''Are you in front of my house?'' Paige asked and opened her window. Jordan waved at her from his car. ''Wait there, I will be down in a minute''
Paige ran out of the house and when she got closer, she hugged him tightly.
''Hmm, nice sll''
''I sll? I just took my bath'' Paige said and sniffed her arms.
''Not that, I an to say that you sll nice''
''Why did you co back again?''
''I ca to see your face, to hug you for a while and also to do this'' he said and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a quick kiss, ''I wasn't able to do this today, so I ca back to as soon as I rembered''
''Such a sweet talker'' Jordan leaned against his car and pulled her closer, with her back against him, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders as they chatted.
''You don't have to stress yourself over Jessi's legs''
''Huh? You heard ?''
''Yes, I did. The truth is I've tried so many treatnt plan but none of them have worked so far. Jessi's self-will is weak and she has given up on treatnt. No matter how I pursued her, she
''Can you let see her dical report? I don't think her refusal is because she doesn't want to get better. Most tis, people going through trauma don't want to do anything that will remind them of the trauma. It's like a psychological barrier they put up to appear strong but deep down, they are actually weak and wants to be loved''
''You seem to know this so well?''
''Off course, I have been helping out at Touching Lives Healing Village for almost two years now. I have t a lot of people whose cases seed hopeless but now they are doing well. When I saw Jessi singing today, this thought ca to my mind; she is just a little girl with dreams but unfortunately, she had to cut her dreams short. Jordan, I want to help Jessi. This is not because she is your sister, but because I just find it too pitiful for her to have to let her dreams die so early''
''I will send her dical report to you tomorrow, then, but don't stress yourself over it. I hope you wouldn't be so hard on yourself. Just help as much as you can, okay?''
''Okay''
...
''Stop work, bring the answer sheets right now'' Carlien announced as she sat across the group of boys. They frowned as they reluctantly handed over the sheets to Carlien.
Taking the sheets into her hands, she looked at them and sighed. It wasn't going to be easy tutoring these group of boys. Since the day she beat them up and asked them to work at the store, she has sent them back to school and given her na to their horoom teacher as their guardian. The boys weren't so bad at studies but they were extrely lazy and would rather dilly dally around than learn.
Today, she didn't have lectures until later on, so she decided to tutor them since they were on vacation but it wasn't as easy as she had thought.
Carlien put the papers down and stood up, her mother who sat at the counter looked worriedly at them. She was happy her daughter had been able to ta those boys. Thanks to Carlien, the neighbourhood was now peaceful because they boys now watched over everyone and no longer had any mischievous acts under their sleeves. Even their parents had visited her nurous tis expressing their gratitude because the boys were changing into better human beings. She was proud of her daughter.
''Count the apples and multiply them by their price'' Carlien said to Marcus as they stood outside in front of the apples boxes.
''Big sis, I don't have confidence in Maths. I would rather you ask to write an essay instead''
''Stare right now, or you won't be able to go ho today, you, silly boy''
''Okay'' pointing his fingers at the apples, he started counting them. 'Big sis, there are 30 apples in one box''
''So, tell . How much do you think is the total amount for one box of apple?''
''Big sis, this''
''Big sis, is $50 dollars for a box'' Leslie said and Carlien nodded her head, impressed with him.
''Good, Leslie. Now, you four boys should go back to studying. I am going back ho to do sothing, take care of the store and my mother. Right, here is so money for work this month'' Carlien removed so money from her wallet.
''Big sis, we already said you didn't need to pay us for anything. Out parents are rich, we have money'' Ruhad said sheepishly.
''Yes, big sis, you keep the money and take is as out tutoring fee'' Eli added.
''Alright, since you boys are being so well-behaved, I will get you pizza when I co back''
''Okay!!!''
Carlien chuckled at their childish antics and went inside, bidding her mother goodbye, she left the store to go ho. Their apartnt wasn't so far from the store, so she decided to walk ho. a car pulled over in front of her as she curved into the alley and she stepped back startled.
''Who is this crazy person?'' Carlien muttered as she looked at the car. The front door opened and a young man got down from the car and shouted her na.
''Carlien Arthur'' he said.
''Lazarus? What are you doing here?'' Carlien asked surprised. Lazarus was their classmate back at high school.
''Look at you, I missed you so much'' he said and hugged her. Carlien's body stiffened and she quickly stepped back and smiled.
''You are welco. When did you return?''
''I ca back a week ago. I looked for you and Paige and soone told you girls moved from Victor Street to this place. I was just following the address to look for you and here you are. I recognised you the mont I saw
''Do you an to say I haven't changed a bit? That's so sad, I thought I looked beautiful?''
''You do, but, you are still the sa to . Are you going ho?''
''Yes, my mom has a store at the corner there. I was just going ho to change and go sowhere. You said you were coming to ?''
''Yes, I was coming to you, but you seem to have plans?''
''They can wait, you are here after so long. Let's go together and et with Paige. She will be so thrilled to see you''
''Get in'' Lazarus said and opened the front door for her and Carlien got in.
...
Paige sat at the window side of her favourite caf sipping a drink as she looked at the dical report of Jessi that Jordan sent her. She was also waiting on Carlien and Lazarus to arrive. Back at school, Carlien and Lazarus used to be good friends, one ti Paige was even sure Carlien had developed feelings for the boy but they never spoke about it since, Lazarus left to study outside the City during their final year of high school. Since Carlien never spoke about her feelings for him, Paige too didn't want to probe into it.
Now that Lazarus was back, she didn't know if that ship was going to sail or Carlien had gotten over her feelings for him.
Flipping the report of many pages, Paige stopped at one particular page which had discussions between Jessi and her therapist, it was a year after the accident. From the report, Paige realised, the girl had never really opened up about the impact of the accident on her. All the questions that were asked has vague answers.
Paige sighed. It wasn't going to be easy getting Jessi to open up about the accident, especially because, nothing had been reported on what exactly happened before the accident. Paige was suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Was Jessi's accident really an accident or preditated? The more she read the report, the more things didn't add up, everything seed so seamless to be true. Rembering what Jessi told her, if things were really like that, then could it be possible for one's mory of an event to be distorted due to the impact of the trauma?
Paige picked up her phone, dialling Professor Glow's number, she called the latter who picked up after a few beeps.
''Paige''
''Professor Glow, can soone's mory of an event be distorted after an accident. For instance, can soone have a different mory of how events played out before and after an accident?'' not wasting ti to exchange pleasantries with him, she went straight to state her purpose for calling.
''I'm doing well, Paige. How about you?'' Professor Glow said sarcastically.
''Professor Glow, I'm serious here''
''Well, it is possible because at the ti of the accident, if the person experienced a shock or sothing life threatening even before the accident or at the point of the accident, it is possible for that person to have a different mory of how things played out. Did the person you want to help have such signs?''
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