Chapter 5. Back in Denzia

ASHER

“Isn’t it, Asher baby, this Laurence is your friend?” Mommy asked while showing me her cellphone with Laurence’s FaceGram profile.

Daddy also glanced at Mommy’s phone out of curiosity, but he quickly returned his attention to what he was doing on his laptop. As far as I know, he’s editing his resume because tomorrow morning he said he’ll start looking for a job immediately.

“Yes, mommy. Why?” I furrowed my brow.

“He messaged me yesterday, and I only saw it now because it was in message requests and I didn’t notice it…” Mommy replied to my question, showing me the message Laurence sent her.

Laurence: Hi, Mrs. Miller! I am your son’s friend, Laurence. I just wanted to ask for your home address and what time you’ll leave for your flight to Denzia? Joan, Ck, and I want to say goodbye to Asher in person. Thank you!

“Just don’t reply, ‘my… I’ve already chatted with them…” I lied.

I was sure that if I told Mommy that I hadn’t replied, she might scold me and say that I shouldn’t be like that with my friends. And if Daddy heard Mommy’s sermon, I’m sure he’d have something to say too. Plus… how could I explain to both of them that I don’t want to add more people having a close relationship to me… that I don’t want to have another people I would have to look for in my next life? They wouldn’t believe me… and I don’t want everything to become complicated. Besides, it’s better this way… to live as if everything is normal… for them to just see me as their child.

In my second life, I had no hesitation telling the people close to me how I remembered my past life, but now, I don’t know if I should tell anyone about it. I also thought that maybe it’s better to just live as if everything is normal… not telling anyone about what I remember from my past lives while trying to give a happy ending to my story… our story with Jackson or Dylan (or whatever his name is now) in this life… and the stories of the people around me. Because… I don’t want what happened in my two past lives to happen again… and I would do everything it takes to not make history repeat itself.

I didn’t realize that I had fallen asleep, and I only realized it when Daddy woke me up as we were descending from the airplane. The flight from Zedfina to Denzia is only two and a half hours, so I hardly noticed the time passing.

After getting our luggage, we headed straight to the arrival area, and from afar, I immediately saw Auntie Marie and Lee. Lee even had a signboard that said ‘Welcome home, Miller family!’ and Auntie and her husband, Uncle Richard, each held two balloons. Coincidentally, the balloons looked exactly like the ones Mommy and Daddy surprised me with on my birthday.

“Welcome home, bestie!” Aunt Marie shouted, then squealed and ran towards Mommy to hug her.

Mommy immediately hugged back tightly, and while they were embracing, Daddy and Uncle Richard exchanged nods and patted each other’s backs. Lee and I exchanged glances, and I noticed from her facial expression that she seemed eager to go home and get this over with.

“Hello…” I flashed a small smile at Lee, but she just rolled her eyes and immediately looked away.

I furrowed my brow slightly at her action because from what I remember in my two past lives, I didn’t have a hard time getting close to Kara and Kate… and now, in this life, with Lee, I didn’t know if the same thing would happen. Her attitude seemed different in this life… or maybe she just wasn’t in the mood?

After Mommy and Aunt Marie hugged, it was my turn to receive a tight embrace from Auntie, and she even peppered my cheeks with kisses while saying she missed me. I didn’t remember much, but we had pictures in Auntie’s photo album where you could see her taking care of me while also taking care of Lee, so I just let her kiss me. I just laughed and hugged her back.

“You’ve grown so much! Did you know I was one of the ones who used to change your diapers when you were little, huh?” Auntie said while still hugging me, and now she was pinching my cheeks.

Mommy and Daddy laughed, as did Uncle Richard. Lee just looked on, seeming unamused and utterly bored with what was happening.

“Stop it with your baby already! You’re being too much, bestie!” Mommy said with a laugh, as if she was protecting me from Auntie.

After that, Aunt Marie and Uncle Richard helped Mommy and Daddy carry our luggage. Their parking spot was also close to the arrival area, so we didn’t have trouble pulling and carrying them.

We thought Mommy and Daddy would take us to some restaurant for dinner, but Aunt Marie said she cooked, so we’d eat at their place. It wasn’t a problem since we were neighbors. Their house was just on the next street, right across from ours.

On the way home, there was laughter and storytelling happening between Mommy, Daddy, Auntie, and Uncle. Lee and I, sitting in the back seat of their van, were quiet because Lee had her headphones on, and based on her expression, it was clear she didn’t want to talk, so I just looked out the window. It’s already autumn season, so the surroundings were filled with orange leaves, and the area was full of bare trees.

As I looked out at the passing scenery, I couldn’t help but think about the things that happened here in Denzia… and as I recalled all of that, I also couldn’t help but think about what I should do to ensure that the events of my two past lives wouldn’t repeat themselves. I told myself I’d be optimistic and think that I’m living this life because it’s the one where I’ll truly be happy, along with the people around me, but no matter how hard I tried to convince myself of that, there were always thoughts that would disrupt it.

I couldn’t help but think that if I’m living again now and the people from my two past lives are also reincarnated, it could also mean that history would repeat itself again.

I sighed and closed my eyes… and I forced myself to just sleep through the overthinking. Thankfully, I did manage to fall asleep.