Chapter 26: Old friends

"So if 1+1 equals 2, how much would 1+2 be?"

"This... mmm.... ¿4?"

"No... put your fingers back down"

"There"

"Now lift 1"

"Ready"

"Now lift two more"

"Ready"

"How many fingers are on your hand?"

"1, 2 y 4"

"*Sigh* Emily... I had already taught you to count to ten..."

At a table in the library sits a couple of children with different expressions. The girl has a big smile on her face, while the boy, has a tired expression.

"This..."

"Hold up finger by finger and count out loud."

"1"

"Good"

"2"

"Good."

"4"

"No... after 2 comes 3."

"Oh... 3"

"Go on."

"5"

"... Emily, after 3 comes 4 and then 5."

"Oh... 4"

"Go on."

"5"

"Right"

"6"

"Go on"

"7"

"Perfect, go on"

"8"

"Good"

"9"

"Yes"

"10"

"Hahaha, you did well, you're very smart" Smiled Christian softly.

"Really!" Emily exclaimed gleefully, as she looked at her fingers excitedly.

"Obvious!"

"Haha~ I can count!" laughed Emily gleefully, quickly getting up from her seat, then skipping gleefully all over the place until she reached the library manager "Ma'am, I learned how to count!"

"I'm glad" Eve smiled softly, stroking Emily's head affectionately "Now go back to your seat and keep studying, you still have a long way to go!"

"Yes!" nodded Emily happily, then rushed back to her seat "Let's continue!"

"Okay, you have to repeat to me again the numbers you learned"

"1, 2, 4, 5, 7..."

'*Sigh* Is this what parents go through when teaching their children?' Christian thought with a tired smile, looking at the excited little girl in front of him 'Not a bad start though considering we've only been going for 50 minutes...'

"Don't forget about 3"

"So-"

"You have to remember to-"

"No, no, no, no... the letter 'A' is not a number."

"There is no country called the moon"

"Snakes don't dance."

"Emily... after 27 comes 28... there is no such thing as a number potato."

"Okay... but after 90 comes 91, not 100-"

"Yes... I won't stop being your friend, don't worry... now keep counting, 95..."

"No Emily...the goddess won't punish me for not going with the other ghosts-"

"Emily...no-"

"Emily-"

"Please... kill me"

And so the time passed quickly, as Christian's smile was breaking with each passing minute until only a desperate look remained on his face. Very different from Emily, who always kept her vivacity from the beginning.

It's been about 3 hours since he started teaching Emily to count, and although it was difficult, he managed to make her able to memorize up to the number 100. A great achievement if we consider that a few hours ago, she couldn't count more than 2.

In addition, Emily has incredible concentration, in these 3 hours of study, she never lost focus, not even to go to the bathroom.

"You did well Emily" Christian smiled tiredly, as he looked at the numbers written in the girl's notebook with relief.

"Potato is not a number..." Emily muttered in a daze, as she put her notebooks away.

"I told you to forget about that, you can count now can't you good?"

"But my old friend told me that potato was a number? Maybe that's why the teacher got mad?"

"... She lied to you"

"Yes..."

"Does it bother you?"

"Yes... we won't be friends anymore"

"Tomorrow I'll help you with addition and when we get back from the weekend, I'll see if you can learn subtraction...it all depends on how fast you learn...after you know those two things, you might learn to read"

"Mn."

Nodded Emily slightly, but the grumpiness could still be seen on her face.

"Emily, try to write the numbers 1 to 100 at home, you have to practice, Got it?"

"Yes"

"*sigh* Then that would be all for today, in a few minutes they should be giving the start to go home" Stretching to relieve the muscle fatigue, I focus my gaze towards the clock on the library wall "In 5 minutes we should be ready Do you want to come out with me?"

"Come on my friend!" 

Laughed Emily quickly, momentarily forgetting the earlier bitterness, then taking my hand and pulling me along with her.

Sigh

---

Where is Christian?

I told him I'd come for him today, he should be waiting for me outside.

He's not fighting again?

No, my Christian is not like that.

"Mom..."

Turning quickly to my side, I see my little prince in front of me, looking at me with his new smile that I'm already becoming infatuated with.

"My prince~" I smiled happily, quickly approaching to take my little guy in my arms, only to notice something that managed to freeze my blood.

"Hi, Christian's mom, I'm Christian's friend, my name is Emily!"

A-friend?

No, no, no...

My little boy has no friends, let alone female friends.

They...

They're holding hands!

She is his...

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

My prince is still little!

Eva, stop thinking about stupid things!

"Hi, Emily... I don't remember seeing you with Christian before"

"We became friends today!" smiled Emily cheerfully, still not letting go of Christian's hand, then she moved a little closer to Eva and whispered "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about Christian's secret..."

What secret?

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With confusion I turn to Christian, meeting with even more strangeness as I look at his tired expression, as he brought his hand up to his face in embarrassment.

"What secret?" I ask with furrowed brows, as I felt the weather turn abnormally cold at this point.

"Leave it, mom..." Christian interrupted with embarrassment, then turned to Emily and spoke "Shouldn't you be taking the bus?"

"Oh... Right!" Eyes widening, Emily runs towards the bus that was a few meters ahead, but not before turning around and shouting while waving her hand "See you, tomorrow buddy!"

"See you tomorrow..."

My Christian is already attracting girls... 

and he's still just a kid...

An arsenal of weapons...

Will I have to just resign myself to my fate?

But I don't want my child to be taken away...

"Mom..." 

"Y-yes?" I reply with a little difficulty, refocusing on my little boy.

"Hug..." Christian murmurs, as he stretches his little arms towards me, causing my bitter heart to instantly sweeten at this beautiful request.

