CHAPTER 01. UNREALISTIC DREAMS.

CHAPTER 01. UNREALISTIC DREAMS.

SHELLY.

“Coming Mum.“ I yelled for the umpteenth time, but didn't move an itch from the worn-out marble floor I laid.

My gaze was still fixed on the small television which was just few metres away from me, with my chin on my hands for support.

Excitement had the best of me and nothing else seemed to matter at the moment.

It was that period of time that comes every year when the 'Greygott conglomeration' makes an exemption for a lower-class to get admitted into the prestigious Greygott high-shool.

They make a pick from the application letters sent by over a thousand lower-class kids. 

It's somewhat pathetic that such number of persons struggle to get just one position. But on a second thought, you can't balme them, can you?

It's a very rare opportunity and the winner is always termed as having born with a lucky star.

“Get your fat ass off that floor!“ A voice barked and I got myself a hard spank on my butts.

"Ouch." I rubbed at my butts, staring poutingly at Megan. She had her hard glare on and was staring daggers back at me.

Megan Rodriguez – older sister, overly grumpy and cold hearted.

You never get to see her smile and if you do....well, you won't.

“Quit this bullshit and go sit for dinner!“ She angrily turned off the television.

“Why did you do that? Mrs. Nora Williams was about to announce the date for the pick.“ I sluggishly stood from the floor with a huge frown on my face.

“You mean the hideous, wicked witch of the west?“ Megan retorted with a scoff.

“Mrs. Tera Greygott is the wicked witch of the west. I'm talking about Mrs. Nora Williams.“

I explained, slapping off a peck of dust on my faded gown.

“All rich folks are wicked witches of the west, be it Williams or Greygott. Now go sit!“ She fired back, walking past me with angry steps.

“No offense, but I think you're the only one with that mindset. Every other person around here sees Mrs. Nora Williams as the fairy godmother.“

“That's because they are all too daft to function.“

“But Meg...“

She spun around with a furious yell. “No more buts. And don't call me Meg again, or I'm gonna hurl you out the window.“

Her threats emitted pure venom which snapped my mouth shut in an instant.

Megan was a beast in a human clothing, no jokes. I was one hell of unfortunate to be her sister, her kid sister.

“Megan, that's enough.“ Mum walked in from the kitchen-wing with a couple of silverware. “Come sit, the both of you.“

Megan shoved past me, and I was sent crashing to the ground at the impact. 

“Megan, that's enough.“ Mum cautioned. “Shelly dear, you alright?“

“I'm fine. I'm good.“ I struggled to my feet, stretching slightly to rid myself of a slight stinging pain around my waist region.

I've got a lot of terrible history with Megan, so this wasn't new.

I just wish I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

I slowly dragged myself to my chair as Mum called out my name again.

Sitting opposite her, she flashed me an apologetic smile. “I'm sorry.“

“I'm okay, Mum. It's no biggie.“ I attmpted a convincing smile. Megan was seated next to me, getting my nerves all tensed up.One wrong move, and she'll be on my throat again.

Mum said the prayers and we began eating. Quietly at first, until Megan broke the silence.

“Where's Vivian?“

Mum exhaled tiredly. “She's asleep already. I tucked her in before I came to serve dinner.“

“Why did she go to bed so early? She's not sick, is she?“

Though Megan was as hard as a rock, she still shows her soft side when it had to do with Vivian, her seven years-old daughter.

Megan's a pathetic, single Mum. Vivian's Dad remains a mystery  because Megan wouldn't talk about it.

Many years back, she'd packed up her things and left the house. One fateful day, she returned with the baby in her womb.

No one knew her story, especially this poor me, since I was pretty young back then.

I've tried summoning courage –countless times– to ask her about her sad past, but somehow, I always lose that courage.

But even without being told, it was obvious Megan had a whole lot of sad experience and that had made her turn into this grumpy, unbearable person.

*

*

“She's not. But dear, the poor girl is having a hard time, especially now that you're barely at home..", Mum replied, and stuffed another fork of pancakes into her mouth.

