Have you ever wondered about a nearby – faraway island that unexpectedly is fun to live in? Out of modern technology, out of misty blazing love romance and drama? Have you ever wondered about the perfect place like this?

I never wondered about it before.

Cowie Island, I really can't understand its name at first. An 80 km2 island surrounded by the ocean, somehow is shaped like a cow, with 70% of its land area covered with jungle and forest. But the chief told me that the name itself wasn't deprived by the shape. The shape is purely unintended. Cowie means 'Cow', of course, as I expected. The cow was the main animal of this island, the source of happiness, the source of joy, and the source of economy, of course. If you can see any cows that live better than the ones in Cowie, then I can assume that you've never seen the cows in Cowie Island.

Well, you can laugh at its name, but yes. The place exists.

It is an escape place.

Honestly, I don't care much about where I live. I can live at ease because I used to live in an orphanage. The orphanage itself wasn't all that sketchy. It was a good orphanage with some great friends and a great mama-orphanage. The building had 3 floors; the first floor was the place where we used to have our dinner, breakfast, lunch, or even did our homework together, you name it. A clean kitchen was located right next to the dining area where Mama Orphan cooked for us with our 'older sisters', and there was also a place with a fireplace and books, not compatible, but it's the most comfortable place I've ever been in my whole life. The dim light at night, sometimes the stories my 'sisters' used to read. They're all my treasure. The second floor was our study and play area. Some of the indoor plants were placed here and we took care of them every day without an order. To be honest, I'm not a really morning person but whenever I wake up, I see that the plants are neatly watered. We've been taught to always respect lives including plants. Mama orphanage's bedroom is here, too. I figured it made her easier to watch on us for being in the second level. The third floor was the level for bedrooms. Nothing fancy, just bedrooms. One bedroom was shared with 4-7 children. Not the most comfortable amount, I know. But all of the children were perfect as they were. I won't say that we didn't do a mess. But I guess the mess was nothing if we always cleaned up after ourselves, right?

Though it's a good orphanage, the home is what I've been dreaming of having. Until one day, someone asked me to live with them, a lovely woman with jewelry on her body. Super rich, I can assume. I was so captivated by her smile, a lovely smile, and a lovely personality. From what I've heard from Mama Orphan, she's rich but she's not entitled. She's like the most perfect human alive and she needed to adopt someone who can be her light.

"What about her children?"

Mama Orphan told me about her background. It was Mrs. Charlonzi, not a maiden name just for your information. Mrs. Charlonzi's wealth didn't come from her husband. It was from her family. Though she'd been raised with a golden spoon, she'd been taught humanity and kindness; something that usually lacks from the rich. Mrs. Charlonzi had a daughter, with the name Mawar which means 'the rose'. Such a beautiful name with a beautiful daughter, that's what I thought and imagined at that time. But then, why did she need another daughter? The question drove me crazy. Alright, it's not like it's the first time I'd seen adoption in my orphanage. But this particular adoption by Mrs. Charlonzi took my curiosity. Another lucky day, Mrs. Charlonzi was looking for someone with kindness and cheerful traits... and my mama orphan suggested me.

I still could remember very clearly how majestic Mrs. Charlonzi was in my eyes. She's like a queen with black pearled shiny hair. You could smell her perfume from one meter away and that's a pleasure smell. She decided right ahead to adopt me while she looked into my eyes. I thought it was just because I 'did good' but no. The truth was, that I shared the same birthday as her daughter.

I guess it's another luck for me which I don't mind.

I was 8 years old, not a child and not a teenager. I mean, I understood what I needed to do right when I was adopted. I must behave pretty cautiously and kindly so I won't bring bad words to my orphanage. It's not really my habit to do bad things, though. I'm pretty a good-mannered child for my age. The road to my new home was a bit long. I can see the rural area slowly turning into a city with tall buildings on my left and right. Mrs. Charlonzi, who decided to sit on my right, clearly enjoyed me for enjoying the scenery around.

"Do you like living in the village?" asked Mrs. Charlonzi.

I nodded and smiled. "There are trees that I love to play with. I also love to read under the shade with my sisters and mama."

"The foods taste great, maybe it's because Mama's a good cook. I tried to cook once and I almost burned the kitchen."

Mrs. Charlonzi laughed at my story. But not that long until she asked another question.

"Well, you do mention about your sisters a lot. How about the people helping you at the orphanage?"

I couldn't seem to understand what she meant. It's like I need to open the huge memory book inside my brain to understand what she meant by 'the people helping me around'. After a short break, I did remember the old man who used to tend our back garden. I didn't really know his name, but we called him Mr. Green. He was a strong old man, stronger than an old man of his age and he diligently tended our garden. We didn't have a father figure in the orphanage, but with him on our side, we got a grandpa figure. That's how close we were with Mr. Green.

"I remember Mr. Green helped us in the garden," I answered. "He's super nice and he sometimes bakes us some cookies. Not the chocolate chips one, but they tasted marvelous."

Mrs. Charlonzi was looking at me very carefully while I was telling her the boring story about Mr. Green. Was it really boring? I thought a rich lady wouldn't be that interested in a story about an old gardener in a merely small orphanage. But it happened. Mrs. Charlonzi listened and looked at me like I was her joy and pride.

