“Beatrice!”
“Run!” I whispered with a panicked tone as I placed my hand behind my younger sister's back and got her to start running. Together, we hurried down the many hallways of the house and found a closet in one of the more forgotten smaller hallways.
“Get in!” I said in a hushed tone. Elizabeth did so and I followed suit. The second I got to relax, I clutched my chest and tried to calm my breathing. I was very short of breath and it was making my chest feel tight. It was only a few days since the birthday party and although I was being forced to eat a lot more and had definitely gained some weight from it despite my efforts not to, my health still didn’t seem to be too great. I guess a few days of eating right wasn’t going to solve everything.
“Beatrice Hawthorne!!” Mum yelled angrily, walking right by the closet we were in. Fluffy let out a loud hiss while he slithered behind her. Despite how iffy Mum was with Fluffy, the two had teamed up for the past few days, working against me. Traitor.
For a second I thought we were safe, but then they paused. Knowing Mum would be able to hear my heavy panting, I covered my mouth and tried desperately to hold my breath. It hurt to do so, but getting caught would hurt so much more. Well, maybe not physically. In reality, I just didn’t want to get chewed out. I wasn’t in the mood.
There was silence for a bit before I heard footsteps come to the closet door. More silence until suddenly, the closet door swung open and I was face to face with my very upset mother and friend.
“Aw, she caught us!” Elizabeth said dramatically. “Off to jail, we go!”
“Oh, I’m not impressed with you either, little missy,” Mum growled. “I told you Beatrice isn’t allowed to play for a while, and you’re old enough to know better. Room. Now.”
Elizabeth didn’t seem bothered by that and scurried off to her room. She had too much fun to let that dampen her mood. We spent a good few hours running around like idiots and doing art. Personally, I had a good time. Mum watched her go down the hallway a bit before turning her glare to me.
“I know, I know.” I groaned, rubbing my chest. It was oddly satisfying to feel the bone there, and it sometimes helped the tight chest feeling.
“No, clearly you don’t know!” Mum scolded. “This is the third time I’ve caught you running off with your siblings! These health issues aren’t getting much better and it’s probably because you’re pushing yourself!”
“I have to move around a little bit! You can’t expect me to sleep on the couch all day!”
“Doctors order.” She glared. “Get your ass in bed.”
“I’m not going to that place.”
“Then the couch.”
“...Fine.”
I pushed by her and stormed off to the stupid couch she wanted me to glue myself to. Mum followed for a bit of the distance before going her separate way and not being right on my ass. I headed down the hall and was about to turn to the living room when I spotted Reginald and Angel outside talking. It appeared they were heading out for one of their little trips. I weighed my choices before making a decision. Moving quickly, I grabbed something decent for going out, threw it on, and ran out to meet up with them. Fluffy wasn’t happy with me and tried motioning at me to tell me to go back, but I refused. Mum was already upset with me, why not go the extra mile?
“Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” Angel asked with a concerned look when she saw me approaching.
“Mum said I could have a little freedom today since I’ve been doing well.” I lied. “Where are we going?”
“We?” Reginald raised a brow. “You’re going back to the couch. Mum told me how you’ve been doing and it’s not been good. Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m already in trouble, and I’ve given up caring,” I stated, walking in front of them like I was owning the group. “Where are we going?”
* * * * *
They didn’t want to bring me along, so I brought myself along. I had say in what I did, not them. We headed downtown, looking at the shops around us. There was a candy shop Angel was particularly fond of, so we took a stop there as usual. Reginald tried to convince me to buy some candy, and eventually, I broke and bought a small bag with the hopes it would calm the storm that was coming my way once I got home.
We were out for a few hours at least. Before long, it was time to start heading back as it was getting late. I was mentally preparing for the scolding once I got home. As we turned a corner, a young, black woman crashed right into Reginald. The impact was big enough she toppled over. Thankfully Reginald caught her and helped her back up.
“Sorry about that!” He apologized. “Are you alright?”
“Ack, sorry, that was my fault!” The woman said. Upon closer look, I couldn’t help but be jealous of her. When I say she had the perfect body, I mean, it was perfect. She was curvy and although a little on the thinner side, managed to keep those curves. Unlike me, who lost the little I had. “I’m so stuck in my head half the time that I don’t realize where I’m going!”
“No worries!” Reginald smiled. The two locked eyes and I swear it was one of those overly romantic scenes from plays. The super cliche ones. The pair lock eyes, and suddenly, they’re meant to be.
The woman looked at both Angel and me before coming to the realization as to who we were. We were pretty well known, so that wasn’t a surprise.
“Oh!!” She looked very apologetic now. “You’re the Hawthorne siblings, right?? Argh, I’m an idiot!! I’m so sorry! Out of the people, I just had to run into you-”
“It’s alright!” Reginald interrupted. “We aren’t evil! I can prove it.”
“Hm?”
“How about I walk you to where you’re heading?” Reginald smiled, holding out his arm. I was appalled. Since when did he become such a smooth talker?!
“Uh, sure.” The woman looked a bit flustered but happily took his offer. “Thank you.”
“I’m Reginald, by the way.” He smiled, beginning to walk off. “Reginald Hawthorne, as I’m sure you know. And you?”
“Max Hopewell.” She giggled, following him without any hesitation.
“Well, it looks like Reginald has more luck than all of us when it comes to partners, doesn’t he?” Angel chuckled as we watched them walk away. “I bet by next year, they’ll be together.”
“...Yeah.” It made me sick. How could he find people who clicked with him so fast?! It wasn’t fair! I had to put all my effort into first impressions just to make sure they didn’t walk away from me 10 seconds in! And here he was picking ladies up off the streets who he barely even talked to! Something shifted in me and I went from feeling decent to overly upset. I barely even knew this woman and I already hated her. If Reginald kept up with his damn smooth-talking, she was going to have everything I couldn’t.
“Beatrice?” Angel looked over at me. “Are you feeling okay? You’re awfully shaky and out of breath.”
“Let’s go home,” I grumbled. “I’m done for the day.”
“Yeah, it’s best we get you home. Mum is not going to be happy when she finds out where you’ve been.”
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