Searching For Andromeda 23 Special Chapter Ii Samuel

"Saaam? Baby brother?" The girl calls, only to be brushed aside and to be ignored by her baby brother. Samantha Albrecht sighs existentially, as she pouted. "You aren't talking to me, although Ma and Pa left me to entertain you. You haven't even talked the moment you woke up . . ."

Samuel gave no response.

Samantha Albrecht simply knelt beside her brother, as she eyed the ladybug in a leaf. Samuel was staring intently at it.

"Sam . . . your cheek, it's a bit swollen." She mutters. "Does your teeth hurt? Did you fall somewhere? Did a bug bite you?" Samantha asks, holding Samuel by his shoulder. Samuel stares at her with his expressionless, electric-blue eyes very similar to hers. When Samantha looks at her little brother, she always finds herself perplexed by his inability to convey emotions. They were very similar; born from the same womb, and had inherited the same electric-blue eyes.

Samantha Albrecht was born before Samuel. She was born from an 'accident,'—as much as she remembered her mother's grandparents grumbles and scolds when she was at Samuel's age. She was now fifteen, and Samuel five. Back then she was always in her grandparents' house while her mother continued to pursue her studies. She couldn't quite remember her father tending to them back then—that's why she was a bit aloof with him now he's together with them.

Erwin Albrecht was older than her mother; when she was still a student, he already graduated and worked. He was absent in her life since day one, and only returned when she learned to walk and understand the basic concept of a family. Samantha couldn't quite hate him, though. He was an affectionate person and was very nerdy. He was also attractive, which explains her beautiful features. All of her characteristics—down to the bridge of her nose, the shape of her chin, and her expressive electric-blue eyes complementing her dark hair—were all from Erwin Albrecht.

When Samuel was born, Samantha became a big sister and had envisioned to be a role model for her baby brother. She came to realize that Samuel wasn't similar to her—Erwin was so attentive to Samuel, and was certain he would be a 'genius.' . . . Samantha remembers—as clear as a crystal—the day she tried to solve a complicated mathematical problem. She was adept in math, but that was solely because she took cram school. Her mother praised her for her improvement, but her father—

"That's a rather simple problem for your age, right?" He says. "There are also shortcuts here taken with the wrong procedure. What did you learn in school, Samantha?"

She couldn't forget how he looked at her that time—he eyed her with such disappointed eyes—she couldn't really understand at that time why he answered with such contempt as if he took her academic achievement as something of an inferior kind. She tried to contemplate and do better, only to receive nothing in return.

Until Samuel.

"Are you okay, Sam? Can you open your mouth for me?" Samantha asks, worry evident in her face. She had expressive eyes—any emotion she felt reflected easily, and there was no hiding her feelings. This was why Samuel was her exact opposite—it was as if she harbored all the emotions in their blood and only she looked like she 'felt' something.

Samuel continued to stare at her.

"Come on Sam, I'll . . . uh, I'll give you a candy if you open your mouth," Samantha says—cursing herself internally because if Samuel indeed had a toothache, then a candy wouldn't be advisable. Samantha tried to smile again when Samuel gave no response.

"Right! I'll buy you another set of crayons if you show me your mouth. I know your crayons are missing some colors, right?"

For a second, Samuel's eyes gleamed. Samantha blinked. Her little brother likes to color!

"Ooh! What's this? What if I give you something called . . . watercolor! Or pastel colors! Paint!" Samantha grins as she picks her phone from her pocket as she browsed the things she mentioned. "Here! Look at this,"

Samuel glances over Samantha's phone and then fixes his big, blue eyes over the screen. Images of different art materials reflected through Samuel's eyes—and for the first time, Samantha sees his fascinated expression.

She felt like she discovered something precious.

"Do you like these, Samuel?" Samantha says. "What if I buy you a . . . watercolor . . ."

Samantha stopped shortly as she stares at her brother slowly dropping his jaw inevitably as he stares at the art materials. Samantha stares at Samuel.

