"What's up?" I chirped, shutting my locker and whirling around to face Harvey.

"The sky, the clouds, the ceiling," Harvey replied.

"Oh, I would never have guessed," I said, tapping my chin.

"That's why I'm called the genius one," he shrugged.

"In your dreams," I beamed.

"Why are you in such a good mood?" he asked.

"Is it a crime now?" I replied with the same answer he had, the day before.

"It is, if it's something illegal," he countered.

"It's not," I smiled mysteriously.

"What is it then?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said airily and side stepped him to walk to my class.

"No, you're planning something. You have something up your sleeve," he said, following me.

"Right or left?" I asked.

"You're right handed. So left," he replied.

I turned over my left sleeve.

"Come on, Mary. Tell me," he whined.

"It's not up this sleeve either," I said, turning over my right sleeve.

"Mary, stop being ridiculous and tell me," Harvey said, getting impatient.

"Sorry, I can't," I said.

"So there is something," he said.

"Maybe," I shrugged, taking my seat at my desk.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me," he crossed his arms over his chest and stood by my desk, towering over me.

I pursed up my lips and looked the other way.

"You're happy and you're not sharing it with me? You even shared stuff when I was your 'enemy'," he used air quotes.

"Oh look, there's Miss David," I said.

Harvey turned to look at the door. And sure enough, Miss David was walking in.

He threw me a look that said, 'this conversation isn't over yet.'

I mentally face palmed myself for looking happy.

***

I peeked into the cafeteria and saw that Harvey and Jamie were eating their lunches, and probably waiting for me to come so that they could interrogate me.

I suppressed my stomach's grumbles of hunger and went back to the empty classroom I was hiding in, waiting for the recess to be over.

After five more peeks and ten more minutes, I finally gave up and decided to just go into the cafeteria and risk being seen by Harvey or Jamie.

Somehow, I managed to get to the line without being spotted by either of my waiting friends. Lucky for me, they both had their backs to the lunch counter.

"Hey, Mary," said Sophie, the girl standing in front of me.

"Hey, Sophie," I replied.

"Harvey was looking for you," she said.

"I know," I replied, and turned away from her, ending the conversation. I did not like her much. She gossiped too much.

I tapped my foot impatiently as Sophie took her time choosing what to eat.

When it was finally my turn, I quickly pointed towards the first thing I saw (a grilled cheese sandwich with onion rings) and grabbed my lunch tray before manoeuvring my way between the tables and the students standing in my path.

I had barely reached the door leading out to the hallway when I heard Harvey call out to me, followed by a crash.

The wise thing to do was to just keep going my way, and not look back. But me being the curious person I was, I stopped to look over my shoulder. A junior, whom I didn't recognise, was sprawled on the floor, with Harvey on top of him, and a chair on top of his legs. A soda can lay right beside the pair.

Students craned their necks to see what all the commotion was about. Some even got up to look at the two boys on the floor. A guy from a nearby table got up and picked up the chair from Harvey's legs.

Harvey got up and dusted his shirt front before extending a hand to the squashed junior.

I didn't realise, but I was watching the proceedings with a smile on my face.

Before I could turn away from the scene, Harvey made eye contact with me.

I laughed out loud.

He blushed with embarrassment.

Then he smirked and said, loud and clear, "Mary, didn't you hear me call out to you? Why do you keep playing hard to get?"

Now it was my turn to blush.

I tossed my head and changed my route. Instead of carrying on towards the door, I walked gracefully up to my usual table.

"So, what's up?" Harvey asked, sitting beside me.

"Anything but you," I said, laughing.

Jamie joined me.

Harvey rolled his eyes.

"Because you were down," I laughed again.

"Yeah, I get it," he rolled his eyes again. "Now can we get back to more important stuff?"

"Depends on what stuff you're talking about," I said, biting into my sandwich.

"I'm talking about your mood. Why are you so happy?" he asked.

"Yes. Tell us, Mary. If it's something illegal, we might be able to help you," Jamie winked.

"And it's kinda hurtful that you aren't sharing this with us," said Harvey.

I felt a bit guilty.

"That's just emotional blackmail," I said, popping an onion ring into my mouth.

"Whatever floats your boat," Harvey replied.

"Let me think it over again," I said.

"Just spit it out," Harvey barked.

"Fine, fine," I raised my hands in surrender.

Harvey smirked, and Jamie leaned forward with a smile on his face.

"I thought that I could look for one of aunt's old diaries, and maybe find a clue about my past. It might be possible that she knows more than she's letting on," I said.

"Are you sure you want to know? If she's hiding it from you, she might be doing it for your own protection," said Harvey.

