Eugina’s Clothing Store Part 1

I spend most of my days with Marcus. Whenever Eugina works at her family store, Marcus stays with us, and whenever Mom gets a job as an adventurer, Eugina takes care of Paulus and me. Paulus, as soon as he wakes up, goes out to play with the kids in the neighborhood, and we don’t see him until late afternoon. I’m jealous. I want to go out. I want to discover the world. I don’t want to stay behind doors with this silly boy (Marcus is in the back trying to bite his toe). I practice my magic, eat, sleep, and watch over Marcus. I get over to a chair close to the window to watch outside while waiting for Dad to come back from work. I want to know more about the world.

Today, I’m going to Marcus’ house. Mom is taking a job as an adventurer, so I will spend the day with Marcus and Eugina, Paul will go to the home of one of his friends, and Dad will pick me up later when he is off work.

Early in the morning, before going to work, Dad took me to Marcus’ house. By the time I was awake, Mom had already left. It’s hard not to get worried. Why does she want to work? Is it not enough with what Dad makes?

“My love, you will be with Eugina today, please don’t do anything reckless,” Dad told me. “I know you are missing Mom. I miss her too. I’m also worried for her. However, she is strong. She doesn’t want to stay home all the time. She wants more. I understand, sometimes I wish I could do more too.”

“Okay, Daddy.” He is such a good father and husband. I would be lucky to marry someone like him someday.

“Hello Paul, welcome, do you need anything, did you have breakfast already?” said Eugina.

“I’m good, I need to get to work. Thank you for taking care of Cato today.” 

“No worries, she’s an angel.”

“Hello, Cato, how are you, princess?”

“Hello, aunty. Thank you for having me.”

“Bye, baby, Mom and I love you,” said Dad, giving me a kiss.

“I love you, too, Daddy.”

“Okay, Cato, why don’t you go wake up Marcus. We need to get ready to go. I’m taking you both to work today.”

“Okay,” Yes! We are going out! I think they have a store in the shopping district. I don’t know exactly where or what they sell. But I’m heading out to the city. This is great!

“Wake up, Marcus! It’s late! We are going on an adventure!” I scream, getting into Marcus’ bedroom. He is asleep. He didn’t even react. I wonder how long it will be before we leave. I haven’t practiced magic today. I should wake him up. Should I drop water magic in his face? Nah, that would be too mean. Let’s get into his bed.

“Hey, remember you peed on my bed? Maybe I should do the same for revenge.” I’m poking his tiny nose.

“Waki, waki, Marcus. We are going out, waki waki,” I said, lying next to him, tickling him. Tickling is his weakness.

“MMmm… MMmm…. Ahhhh… nooouuu.” said Marcus.

“Marcus, it’s me, Cato.”

“Cato? Why?” Said Marcus, in surprise. His hair was all over the place. And a big bugger was coming out of his nose.

“Just move, get ready. Your Mom is waiting for you.” It’s so lovely to have a conversation like a normal adult. Every time I’m around adults, I have to speak like a 3-year-old. I try my best, but I can’t stand it anymore. Increasingly, I’m using a wider range of vocabulary and constructing more complex sentences. I don’t know the language perfectly, so I make mistakes too, but I’m getting better at it. Learning the language is incredibly easy, though probably because I’m a child. I wish I were like this in high school. Maybe I could have learn Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, or German.

“Mom, Dad, I want to attend the public high school near our home. Most of my friends are going there.” That day, I prepared a nice dinner, had my brother and sister well-dressed, and had everything ready to ask Mom and Dad to let me attend a high school of my choice.

“Sofia. Public school is inferior. It’s not going to get you anywhere. Additionally, friendships from middle school often don’t last. You will make better friends in high school.”

“But Dad, why German education? It could be any other private high school.” Knowing how strict Mom and Dad are about grades, I knew the German education would be extra challenging.

“Deutschule is a great high school. You will certainly learn the tools to get a good entrance exam in university and study Engineering.”

“Mom, I’m 13 years old, why are you guys thinking about university already. I want to hang out with my...”

“Shut up! Sofia Angelica, you don’t understand how the world works. You think everything your Dad and I have come from thin air and good friends? We succeeded in this life through hard work. People are just a means to get what you need.”

I attended Deutschule, and I was miserable. Things worsened once I entered high school because I couldn't meet my parents’ expectations. My grades were good but not excellent. I was dumb. My body was too average to excel in any sport. I still tried everything. I didn’t have time to make friends, as I focused on my studies and my siblings. And when I took the universal test to study engineering, Scheiße, I missed four points to pass. After that, Mom and Dad stopped talking to me.

Well, none of that matters anymore. I have parents who love me now, so I will do my best to make them proud.