"Mr. Green was no longer young so we needed to help him in the garden. He usually came 5 days per week but not anymore. I noticed that he only came on Tuesday, so it was fun every Tuesday with him around."

"How about the garden? You had a big garden so it must be pretty a mess," Mrs. Charlonzi asked out of curiosity.

I nodded again.

"It was really a big mess. So, I and some of my sisters took turns to tend the garden," I proudly answered. "It was fun. Maybe it's not as beautiful as what Mr. Green had done, but we were happy to help him."

Mrs. Charlonzi gave me a big beautiful smile. And just that, we reached the Charlonzi house.

I stepped out of the car and looked fully flabbergasted. I was amazed by the grand size of the house. This white and huge house was my house forever and I was still amazed with my mouth wide open. There were two men in suits who tried to help me to take my bags but I insisted on taking everything on my own since I didn't bring that much stuff with me. The kind men in the suit looked shocked by my attitude. Was I being this weird on my first day? I don't know for sure. I showed them my biggest smile, which led them to be shocked too, but then they managed to reply with a smile back.

I followed my stepmother to the door, with some of her maids already expecting her to come, and took her coat. The maids also tried to honor me with their service but I refused politely. Again, my bag wasn't that big that it needed to be carried by two maids. I can do the work all by myself. Shocked, but the maids respected my choice and went to the back side of the house. Flabbergasted part 2, seriously. I spread my sight to the house – or a castle for my reference. I didn't even know what a castle looked like. The floors in this house were shiny granite – almost like a mirror that I can see my reflection clearly on the floor -- and I can smell perfume coming from the walls. Fancy and expensive are echoing so clearly in my ears. It seemed like it was too good to be true to live in such an elegant house.

That's when I saw Mawar for the first time.

She's dressed with draped in luxurious fabrics that whisper with every movement. The dress was bright pink, adorned with shimmering sequins and delicate laces. A bow lace placed on her hair made her appearance almost perfect. But what's missing? Yes, it's her gaze. Her eyes can talk to me that she looked down on me.

"We don't need another daughter for you."

Mrs. Charlonzi – or my mom, now I should call her – just smiled before answering to her killing question.

"There's a decision that you have to accept," she answered gracefully, though her grace wasn't a thing that could satisfy Mawar's disappointment.

"Did I lack on something?" asked Mawar. "I did great at school and I always adore and obey your commands..."

Mawar sounded almost desperate, but Mrs. Charlonzi was cold and thick as ice.

"You need a friend or a sibling."

That's when Mawar ran off to her room, I assumed. She cried, shouting and looking for her dad who was busy reading in the book room, probably she was begging him to remove me from the Charlonzi. Little did she know that Mr. Charlonzi never opposed his wife's decision.

I thought I was going to experience the best life in this luxurious mansion, but with Mawar in this house, everything seemed harder to live.

Mr. and Mrs. Charlonzi didn't seem to treat me any differently than Mawar. Even if I did understand completely that I was just a stepdaughter who was still so awkward to talk casually with both of my step-parents. Mr. Charlonzi worked as a politician and he's somehow influential so he's rarely home. Mrs. Charlonzi was the total opposite. She's always home --and also worked at home. Sometimes I had the chance to play at her office while she was working. The documents she needed to sign were all piled up, and her phone never stopped ringing which built an image of her for me: the perfect lady I want to be. Soon after, I knew that she was born rich. Her parents owned some big businesses and this big house was just another property her parents owned.

Do you know the story about Cinderella and her stepsisters? I was called as Cinderella of Charlonzi and Mawar as my step-sister --though the fact was different.

The maids, the butlers, the gardeners, the drivers, or if I'm allowed to say: all of the people who helped my Charlonzi family, were fond of me. I used to help around and that made me loved. I knew that I might be a bit annoying sometimes for intruding on their work time, and of course, I'd been apologizing before but they always say that they didn't mind me doing what I liked: playing with them.

I feel loved, but the main character in this house wasn't me. It was Mawar and I knew it all along.

There was a time when I missed Mama Orphan, the orphanage, and my orphanage sisters so much. My consciousness kept on talking to me that I don't need this kind of luxury if my life doesn't bring any peace to my mind. The reason for this was only Mawar. Honestly and truthfully, she brought bad news for me. She yelled at me, she shouted and nagged at me, and it wasn't that nice when she came to my hair, pulled it, or sometimes kicked me just because she was bored.

She knew that I wouldn't tell our parents about what she had done to me.

One time, the situation was kinda hellish for me --and the helpers. Mawar didn't allow us to work or play together, so of course I felt a little bit lonely. I decided to go out of the house just to refresh my mind.

It was 10 am. Children like me should have been studying at school at that time, but I and Mawar were different. Our parents hired some private teachers so we didn't need to go outside to school. So of course, by that time, I wouldn't expect anyone at my age to be in their house.

It was strange but there was a slum in front of my house and I saw a boy playing in his small yard with a few onions planted on it. His toy car --that he was playing with-- was all worn out. Then, I just realized that he wore dirty clothes and a pair of broken sandals.

But he looked happy.

"Are you sick?"

The boy stopped her toy car only to respond to me with his confused face.

