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"morning." bella let herself into the two pranksters room, not even waiting for an answer after knocking ― which definitely could've been traumatising had she caught them at the wrong time. luckily for her, it was just jerome in the room and he was thankfully fully dressed and in the midst of putting his bag on.
"good morning to you too," jerome greeted, taken aback by her sudden entrance as he wondered where all this energy came from. "i see you enjoy just coming in when you like?" he teased as the girl rolled her eyes, walking past him to take a seat on his bed. "i didn't see you at breakfast today." he changed the subject, noticing the girl's absence this morning at the table. however, bella was busily looking around the room curiously, this being her first time in a boy's room ever.
"i was talking with my nainai." she answered absentmindedly, not really paying attention to jerome who was watching the girl in amusement. he guessed that nainai was in reference to bella's grandmother, since there wasn't anyone else he could think of off the top of his head.
"how is she?" this caught bella's attention as she turned back to jerome, not expecting the boy to ask such a personal question. not that there was anything wrong with it, but she hadn't really spoken about her situation with her family with anyone since her arrival. the girl pursed her lips, tearing her gaze away from him as she answered, unable to face him as she answered the boy.
"she's fine, it's actually the first time i spoke with her since i got here." she admitted, feeling guilty that she hadn't contacted her grandmother sooner. to be honest, as distracted as she had been, she was scared of speaking to her grandmother ― she knew that she'd cave immediately and beg her to let her go home. truthfully, she almost did as soon as she heard the elder woman's voice, tearing up at the comfort it had brought her after what felt like years to the young girl.
"are you okay?" jerome questioned, bringing the girl out of her thoughts. concerned at how silent she had become and how her expression looked as if she was yearning something. bella just gave the boy a small, reassuring smile, nodding her head.
"it went better than i thought it would, i didn't break down crying which is always a plus." she shrugged as the boy chuckled, nodding his head. "i guess seeing nina with her gran made me realise that i can't keep running away. it's hard, but i miss her too much as is." she added.