"I want to know. Even if it kills me," I replied firmly.

"You haven't found a diary or a clue yet. And it's possible that you might not. So stop being happy before you do," Jamie advised.

"I couldn't help it," I said. "It's the only light of hope I've seen for days."

"We'll just sit back and hope for the best. There's nothing we can do yet," shrugged Harvey.

"We can bust in her house to steal the diary for her," Jamie replied.

"Or maybe provide a distraction," mused Harvey.

"No thanks, I'll handle," I put a stop to their plans.

"Well, we're here, if you need any kind of help," said Harvey.

"Thanks," I said, gratified. "You guys..."

"We know. We know. We're the best friends ever," said Jamie winking.

***

"Set the table, Mary," my aunt ordered, pointing towards the dishes of steaming fried rice and soup.

'Can't even come into the kitchen for a glass of water in peace,' I thought, clumsily picking up the heavy dishes.

"Carry one at a time," aunt ordered.

I ignored her as I carefully walked towards the dining table.

"Done," I said sulkily, placing the dishes on the table.

"Good. Now come help me with the cucumbers," she ordered.

"Who eats cucumbers with fried rice?" I grumbled.

"Lily," aunt answered tersely.

"Then ask her to help you," I snapped

Aunt ignored my fowl mood and kept washing the cucumbers.

I was glad she didn't ask me what was wrong. I couldn't possibly tell her that I was angry because she kept her bedside drawer locked.

I stormed out of the kitchen and sat on the fourth stair from the bottom, thinking that I just might need Jamie to help me pick the lock.

My planning was interrupted by someone banging hard into me from behind. I slipped down a stair and tried to regain my balance, but failed. I tumbled down the remaining three stairs and landed on the ground with a thud. The person who had bumped into me, landed on top of me. I saw that it was Simon.

"Are you blind?" I pushed him off and snapped.

"Yeah, Simon! Are you blind?" Lily mimicked me.

"She just popped out of nowhere," he answered, still dazed.

"She sure did," Lily said and threw me a malicious smile, hinting that she was indeed talking about my unknown past.

"What's your problem?" I turned around and growled at her.

"Nothing. I just can't believe that you're being bitchy to Simmy," she laughed. "I thought you adored him."

"Get lost!" I snapped and got up, making my way to the dining table, where delicious looking food awaited me.

Lily followed me and sat as far away from me as possible. Yesterday's slap was still fresh in her mind.

"Mary, I know you were shocked when you found out that dad was your dad too," Lily started as soon as everyone was settled on their chairs.

I ignored her.

"Lily," aunt said warningly.

"And I also know why," she smiled, ignoring her mom.

"Isn't that obvious?" asked Leslie.

"It is. To me only. I think," she kept on smiling.

"Tell us then," said Lesley.

"Because that means Simon is her brother," Lily said.

"So?" asked Leslie.

"She used to dream about him," Lily threw me a mocking smile. "Now she can't. Because she's his dad's daughter."

"You just shut..." I started.

"Lily, I'm warning you. One more word and you're going to regret it," aunt interrupted me angrily.

"What's up with you?" Lily rolled her eyes.

"Just keep your mouth shut. I don't want to hear anything else about Simon or dad," aunt snapped.

"Fine. But just so we're clear, I'm sure I'm right," Lily said smugly.

"When pigs fly," I scoffed.

"So it worked," Simon exclaimed out loud.

"What worked?" asked Leslie.

"The anti gravity ray," Simon replied.

"What are you talking about?" asked Leslie.

"Dr. Ronaldo thought it's be funny if he used it on pigs first. I have no idea how," he stroked his chin.

"Of course you don't," Lily rolled her eyes.

I smiled. Simon never failed to make me smile.

"See, I knew it," Lily pointed at me. "Look at her smile."

"What happened?" Simon asked. "Did the ray gun do something to her smile?"

"We're not talking about ray guns," Leslie laughed.

"Lily thinks Mary was into you and now that she knows you're her brother, she can't date you," Lesley explained sadly.

"I am not into..." I started, my ears burned with embarrassment.

"Mary is my sister?" Simon asked, confused.

"Where have you been since the last three days?" Lily said, disgusted.

"Huh?" he looked at her.

"Mary is our sister. Our father's daughter," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Who said that?" asked Simon.

"Mom," Lily replied.

"That can't be true," Simon mused.

"Why?" asked Lily.

Margaret looked up with interest.

"Because dad's blood group was O positive while Mary's blood group is AB positive."

The silence that followed Simon's explanation was so thick that it could be sliced with a butter knife.