"No, I'm not sick. Why?" he asked me back.

"I'm sorry..." I apologized because I was too afraid to get another enemy. "I thought you weren't schooling because you are sick."

The boy gave me a crunchy laughter. I guess my question was kinda funny according to his opinion.

"I'm poor, not sick," he replied. "But it's okay. I don't need school anyway."

I stayed closer and watched him play with his toy. I decided to only watch him and didn't ask for another question while kept thinking that I wasn't a bother.

"You aren't schooling too," the boy opened up a conversation. "Are you sick?"

I shook my head.

"Are you poor?"

I shook my head again.

"Oh dear, are you okay?" The boy suddenly panicked. "Are you lost? I'll go with you to take you home."

I smiled while shaking my head.

"I have finished my lesson for today so I can play," I responded to put his heart at ease. He let out a big sigh, then continued to play his car again.

"I don't have another car for you to play."

"I don't mind. It's enough for me to see you playing."

He smiled again and played cheerfully. Somehow, he told me that his toy car was a GT Fastback Mustang. I didn't know anything about cars but I wrote the car's name down inside my brain. After some minutes of playing, we heard a loud cough coming from his log cabin. Loud enough to make the birds outside shake and fly away back to the sky.

"I'm sorry. I need to go now."

The boy urgently came to the cough's aid and left his Mustang outside. I didn't dare to ask whether I could play with him for another day, so I left his house in disappointment.

I sneakily came home so Mawar wouldn't notice and succeeded. I had a plan in my mind to reach the library as soon as possible. Out of luck, my mom was there, reading some heavy books.

"What's up?" my mom saw my strange tiptoes. I jumped in shock, which made her laugh. One thing that I knew, I shouldn't come suspiciously so telling her the truth might be the best option for me.

I came to her side and again, got charmed by her marvelous appearance in pajamas.

"Are you sick?" I asked the same question that I gave to the boy.

Again, I got a confused look from the people I asked the question to.

"No, no, Love," Mrs. Charlonzi sounded worried. "Do I look sick to you?"

"No..." I hesitated. "It's my first time to see you in pajamas at this hour so I thought that you were sick. I'm sorry."

Mrs. Charlonzi smiled and hugged my side. That's the time when I just realized that she wasn't sick. Her body smelled fresh and flowery. I judged no sick people would smell this good.

"Well, thank you for thinking of me," Mrs. Charlonzi was rubbing my back as she kept talking. "I can rest for today, that's why I don't wear any boring clothes."

I looked at her kind eyes. The boy and my stepmother, both of them had taught me that if something's off, it doesn't necessarily mean that the person with the off sign bore a sickness.

"So, skip on myself. What are you doing?" asked Mrs. Charlonzi. "Are you hiding from the cooks? I heard that you had a promise to cook with them."

I felt bad so suddenly. It wasn't like that I intentionally broke the promise. It was rather forced. I was forced to do what Mawar ordered me to do or else I didn't want to see what was going to happen to the helpers.

"I... can't..." I hang the question.

Mrs. Charlonzi looked a bit confused but she respected my answer.

"Alright. Just make sure to apologize later and please don't make a promise that you can't keep, okay?"

I nodded slowly. I remembered the moment when the cooks shared their food and the laughs. I would never experience it again with Mawar against it. How about the gardeners? The maids? The butlers? I let out a sad sigh.

"Do you want to read something?"

Her question woke me up from Mawar's curse.

"Mom, do you know anything about Facebook Mustang?" I replied with another question.

She took my question so seriously that I could see her eyebrows wrinkled. I didn't think that she would know about cars too, that was my blind judgment.

"I don't think that we have a Facebook Mustang..." she responded carefully. "Did you mean... a Fastback Mustang?"

My face brightened up as my stepmother patted my head. This felt so unreal that a majestic woman like her could understand automotive. I still felt that this was a dream, as I followed her steps to one of the shelves.

"This book has the Mustang," she gave me one big book for me and she walked back to our reading table. "I hope that it won't bore you."

I didn't directly follow her afterward to the reading table. I felt so 'important' for receiving such a thick encyclopedia about Mustang with the drawings on the pages. I looked at my stepmother, she was already drawn into another thick book. I felt powerful like her so suddenly.

I opened the first page and understood nothing. There were a lot of words that I wasn't able to comprehend so the drawings were helping me so bad. Page by page, I thoroughly observed all the drawings without a single line left. Until I finally found a page with 'GT Fastback Mustang: First Generation'. Again, I didn't know much about the car or just cars in general, but I did understand that the Mustang I saw in the book wasn't similar to the one that the boy played with him. I was pretty sure that the 'Mustang' the boy had didn't have this bright red color or anything coated. It didn't even shape like a Mustang. If I was able to be rude for a bit, the shape of his car looked almost like a pan –that my Mama Orphan used to cook with-- cut into two.

Was the car sick? I didn't think so, of course.

I lifted the heavy encyclopedia back to the reading table. My stepmother helped me when I was getting closer to her, a bit of laugh in her side mouth because she saw me trying so hard with the huge book.

"Was it fun?" asked her.

I climbed the tall chair –for my height—before answering.

"I didn't understand anything," I shrugged.