"My baby boy..." I smiled softly, as I quickly grabbed Christian in my arms, lifting him to my height "Come to mommy hahaha~"

Once with him in the air, I quickly pull him to me, successfully managing to connect a hug with my little boy, happily rubbing my cheeks on his soft skin, as he instantly affirms himself with my neck.

"My prince, how was school?" 

I asked after a while, as I started to walk out of the school with Christian in my arms.

"It was... interesting"

"Oh why, is it because of that girl?" I questioned him with narrowed eyes.

"Well in a way she had something to do with it... You know she mistook me for a ghost?"

Hearing that, instantly, strong anger began to flood my head "What!? How dare that little girl mistake my child for a ghost!!!?"

"You don't have to yell... she didn't do it with bad intentions... she says she saw a movie where a girl talks to ghosts who don't know they are ghosts... I tried to be sarcastic, but she didn't understand... so she made me swear that she herself wouldn't tell anyone that I'm a ghost... it was kind of funny"

"Oh...I understand...I saw that movie too"

"I also talked to the principal...I asked her for permission to skip classes since they don't do me much good, I already learned all the subject matter of this grade"

"...What are you going to do with your free time?" I asked with a frown, not at all happy with this request of his.

"I started teaching Emily how to read and write... turns out she still doesn't know anything and everyone laughs at her... even her teacher often ridicules her... so I said why not? I have plenty of free time after all"

My Christian is so kind...

But why does it have to be with a girl?

"What did Mrs. Smith answer you?"

"She allowed me on certain conditions... I have to keep my exams to a maximum, just keep studying in the library and submit a preview of my book to her when I come back from vacation"

That old bitch... 

Does she want to kill my child with so many burdens?

"Your book... have you planned anything yet?"

"Yes... I have a general idea, I start writing it today"

Your book...

My boy is 9 years old and he's already thinking about writing a book...

"Christian... promise me something"

"Whatever you want mom..."

"If people laugh or make fun of anything you do... don't take it into account Yes?"

"Don't worry mom... I'm a big boy now"

Sigh...

Is he really going to be okay?

Even though I've been trying to act normal in front of Christian, my fear for his condition is eating away at me.

Yes, it's great that he's a genius, but...

Will he be able to cope?

His intelligence doesn't sound anything like the ones in the movies or the ones so much admired.

Remembering feelings, images, sounds?

Won't it be too exhausting for a child?

What if people make fun of him for doing something wrong?

Won't he remember that negative feeling for his whole life?

Would it hit his self-esteem forever?

Will it affect him at all?

Will he be able to live a peaceful life with those memories haunting him?

"I love you mom" Out of nowhere, Christian whispered in my ear, as I felt his head now resting on my shoulder.

My boy...

No matter what burden you carry in the future, I'll be sure to share them with you...

"Me too" 

I smiled, gently kissing his head.

"Eva?"

Frowning slightly at the sudden call, I turned toward the voice, finding myself pleasantly surprised.

"Sara? Jayden?"

In front of me was a familiar couple, Sara Allen and Jayden Smith. I worked alongside Sara for a while in the Walmart warehouse, from there I met her boyfriend, who turned out to be quite nice.

Although by now they must be Mrs. and Mr. Allen...

They were good friends during those times until they got married and moved to another city.

"Eva it's you!" 

Smiled Sara broadly, instantly coming over to hug me, only to be stopped as she looked down at my son in my arms.

"Oh my god!" Jayden squealed, quickly approaching Christian, as he turned to look at his face "Where did you get this cutie!"

"Eva that's... Your son?" 

Sara asked in amazement.

"Yes, this is my Christian" I smiled at the couple, as I flipped Christian over and lifted him into the air, letting him dangle in front of them "Christian, this is Sara and Jayden, mom's friends. Say hello to them"

"Hi..." Christian whispered softly, then turned to me and quickly affirmed his grip on my neck.

"What a cute boy!" Jayden exclaimed in awe, then walked over to Christian and tried to take him in his arms "Come to uncle, let me take a closer look at you!"

"No..." Whispered Christian quickly, clinging tightly to my neck.

"Don't be shy" With a slight pout Jayden, then pulls something out of his pocket "Look, a candy!"

"I don't want..." Christian's murmur was heard, as his body trembled slightly again, causing me great confusion.

Why is he shy?

I thought he had already left that side of him.

Also...

Why is he trembling? 

Is he afraid?

Cold?

"Honey apparently you scare children Hahaha~" Sara laughed loudly "Watch me and learn how it's done"

"Hi Christian, I'm sorry if my husband scared you, he gets a little excited when he sees something cute" Sara spoke softly, as she slowly approached Christian's side, causing my boy to slowly turn his gaze towards her.

"Look how cute you are" Sara smiled softly, as she squeezed Christian's cheeks a little, then pulled out her wallet and smiled "Here's a dollar for you to buy whatever you want"

This bitch...

Is she bribing my son?

Haha~

As if my little genius would fall for that shit-

"Thank you..." Christian whispered, gently taking the bill in front of him, instantly freezing my mocking expression.

"What a polite little boy" Sara smiled softly, as she stroked Christian's head.

"Mom... put me down" Christian whispered, as he turned to me.

Bastard... 

Cheating my son out of money...

"Mom, you can talk to them, I'm going to sit down" 

Spoke Christian softly, as he pointed towards a bench about 2 meters away from me.

"Ok... but don't move from there"

"Yes, mom" Christian replied, as he slowly walked away with his backpack dangling from his hand.

"He ignored me this whole time..."

Jayden muttered with a defeated expression.

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