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"-and that's how I beat up the wicked witch of the west." I finished telling Farhana. 'I bet she's going to be so embarrassed, she won't show up to school for weeks"
Farhana laughed "Well at least you won't have to see her stupid face for a while"
I joined in laughing with her.
"Umm actually..". We both turned around to the sound of that piercing high, geeky voice.
He lifted his glasses to the bridge of his nose with his pinkie finger. "That's not very nice, Mia."
Ugh. Clement Liebert, or as I and Farah liked to call him "the prepubescent rat" because he hasn't reached puberty yet despite being 16 and he's also a massive snitch.
"You shouldn't have hit Vanessa like that"
I rolled my eyes dramatically to make sure he could see my annoyance. "Nobody was talking to you. So mind your own business" I was already pissed enough from Vanessa ruining my day. I did not need his input "Plus you don't even know the full story"
I thought that would keep him quiet, but of course, the nerd kept running his mouth. "I don't need to know the full story to know that hitting someone is wrong" He snobbishly proclaimed acting like the smart ahh he so desperately wants to be.
"oh shut up before I punch you too" I got all up in his face to scare him away. I already dealt with an annoying prick at school, I didn't want to deal with another one at work. But he wasn't backing down.
"Touch me and I'm telling" He leaned in close to my face, with a confident smile on his face as if he just told the greatest comeback of the century. Little Mr. 4-foot-9 was getting bold.
"Umm...guys" Farhana tried to intervene "How about you two-"
"Go ahead. Go snitch little baby" I mocked. Usually I wasn't one to start fights, but the day just keeps pissing me of. "We all know you can't handle your fights, so you need your mommy to finish it for you".
He gritted his teeth. Now he was really mad. "I'm the alpha" He proclaimed before dramatically taking off his glasses like he was some anime character "And an alpha never backs down from a fight– especially from a woman"
Oh yeah. I forgot to mention he was one of those "alpha bros" That live off Prime Energy and only watches podcasts of shirtless men in their late 30s who do nothing but talk bad about women while smoking at least 10 types of drugs and wearing sunglasses indoors.
I couldn't help but laugh in his face. What a goofy guy. But he did take too kindly to it.
"Don't laugh at me!" he continued grinding his teeth like some wanna-be gorilla "You don't wanna see me when I'm angry– I see red" He snarled, glaring at me like he expected me to get scared, but this only made my laughter grow
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
This kid can't be serious right now.
"Ooo shiver me timbers. I'm so scared" I said mockingly. Now he was really REALLY MAD. This is fun.
Farhana: "guys, stop...listen-"
"Don't test me woman" he moved his leg into a wide stance, so wide he looked like he was preparing to give birth-- giraffe style. "Don't make me release my inner demons"
I chuckled "your inner demons??. So scary! Whatever shall I do" I said sarcastically playing along "idiot"
"Mia...look-"
The prepubescent Rat cut off Farhana once again as he started weirdly giggling to himself "I see you take me as a fool woman" he said with a crazed smile on his face. Who the hell does he think he is, Light Yagami? "Yes. Yes, I do" I responded. He's so pathetic.
"Mia! Listen" Farhana shouted
"What!. Can't you see I'm in the middle of something right-" she interrupted me before I could finish my sentence "Look at the TV"
"Huh?" I turned around to the big black TV mounted at the far end of the shop. "Isn't that your mother?" Farahana asked, her voice now quiet.
I stared at the TV. It was set to the news and I had to squint my eyes to read the small font at the bottom to see what the big fuss was about. "Head scientist at Clarence Labs found burnt to death" I subconsciously read out loud.
"Clarence Labs? Mama works there as chief Dire..." Just the thought made me feel sick.
Then a young woman with long black curly hair and brown eyes started to speak:
"We are here live and Yes, a fire erupted in one of the holding rooms in the Clarence building at around 2 pm. So far there has been one reported death: A woman that was found dead in one of the rooms on the left wing. The victim has recently been identified as 41-year-old Rosa Ingrid. She was head scientist of blah blah blah blah–"
I was frozen in place. I couldn't hear what the news anchor was saying anymore. I couldn't hear anything. It was all muted by the sound of my loud heartbeat and the piercing ringing I heard in my ears as the same words kept repeating in my mind over and over again.
The victim has recently been identified as 41 year old Rosa Ingrid
The victim has recently been identified as 41 year old Rosa Ingrid
was found dead
The victim has recently been identified as 41 year old Rosa
Ingrid— dead
dead—-- identified as 41 year old Rosa Ingrid
Rosa Ingrid found dead.
"N-no" I staggered back, covering my ear with my hands "no. no. no. no. no"
I shake as if I were in the middle of an earthquake. My legs felt too fragile to hold the weight of my body and I'm about to be sent crushing to the floor. My Lungs fill with air as I desperately try to breathe, a task that's never seemed this hard before. It's not real. It's not real. I repeat to myself, feeling the sweat trickle down my face. It's not real. It's not real.
I close my eyes. I want this moment to end. This isn't real. Mama is alive. She's alive.
I can't breathe. I can't breathe. Why can't I breathe?
"Mia!"
The call of my name is so loud that it was able to infiltrate my thoughts, enabling me to hear a voice other than my own. l look at Farhana who is now standing in front of me with both of her arms tightly clenching my shoulders.
"Mia..."
Now that she had gotten my attention, it seemed she didn't know what to say. She just stared at me with a look of concern and discomfort as if she was about to cry on my behalf.
"They're lying" I spoke. My voice is shaky and on the verge of tears.
"Tell me they're lying. Please" All I want to hear her say is that they were talking about someone else, or that this was all some elaborate prank, and that she was in on it, mom was in on it and so was the news.
But Farhana remained quiet. Her wide brown eyes still fixated on me, seemingly trying to find the right words for such a situation. "I..." her voice just as shaky as mine "I don't know"
I can't take it anymore.
Not caring for my surroundings or the fact that I was still at work, I ran past Farhana, heading straight for the door. I need to get out of here. I need to go see mom.
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