Megan sighed, rubbing her temples. “Mum, you know the reason I'm not always around her is that I've got to work. We're gonna starve to death if I don't work.“

“I do know that.“ Mum nodded with a small smile. “But Vivian needs the love of a Mum more than anything else. She's still too young to be left alone.“

“Is this one of those times you rub it in my face on how much of a bad mother I am?“ Megan asked coldly, obviously pissed-off. “Then you give me lectures on how to become a great Mum, just like yourself?“ She added sarcastically.

“I'm not trying to lecture you.“ Mum's defence was weak. She was already in a feat of tears. “The kid's having a hard time and she needs lots of love from you right now.“

“And I give her all the love I can. But I can't just sit here and attend to her all day.“

“I didn't ask you to sit here all day...“

“I know you picture me as the worst mother for Vivian but you don't expect me to be as good as you are.“ Megan was really vexed already, and like always, she was taking it out on Mum.

My heart ached at how defenseless Mum was. Still, I didn't wanna get involved. But Megan was growing louder and louder with each fleeting second.

“My situation is a lot more difficult and overly complicated that yours ever was. So before you lecture me, try stepping into my shoes!“

Unabe to keep it in anymore, I interfered. “Mum wasn't lecturing, Meg. She was only telling you that Vivian misses you and wants to spend more time with you.“

She gave a dry chuckle and intertwined her fingers, flashing me a fake smile. “And she speaks after all. I was beginning to think you were mute or something.“

And here we go again with another Megan-Shelly fights during dinners. One of the reasons I hate family dinners.

“Mum, if you really wanna lecture someone, I think you should start with Shelly. She finally lost her mind and has gone as far as submitting an application letter for Greygott highschool.“

It hit me like a grenade or some sort of a time bomb, paralyzing me completely. The little bit of pancake I'd just stuffed into my mouth fell back in the plate.

Once again, I've been brutally attacked by Megan and the smug smile on her face made me feel even worse.

“What?“ The disbelieve and disappointment was evident in Mum's voice and I felt my heart ripping apart.

“Shelly?“ Mum called in an almost-whisper but I didn't look up. I mean, how could I?

“Shelly?“ This time I looked up, and noticed her eyes were already wet with tears. “Is it..true?“

I grabbed her hand in tears, going down on one knee. “I'm sorry, Mum. I didn't mean to hurt you...“

“But you did.“ Megan cut me off. “And that's one more prove on how selfish you are.“

It's unfair when one gets attacked without any heads-up. But even more unfair when you also steal their chances of defending themselves.

Just how unfair can Megan really get?

“You don't care about Mum's feelings and you hardly care about mine. All you care about is your stupid dreams of changing the world. Like that's ever gonna happen.“ She snorted.

“My dreams ain't stupid and sooner or later, I'll make it a reality.“

Trust me to speak so boldly when it has to do with my dreams.

“We live in Gale, Shelly, and in the slums to top it all. We reak of dirt and mud. We eat from the remains of the rich. We are born unfortunate and we die that way. This is our fate and there's nothing you or any one else can do about it.“

Tears were beginning to build a lump in my throat at Megan's words. Slowly, I let my gaze dance around our poor abode.

We lived in a dirty shaft in the slum part of Gale, with four small rooms.

One was the kitchen. Mum shares a room with Vivian. Megan and I share a room and the smaller one was the parlour.

Mum created a little space on the passageway from the parlour to the kitchen and turned the space into our dining spot.

Our world was huge messy but even as a slum girl, I still had my rights to dream big. I wasn't gonna let anyone take that away from me.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and cleared it up. “I know all that but that's even why I'm gonna give my dreams a go. And getting into Greygott highschool is the start of my dreams.“

“Are you saying that because you wanna prove me right again about how gullible you are, or did you actually forget that no one from the slums successfully graduates from Greygott highschool?“

Another attack but this was one that I had no defense for, so I just kept mute.

“People with realistic dreams gets expelled on their first day at Greygott highschool only because they come from the slums. You've got the craziest and unrealistic dreams ever and you think you're gonna make it through?“

Another silence. Mum slipped away her hand from my hold. Her eyes were ice-cold, her glare was hard.

