Elizabeth's eyes fell on Mrs. Arialla, every breath filled with worry. But the woman continued to write on the board as if Holden never spoke. Elizabeth sighed as she recognized the smile on Mrs. Arialla’s face. The smile that one held when they had been told off, criticized, corrected, insulted. The smile that had to be plastered to remain polite and dignified. The smile that had to hide the beating up of oneself that was happening in the mind. The smile she had held so many times in her life that it had become like second nature. That it felt more natural than a normal smile at times.
Elizabeth longed to apologize. Her heart hung heavy with guilt. But with a small tug at her sleeve, she was snapped back into reality and the contagious guilt held the triplets’ faces.
“I’m sorry Elizabeth,” Holden whimpered, “I’ll be extra good today. Please don’t be mad at me.”
Hannah and Henry nodded along, small “me too”s chirping from their mouths.
Elizabeth’s face became gentle, “I’m not mad, but even still you all should still be extra good today. In fact, I would love it if you could be extra good every day.”
Hannah giggled, guilt completely erased, “Being good is boring though.” She looked to her brothers for support, which she got with happy cheers and laughter before the three all scampered to their seats.
“One day,” Henry whooped as he climbed into his chair, his feet dangling just as they always did.
Elizabeth sighed, and turned, hiding her smile behind her hand. “We’ll see about that,” she whispered as she closed the door behind her.
Comments (0)
See all