"Please teach me how to knit a sweater?" Talia snatched two knitting stitches from the sack of needles. "I want to give this to him in exchange for the jacket I received from him at the school excursion."
Charlotte raised her brow at the news as she snatched back the two wooden needles. "With your artistic skill, you should just draw a portrait of him and give it to him. I don't need you to mess up my wools."
"No! I want to give him this." Talia snatched back the needles and begged with puppy eyes. "I'll hand him a drawing, and I'll also give a warm sweater to him too. So, please Granny!"
Her grandma sighed. "Fine! I'll teach you then. With your newbie skills, I prefer you knit him a scarf so you can get it done in time. Or else, I won't teach you at all. Understand? "
Talia nodded her head as she strolled toward the closet to look through all the yarns in her grandma's basket. Recalling from one of her conversations with JD, she remembered that gray was his favorite color. Talia grabbed three wools and sat back down on the floor.
"Okay!" Talia ready her two needles. "I'm ready."
I'll surprise JD then. I hope JD will like my present. How long will we get to talk to each other again?
11
Doing a new hobby for the first time, she hadn’t expected the outcome to be so difficult. Talia knitted the first few stitches before she slipped on the needle, causing her to miss one loop. She frowned, pulled the yarn apart, and restarted from scratch. She had only completed a few columns as she missed another loop again. Frustrated with herself, she redid the yarn for the fifth time, noticing the wool already twisted and curled in a puddle.
“Stop doing that,” Charlotte scolded her granddaughter as she snatched the yarn from Talia. “If you keep restarting from every single mistake, then you would never complete the scarf on time. The effort to finish the present was more important than being a perfectionist at this point.”
Talia sighed as she decided to take her grandma’s words. Since she still had to take her finals in the next two days, she needed to use several free times to finish the scarf. Taking her grandma’s words to heart, she nodded in agreement. She cut out the messy wool and knitted the yarn again.
“Pulled the wool tighter! With that method, no holes would show on your scarf.” Charlotte noticed the small opening on the beginning of the fabric. “I’ll allow you to redo this one more time, but you must not restart again after missing any loop.”
She nodded at her grandma as she redid everything from the start. The time loomed closer to the evening, so Talia wrapped up the wool and fabric to place them in the basket. She went to her bedroom to finish her last assignments and studied for her tests.
The oddest situation was that she never received any phone call from JD ever since the argument in the front yard. What’s up with the silent treatment? Has he finally changed his mind to befriend her?
Talia had the worst fear in her heart the moment she didn't have the chance to speak with him again. If not for her stepmother hiding the phone cord at night, then Abigail would take the receiver to her room. Pity! Talia should have exchanged email with JD, so they could message each other instead.
She decided to focus her energy on completing her tests for the final week. Dreading the fear from not hearing Jayden’s voice, she prayed that he wouldn’t abandon her since she hasn't communicated with JD for the past two weeks.
Ever since she befriended Jayden at the university, he had become her emotional support in helping her to build self-confidence and self-esteem to be an independent woman. She also became a strong person that she wouldn’t let her stepmother and half-sister bully her like when she was young. She finally came out of the darkness and looked forward to the bright future to see where her life would lead her.
Would fate be so cruel to tear them apart? She had just figured out her emotion too. I missed you, JD!
In the early morning of the day before Christmas, Charlotte and Talia rode a taxi to the cemetery. She wore a turquoise attire with white roses on the fabric. Her grandma dressed in a white shirt and black pants to visit her daughter's grave.
The moment Talia discovered the truth of not being Edith's biological daughter, she had always wanted to see the cemetery, where her mother was buried. She wanted to prove to her mother that she finally lived her life with no regrets and full of joy.
Talia pulled the weeds from around her mother’s grave. After setting the basket and the white lilies in front of the tombstone, Talia wiped the dust from the headstone. Her grandma placed a bouquet of pink carnations right next to her flower.
“How have you been, mother?” Talia sniffed and her smile curled into a sad frown. “You died twelve years ago and left me all alone in this world. If not for grandma’s love, then I wouldn’t know how to live in this dark world. I hope that you'll watch over me even though you are in heaven now.”
Charlotte stood and patted the headstone. “You don’t have to worry about your daughter now. She had grown up so much these past few weeks. You should also be happy that she has met someone kind and dear to her.”
Talia’s heart ached at the mention of JD as she took the cloth from the basket and set the food right in front of the tombstone. “Here! Grandma said these are your favorite dishes, so I had brought them here. Please have some of the food. I knew that you must be hungry and apologized for coming so late since I had just discovered the truth in the past several weeks.”
They sat on the ground and spoke to her mom's grave for an hour. Talia realized the time was already in the afternoon, so she folded the red and white checkered cloth. Picking up the basket, she stared once more at her mother's name on the tombstone.
“I'll come back with grandma to visit you another time,” Talia whispered in the quiet atmosphere. “I hope you rest in peace in heaven.”
As her grandma and her walked toward the entrance, Talia bumped into someone. She lost her balance and tumbled toward the ground. However, the visitor held onto her waist to prevent her from falling. She tilted her head, surprising to see JD stand right in front of her. Her expression became puzzled as she lifted her hand to touch his face.
“J… Jayden… I meant… JD… Is that really... you?” Talia stuttered as her hand brushed against his warm skin. “You’re really... not an illusion...”
His lips curled into a smile. “Of course, it’s me. I’m glad I had arrived on time to catch up with you two here.”
Talia no longer cared about her grandma as she threw herself into his chest and wrapped her arms around his shoulder. Even though they haven’t met for a fortnight, the time of the separation seemed like two lifetimes. With no fear and embarrassment in her heart, she snuggled into his chest as she blessed the heavens to let her meet him at last.
Even though Jayden's appearance seemed a bit worn out, he still looked handsome in his green shirt and black pants outfit. He wore a new white jacket this time. How could she miss his presence this bad?
“How do you know we're here?” Charlotte strode to JD. “Did you stop by the house earlier?”
JD groaned at the mention of their home. “Yeah! I came across your father, Talia. And he told me that both of you had come here and gave me the address. I haven’t been to your house in a short time, but the personality of your family’s members changed so much that I assumed they had been possessed.”