"You didn't understand a thing but still you get the book," she stated. "Something blew your mind?"

I went to the page with GT Fastback Mustang: First Generation I found earlier. I pointed out the picture, and Mrs. Charlonzi's eyes followed my finger.

"What's wrong with this car?" she questioned my observation.

I hesitated a bit.

"Is this car... sick?" I asked.

She laughed with her hands closed her mouth.

"No, I don't think so, Dear," she answered. "Do you happen to see this car elsewhere?"

I nodded.

"Where?" she kept on asking.

I didn't directly answer her question. I guessed that it was just a matter of time before I would be caught playing outside so it was either telling her now or telling her later.

I decided to tell her now.

"The boy outside..." I pointed in the direction of his house as I talked. "I tried to talk with him more and he... had this toy and he called it Fastback Mustang..."

"... But his Mustang didn't look like this one in the picture..." I continued. "It didn't have this bright red... It didn't even have a coating and it shaped round and funny."

Mrs. Charlonzi –who wasn't only beautiful and rich, but also intelligent—understood me right ahead from my silly explanation. It seemed like she had been observing the slums outside of her house too but she didn't have anyone to talk about it.

"Luna, my dear..." my stepmother bent over to ease herself into talking to me. "The toy he had wasn't even an imitation of a Mustang. He just named it."

"So, he lied to me?" I asked sadly.

My stepmother shook her head almost immediately like she tried to not make me misunderstand even further.

"No, no, no..."

She stared at the chandelier above us, looking for something suitable for her explanation.

"That chandelier..." she responded. "Let's say that I was the owner of the chandelier. It's a pretty big chandelier, right? It must be pretty expensive just by looking at it."

I followed my mom's eyes –to the chandelier. Yes, it was a big beautiful chandelier. I lost count at 20 when I tried to count the crystals embellished on it.

"Dear, unfortunately, you don't have enough money to buy one even if you want one. You only have this big book but you named it 'Chandelier'..."

"But it isn't a chandelier, Mom..." I refused.

"Yes, the book isn't a chandelier. You just named it because you fancy the beauty of that chandelier."

"It works the same with the Mustang your friend had. It isn't... Mustang."

I tried to understand what my mom had been explaining. That was the first time I realized about finances. Being in a good orphanage with so many investors, I had lived a good life. Now, I joined the Charlonzi, which meant I also lived a good life financially. The first time I read the word 'poor' was in one of the fairytale books. That being said, I never exactly understood the real meaning of being poor.

"Being unable to purchase or fulfill your need because you don't have enough money is the meaning of being poor, my dear..."

My heart shrunk. I felt pain inside of my chest. Was the world always this unfair? That boy was so kind to me but he was also poor. No kind soul had to experience poverty, that was what I thought.

"Mom, does it mean that he can't go to school because he can't pay?" I asked out of curiosity.

My stepmother tilted her head. "He doesn't come to school? How can he know 'Mustang'? It's a rare ride here."

I avoided my mom's glance because I couldn't seem to find the answer either.

"Was he a good boy?" she asked with a better question.

I nodded. "He was kind. He tried to take me home because he thought I was lost."

My mom laughed again. I felt relieved just by hearing her laughter.

"Well, if that's the case..."

"... Just please don't get lost, okay? It's okay to play outside but please be home at dinner or lunch, any food time that you want."

My eyes were widened. I was surprised that my stepmother allowed me to play outside with the boy.

"You won't get angry with me...??" I hesitated.

"Well..." she looked thinking really hard. "For starters, if you get lost and do pranks, then I'll get angry."

I learnt a lot that day; about poverty and my mom being so wise. She was my role model in everything and I really looked up to her. Since she allowed me to play with the boy, I've been studying harder, reading more, and helping around more often just so I can help the boy. Once the studying was done, I sneakily went outside to meet the boy. Well, I wasn't trying to avoid my mom. I tried to avoid Mawar before she and herself took my happiness from me.

The boy's name was Lance.

The more time I spent with him, the more I knew him better. He had light brownish hair that sparkled under the light. Even if he dressed poorly and dirty, he had perfect hair. Sometimes I saw him helping his mom around by planting the onions, sometimes cabbage in that 1m2 front yard. Sometimes I saw him walking with his mom with a towel on their hands, maybe they went out to a public bath. One thing that I adored the most about Lance was his soft skills –of course the little me didn't understand the term 'soft skills'. He was the 'captain' of the children in this slum area because of his knowledge and kindness. He also talked well with people of all ages.

I knew that I might be biased to call him smart because he was knowledgeable without school. The truth was some lucky children got books in their hands and tried to reach him to discuss studies with him. It wasn't like Lance was so ignorant about education. He sought knowledge from the help of his friends, while his friends were demanding his help to study.

He was unbreakable.

Lance was so smart, I knew it. So, I tried harder at my study. There was a time that I could assist him in 'tutoring' his friends and he looked happy and proud. He could never understand how happy I was feeling inside.

One time, we didn't need to tutor anyone. It was just another boring day with 'Mustang' and 'Mustang 2nd' – the Mustang I made with cantaloupe skin.

"Where do you live?" asked Lance so suddenly.

"At the Charlonzi," I answered.

