2

"Hey, Margie. I just called to ask you if you know anyone who's hiring. Please call me back as soon as you can, thanks." Kelsey said as she leave a message to her friend and hanged up the phone.

She let out a sigh and straightened her clothes. Once she got the wrinkles out of the way, she took her purse and a folder full of copy of her résumé. Today, she was going for a job hunting. She wanted to get a part-time job to help her mother to pay for the bills at home. She just hoped that today someone will hire her.

The moment she got off of the bus, the fresh breeze of spring collided with her body. She voluntarily smiled and scanned her surroundings. She was currently in downtown and she looked at different stores that could possibly hire her.

She started giving her résumés out to different restaurants, clothes stores, jewelry stores, even cafes, but all the managers told her that they would just call her for an interview if they needed her. She went to the very last store around the place and she got the same reply.

When she was completely out of hope, she left and came back home thinking what a day of wasted time. When she got home around five o'clock in the afternoon, her mother was still at work. She usually came home at seven o'clock depending if she would visit Kyle in the hospital. Usually, when she did, she gets back at around nine.

Since Kelsey figured out that her mother would visit Kyle because he had a chemotherapy the next day, she decided that she would cook dinner instead. She started gathering all the ingredients she needed and heat up the pan. When she was finished cooking, she placed a whole plate of fried chicken on the table and covered it. Then she put the lid on the soup so the steam wouldn't come out and remained warm. Ace would love their dinner.

Speaking of Ace, Kelsey went to knock on the neighbour's door to get him. Since Kelsey worked in the morning and her mother worked in the afternoon, Ace would usually stay at their neighbour's apartment until she gets back from work. Their neighbour, Paulina Freeman, didn't mind Ace staying there at all since she also had a son who was the same age as him.

"Hi, Mrs. Freeman, I'm here to pick up Ace." Kelsey greeted as Paulina beckoned her in.

"Of course, please, come in." She said as Kelsey noticed the boys playing with toy cars in the living room. Kelsey sat on the sofa and watched the two boys.

"Kelsey!" Ace practically screamed jumping on her lap. He hugged her tightly sucking the air out of her lungs.

"Too - tight - Ace!" She tried to say in between breaths. When Ace had release her, she quickly took a deep breath and kissed him on the cheek. "How was your day?" She asked enthusiastically. Usually, Ace had the most outrageous stories. He would tell her what he did that day as if he was telling a story from a fairytale book. Sometimes, it even seemed like he was way too smart for a five year old kid.

"It was great! Me and Pearson played all day. Paulina even taught me some cool stuff. Like when you light up magnesium, it will make this very bright light, kinda like a flashlight." He said with his movie-sounded-like voice. Paulina used to be a scientist, but when she got pregnant to Pearson, she quit her job to take care of him.

"Wow, that's very impressive. Did you do experiments?" She commented ruffling his hair with her hand.

"Yes, it was so much fun!" He squealed enthusiastically as he jumped up and down in excitement. Kelsey chuckled at her brother's peppy mood and beamed at him.

"I bet it was." She said as she saw Paulina entered the room with a tray of chocolate chip cookies and glasses of milk. "Okay, why don't you play with Pearson some more." She suggested.

"Okay!" He screeched leaping his way to Pearson, who was busily playing with his cars. Paulina set the tray on the centre table and handed a whole bag to Kelsey.

"Thanks Mrs. Freeman, but you shouldn't have." She said genuinely.

"It's fine. I know how much Kyle and Ace love those cookies."

"Thank you so much. I'll make sure Kyle get some." She said grinning gratefully at Paulina.

"Your welcome. You and your family are always welcome here. Especially Ace. I can tell Pearson enjoys his company. And I really do hope that they will go to the same school. I am actually planning to enrol Pearson to the day care three blocks away. You should do the same for Ace. He seems to be the type of kid who likes learning." Paulina suggested as the two of them regarded the children eat some cookies and drink some milk.

"I really want him to go to school. But I'm afraid our budget is a little too tight. That's why I am looking for a job right now. If you know any openings, Mrs. Freeman, can you maybe...." She trailed off looking hopefully at Paulina.

"Of course, dear. I will tell you right away if there's any hiring." She assured her as Kelsey smiled at her. "You know, you're really lucky with that brother of yours." She said nodding her way to Ace. "Your mom is really lucky she found him wandering off the streets. There's only a couple of special kids like him around the world. They're very rare."

"What do you mean?" She asked creasing her eyebrows together.

Paulina laughed softly. She thought that the Parker knew that Ace was a very special child. "Didn't you ever notice? Ace has a photographic memory. Everything he has read, seen, or heard is permanently stuck in that little head of his and his brain absorbs all the information. He will remember them word for word or even what you were wearing yesterday."

"Are you sure? I've never really notice before?" Kelsey asked in bewilderment and amazement.

"Let's try it out, shall we?" Paulina asked as she turned to Ace, who was quietly munching on his cookie. "Ace?" She said as he looked up with those innocent, moss green eyes and adorable chubby cheeks. "Do you remember what you read on that big book this afternoon?" She asked him slowly as she referred to the gigantic science book she had. "You know, about those cells?"

Ace regarded the two ladies in front of him and tilted his head on the side. He looked at Kelsey who was waiting for him to answer. "Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. The human body is composed of trillions of cells. They provide structure for the body, take in nutrients from food, convert those nutrients into energy, and carry out specialized functions. Cells also contain the body's hereditary material and can make copies of themselves." He said as he continued to munch on his cookie and stated all the facts without batting an eyelid.