space "Someone said I was rotting in a bigger hell..and she's right. She's right because I'm exhausted and I'm tired of keeping up with fake smiles and personality..."

Her mum scoffed, a deep frown etched on her face "you also wanted this celebrity life the day you agreed to do your first modelling gig. The day you starred in a mini drama series. April you wanted it..."

"And I'm tired of it. I am exhausted and I am drained. I feel so detached from the world that I don't even know what is going on with me again..."

"So what? You want to give up? "Her mum asked rhetorically in a perplexed tone "you want to give up when you've built a large fandom? When you're getting large contracts to sign as top brand ambassadors for elite companies? When you're getting huge roles to act in movies with a high grossing? Can you even imagine how that sounds like? All for what? I never gave birth to a loser April and I won't let you turn out to be one" her mum said with a note of finality

It all made sense to April. The reason why her mum badly wanted her to get back to her father. Yet one thing wasn't so clear, why her mum had married him at first.

A wry smile etched on April's face. She riverted her eyes to her mum who gazed at her in utter desperation. The blood flowing from her palms had already started dripping slowly on the floor. The pains from the broken glass had seemed to numb her. She didn't feel it no matter how much blood dripped. Her mum gasped in horror immediately she saw the blood

"Jesus Christ!! Your hand is bleeding April" she rushed over to her, putting a call through to the housekeepers around to quickly get the first aid kit

April chuckled "my cheeks were bleeding too. Why didn't you notice that faster?"

Her mum huffed, opening her mouth to say something when April pulled out a beige long jacket over her, cutting her off

"You know what?! That interview and whatever else you have on my schedule can swim the bottom of the sea for all i care- so yeah. You can go ahead and knock yourself out however you want " she declared caustically, not bothering to look at her mum's astonished expression as she called out to her

In annonyance but most of all dread.

>>>>>>>

My heart is seriously breaking for my characters. 💔 💔 😭😭😭😭 They're all having a rough time. April, that babe sha...I can't even believe her in her last sentence😂 it's sha funny to me

April's parents are horrible. And then Yara. Yara omg 😭😭😭😭 💔 💔

Anyway some of you say they're rude, which I agree with you but somehow I don't blame them for being  that way and and I'm not saying it's okay to be rude but these kids are having a rough time and they need there sanity intact. The least they can do is be polite to people who are toxic to them 😕 💔

Anyway to each his own..so tell me if you liked this chapter my apologies cos it's a short chapter.

don't forget to vote. Alright😍😘❤
See you when i see you💋

Ujurita xoxo
❤❤