Ten Twenty-Six

*9.

!!tw : the following chapter contains the mention of death. please proceed at your own risk!!

Elisa slumped into the car tiredly, drooping her head into her palm, which was supported by her elbow leaning onto the center counsel.

"I'm glad you decided to come home— Though, Lily sounded incredibly pleased to have you with her for the holiday."

She sighed in defeat, tilting her head up to rest her cheek in her hand and look at her grandmother with tired eyes. "I guess I was feeling a little homesick," She murmured, earning a quick glance and rather snarky retort.

"Were you? I'll admit I'm surprised to hear that, considering you were gone for a whole year."

She sighed again, deeper that time as she refrained from rolling her eyes. "I guess coming home helped me realize how much I love it," She retorted.

Anna smiled, glancing at her once again before redirecting her attention to the road. "We've got a week of it," She said happily, "What would you like to do?"

Elisa shrugged as she sat up, moving to lean the side of her body against the door of the car and stared out the window blankly. The cars on the other side of the street passed quicker than she could acknowledge, making her head spin, though she kept her stare still.

"Well, what did you and your mom usually do?"

She clenched her jaw, feeling her pants tighten around her thigh as she squeezed the excess fabric into her palm. "We'd usually be in Malabar," She shrugged, "Seeing dad or playing tourist on the beach."

Anna hummed in response, tapping her fingers thoughtfully against the steering wheel.

"She'd-" Elisa trailed off, stiffly folding her hands in her lap, "She'd buy us chocolate from all the little shops along the shore and it was all we'd eat."

She pressed her lips together, looking up at her grandmother when she glanced over and smiled weakly. "Do you think we could go see her?" She asked hesitantly, "I-I didn't get to before I left again-"

"Of course we can," Anna retorted, "We can always make time to do that."

Elisa sighed softly, in relief, and turned to the window, watching the passing cars until they reached home.

"Lisa!"

She painted on a smile when her cousins whipped past her legs, turning her head to follow them as they scurried through the dining room with hysterical laughter following closely behind. "Hi, guys," She breathed out tiredly, tucking her hair behind her ears and adjusted the bag on her shoulder.

Anna walked into the house behind her, putting her hand on her back as she mumbled, "Kate's been flooded with work— They've been here every day, hope that's alright."

Elisa shrugged her shoulders, seeing no reason to contest. "I'm just going to settle in," She replied calmly, "Can you call me for dinner?"

The dynamic between her and her grandmother was short, and it'd been that way since her mother's death. Since a relatively tense encounter shortly after the fact, she found that the old woman wasn't exactly someone she could confide in about deeper thoughts.

She sank into the edge of her bed with a heavy sigh, dropping her bag down by her feet carelessly, and looked around her room with a dead stare. Her fingers reached out to her pillow, blindly smoothing the pads of them against the soft material as she spaced out on the small collection of books stacked up on her desk.

Her wrist twisted as she relied on it to push herself up from the bed again, and she walked mindlessly to the pile. Automatically restructuring the books, Elisa dug out an old copy of a book she hadn't touched in months, brushing her fingers against the soft orange cover.