Quinn hurry. I heard someone calling me ; lifting my head I saw my mother beaming at me , I smiled and walked faster on getting to the door and could smell the aroma from the kitchen and could also hear laughter resonating the whole house. It was brothers who had just returned.

It was dinner time and the table was so lively Michael the oldest was telling us a scene he witnessed on his way home , after concluding everyone was laughing .

Michael was 26 years old, Jason 23 years ,klaus was 20 and then there me Carter Quinn 18 years and first year in college. Today was thanksgiving and everyone sat around the table sharing stories and experiences .

Quinn! Quinn; Michael called me .

Hmm I answered. Well I was just asking you how has college been ; Michael said. I smiled and said very nice. Mom asked ; did you make any friends . Not yet ; i said and quickly added , but every one has been nice. I do not want to worry my family more about my illness . I have social anhedonia. ( ps Social anhedonia is present in an individual who shows disinterest in and has a relatively low drive for social interactions. People with social anhedonia prefer solitude ).

My family discovered I had the illness when I was very young. From an early age I was detached from my peers and refused to socialize. Mom said when I learnt how to read I would find a quiet spot and read without anyone noticing I was gone.

They quickly found a psychiatrist who specializes in my illness and since then I have been having therapy though I am not completely healed I could have a conversation with other people .

While in high school the psychiatrist suggest I pick a course in college which involves communication so I picked journalism. I was academically very good in school and could have gone for any other course but that would completely defy my years of therapy and so far I wouldn’t want that .

The chatter on the table continued when suddenly the doorbell rang. I will get it I stood up and walked to the door outside a man who looked about in his mid thirties asked ; is this the carter residence. Yes ; I answered.

The man smiled and suddenly I heard mom’s voice behind me. Who is it Quinn ; I turned and saw my mother approaching us I let her pass through and her face turned pale the moment she saw who was at the door.

Kate ; the man said and smiled more broadly.

Brother; my mother whispered.

At this moment everyone was behind my mom and we were utterly shocked . I Turned to look at my dad for some explanation but his expression was calm unlike the rest of us , he was calm but confused.

Sister the man hugged mom with teary eyes. I found you , I finally found you . He said.

We all have them a minute and mom finally realized we were all behind her . Coughing softly she turned to us and said everyone this is my younger brother “Austin” . She then turned and faced Austin and said this is my family.

Mom introduced us Luke my husband, Michael, Jason and klaus my sons and finally Quinn my daughter . She said . We were all quiet until my dad spoke why don’t you come in he offered it’s more comfortable to talk inside . that’s when we all realize we have been standing in front of the door.

While settled inside mom asked her brother what are you doing here and how did you find me .

Slow down Austin said ; and he began to answer.

About a year ago mom had an argument with the old man requesting he looks for you at first he was adamant but when mom fell ill , the old man finally agreed and hired some detectives to find you after about a year one of the detectives found some leads of you in this town and last week he called and informed us , mom was estatic and immediately asked me to assist him immediately and finally he found you .

During the whole narration I was busy clearing the thanksgiving table.

Everyone was silent until mom finally exclaimed; wait you said mom is I’ll . My mom asked Austin.

How is she ; mom inquired. She is fine Austin replied and stood up while taking out his phone. I need to inform her of you whereabouts. The call finally went through and a clear female voice could be heard . You found her the voice exclaimed; quickly buy the flight ticket and bring her back the voice said.

Austin quietly said ; mom Kate is not alone she has a family. The voice on the other end then said quickly buy tickets for all of them, I want to see all of them as soon as possible.

Austin soon hung up and turned to look at all of us pleading with his eyes .

It was dad who spoke; may I speak with my family he said and Austin quietly stepped out of the house. He then turned and faced mom and said softly it’s your decision to make and we will support you no matter what , we all nodded our head in agreement.

Mom smiled and said I want to see my family. Immediately Austin was invited in and mom said when is the next flight , and Austin said in three hours. Immediately everyone dispersed to pack some clothing and and necessities like our passport . We all got into a car that drove us to the airport .

At the airport ***

We were all in first class and the plane took off I had a window seat and next to me mom looked tired and exhausted not just her everyone was tired and falling into slumber meanwhile I look through the wind and saw the twinkling light calmly and said goodbye to the small town. And soon I also succumbed to sleep .

