Chapter 2: Cedar Bench, Trees Park

"Finally home!" Cela said to herself as soon as she stepped inside her apartment.  It's still bare but already messy.  Papers are everywhere and trash cans are full of empty soda bottles, instant noodle bowls, and take out containers.  The evidence of working almost non-stop prior to the release of the second book are still inside the house.  She couldn't even find time to take them out.

She sits on the sofa and tries to enjoy it this time.  She wants to release all the tensions she had while visiting her old house. Both her brother and nanny were convincing her to stay for the night, which she didn't want to plus some familiar visitors came in late and all of a sudden, she was bombarded with the usual invading questions she didn't want to deal with. 

Here in her own nest she feels safe.  No one can bug her here.  She won't allow that.

As she tries to enjoy the cozy sofa without having to think of the following day's activities because there should be none, her eyes saw the bag that Nanny Rita gave her earlier that night. She almost forgot about it as she was trying to leave her old house as fast as she could.

The bag seems to be calling her.  Perhaps, it's thanking her that it finally sees the light of day after being kept for so long.  Nanny Rita said it contains some cute stuff from her high school days – a phase in her life that brought her so much trauma.

She breathed deep before opening the bag.  It contains old slum books and a diary with broken lock.  She smirked thinking that her mother could have forced to open it. She must be disappointed to see nothing juicy about the things that she wrote there. Her younger life was boring and predictable until it wasn't.  In fact, each page of her diary contains almost the same events.  As she randomly went through each page, she noticed a paper inserted within its pages. She almost dropped the diary upon seeing that paper from way back.  It's still obvious that it was once crumpled despite the many years that it was neatly tucked within the pages of the diary.   

"Don't underestimate quiet, naïve girls.  They too have their rebellious and naughty side."

"I don't want you to meet that boy. From now on, Rita will pick you up and you will go home straight after your last class. No more waiting in the shed."

She suddenly heard those lines once again and all the rest of the memories are back.  She closed the diary and ran to the kitchen to get some water.

As she sits in her dining table with a glass of water in her hand, she tries to understand why Nanny Rita would do that to her.  She of all people knew how difficult it was for her during those times.  She tried calling her but she's not picking up.  She might've guessed that she already saw by now the contents of the bag and she doesn't want to talk about it.

The phone rings but it isn't Nanny Rita.

"Cela, thank God, you picked up," Ivy said on the other line. 

"Ivy, please.  I want to take some time off," she said.

"Yes, of course. You deserve that.  I am just thankful for everything that you did for our small publishing company.  We can talk about what I told you today when you are ready.  Hopefully, it will be next week.  Please give me a call.  Okay, take a good rest now," Ivy said non-stop before hanging up the phone.

Cela shook her head.  It's typical of Ivy to be pushy.  She has ambitions of her own that are yet to be fulfilled.  They went to the same high school and she was one of her mother's scholars.

"Has she lost her mind? She must have forgotten that it's not easy to write without inspiration or at least idea what to write about," Cela talked to herself as she walks back to the living room where she paper seems to be waiting. She gathered enough courage to pick it and take a look at it.  It still clearly shows: Cedar Bench, Trees Park. All of a sudden, she feels butterflies in her stomach.  She's thinking how come something that she wanted to forget and actually thought was gone forever would suddenly come back like it was only waiting for the right timing. But is now the right time? And for what? And then suddenly it dawned on her that it may be the inspiration she needs for another story. 

One quick shower and some comfortable sleepwear after and there she is hitting the keyboards again. 

The real story she knew did not have a happy ending but she's writing a fiction and she has the power to change any part of that story including its ending if she wants.

Pumped up with an inspiration from a story that happened more than a decade ago and desperately wanting to change its outcome even in fiction, she's able to write the first two chapters in just an hour and can no longer wait to write the ending. She read what she wrote but felt that her story lacks the inspiration she thought she had poured down to it. The exhaustion she's feeling just doubled. It wasn't a good idea to start writing a new story that same night or perhaps that story just never fails to exhaust her.

It all began on a sunny afternoon.  It was only a couple of months before the end of school year and so the scent of summer was just around the corner.  The bright sunshine and the beautiful flowers surrounding the waiting shed had always been her companions while waiting for her car service to take her home.  

She wasn't friendly with anyone in school and she tried to keep a low profile.  It wasn't a secret to her that some kids and parents in schools were still talking about the separation of her parents and it's not because they were pitying her but because they just wanted to gossip.  It was the same reason why her mother sponsored a lot of students.  It's her way of buying them in and command authority among them.

She was enjoying the summer breeze while watching the school janitor sweep the ground.  She always had her earphones so no one would attempt to talk to her. She noticed a male student approached the janitor and seemed to be asking him a favor.  They both glanced to her direction.  A few minutes later, the male student started walking towards her direction.  She immediately felt uneasy and embraced her bag ready to leave the shed. The male student sensed that she was trying to avoid him so he called her name.

"Ms. Cela," called the male student.  It was the first time she heard someone from the opposite sex call her name in school and even addressing her formally. Her uneasiness instantly vanished as fast as she felt it.  She gave him a simple smile.

"I'm sorry if I frightened you," he said.  He introduced himself after.  He said his name was Nate.

"No, you didn't," said Cela.  "And please drop the formality.  Just call me by my first name," she added shyly.

Nate smiled.  He's relieved upon seeing her looking okay.  "I just would like to know if your mother will come here tomorrow?" he asked.

"Oh, about that. I am not sure of her schedule tomorrow," Cela said.  She was careful not to spill any information about her mother's activities even to a cute fellow student like him.

Nate nodded.  "I actually missed our monthly meeting  for the assessment of my academic performance last month.  I was playing for the regionals on the day she visited," he explained.

"Oh, so you are one of her scholars," Cela commented.

"Yes," Nate said shyly.  "I also want to thank her for sponsoring the varsity team.  Your mother is so kind and generous," he added.

Cela just smiled.  She was asking herself how come her mother could project such image to others.

"I'm going," she said.

Nate flashed a bigger smile.  "You take care and thank you, Ms. Cela," he said.

She answered with another simple smile.  She lost interest already.

"Cela," Nate called her again.  "Just Cela."

Cela's reminiscing got interrupted by a text from her brother who's checking if she's reached home safely.  She knows he's trying to make up for lost times and to be closer to her like when they were kids. 

She did not reply to her brother but instead she messaged Hyun.