The air lock is a small sealed room surrounding the front door. It’s airtight so there is no potential hazards can leak into the main house when the front door is open. I press my ear against it. At first I can’t hear anything over the air filters, but then I hear a voice.  A cute husky voice and my lips automatically formed a smile.

“Hi ma'am i am Chaeyoung.  Well, i am your new neighboor and here, my mom asked me to give you her homemade Bundt.  I hope you accept this as a good start of living in this neighborhood.” The voice is deep and smooth and definitely amused. My brain is processing the word Bundt, trying to get an image of what it looks like before it dawns on me just who is at the door. Chaeyoung. 

“The thing about my mom’s Bundts is that they are not very good. It's terrible. Actually inedible, very nearly to indestructible. Between you and me.”

A new voice is speaking now. Sounds like an another girl. Her sister maybe? “Every time we moved she made us deliver to the neighbors.”  Says the girl while giggling thinking of how cute and warm their mom are.

“Oh. Well. This is a surprise isn’t it? That’s very nice of you guys. Please thank her a lot on my behalf.”

There’s no chance that this Bundt cake has passed the proper inspections, and I can feel my mom trying to figure out how to tell them she can’t take the cake without revealing the truth about me.  

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this.” 

There's a moment of shocked silence.

“So you want us to take it back?” Chaeyoung asks disbelievingly.

“Well, that’s quite rude,  you can at least take it and throw it later if you don't like it.” Tzuyu says. My savage  innocent sister. She sounds angry and resigned, as though she’d expected disappointment.

“I’m so sorry,” my mom says again. “It’s complicated. I’m really sorry because this is so sweet of you and your mom. Please tell her that me and my family also welcomes you guys into this neighborhood.” Mom giving her awkward smile, asking for an understanding.

“Is your daughter home?” Chaeyoung asks quite loudly, before she can close the door. “We’re hoping she could show us around.”

My heart speeding up and I can feel the pulse of it against my ribs. Did she just asked about me? No stranger has just dropped by to visit me before. Aside from my mom, Sana, and my tutors, the world barely knows I'm existing. I mean, I exist online. I have online friends and my Tumblr book reviews, but that’s not the same as being a real person who can be visited by strange girls bearing Bundt cakes.

"So, thats why you came.'' Tzuyu said to Chaeyoung.

"It's not the reason why I came." Chaeyoung

"Yeah, it is. yeah yeah" Tzuyu rolled her eyes, teasing the small cub.

“I’m so sorry, but she can’t and i hope you understand.  Welcome to the neighborhood, and thank you again.  Have a nice day.”

The front door closes and I step back to wait for my mom. She has to remain in the air lock until the filters has a chance to purify the foreign air. A minute later she steps back into house. She didn’t notice me right away. Instead she stands still, eyes closed with her head slightly bowed.

“I’m sorry honey” she says, without looking up.

“I’m OK, Mom. Don’t worry.”

For the thousandth time I realize anew how hard my disease is on her. It’s the only world that I’ve known, but before me she had my brother and my dad. She travelled and played soccer. She had a normal life that did not include being cloistered in a bubble for fourteen hours a day with her sick teenage daughter.  

I hold her and let her hold me for a few more minutes. We're breathing in a calm embrace, as much as I feel the burden, but she’s taking this disappointment much harder than I am.

“I’ll make it up to you,” she says.

“There’s nothing to make up for.” I smiled to assure her, that I am used to this.

“I love you, sweetie.” As she kissed my forehead for minutes, while caressing my back. 

I excuse myself for a rain check. I’m not real