Chapter 2 BIRTHDAY

Few days remained for her to turn fourteen. One expected Grace to be happy, as any teenage girl would be. Poor Grace sat at the terrace of her room. She thanked God it was high enough for her see the outside world in her own space. She had tried every possible means to let her parents know she was lonely, how isolated she felt. But the response she always got never yielded fruit. She had her phone and laptop to keep her company. Hopefully, their house help, Mary, was becoming more closer to her. She was a helpful companion, sometimes.

On the eve of her birthday, the night was cold, the whole place was silent, mother nature was also doing her things, whistling through the wind, the trees were dancing to the tunes of her whistles. As usual, she sat in the terrace. The moon was full and bright. She had no one to talk to, so the moon seemed like the perfect company.

"Do you feel lonely up there?" she asked the moon, expecting a reply.

"Silly me" she chuckled. She smiled and looked at the sky. The stars were twinkling too, as many as they were, circling the moon. She let out a small laughter this time.

"No, I don't think you do. You have the stars to keep you company. A company that suits your taste in everything. Even when they aren't as much as they are now, you still have few of them around. They still beautify you". She had no idea she was shedding tears. "You know, I'm going to turn fourteen tomorrow, and I still don't have friends. You might say I have a phone, there are social medias for communication, but that isn't all, I don't go out to see people. I don't even know what the four walls of a school looks like, why, it has always been private tutors. I'm tired you know. I need friends I can play with, gist, argue, giggle, laugh" she said, this time her years uncontrollable.

She wished people would stop thinking she was happy. Her parents always painted the picture of a perfect family to the society. She was always forced to smile behind cameras. As usual, she consoled herself and went into her room. Everywhere was arranged. Her favorite color was blue, so, she had almost everything blue. Her bed was a king-sized bed, filled up with stuffed animals. She snuggled them of course, while sleeping.

Her body felt the need to wash up, so as fast as she could, she went into the bathroom, took a warm shower and hurried into bed, snuggling her teddies as usual. Dinner, no, she wasn't going to take dinner, not when she had no appetite for food. Different thoughts came to her. She needed something to make herself happy. "What could it be?" she asked herself. Still in thoughts, her phone lit up. Very curious to see what the message was all about, an image of two naked girls, fondling and touching themselves displayed on the screen. An idle mind, they say, is the workshop of the devil. Out of curiosity to know what it was, she loaded the video, and having watched the contents of the video, she felt the urge to touch herself. She got too engaged with the video that she slept off when it ended. Before sleeping, she said to herself, "I know I hear that things like this aren't good, but it's only a video, so what damage could be done?" She had no idea what was up against her. That night marked the beginning of a new chapter of her life.