I woke up to someone consistent and soft tapping on my shoulder, slowly raised my head to notice dad . We have landed ,he said.

Mom and I got our bags and headed out , after getting out i saw my brothers were waiting for us , Austin was talking to a man looked like he was in his late fifties or early sixties.

Harold mom called out and quickly walked towards the man smiling.

Young miss it’s nice to see you after so long,Harold said .well I am no longer young, mom said with a smile .

We got into an eight sitter suv Austin sat in front with Harold who we discovered was a long time staff of mom’s family . A thought popped into my head who exactly was mom’s family to begin with.

Mom was sitting next to me, so I asked . mom who exactly are your family . She hesitated before calmly answering in a single word “ Beaufort” the already quiet car seemed to to be on pause and the time froze.

“Beaufort “ klaus said more a statement than a question.

The Beaufort Michael asked.

The magnitude of this was too much , anybody who wasn’t living under a rock knew that there were only a handful of conglomerates in this country and the Beaufort were on this handful , they controlled numerous food franchise within and outside the country .

The Beaufort originated from France when the family arrived in this country about 150 years ago they where just small pastry chefs , with time they expanded and they grew all across the city , then the country , now the Beaufort’s weren’t just chefs , they are a franchise that deals with nearly half of food aspects in the country, none of us could believe it our mom was the daughter of more than a century old family. My favorite instant noodles was a product of one of their sectors.

We soon arrived at a our destination and even my always composed dad was dazed , this was a chateau with water fountain beautiful sculptures and scenery.

We all turned to look at mom and all she said was , it seems it has changed much. Got back to my senses Austin brought out my bag from the trunk , I was about collect it but he said some one would bring it in.

Austin lead us in and the door was immediately open by a butler who smiled at us all and mom called Andrew. We went through a short passage and arrive at a wide living area were there were more than 10 people awaiting us .

The moment we stepped in a woman with similarities as mom engulfed her in a hug soon they broke apart and the lady noticed us and started embracing each of us while calling us her grandkids when she approached and embraced me i stiffened like a log of wood and could not reciprocate her hugs.

The whole environment was soon bustling with introductions , we discovered mom was the second child but first daughter out of five children .

The whole family tree include Gabriel and Genevieve my grandparents , Alexander who was the eldest and Claire his wife George and Juliette his kids, next was Claudia mom’s sister and her husband Lucas they had only one daughter charlotte whom i was a year older than, then Pierre and his pregnant wife Anna and finally Austin and his fiancée Celine .

Everyone looked friendly and while everyone was busy with introducing themselves I quietly took in my environment cause I know it’s going to be noisy and I need my quiet spot .

We were all led to our bedrooms and I was given mom’s old bedroom with was overlooking the garden , time flew so quickly that it was dinner time and I realized I had not eaten anything except the meal on the plane.

At the dinner table silverware were arranged and everyone was seated , they had been waiting for me . The meals were brought in and it was all delicious there was some conversations going on and I could hear Gabriel my grandfather asking dad what he studied and dad answer simply , law he said. And the chatter went round discussing the occupation. Basically everyone studied something relevant to the family business. For example charlottes is planning on studying food science at one of the top colleges in city Y though she is still in her final year of high school it’s obvious she was working hard to get into college with her own merit rather than connections.

While I was in my own little world thinking , Genevieve my grandma asked don’t you like the food Quinn , suddenly I was brought back to earth and realized I had been moving the food around my plate without eating.

It’s delicious , I said . I just got lost while thinking , I smiled to reassure her. She nodded and asked , Quinn you are already in college right , yes I nodded. What are you studying she asked , journalism was my simple response . where , this time it was charlotte who asked ,i turned and said simply university of mass communication city S . Wow she said , I heard they increased their cut off mark two years ago so that those who had real potential and competence would gain admission. Lucas charlotte’s dad spoke , the school has a lot famous alumni and is quite recognized you must have really worked hard to get in, i nodded in agreement but I actually didn’t need to work so hard I aced all my classes in high school and could have easily chosen any career and excelled , but I kept it to my self I do no need to brag or show off.

Dinner was finally over and I excused myself from any gathering , I needed sleep and was still a little jet lagged from the flight .