After the initial shock of discovering that I was still an orphan without any trace of my parents' identities, a wave of sad relief washed over me.

I was relieved that my 'dad' didn't hate me so much as to hide the fact that he was my dad. On the other hand, I was more lost than ever, because the only link I had to my past had led to a dead end.

"Trust Simon to study the family members' blood groups but not know their last names, even though they exactly match his'," Lily laughed, eyeing me maliciously.

I glanced at my aunt and saw that she looked pale.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, mom," Margaret said worridly.

"I'm okay," aunt squeaked.

That was the first time I had heard her squeak.

"Even Mary isn't that shocked," Margaret said, pouring her a glass of water.

Aunt gulped it down.

"I can't imagine Brandon lied to me," she shook her head sadly. "Why would he?"

I felt a tinge of pleasure that she felt betrayed on finding out that she got lied to.

'Got a little taste of her own medicine,' I thought smugly.

She faced Simon, "so you just studied simple blood groups or you went in depth?"

"I went in depth. But not with my family members," he replied.

"It's a good thing you did. I could imagine what Mary must be going through," she said at last, shaking herself out of her thoughts.

"As if!" I exclaimed.

She turned towards me and smiled sadly.

"I lived in an orphanage until I was adopted at the age of six," she said, looking me in the eye. "I do know what you're going through."

"Then why we're you jealous of me?" I asked. "You of all people should have made me feel like I belonged."

"I was jealous because Brandon was the first person in my life that I had the right to call mine, and I didn't want to share him with anyone else. And partly because I thought you had such a great father while I had an abusive one," aunt explained in a hollow voice.

She shuddered and shook her head. Like she had revisited her past in the last couple of moments and wanted to get rid of the painful thoughts.

I was dumb founded.

I never thought aunt had a painful childhood. No wonder she acted tough all the time. No wonder she was an independent woman who didn't need a man to help her raise and look after eight kids.

Aunt got up from the table shakily. Margaret and Lily at once got up to help her get upstairs to her bed.

Simon and the kids looked confused. While I just sat on my chair, too stunned to think or act.

"Mom's calling you upstairs," I heard Margaret behind me.

I nodded, getting up.

"Please don't hurt her when she's vulnerable," Margaret said, almost pleading, which was new for her.

I nodded again and went upstairs to aunt's room, wondering what she wanted to say to me.

I knocked before entering, and stood quietly, waiting for her to say something. She patted the space beside her, and I sat down carefully.

"I have to tell you something. Brandon gave me a box the night he brought you home. He said if something happened to him, then I had to give it to you when I thought you needed it, but not before you turned eighteen, when you were mature enough. He thought you wouldn't want to know about your past. But I knew you would. Considering I didn't know a thing about who I was, or where I came from either. Still don't," she stopped and sighed.

I nodded for her to go on.

"But I think it is time that I made amends for my behaviour. After what you went through the last couple of days, I think you need the box badly. I want you to trust me. This is why I'm telling you about this now," she stopped and stared at me, as if thinking if she was making the right decision.

I nodded again.

"Brandon talked like the box would bring you solace somehow. But then I wondered why would he ask me to wait till you were mature enough. And Brandon did really have strange ideas about everything," she smiled sadly.

"So it might hold something about your past that might be painful. Brandon might have been thinking that you'd move on once you know the harsh reality of your past. But he wouldn't know if it might scar you for life. It might even turn you into mental patient," she suppressed a sob.

I felt as if a cold fist clenched my heart.

"I'm giving you two choices. You can either wait till you're eighteen, or you can allow me to open the box and see what's inside and then let me decide if it's safe to hand it over to you at this age," she said. "And it's not in this house. It's well hidden. You can never find it on your own."

"I'll have to think about it," I spoke for the first time since I had come into the room.

"It's okay. Tell me whenever you're ready," she said.

"I will," I replied.

"And Mary," she said, looking into my eyes, "we have a special connection. Trust me. I would never ever let you re-live my past."

Her eyes contracted with immense pain as memories of her past flashed across her mind.

A tear slid down her cheek and I realised that I had forgiven her. Sometime in between when she let out a sob, and the very first tear that she shed in front of me.

Author's note:

I just love this chapter. Especially the ending.

How do you like it? Honest comments.

Sorry for the delayed update. I was so freaking busy. Thank you readers for pushing me. Your comments make me feel obliged to update.

What do you guys think about her aunt being an orphan and having a painful past?

Tell me in the comments what do you think Mary will decide. And what is in the box?

I am so sleepy now. And my tab too.

Point out if you find any mistakes so that I can correct them.

Toodles!