Miss Otaku

What Suddenly Changed?

The next day...

I woke up on the right side of the bed. Today, I feel great. I was able to sleep well last night. For the first time in years, I was able to have a good night's rest without any nightmare at all. Unlike in the past where I have been always bullied and kicked even on my dreams, I slept so deep last night. 

I sat down on the bed. Strange. I feel stronger than yesterday. That means that I can go back to school now. It is Friday and I don't want to miss a whole week's topic. Even though I have been absent for four days now, at least I will be updated. 

Slowly, I walked inside the bathroom and took a shower with lukewarm water. After a few minutes, I changed my clothes and wore my outfit. It's not a uniform day today so I can wear my favorite costume other the one I wore last Monday when I was bullied. 

I took my bag and went out of my room. Walking towards the sala, I wanted to find Mr. Truman and inform him that I am going to school today. Since my mother is not here, I found it appropriate to inform him since he is my mother's employer and the one in charge of this house. 

"Good morning, Young Miss."

That greeting made me turn my head to the direction where the voice came from.

I smiled. No matter how hard I tried to stop them from calling me like this, they still do it. 

"W-where is Mr. Truman?" I asked softly.

"Oh, he is in the kitchen. He is cooking your porridge."

That reply made my jaw drop. What? Mr. Truman himself is cooking my porridge? I was shocked. Why should my mother's employer do this to me? 

"He did that yesterday, too, Young Miss. He must care for you a lot."

With those words, I nearly shed a tear. No other people in this world did that kind of care to me except my mother who doesn't even have time to call me for the past two days. Now, another person whom I am not really familiar with is doing this for me. I find this hard to believe.

"Where is the kitchen?" 

"At the right side of the dining room. Let me take you there."

I followed the maid who took the lead in showing me the way. In a few minutes, we reached the kitchen. Upon entering, I was stunned to see the cooks assisting Mr. Truman who is stirring something that is on the stove. One of them saw me and whispered something to Mr. Truman. Surprised, Mr. Truman turned his head to look at me. 

"Lily?" he exclaimed when he saw me. "Why...why are you dressed like that? Are you okay? Do you feel well now?" 

Giving the ladle to one of the cooks assisting him, he wiped his hands and walked towards me. 

"I..." I started but stopped. At this point, it was a shock for me to see Mr. Truman cooking for me in action. This man has done a lot of things for me in the past four days. "W-why are you doing this?" 

"Huh?" Mr. Truman replied with a surprised tone. 

"Why are you so kind to me?" That was probably the bravest question I asked someone. I have never confronted anyone like this before. 

Mr. Truman's face was unexplainable. He remained silent for a while then looked at me with concern on his eyes. 

"Lily..." he said softly after a while. "Your mother entrusted you to me so I have to make good of my promise to take good care of you for her sake." 

Sounds reasonable. I nodded then looked at him. 

"I-I need to go to school. I should have missed a lot in four days."

"Okay. But first, eat breakfast with me."

After finishing my breakfast, Mr. Truman's driver sent me to school. However, I refused to be seen alighting from an expensive car so I went down from the car a few meters away from the gate. Then I walked my way up to the gate. 

I bowed her head as usual and walked without lifting it up until I reached the door of our classroom. Again, no one bullied me and this is the second time that it happened. However, I am more careful now. Before turning the knob to open the door, I brought out a handkerchief and put it there first. I have already learned my lessons and I researched ways to avoid getting electrocuted. 

I'm nervous when I turned the knob. However, nothing happened. It just opened successfully. I let out a sigh of relief. I can see my classmates looking at me and following my every move. I saw them whispering to each other. Without lifting my head, I went directly to my own place in the corner. Strange. No one in the classroom shouted anything bad against me today. I spotted some of my classmates who were surprised when I showed up but no one dared to say anything negative at me. 

I frowned. What changed? Am I missing something big here? However, I did not dare to lift my eyes again. I just brought out my sketch pad and drew my character in the game with her new appearance that I just created last night. Again, no one can disturb me in this world. I sketched a few lines and started designing her next weapon. 

"Good morning class!"

Than voice made me stop drawing and lifted my head to look in front. It is our teacher, the most strict one. I closed my sketch pad and placed it inside my bag. 

The class went on smoothly that day. From beginning to end, I have been expecting some pranks but nothing happened. Although I should feel happy about it, I wondered about what happened. I was able to see my classmates whispering whenever they looked at me though but at least, I was never bullied just like before. 

I walked towards the gate where I asked the driver to fetch me. However, I was surprised to see Mr. Truman waiting for me instead. 

"Sir?!" I asked in a surprised tone.

"Hi, Lily!" he said with a good expression his face upon seeing her. "I will be taking you to the mall today."