Lance stopped his Mustang. I bet he and his Mustang were too shocked to hear of my answer.

"You are a Charlonzi?" he asked again. I nodded.

"THAT Charlonzi?" he repeated. I nodded again.

"I didn't know that they had a humble daughter like you?" he added.

"Uh... thank you?" I confusedly expressed my gratitude.

"The Charlonzi was kind to us," Lance continued his sentence. "Ultimately the lady. She was so kind to us. You know, she has been looking for us for a long time but she never comes. I bet she really doesn't like to take the credit."

I knew. I knew. My mom was beyond angelic traits.

"How about the Charlonzi head?" I asked just to respond.

He stopped his Mustang again.

"The man was... fine, I guess? He's busy so we never interact either. As long as he doesn't disturb us, everything is fine."

Yes, even for me, I still held so many questions about him. He wasn't that good, but he wasn't that bad either. So many misjudgments would appear with his attitude, but again, he didn't seem to mind it so much.

"The Fastback Mustang..."

I looked and listened to Lance's talking.

"The Charlonzi has one..."

My jaw dropped.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked.

"The Charlonzi has the GT Fastback Mustang I adore," Lance repeated his explanation. His face turned red, out of embarrassment. After all this time, Lance was only able to admire his favorite car from far away.

I dragged his hand to my house. He pulled back his hand but I insisted. Lance had been offering me so much; the time to spend days outside, the time I can run from Mawar, and the time I do tutoring. This was the least I could do for him at that time.

I was a girl with great luck indeed. The front door was opened by my mother... who looked pretty confused with all of our doing.

"Hello? May I help you?" she greeted us with a warm smile.

I poked Lance's arm. His red face was so cute that I couldn't stop teasing him.

"Do you want to go to the garden with me?" my mom tried to open the conversation up. No reason to decline, we followed this graceful lady to the front garden.

While following her steps, Lance held my hand very tightly. He was nervous, I know that. Maybe because this was the first time he met and interacted with my mom. It was like I saw how fans idolized their idol, just from Lance's eyes. Then, here we were; at the front garden.

The front garden wasn't as big as the back garden, as I noticed. Unequal in size didn't mean that this garden was less useful. I saw two lady gardeners come to my mother's side to help her. My mom said that she wouldn't need any help, since it was just another garden visit.

I could see both ladies gave me winks.

We came to the corner of the garden where pulmonarias were planted. With her own hands, she picked the pulmonarias. Unable to see his idol work, Lance helped her immediately. My mom, surely, rejected his good intentions. However, Lance still insisted on helping her because he couldn't see a woman working while he was idling.

Mrs, Charlonzi, who got this much love, decided to let Lance do the honor.

"Is two enough?" asked Lance.

"Hmm..." my mother was thinking. "I need to plant this in a place with a similar size as your yard. Do you think two is enough?"

"If there's no plant around, two is plenty, kind lady," answered Lance. "But if the yard is filled with other plants like mine, I have to say that the yard is only able to hold one small pulmonaria."

My mother seemed satisfied with his answer. She launched a big smile.

"Please pick the best small pulmonaria for me," requested Mrs. Charlonzi. Lance nodded and did the work perfectly.

"Then, if you don't mind, please plant this in your yard."

Lance was shocked and I was laughing at his reaction. Mrs. Charlonzi had been this unpredictable as always, so I wasn't really surprised at her decision. Lance asked for my help by winking, but I didn't care much. I took my mother's side on this.

"May I know, why?" asked Lance.

"This pulmonaria is good with lungs," she answered. "I hope your mother gets better at any second."

The pulmonaria on his hand was shaking because Lance was shaking. He almost cried but he held everything in. He couldn't even say 'thank you' because his tears were finally rolling out freely. Both of us followed her way back home with our eyes.

That's when I remembered the real goal we were here.

"Mom..." I shouted.

Mrs. Charlonzi turned her back.

"Yes?" she replied.

"We have a GT Fastback Mustang?" I asked enthusiastically.

She laughed again. She looked satisfied with my sudden question. Really, she was a kind soul with somehow weird vibe.

"We have one," she answered.

My and Lance's jaws dropped again. We screamed so hard and jumped around out of joy.

"CAN WE... CAN WE SEE THE MUSTANG??" I shouted again.

"Sure, if the boy finished planting the flower, then you guys are free to come to the basement."

We ran to Lance's house to plant the flower neatly. Our hearts were beating faster and faster. It felt like we just won a lottery for our whole lives and we wouldn't want to miss this chance. Once the pulmonaria was planted, we ran back to my house, to the basement, to the Mustang that Lance loved so much. We didn't even bother to see the other cars that my father collected.

Little did I know that Mawar saw us. That was the first time she saw Lance.

As a child, Lance was already blessed with a good face, we all knew that. He was blessed with a somehow perfect figure but unlucky financially. These good traits of him struck Mawar's heartstrings since the first day she saw him. It was so obvious that the helpers could feel it, and also me and my stepmother. We spent so many days together, playing and studying, while Mawar just being Lance's -not-so-secret admirer.

