Page 16 of Piece By Piece

I can’t believe I get to go! There’s usually an outrageous entrance fee but not with this. Not with an invitation.

I’m going to fucking kiss Sebastian’s stupid, privileged face until he regrets ever having given me a present like this. I had no idea he even knew of my love for art. It’s not like I always talk about it when I’m out dancing, though maybe I mentioned it at a dinner once.

Which solidifies my point, I can’t believe he knew to get me this. Stupid, brilliant, attentive idiot. He’s so going to regret having done this. It’s the second time he was nice to me in the span of a month. Maybe this is him calling a truce.

I can go to theRose Gallery!

I have to get ready! If I take a cab, I can be at the gallery in fifteen minutes, but I certainly can’t go looking like I am now. Luckily, my hair still looks good enough that I don’t have to wash it, but I have to change and put on some makeup.

I’ll take it off for Lily later on but there’s no way I’m going to a gallery looking like a zombie. No, it’s all about the aesthetic.

Twenty minutes later, I’m sitting in a cab, wearing my most beloved, classiest simple silk dress I thrifted recently paired with some knee-high boots and a thick coat, clutching the beautiful invitation tightly. As I dreamily look at the beautiful font, I can’t help but think that this is already the best birthday of my life.

There’s no way I’ll ever be able to repay Sebastian for this.

Chapter 10

Aliena

15 years ago

Daddy’s angry. He’s walking back and forth in the small kitchen, muttering to himself like he sometimes does. I can’t hear what he’s saying and that’s okay. The words aren’t for me. They are because of me. Because I made a mistake. But they aren’t for me to hear.

One day when he was talking to himself, I waited until he calmed down and asked him if he was praying. We aren’t the type of family that prays before dinner and we never go to church, but whenever daddy is very restless, he talks under his breath and keeps looking up or closing his eyes. It looks like he’s praying.

That day, he smiled at me and ruffled my hair like he knows I hate. He makes some strands stand out in all the wrong ways. Then he told me, “Something like that, Princess.”

I wasn’t happy with that reply because I didn’t know what it meant, but I didn’t keep asking. He had just called me princess, a nickname he used to give me a lot more when I was younger, and mommy was still feeling better. I didn’twant to make him take it back when he got mad at my questions.

Sometimes when I ask too many questions – like why mommy is sick and always sleeping – he gets angry and tells me to shut up. I don’t like making him angry, but I never understand what exactly makes it happen. I think it’s worse when mommy is around, though. At those times, it’s best for me to just stay quiet.

Today, I didn’t say anything to make him angry. I did something.

I was home alone with mommy like I always am when daddy’s working, but she was asleep and I got bored. I took her phone and started playing with it. Then I asked YouTube what I should do on my seventh birthday and it showed me how to make an easy cake.

It only took a few ingredients and I found most of them at home so I tried it. I preheated the oven and mixed everything the way I was told. When I finally put the pan into the oven, I knew it was almost time for daddy to come home.

I was so excited to show him what I made.

While the small cake was baking, I did the dishes to make sure everything was clean before he saw. Right when I was done and about to check if my cake was done, my mother called out to me from the couch.

Her voice was croaky, like that of a frog queen, and I quickly went to her. “I need water,” she told me without focusing on my eyes. I turned around without replying, running to get her what she needed. Daddy had told me I always have to help mommy as quickly as I can. He said it was very important.

“Here you go,” I told her, leading the full glass to her lips. She tried to swallow it where she was lying, keeping her eyes closed, and when the liquid went down the wrong pipe, she coughed it back up and it splashed right in my face.

My body flinched away, and I accidentally let go of the glass, making it fall to the floor and shatter into many pieces. For a second, all I could do was look at the mess I’d made, and my heart started beating painfully in my chest. It always does that when I make a mistake. It feels like someone is stacking weights on top of it and it becomes hard to breathe.

I wiped the spit away from my face with the sleeve of my favorite sweatshirt. Then I looked at the clock hanging on the wall and even more weights fell onto my heart. Daddy was about to be home any minute.

I quickly scrambled forward and gathered as many broken pieces in my hands as possible. I threw them into the nearest trash can and went back to the couch until I saw no more glass on the floor. Then I grabbed a rag and started wiping the floor until it was dry so daddy didn’t have to see that I made a mess in the first place.

I just threw the rag away when daddy came home. I ran toward him, happy to finally have someone to celebrate with, but he already looked weird when I reached him. His head was turned up and he was sniffing the air. His eyebrows turned down in the middle and then, he finally looked at me.

“What’s that smell, Aliena? What did you do?” he asked. I didn’t immediately understand but then I noticed the burned smell in the air.

I’m not sure if my heart kept beating at all and my head grew light and dizzy as I ran into the kitchen. I opened the oven and a cloud of black smoke blew in my face. Daddy was right behind me and coughed.

I reached inside the oven blindly because I wanted to take a look at my cake, but I forgot that the oven was still hot. My hands clasped around the small dish, and I instantly cried out and pulled them out again, clutching them to my chest.

---