Jannah Arianne Arcelo, JA for short was originally came from one of the provinces in Mindanao. It was the place where she spent her childhood years. The place where she had both happy and sad memories.
She was born in the month of August, the second child of Mr. & Mrs. Leandro Arcelo.
She was the daddy's girl in the family and inherited her facial features from her father. That's why she was called her dad's 'carbon copy'.
She had a long curly reddish-brown hair, a lighter and glowing complexion, a beautiful face, and a voluptuous body that made her the real epitome of beauty and charm.
While her brother whose name initials were also JA, which stands for Jareed Andre, inherited his features from both their parents.
In terms of social status, they belong to the upper class. JA's father ran their own business in Manila, taking the CEO position, while her mother was a bank branch manager in their place. They also had other businesses in the province which are managed by her uncles (father's side).
JA being the youngest in the family, used to be the apple of the eyes, especially to her father. That's the reason why she wasn't called by her name inside the house but in terms of endearment.
She thought that being born with a silver spoon in her mouth, would make her life complete, but as she started mingling with her peers, she could say it wasn't enough for her to be genuinely loved and accepted by them.
Maybe because she was born different that made her the 'unwanted' one.
Perhaps others would like her for quite some time but later on, they would just leave her for one reason, 'they don't love her for real'.
There may be few who truly loved her, but they couldn't stay for longer times, because they were taken away from her by any means. She may have all the material things on earth, but there was one thing lacking and that's the love from other people not related to her by blood.
This truth really hurt her, that it created a painful scar in her heart. The scar that still remained in her heart through all the years.
She kept asking herself,
"Is being born extraordinary a blessing or a curse?"
******************
She was seven years old at that time and enrolled in grade school when she found out that something was strange in her. One time, when she was holding something that belongs to one of her classmates, a lot of scenes were flashing in her mind. And as soon as she started to close her eyes, she could read everything that was in the mind of the owner of that belonging. How that person feels, what he is planning to do, and what will happen next. Since then, her classmates found her weird, because they could not believe that she could already talk about a lot of things that were not suitable for her age. They started to keep their distance from her because they said she was 'crazy and psychopath'. And even if she had tried to reach out to them, still they would just ignore her.
One time, when she was on her way to the canteen, she stepped on a pen that she thought had fallen off earlier. She picked it up and looked around to find the possible owner of it.
From a distance, she saw a boy eating bread while his eyes were looking for something in his pocket. She approached him and asked if he was looking for a pen.
The boy looked at her, furrowing his brows.
"Why, did you see it?"
She nodded and handed him the pen. But as soon as it touched his hand, she already had started reading his mind. She found out, that the boy was planning to do something bad to his classmate. She came closer to him and whispered in his ears.
"I know, what you're planning to do. Don't do it, or I will tell your teacher", she warned him.
He was suddenly surprised by what she said so he pushed her away.
"Are you crazy? What are you talking about!", he glared at her with his eyes full of hatred.
JA was scared so she went back her way.
Time to go home and everybody was in haste to leave the classroom. She was the only one left because she still had to finish taking notes of their assignment. Suddenly, she heard a noise coming from the other room, so she went out to find what was it and was quietly peeking at the classroom window.
She heard the teacher asking a question to her pupils while trying to comfort a boy who was crying beside her.
"Who did this?", asked the teacher holding a notebook that was covered with pen ink.
Everybody was silent. The teacher asked again but no one answered.
"Whoever did this to him, will be subject to disciplinary action", the teacher added.
From there, she saw a boy sitting at the back and his face seemed familiar to her. The boy had curly black hair and a tan complexion. He had two piercing dark eyes, a dainty nose, and pouting but pale lips. She remembered he was the owner of the pen she found earlier. The boy smiled slightly as he twisted the pen with his fingers while his lips were mumbling.
JA was so sure he was the one who did it to his classmate. She saw him looking at her and she looked at him badly too. He just smiled at her showing his clenched fist as if to warn her not to report if she didn't want to get punched.
"That bully creature!"
She decided to just keep quiet because she was scared of thinking what he could possibly do to her.
Besides, if she would report him and said she saw him, no one would believe knowing that they were not classmates. And if she told them she read his mind, nobody would believe it even more.
Since that time, JA had not seen anymore that boy in the school, and even when she happened to pass by their classroom and tried to look at his seat, it remained vacant.
Another time to go home.
She was thinking it would be better to tell her brother about this. Whether he would believe her or not, well at least she had tried to share it with him.
She told him that she could read a person's mind whenever she touched something that belongs to that person, or if she touched someone's hand.
Her brother looked at her seriously and then suddenly burst into laughter and told her, that's what she get from watching fantasy movies.
In her desire to prove to him, she tried to hold his bag as she followed him towards the gate exit. Her brother paused for a while because he was wondering what she did to him. He just laughed at her when she tried to close her eyes.
"So, have you read my mind? Did you see something?", her brother asked and smiled sarcastically.
She just shook her head coz she didn't see nor read anything.
Her brother just patted her head as they were heading towards the parent waiting area.
Her dad was waving his hands with a smile on his lips. They came closer to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"How's my sweetheart", asked her dad putting his arm around her. He turned to her brother and did the same.
"Hi honey buns", he said.
They went inside the car and were seated in the back seat. They talked a lot of things, about their dad's work, their studies, and the kind of classmates they have at school. JA's dad was just listening to all her stories and kept on laughing as she threw plenty of jokes.