I still remember that important moment. It was 3 am when I heard my windows were soft-hit by some root-bound leaves. My window bedroom was faced forward and I could see clearly the front garden and Lance's log cabin. Usually, I would directly see Lance's cabin, but in that early morning, I was startled by the root-bound leaves piled up on the balcony. I opened the windows and I saw Lance so desperately trying to wake me up. He cried, his face was all red.

"Lance?" I shocked. "What are you doing?"

He rubbed his tears away.

"Please... help my mother..."

I knew that I still felt a heavy sleep on my head but hearing his cries for help made me jump out of my room. I knocked – almost hit, on my stepparents' bedroom door and screamed for help. My mother and almost all of the helpers woke because of my sudden scream and circled me. I explained Lance's situation, which led to everyone doing their best. Some of the helpers prepared for the car and the emergency medications, while I, Lance, and my mother rushed to Lance's cabin.

My mother managed to check on Lance's mother's condition. His mother was feverish and she breathed weirdly. We lifted her to the car – with the assistance of some people, and went directly to a hospital.

The journey was unpleasant. We kept on checking Mama Lance's condition over time until we reached the hospital within 10 minutes. My mom made some calls to the hospital while Lance helped his mother to breathe.

I felt useless.

We registered Mama Lance to the emergency room and they treated her instantly. The moment Lance was unable to see his mother, he began crying again. My mother hugged us and assured us that Mama Lance would be okay since Mama Lance was a strong woman.

That was when Lance opened up to us. He talked about his family. His father was a heavy smoker and he smoked even so like a train after he got fired. It affected his mother's health. Desperate from his life and his 'weak' wife, he left the family, while his mother was trying to live by doing laundry for the rich. Lance decided to stop schooling so his mother could feel at ease in supporting their finance.

But her health worsened.

The fact was, his mother never took any kind of medical treatment, nor went to any hospitals. That was the vital point in her health. The very first medication she ever received was the medication she got that night. Listening to this, my mother apologized for being an ignorant neighbor, which was refused at once by Lance.

"No, Mrs. Charlonzi. You were never at fault," said Lance. "My mother taught me to never burden any soul."

Mrs. Charlonzi –or my mom, smiled.

"Asking for help wouldn't burden anyone," she explained, in the hope that Lance would accept her service. I could see that Lance wasn't really on the same terms as my mother when he heard her words.

"Alright. Asking for help might be a burden for some people," my stepmother gave up on the sugarcoating. "But it never be a burden for me, okay?"

There was a shed of hope in Lance's eyes. He nodded and finally accepted my mom's term. We spent the rest of the waiting time in silence –waiting for the unexpected. As I said before, I was a lucky girl so I had this high hope that Mama Lance would be okay. Well, it went true. Mama Lance was treated so fast that we could visit her after 3 hours of treatment. That was the first time I met Mama Lance and it was already morning. Her fever went down almost completely normal and her breathing sounded well –but not yet perfect breathing. She expressed her utmost gratitude by holding my mom's hand and saying thanks more than five times. Being a kind-hearted lady, as usual, my mom mentioned that it was only fair to help those who needed it. The sun rose and my mother apologized for having to leave early because of her job and even asked Mama Lance and Lance to allow me to stay with Lance – which of course they agreed on. After bowing so low, Lance said goodbye to my mother.

We could see her manager walking with her down from the hospital to the parking lot.

Staying with Lance and her mother wasn't that awkward. It seemed like Lance already told her about me before this incident happened. I could feel that since she kept on holding my hand while uttering 'Lance's right. You are a good girl.'

Now, I didn't really think shouting at midnight was a good girl's doing but I smiled shyly on the compliment.

We stayed on her side for almost 24 hours. I watched Lance feed her mother, I watched them joke around, and I could feel how close they were to each other. It would be impossible to have the current Lance without this awesome lady as his mother. I knew that I wasn't a part of this family, so I really wanted to give them some time for themselves, but they rejected my idea.

I was aware of my position. I asked to leave at 6 pm because I did remember the rule: to come home at lunch or dinner time and I wouldn't dare to hurt my mother's heart because of one small mistake. They understood and they let me go back home. My steps were light, as I knew Mama Lance was treated perfectly and Lance was no longer crying. I waved goodbye but there was something amiss from Lance's face. Those eyes... he never stared at me with such warm eyes before.

3 days after, mama Lance came to our house to –once again, express her gratitude. Knowing my mother, I knew she wouldn't allow her to just come for her gratitude – my mother invited her to a small tea party with her maids and other helpers. The good news was my mother hired Mama Lance as her medicinal gardener. My mom already recognized Mama Lance's ability to deal with plants and thus she decided to let her tend the medicinal plants – which was accepted by Mama Lance.

All seemed too good to be true.

Since I revealed that I was a Charlonzi, I invited Lance and the others to study in our library -- with my stepmother's permission. We studied and discussed together and even almost all of us could ace the class. Mostly, Lance and the others were coming to Charlonzi only to study. Then, there was a day when my stepmother decided to invite all of them for dinner.

It was my and Mawar's birthday party.

I couldn't say that the party was grand if I was able to compare it with the party my mother held some days ago for her business friends. Only one dining room was decorated for our occasion. But it looked different in my friends' eyes. Lance and his friends were amazed by the sparkling glasses and plates, the 5 layered birthday cake for me and Mawar, also the balloons and flowers filling the room.