"Sam, why are your gums swollen with a missing tooth?" She says, noticing her brother's reddened cheek as well. It wasn't a bug bite—she knew her brother's teeth; they were brushed by her, after all. She was certain he was eating too much chocolate, but not to the point it would rot his teeth and cause it to fall off.

Sam stares at her.

"Will you buy me watercolor?"

Samantha stares at him. "I will if you tell me what happened,"

Samuel stares at Samantha.

Samuel parted his lips and started to speak. "Papa—"

"Samuel!"

Both Samantha and Samuel turned to the source of the voice—the next thing they knew, Erwin Albrecht appeared out of nowhere. Samantha blinked—how come she didn't hear his footsteps or even sense his presence? Was she that lost in her thought?

"Samuel, Samantha, sorry to interrupt your sibling bonding." He says, picking Samuel up. "But we're going out today!"

Samantha's eyes lit up. She was stuck to this insanely big mansion for her summer vacation in a private land owned by her father without a soul to be seen—going out means a lot to a teenage girl like her.

"Really?!" She exclaims. "Where?"

"We're going to meet someone," he says. "He'll escort us for a good school to Sam . . . and you,"

"A school . . .?" Samantha blinked. She wasn't used to changing schools—ever since she learned to write, she was only in one school. She was friends with practically everyone. She have best friends, she had a crush, and she couldn't just leave all of that because her father told her so.

"Yes, you're changing schools to accompany your brother, Sammy." Her father says, trying to salvage the conversation with a forced affection ending with an endearment called 'Sammy'.

"I don't get it," she says. "Why am I changing schools without me knowing it? Why didn't you ask for my opinion?"

"Your Mama also knows about this, Sammy,"

"I don't care," Samantha spouted. "Why didn't you ask me first?"

"Samantha." Her father stares at her. "You are doing this for your brother."

Samuel stares at Samantha expressionlessly. Samantha's gaze drifted towards little Samuel, and then to her father.

"What kind of school is it?"

"It's an international school exclusive for brilliant minds. Science and technology are given emphasis in there," says Erwin, and then he beamed. "Oh! Of course, you don't need to worry. I have connections, and failing wouldn't be a problem."

Samantha blinked as she stares at her father whose smile did not ease as he spouted such an insult to her. She was dumbfounded for the whole minute. Samantha snapped back with a sweeter smile.

"Oh, is that so? I don't mind studying there," she says. "But I'm worried about Sam!"

"Why are you worried about Sam? He's a genius—"

"—Does he want to be there? He's a child!" Samantha yells. "He wants to color! You can't force your ideals to your children!"

"End of discussion," says Erwin. "Cool your head up, and mind who you're talking to, young lady."

**

At that time Samantha didn't talk to her father. She was in the backseat with her brother, whilst her father and mother talked whilst her father drove. It was scary yet beautiful scenery outside the car—they were driving around the cliff sides, with a refres.h.i.+ng view of the ocean from further view.

Samantha couldn't quite remember, but it was Chopin playing in the background. Her mother was a lover of cla.s.sical music, after all. She was still thinking about her argument with her father and Samuel's teeth. . .

"Samuel's lost his baby tooth," she says out of the blue, which made her mother glance back towards them. She didn't know because it was Samantha who woke and took his brother to a bath.

"What?! Honey, we should go to the dentist first!"

"And I think it was a force which made his baby tooth come out. His gums were swollen and bleeding," she says. "His cheek was red, too."

"Oh, Samuel . . . did you hit your cheek?"

Samantha chuckles. "I wonder. Did HE hit himself?"

"What are you trying to imply, Samantha?" Her mother asks.

Before Samantha could even answer, or utter a word, a loud crash sent her senses to slumber. All she could remember was a lurid clatter, and object slamming to another, with the impact sending all of them to move forcibly with their seatbelts the only thing that kept their bodies at bay. The car screeched and Samantha instinctively s.h.i.+elded her brother's body with her seatbelt undone as her consciousness faded to oblivion.