And then I realized that I was all alone in this battle with Megan. Mum wasn't on my side tonight.  That made me wanna cry out loud.

“The rich ones here are devil's incarnates. They reach out a candy to you and take it back  before you even get a bite of it. 

They give the poor ones fake hopes by letting them set a foot at 'Greygott high' but gets them expelled instantly because we don't belong in their world. And it's only embarrassing that we keep wishing to belong with them when it's clearly never gonna happen!“

“I don't wish to belong with them!“ I retorted sharply. “I'm a slum girl. I wake up every morning to the harshness of life caused by those rich folks. Desiring to belong with them is like selling my soul to the devil and having such desire is gonna make me a bloody sellout!“

I took a couple of breaths, keeping my voice in check. The yelling wouldn't do me my good.

“I wanna prove to them that they were wrong for treating us like trash. I wanna show them that we can be as good, or even better than they are.“

“You still don't get it, do you?“ Megan scoffed. “That's never gonna happen. You'll never get picked as a student at Greygott high. If you do get picked, you're gonna get expelled. When that happens, we'll be ridiculed and mocked. How do you think Dad's gonna feel in his grave at the sight of that?“

“Dad would have wanted me to live my dreams like he always said. He would have had my back on this.“

"Ohh..right. I almost forgot. You got your crazy dreams from him afterall. He thought he could change the world and bring equity but that led him to his early grave. And that grave is were you're gonna be sooner or later if you don't get your head straight!“

“Meg, that's enough!“ Mum snapped, trembling in sheer anger and pain. The tears were making their way down as well.

Dad had died in a riot, on a quest for justice. The rich folks had shut down their mines. They couldn't keep shut. He remains a martyr, even though he never got the justice he sought.

Mum griefs his death like it was just yesterday. But in actuality, it's been eleven long years.

She gets really sensitive when we talk about him, so we don't. But Meg. was insensitive enough to bring it up.

“Stop calling me Meg, the both of you!“ Megan slammed the table angrily and stormed off.

I watched her head to our room and then turned to her Mum who was sobbing really quietly now.

“Mum.“ I called softly, reaching for her hand but she retrieved it.

“You know how I feel about those rich folks and you went ahead to submit an application letter without my consent. I'm highly disappointed in you.“

“I'm sorry, Mum. But It's always been my dream and I thought I should give it a shot.“

“I'm not against you having dreams but when it comes to 'Greygott high', I'll always be against it. If you choose to follow that dream, then you've chosen to turn against me.“ She stood, wiping her tears with the towel on her shoulder.

“Mum...“

“I always thought you'd be different, Shelly, but you're just like Megan.“ Then she left, heading to her room and Vivian's.

My heart sunk at her words. With a frustrated sigh, I perched my butt on my chair. Tears threatened to spill down my eyes at my great state of despair. I felt helpless, especially now that no one was on my side.

Mum takes my side most times but not on matters like this. Now she thinks I'm just like Megan. Megan's a huge mess and saying I'm just like her makes me feel even messier.

But I understand why she strongly opposes my wish to be in Greygott high. 

Living in the slums all my life made me witness all the brutality and unfairness from the rich folks. 

A lot of us here got deep hatred for them. Mum's no exception.

Still, Greygott high feels like something I should do. It could be a hunch, an intuition or a wishful thinking. But it seems like the 'jackpot' that's gonna change our lives for the better.

Drowned in thoughts, I wasn't sure when the clock ticked midnight.

A glance to the clock got me jumping to my feet.

I packed up the plates and deposited them in the kitchen.

Second -churning- thoughts  crept into my mind about going to my room with Meg. I decided to crash on the couch instead.

It was a really small couch with an uncomfortable structure but I had no choice at the moment.

I snuggled myself in it with a wince and let my thoughts run wild as I settled in.

My life was a good example of misery and sadness.

My home was a sad and bitter one and we lived the hardest life anyone could.

If I live the rest of my life like this, then I'm gonna be the saddest one in the afterlife.

God help me. I'm not sure how much longer I can endure all these hardships.

Slowly, my wet eyes closed as I drifted off to dreamland.