"Whoa, this is marvelous!!"

Right when my friends were done with the widening-eyes effect, I dragged all of them to the helpers and proudly mentioned all of the helpers to my friends. After all, this was nothing without their efforts. The maids, butlers, cleaning ladies, and men were all teary-eyed because of my sudden action. I didn't know why at that time, but all of them uttered the same sentence:

'It was a joyful experience to celebrate little lady Luna's birthday.'

It was kind of embarrassing as my friends followed the helpers' words. They were all boys -- happily ran around the party area, and acted as the fighters against monsters to save little lady Luna.

"I will be the prince to save little lady Luna!" shouted the spectacle boy. "Bring me the sword!!"

Honestly, I felt so bad because I didn't even remember others' names. I was a bit glad that they had distinguishing appearances.

"Then who's gonna be the monsters?" asked my chubby friend, with the other friends.

"You will be one of the monsters because you are fat!" claimed the spectacle boy.

"Hey, that wasn't really nice..." Lance tried to break up the small fight. My chubby friend didn't seem to accept the truth and decided to fight back.

"If there's a prince in this story, then it should be Lance!" yelled the chubby boy. "No one can stand Lance for Luna!"

I felt so bewildered by his sentence. I glanced at Lance, who didn't seem to be bothered by that sentence. One word to explain his expression was contented. He seemed rather contented than annoyed.

"No, it's okay. You can take the prince role," said Lance.

"Yayyy!!" cried the spectacle boy happily.

"Dude!!" the chubby boy didn't welcome Lance's decision. "You know what I said was right!"

"Dude, it's really okay," Lance repeated his sentence. "I could be the demon prince who steals Luna away from the prince."

The boys shouted in happiness. Something along the 'Lance is so cool!!' and 'I'll be the demon aide!!' and thus, the 'war' began. This was the first time I've ever seen that the demon prince had more disciples than the prince. With no weapon to draw, the boys decided to take some breadsticks as the weapon – except Lance, since he didn't need to draw a weapon for being the demon prince. My mother stopped them at once; saying that foods weren't made to be played.

They instantly obeyed my mother's suggestion. It was a hilarious sighting – all of them laughed at their own stupidity. The room was filled with overjoyed laughter, but no laugh from Mawar was coming out of her mouth. Even not a tiny bit of smile.

"Was it fun? Being in the middle of the boys like a cheap girl?"

I did learn something about finances; about being poor and being rich. I did understand something about cheap and expensive like the chandelier I and my mom mentioned before. But I couldn't seem to recognize the 'cheap' word paired with 'girl'.

No human should be put on a price.

My friends were all intellectual, thanks to Lance. The uttered sentence from Mawar shook their play world and they froze while staring at her.

"I didn't teach you that word," my stepmother glared at her. "Apologize to Luna right now."

Mawar rolled her eyes.

"Before this kid came to our house, both of you appreciated me more than anything," Mawar screamed.

"Momma, I used to respect you. I respected you so much that I wanted to be like you. But you showed me a shameful sighting. It was horrendous."

My stepmother wasn't shaken even a bit by Mawar's screaming. She still glared at her, now even with her annoying glare.

"Whichever you think it was a shameful sighting?" she asked.

"All of this!" answered Mawar on a high note. "AND THAT GIRL!"

She pointed at me.

The boys suddenly built a wall with their bodies, in front of me to face Mawar. Like the kind of soldier who wanted to protect the castle. Rather than thinking about how Mawar despised me so much, I was thinking about how the boys treated me like a mighty princess. I didn't feel a bit of sadness because of her words. My heart felt warmth because I did know that I didn't do anything bad to her, or anyone else.

"She stole YOU away from me!" Mawar continued. "Then she stole the neighbor friend, or LANCE!!"

I could see some of the household helpers were facepalming. They could feel the jealousy from Mawar –though I didn't really understand it. This unnecessary tantrum existed because of mere jealousy. How about Lance? Lance seemed unbothered. He still led the 'wall' while being cautious of Mawar's nonsense spitting.

The birthday party ended so quickly – big thanks to Mawar. She ruined the birthday cake with my name on it, she threw all the gifts that my friends and the helpers gave to me and ultimately, she cursed that she'd rather die than see my face ever again.

Did I do anything wrong to her?

I retrieved the gifts back when Mawar left the party. The shapes were all unsightly but I didn't mind it at all. I hugged everyone and said thank you, of course. I promised to give them a gift back and I felt sorry for the bad experience they had to see from the 'bad' birthday party.

After everything was done, I went back to my room to open the gift. I got a mini apron from the cooks, a mini garden rake from the gardeners, and a mini wind chime that I hung instantly on my window –from the maids and butlers. I folded the wrappers and put them into a box. Move to the next gifts –the gifts from my friends. I got a small doll and a diary book. The last gift I opened was a small box, a ruined box because Mawar stepped on it before. I unwrapped the box cautiously and the prize there gave me a thunderstruck: it was a ring and a note. I unfolded the note with a dirty writing on it:

'Happy birthday. Please be my wife when we get older. -Lance'

I reread the note over and over again. It was just impossible for me. I mean, I wasn't even rich, I was so lucky to be picked to live with the Charlonzi. I was lucky to get a kind stepmother and other lucky stories. I couldn't seem to catch what was good with me that made Lance consider me as his wife later.