In my room I took a cold shower ,change into my pajamas and immediately fell asleep .

For the next two days every morning I took a stroll in the garden after breakfast and the serene environment was a Huge contrast to the bustle of the university campus, which I would be returning to tomorrow.

I need to arrange my supplies before heading out and most of my belongings were still back home.

I was in my room when a soft knock fell on the door. come in I replied. Charlotte timidly walked in and said, I heard you are going back to college tomorrow so I organized a little ladies only fun relaxation I was wondering if you could come along.

I thought for a second and nodded though staying at home was more relaxing charlotte put effort into this so I should attend.

Beaming she said ,great we are all waiting for you in the car , outside a hummer stretch limousines was parked and grandma, mom, Claire ,Juliette ,Claudia, Anna and Celine were already there we got in the car which was spacious and even had a mini bar were drinks served round , I had non alcoholic fruit wine and Anna who was pregnant had Greek yogurt smoothie. We arrived at a spa were attendant were immediately available , I noticed the place was booked and thought charlotte really outdid herself .

We got massages , pedicure and manicure , hydrating face masks and even got our hair made and went shopping or I should rather say the mall came to us and we simply picked the clothes we liked .

The day sadly came to an end and we headed back home for dinner. After dinner I was in my room laying on the bed and finally having the time to go through the school’s forum and the class group chat . A knock fell on the door and grandma walked in . I had just started calling her grandma and she was excited.

You haven’t fallen asleep yet she asked . I will be going to sleep soon just checking somethings . Without wasting time grandma explained the reason for such a late visit.

Your grandpa and I wanted to give you a gift ,she said . And the she brought out a black card and placed it on my palm.

I was stunned and didn’t know what to say so I quietly kept shut. Grandma quickly explained herself . I know this doesn’t make up for the fact that your grandfather kicked your mother out of the house and I didn’t put up a strong fight to go against him ,nor the fact that we weren’t there to watch you grow and even forced your mother to live in fear and hide, but please accept this as our apology . I don’t know what you girls do in your spare time , but just enjoy and have fun, go shopping and treat yourself to something nice . I placed the card back in her palm and calmly said . I have everything I need I don’t need more.

Grandma eyes were getting misty with tears , I have been a bad grandma she said in between gentle tears . My granddaughter can’t even accept a gift From me , sobbed grandma . it was getting late the longer she stayed the more I got exhausted and frustrated so I simply took the card and said, thank you for the gift but I can’t accept it even if I wanted it’s to expensive to accept . Then keep it with you for the probability you would ever need it she said .

Grandma and I chatted for a while , well grandma talked and I listened ,finally it was late and she went to her own room and I immediately fell asleep like a starfish on the bed.

My flight was scheduled for noon so I decided to sleep in, but that was short lived cause mom knocked on my door at 7 am , at this point it was starting to get frustrating to talk to people but still I had to open the door for my mum .

Did I wake you up honey, mom asked . No , I was already up , I lied. So what do you want to talk about mom , I asked.

Mom wrung her hands together before saying . Well honey your grandparents have wished that We return back to city Y and we all join back to the family business . Isn’t that great news I asked .” It is but I have not yet spoken about it with your father and brothers yet I don’t know how they would feel about it ,mom said .

“ No need to worry mom, I assured her , father and my brothers would follow and agree to it if it’s what you realy want , I said . What about you ,she asked .

I let out a sigh before speaking “ I don’t think I am suited for this kind of life in the limelight , once our family comes out of the shadows after so long people will tend to be nosy and dig into our family , I don’t want that mom , I want a quiet life , mom I know you can do this but I can’t and we will all support you no matter your decision . Mom placed her hands on my face before gently caressing it and said “ I won’t force you, I don’t want to make the same mistake my parents made , I would lose my mind if I where to ever make you drift away from me .

We chatted for a while before i finally got ready and was about to head to the airport , when on my way to say my final goodbye to my grandparents I was suddenly hijacked by grandma who hand me a box and I was stunned before she said “ you are so skinny and almost skin and bones I packed you something to eat while on the plane .

