11 days after the incident, 7 days before training:

Yesterday, Zoe helped me recover from sunburn throughout the entire day. She gave me these aloe vera gels fresh from her garden that I haven't even seen before. She did show them to me. Turns out she had a backyard. I never explored that place before. But anyways, let's focus on today. Monday. Eesh.

I asked Zoe something.

"Zoe, what if we could just print pictures of my brother and post them everywhere, so that we know where to find him?"

"What about the thing I told you I'd do?"

"I think it's better if we kept my identity a secret. I don't trust your coworkers."

"Fair point. But the question is, do you have a picture of your little brother we could use?"

"Not sure, but my mom does have a Facebook account where she used to post pics of him on a weekly basis."

"Is he your mom's favorite?"

"My brother's spoiled, but not rotten. He does want a lot of random stuff, but he's a good brother. He would never hurt a fly. He's always well behaved in road trips."

"I guess the three of you were raised properly."

"For sure. My older sister is also a great person. Sometimes she may have mood swings, but I understand her situation. Out of the three of us, she's the one who gets to spend the most time with mom."

"Definitely favoritism. Did your mom ignore you a lot?"

"Not really. But she did told me once that the time she spends with me was a lot more enjoyable than the time she spent with my siblings, even if it's short. I miss her so much. I wish I could've spent more time with her."

"How about your dad? What did he do?"

"He wasn't at home all the time. He worked 18 hours a day in a company dedicated to selling ineffective products."

Zoe started sweating.

"What's his name, exactly?"

"Danforth Blake Cooper."

I saw her mumble something from her lips.

"What are you whispering?" I asked her.

"Nothing. Nothing you need to know, hehe." She gave me a weird smile.

"What's with the face?"

"Just ignore this. I don't even know why I did this."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." She chuckled a little. "There is deeeeefinitely nothing to worry about. Everything is tooooootally fine."

She sounded suspicious. Never mind. I'll just pretend that never happened. I wish I could scribble the words above, but I guess it's just gonna be there for documentation as well as for your entertainment, reader.

I checked my late mother's Facebook account and found my little brother's latest photo. It was him holding a toy bow and arrow. He wore an innocent little smile that I haven't seen in a while. I scrolled through a few pics and found another one that would fit. We printed one copy of it alongside a number they can call, as well as an email I made. We photocopied the paper a couple times and posted all of them in every public place we could find. It took us about 3 hours to do it. For now, we waited.

A few hours have gone by, and still. No response.

"Hey Taylor, while we're waiting, wanna get pierced?"

"Sure. I'd like to take a few pinches of pain."

"Pretty confident, huh?"

"I'm just worried. To counter that, I'll do this one with you."

"Alright. Let's go. Change clothes."

I took a quick bath and changed into my boys' clothes that would match my current mood. An white oversized hoodie, a normal pair of jeans, and some sneakers. Despite all of that, my overall physique still looked feminine in front of the mirror. I decided to ask Zoe for help and tie it into a man bun. It didn't work, so I borrowed a cap from Zoe's closet and wore it on top of my head, covering my hair. The hood also helped out a lot. The only thing I need to worry about is my manicured hands. I'll probably just hide it with my sleeves. I was also not really in the mood for makeup. I wore a mask just for fun.

We drove to the mall and went to this little shop where they sell accessories like earrings, bracelets, necklaces, headbands, hair clamps, hair pins, even bows. The shop said that they offer free piercings, which is actually alright. Zoe was the first one to get her ears pierced. She already had old piercings, but she said she wanted one on her upper lobe. Now she has 4 piercings in total.

When I came in next, I took a deep breath and sat down the chair. The piercer asked me something:

"Hey kid, would you do me a favor and kindly remove your cap and hoodie? It would be a lot easier for me to look at your ears."

I had no other choice. I took them off, which revealed my long hair. The woman was a bit surprised when she saw them.

"Whoa. Those are really long strands, girl."

Welp, there you have it.

"So, how many piercings would you like?" She asked.

"Just one on each ear."

"Simplicity." She smiled.

She started piercing my left ear. It felt like those times when my dad used to pinch my ears for my bad behavior back when I was a child. Those were the days. My dad and I never talked that much recently before he died. Could've spent more time with him if it wasn't for his work.

Wait a minute.

I... I think I remembered something. From the incident. I'll write it down.

My parents... they weren't arguing. My mom, was actually trying to calm him down. My dad was panicking about something. About work. I don't know why, but it's definitely something. I remembered his last words to mom. I'm just gonna write it down real quick:

"I just wanted to provide for this family! I didn't mean to do what I've done. The reason why I wanted to drive us here was because I wanted to spend time with you. I want to get away from all of my problems and maybe live a little, you know. Just a week with you is all I could ask for. I don't know what to do anymore."

Until I heard the gunshot.

I'm actually crying. I'll be right back in 2 minutes.

I'm really sorry. I needed time to process everything. I feel like a jerk. I never should've written them down, but I guess I have to let those stay in my logbook if you're even intrigued.

Back to the piercing.

She later did my right ear and finished. My ears were cleaned afterwards. Not gonna lie, they weren't really that painful. I thanked the woman.

Zoe took a picture of me getting pierced using my phone. She showed them to me.

"For some new memories, kiddo!"

I actually haven't added any passcode to my phone yet.

Zoe bought a few accessories from the shop. 4 from each kind. Necklaces, headbands, bracelets, earrings, etcetera.

As we got out of the mall, Zoe and I went and tried on the accessories. She gave me a pair of earrings, which looked really pretty. I'm still wearing them right now while writing. I should probably remove them before going to bed.

Anyways, we drove home. We ate dinner. We were still waiting for a number to call us, or even an email, but nothing. Still nothing. I don't even know if he's still out there. I don't even know if he's still alive! I'm starting to lose hope every second that pass.

Well, I guess that's all I have for now. I'm gonna go stare at the ceiling and try to recover from stuff. Maybe use my phone and scroll through social media. I should probably make a new account where I can post pictures of random places.

Bye, reader. I'll see you in the next life log. I'm tired and gloomy.