I was confused. But did I feel happy? I didn't think so. I did admit Lance's charm and I liked him so much but I didn't know what a wife does and I was too young to understand. I immediately remembered Mawar. She liked Lance and it would be chaotic if she found out that Lance had this feeling to me. I just wanted to live in peace. Was it better for Lance to be Mawar's husband? Mawar was the real Charlonzi, so of course Lance and his mother would have an easy life if he got married to Mawar.

I hid the note and the ring. I used all of my stamina to flash away to my mom's workroom. Thankfully, she didn't jump out of her chair.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong??" she asked in shock.

Inhale, exhale. I managed to let out a normal breath before talking to her.

"Mom, have you given me any birthday present?" I asked.

My stepmother smiled.

"Whoa, are you asking for a birthday present?" she asked me back. "Well, yes. I haven't given you anything. So... What do you have in mind?"

I bit my lips. I needed to tell this right now because I fully knew the risk of cliffhanging my mom on a serious topic.

"Could you... please... facilitate Lance's education... until doctor...?"

Mrs. Charlonzi wasn't surprised at my request. She tapped on her nose, thinking. Maybe it was partly because I didn't talk with a good vocabulary.

"Do you really want this?" asked my mother. I nodded.

"Well..."

Her tapping moved to her pen. She tapped her book with the pen she was holding. Then, she looked around and folded her arms.

"It's not like I can't grant that wish..." her sentence sounded so easy. "But I need a deal so I'm not in the disadvantaged."

The first big deal that happened in my life was the deal I moved to Charlonzi. The second big deal just happened at this second. I needed to make a sudden decision since I understood that my mother wouldn't take my long reasoning.

"What is it...?" I asked carefully.

"Alright. First of all, Lance isn't my child. So, I really need reassurance that he is entitled to the prize. Is that okay for you, Dear?"

Well, what she said was logical. The child's education was the parents' liability at most. In any term, my mother wasn't obliged to pay for his education.

I nodded.

"If he doesn't make it into the top five per semester, I'll cut his facilitation off. That's the first deal if it sounds okay."

I nodded again. That would never be his issue since I believed that he would ace every semester easily.

"Alright. The second is... I need you to stay humane."

I was a child at that moment. I couldn't seem to understand fully what she meant by that and one thing that I knew was understanding my mother's request wasn't an easy task. Still, I knew it wasn't the time to give up.

I nodded in agreement.

"Good," my mother looked satisfied. "Tomorrow I'll discuss this matter with Mama Lance."

She turned her chair back to face the table, to the routine. One minute and two minutes, she just realized that I stood there still because I hadn't uttered my deal.

"Are we done?" she asked again.

"No..." I replied. "I... need to say my deal too so I wouldn't be the disadvantaged..."

Mrs. Charlonzi was surprised but laughed a big one.

"Okay, okay, interesting," she nodded. "What's your deal?"

"Please tell him that this whole thing is Mawar's idea."

Her smile worn off. She folded back his arms but with a different vibe. It was the frightening vibe coming from her.

"I don't get it," Mrs. Charlonzi refused.

"Please..." I begged. "Lance will be happier if he was in a better financial situation with Mawar on his side..."

Her mouth was shaped like 'oh' without any sound. She nodded and nodded, tapped the book with her pen, and sometimes fixed her bangs. I guess that was just the way she fidgets.

"Alright, deal," she smiled. "What if I oppose your thought? I don't think Lance will be happier that way."

"It doesn't matter," I claimed as I hugged my mom and said thank you, of course.

In the end, she scratched her head and smiled –just because she saw me walking back to my room happily.

Days, weeks, months and years. I still befriended Lance and the others in a good way. We still studied and played together and it felt like we could face the world together. Mama Lance accepted my mother's facilitation and thus he kept on winning every semester to fulfill the deal.

We would never be children forever, right? As time went by, I, Mawar, and Lance attended the same university: the Molecule University –with different majors. I chose communication, Lance picked medicine something doctor-ish, and Mawar chose teaching. I didn't have any idea why she chose teaching though.

My relationship with Mawar was still excruciating. She never talked to me. If it was anything, it would be some bad words coming from her mouth about me. I didn't mind it, as usual. But then, there was a time when Mawar needed to 'help' the people of a faraway island. I didn't really understand it at first, but she came home earlier than the plan. That was when my mom and dad encouraged me to replace her in helping the villagers. Also, that way I could leave Mawar and Lance alone in the city.

I thought it would be fun, so I accepted.

I was preparing my things when Lance knocked on my door, asking why I was leaving. I told him everything, that I wanted to help and also experience nature. Lance got silent really quickly and left my room. Again, I didn't mind. I was never the overthinking type, anyway.

The next day came and I left with... Lance. Surprise, surprise!

Well, back to the first paragraph I wrote. Now we are coming to Cowie Island. I know it will be okay since I have Lance by my side. He grows to a more reliable man and still is good-looking. About the ring and the note, I decided to not even talk about it anymore. Just... forget it.