I took a peek at the box and saw so much bento boxes filled with different delicacies, was my grandma feeding a battalion with so much food , I plastered a smile on my face and said thank before heading out and Harold dropped me off at the airport , while in the plane I tried to get some much needed sleep as I braced my self for the awaited bustle of the campus and someone whom I had no interest in conversing with .

The plane landed and i headed to the university , luckily classes would start tomorrow , as I made my way to my dorm I met the one person I did not have the time for . “Angela corvin” .

Angela was what I considered noisy , she alway had a way of trying to get on my nerves .

When we got our first project for the freshman year the class was meant to be dived into four groups and with one representative in each who would come out and eloquently discuss on the topic stipulated by the professor , the project was 25 percent out of our grade and everyone was eager about when we were successfully divided into groups the professor requested we pick out a group representative .

Angela was in a different group from me and she was immediately chosen by her group as she had proved her prowess in public speaking on different occasions in lectures , one by one each team picked their representative and when it came to my group a lot of people wished to be a back bencher rather than take the lead when I suddenly volunteered everyone was in temporary shock as no one even realized I was part of the class , there were whispers around but none of my teammates volunteered for the post and I automatically became the representative . Other group openly expressed their thoughts on my incompetence to handle the role and suggested that I would be the reason why my team failed since I was considered a wallflower who rarely ever communicated . Ignoring their stupid remarks I worked hard with my teammates and gathered enough points for my speech and when the day arrived to deliver the speech Angela made hers’ first and when she finished everyone applauded her while she held a smug look in her eyes as if stating that no one could beat her speech when it was my turn and I gave my report everyone was flabbergasted and the professor even praised my speech . And that was how the rivalry between myself and Angela was instigated by students and Angela saw me as a threat she needed to belittle to make her self better .

Behaving as though she didn’t exist I walked to my dorm and when she approached me while angling and blatantly showing off her outfit which she was wearing to everyone who so much as says hello to her .

Walking in my direction with an air of superiority i her call my name. “ Quinn , it seems like you are just arriving , Angela said .

I my head I thought isn’t that obvious , I am walking to my room with my luggage , any fool could see I just arrived . Without waiting for her to even utter her next words, I arrived at my dorm and used my key card to unlock the door , I stepped in and slammed the door at her face . My patience was already limited for sane people , I did not wish to waste more of my time on stupid people .

On getting to her room Quinn arranged her clothes into the wardrobe and sorted out the lectures for the next day before taking her shower and a short nap . It was dinner time and while everyone headed to the cafeteria Quinn was woken up by her grumbling stomach, looking for what to eat she noticed the food her grandma prepared and immediately devoured the entire meal .

Taking out her laptop she quickly revised her previous classes and prepared for the next , looking at the clock it was almost 9 pm , Quinn realized she had not exercised since she visited her parents and had temporarily dropped her exercise routines . She decided she would exercise the next evening .

Quinn already had great physique and she only needs to improve her strength and stamina so exercise in the evening was favorable , there are many reasons why she prefers to exercise in the evening, first there are not many people at the gym or even outside and second Quinn values her sleep very much and doesn’t like waking up when she was deprived of sleep , therefore she always slept early to get the most amount of sleep.

The next day classes resumed by 9 am ,Quinn was ready and heading to the lecture hall , she immediately settled at the back of the lecture hall like a wallflower while she observed everyone like subjects in an experiment .

The professor walked in and the lecture hall became silent. The professor at the end of the lecture announced there will be a test for the students before the upcoming Christmas break.

Due to this information many students were not happy but couldn’t argue either . After another lecture it was soon time for lunch and Quinn realized she was craving for something sweet while not necessarily being hungry , heading to the cafeteria she had the misfortune of running into Angela and her minions , unbothered by their presence Quinn stood in line and waited for her turn while Angela stood behind her.

When it was finally her turn Quinn order a chocolate mousse cake and yoghurt taking her tray she walked away but before she could move too far she heard Angela sneer at her and said to her minions “ with the way she eats she will soon be as fat as a cow” . Angela said this in a slightly loud manner so that everyone who was close could hear her and know who she referred it to.

Unbothered Quinn headed for a table, she couldn’t care less what people thought of her cause right know she was hungry for the delicacy in her front , simply to put it when Quinn stomach speaks it doesn’t stutter and she is willingly to eat what she like without listening to anyone stupid opinions .