New Life : A Second Chance

Lianne walked on, feeling that the entire building was rather impressive. The fact that all of this belonged to her mother really, truly boggled her mind.

Well, not really 'belonged' but that her mother was in charge of it.

She had changed so much but yet, at the same time, she was still the same.

Even now, Lianne didn't think it was strange to call refer to Kyle as a 'her' even though she was obviously a man right now. Mama didn't seem to mind either, since she identified with both. 

Thus, Lianne knew that to her mother, whichever gender pronouns that she used, her mother was fine with it.

That was the most important thing. 

Lianne stopped, looked up and all around before she moved forward again. 

Mama may have died unjustly, but darn, did she get reincarnated into a truly mind-boggling life. Her mother was really like a newborn, rising anew from the ashes of the old life.

Her mother had been the rather timid, accommodating type of person whereas now, she was this rather impressive strong figure. There was this confidence and power that seemed to ooze out of her pores, and really, that made Lianne all excited.

It was as if she could squash anything under her foot like a bug.

It was an entirely new world and Lianne was looking at everything with excitement.

Not that it showed on her face, however.

She rarely showed her emotions on her face, though it wasn't because she was unfeeling. It was just a natural state. Luckily, however, instead of a 'bitching resting face', she had a 'indifferent' face. 

The latter already gave her some trouble because people thought she didn't care, though it was far better than the former which would have gotten her into various conflicts with her father.

The facial expression became as such out of survival, or necessity, really. 

Since her father was always trying to get them to conform to 'acceptable society's standards', it also meant that the child must always be filial. Do not show displeasure or unhappiness over what was being taught - otherwise, it would be regarded as being rude.

Joseph never quite got the hang of that. His face often showed what he felt. Lianne, however, could.

Other than feelings that she felt very, very strongly about, her face always had the indifferent look. Thus, she had the 'appropriate' look of sadness during her mother's death, though what she showed was only a fraction of what she truly felt.

Except for that one time she had lost it and had a slight meltdown.

The one thing she was worried about now, however, was her depression.

Dr. Marveen had always told her to think happy thoughts. To not overthink and to focus on the positive.

Easier said than done. 

Right now, for example, since she was feeling rather interested with Mama's new life, she acted upon it. Rather than having to stay in her room and have some dark thoughts invade it.

Lianne bit her lower lips.

Sometimes, it was hard to even get out of bed.

She didn't know why that was. She, unlike Joseph, knew that Mama was still alive yet … why did she sometimes find it so hard to just face the day? It didn't make any sense. It made her even more depressed just thinking about it but she couldn't help feeling the way she felt.

Normally, she would just let it ride out and fortunately, so far, the episodes have not lasted long. At least, no one noticed it.

Lianne sighed.

Mama was not around and very busy getting those who killed her. 

She had no one here to really talk to, so she told herself to keep herself occupied and hang on. Exploring the company was fun.

Yes, yes it was.

After an hour of going about the place and finding out where the cafeteria was, Lianne decided that it was time to go back. 

As Lianne suddenly made an about-turn, Rafael was startled and quickly hid himself beside some shrubbery. He made himself as inconspicuous as possible and waited for Lianne to pass him by.

She did, and he waited for a while so that there was some distance first. However, she was walking unusually slowly so Rafael couldn't step out.

Lianne turned and tilted her head to the side, saying, "Might as well go up together, don't you think?"

Rafael's shoulders slumped down dejectedly and he stepped out.

"How long have you known?" he asked unhappily.

"Not long," Lianne said, "It was only towards the end that I did."

"Ms. Kay did say you're observant, but for you to still spot me …" Rafael complained as he walked beside her.

Lianne swayed a bit as she tapped on her phone, seemingly oblivious to the surroundings.

"I noticed you after the cafeteria incident," Lianne said, feeling the need to explain as she could tell Rafael was feeling very down.

"How so?" he asked curiously.

"Everyone here is so well disciplined," Lianne explained, "I went to the cafeteria out of lunch hours or tea break. Naturally, I'd notice anyone who would enter the place and leave without buying anything. You obviously weren't there for the food, so it must be to either meet someone or was following someone."

"So I went back in and pretended to have changed my mind on buying something, and lo behold. You followed. I simply looked at your reflection from the cafeteria's display and recognised you," Lianne said, finally looking up at him.

Rafael had this grimace on his face.

"I was careless," he mused.

"No, you were too confident," Lianne said, "You didn't think an 11-year-old would notice these things, which, in turn, made you careless."

Rafael stared at her and asked abruptly, in a low voice, "Are you sure you're not ..?"

"No," Lianne said.

Rafael found that hard to believe. MIB was full of kid prodigies. 

"Kyle wouldn't be sponsoring me if I was, right?"

Rafael couldn't deny that.