THE CRYSTAL HOUSE

¶Memories¶

October 23rd

Chiara

Words failed Chiara.

In social situations, she nearly always dominated making everyone focus on her so much that her classmates gave her the title: 'Life of the Party'. She could converse on a variety of topics, especially cuisine, while making it interesting and funny. Dishing out rules to people outside her immediate family was however, an entirely different story. Asides from her father and brother, telling others what to do felt wrong and intrusive.

This was the very reason she told the housemates to clean wherever they felt comfortable with. Now, less than ten minutes later, everyone was seated in the lounge awaiting instructions from her since they couldn't decide on different spots to arrange and clean.

Chiara glanced at the housemate she took over the AHOH position from. He seemed to be paying her little attention as he glared at Priya, his obvious favourite hobby. She suspected there was something going on between them, but romantic or otherwise, she wouldn't judge. After all, she left her boyfriend back home in Italy without any form of contact for a week and counting. Didn't that make her worse than Priya, who was toying with both Eryk and Femi?

She looked away from the trio and focused on her list.

"Marcello, take the downstairs lounge. Mareike, you'll join him."

Chiara subtly raised her eyes and saw Mareike smile, it was nice to see her sweet young love. She went on quickly, to avoid the sad thoughts that had begun to seep in.

"Ingrid and Ace, take the garden and dining room. Lola, you will clean the toilets and bathrooms with Femi's help. Eryk, you'll work with Priya in the kitchen and this lounge. Is everyone settled?"

To Chiara's relief, everyone nodded their heads and got up to start their chores. Only her roommate showed dissatisfaction as she sighed loudly and muttered something under her breath. She shrugged and bounced her way downstairs, ready to see the action between Lola and Femi. Surely, the guy would find a way to get out of his chores and Chiara was looking forward to it.

In the middle of her cooking, Mareike and Marcello came upstairs alongside Femi.

"What are you making?" Mareike asked, curiously peering into the pot. "It smells nice."

"Stop putting your face in or you'll burn yourself." Chiara felt like the big sister figure in Mareike's life, always present to chide or correct her. "I'm making pasta, so you can just stay here with me and watch how it's done."

Mareike eagerly nodded, ever ready to learn. Chiara knew she wanted to cook something to impress Marcello, but she couldn't trust her with the kitchen yet. She didn't feel inclined to mysteriously enter fire again, she might not come out unscathed.

She acknowledged Femi's presence. "You and Lola were quite fast with the toilets."

He shrugged and picked up a biscuit. "She agreed to do everything, so I'm free. No biggie."

The surprise on their faces were evident, but no one asked the obvious question. Ever since the Jasper incident, Chiara tried to steer clear of the guy. Whether or not Femi told the truth that time, it didn't explain how Eryk and Ace easily gave up their positions or how he made Chiara clean the toilets. Up till now, she couldn't remember putting up a fight and in normal circumstances, she would have. She hated it so much that she and her dad cast lots every week on who toilet duty would go to.

The guy freaked her out but, in this case, she added extra sticks of pasta into the boiling water. He deserved a good meal for helping her deal with her annoying and troublesome roommate.