Her brother, on the other hand, was just silent while his eyes were looking out the window. He used to be like that, a serious type. And they were exactly the opposite.
They were about to reach home when someone had bumped into the car, causing her father to hit the brake fast. They got off the car to find out what happened.
She saw a boy, she thought about her age, lying with his head bleeding in injury. Baskets of Filipino delicacies were scattered, and some coins were dispersed across the concrete surface. He lost his consciousness, but he was still breathing. Her father took him to the passenger's seat and rushed him to the nearby hospital.
As soon as they reached the hospital, the triage nurses took him to the emergency room to check out his condition.
She was hoping that the boy would be fine, and no major injuries happened. They had waited there for 30 minutes until the doctor came out and said he was already out of danger. Her father had a conversation with the hospital personnel and told them they would take charge of the hospital bills and asked them if they could find ways to contact the boy's family.
The boy was already moved to the private room and so JA decided to get inside hoping she could be able to talk to him. A she turned her back, she saw her brother following her with a blank expression.
She stepped inside the room and there she saw the boy lying in a hospital bed. His head was wrapped with a sterile gauze bandage and his arms and legs had minor cuts and bruises. She came closer to him, and the truth shocked her.
"He was the owner of that pen! The boy who bullied his classmate last time."
She couldn't believe he lost weight that much, he got thinner now compare to the last time she saw him.
She landed her eyes on his purple bruises.
"Why all of a sudden became purple? It's been two hours since the accident occurred".
She was confused what was really going on. She wanted to find out the truth, so she held his hand as she closed her eyes. Her tears began to fall after she read everything in his mind.
"Sweetie, why are you crying?", asked her brother, who was standing beside her.
"This boy suffers physical abuse from his stepfather. He is forced to labor, without any compensation", she started telling her brother.
JA's brother looked at her, somewhat perplexed by what she told him. He furrowed his brows in great confusion.
"These bruises in his arms are not due to the accident boo, his stepfather made this to him.", she continued.
"Sweetie, what are you talking about? How come you said all these things when you don't know this boy. This is the first time we meet him", her brother replied.
She tried to explain to her brother everything.
"We should not let this boy suffer anymore boo, I will tell dad to take him home with us as soon as he recovers", she said.
Her brother was still looking at her, could not believe what she was saying since he himself didn't understand as well all the things she said.
"Boo, you don't believe me, right?"
Her brother did not respond, instead, his eyes were focused on the boy lying in bed. JA knew he was trying to analyze everything she told him.
Their father entered the room and told them to go home because he already contacted the boy's family and anytime soon, they would be here.
"Dad, were you able to talk to this boy's stepfather?", JA asked.
Her father looked at her a little bit confused.
"Sweetheart, how did you know that it's his stepfather that I was talking to?", her father asked.
She did not answer because even if she would tell her father, he would also not believe her.
She took a deep sigh and agreed to go home. But the boy had regained his consciousness and reached out her hand.
"Please, don't leave me...I'm scared..." he said with his voice pleading in mercy.
JA's father came closer to the boy and asked him what he was being scared of.
But the boy just cried without saying anything.
"Dad, his stepfather maltreated him. That's why he got all these bruises", she said while showing to them the boy's hand.
"What's your name?", her father asked.
The boy answered with a stuttering voice.
"Ryle". he softly uttered.
"Dad, please let the doctors have a thorough medical investigation about his bruises. Please dad believe me just for now", she said with her voice quite hysterical.
She knew her dad was giving her the benefit of the doubt, so he talked to the doctor in charge of Ryle to check again the patient.
After several minutes, the result of the medical investigation came out.
And it proved that the boy was physically abused.
She looked at Ryle with so much pity. She now understand why he was like that in school. His life was too miserable and his one way of getting revenge was to bully his classmate. Those times he was not in school, were the times he spent selling foods on the street just to follow his stepfather's order.
"Dad, his stepfather is so cruel, so he should be put in prison", her brother said after some time of internalizing what was going on.
Mr. Arcelo nodded while reaching out his phone and dialed a number.
After some time, the door opened and a man in his 40's with a shaggy and pale appearance stepped inside calling the boy's name. He was wearing a blue leather jacket, faded jeans, and rubber shoes. That was the stepfather of Ryle.
He went closer to Ryle and acted like he was really worried of him. Ryle was trembling with fear and never looked at this man, instead, he held JA's hand enough for her to understand he didn't want them to leave him alone.
The man turned to her father who was standing at a distance and started talking rudely.
"I'm sure you were the one who contacted me, earlier. Being the father of this child, I wanted to demand full compensation for the physical damage you caused to my son", the man said in a bad-mannered way.
Mr. Arcelo just looked at him trying to figure out what more this man would be trying to say. JA was about to butt in, but suddenly the three police officers came in.
"Mr. Antonio Cruz, you are under arrest for custodial investigation. We ask your full cooperation", said the first police officer.
The man was not able to talk as he was shocked when the police took him out of the room.
JA came closer to her father and hugged him.
"Thank you dad for believing in me", she said with a teary eye.
Her brother who remained silent most of the time, just patted her head while looking at her in confusion.
Then suddenly, she felt weak and dizzy like she wanted to sit for a while. Her heart was beating so fast that she could hardly breathe.
"What happened to you, sweetie? Are you alright?" asked her brother who were so worried about her.
She did not respond, she felt her hands were getting colder and colder until she didn't know what happened next.