Running On Empty

Chapter 16~Jaylin~

Frica ran over to Silya and put her arms around her like they were best friends. It knocked Silya back a couple of steps. She patted Frica on the shoulders. Then she gently pushed her off.

"Thank you for letting me do this. I'll make it short." It was like she was trying to grin and bear saying those words.

Frica leaned closer and said something in her ear and then she walked by Madeline and the two of them closed the doors and let me and Silya looking at each other awkwardly.

"You and Frica look like you're getting along better," She said more to the wall across the room than to me.

"Yeah, I asked her to be my friend. She's not as bad as she seems." My legs were getting so wobbly that I found it difficult for my hands not to sweat while I gripped the handles of my crutches so tightly that my knuckles started to turn pale.

"That's to hear. I'm glad that you like her." She walked over to the window and looked out at the front yard. "She'll make a lovely bride. I've been asked by the Headmaster and her to be her Maid of Honor." She spins around suddenly to look at me. Her eyes were puffy and red.

"It isn't like that. I don't have the slightest clue why my father is deciding to go through with this absurd deal of his.' I walked over to Silya, my crutches hitting softly on the ground as I came closer. 

"Your father said I could continue teaching you too, so you'll still be stuck with me a little while longer." She looked at the ground, laughing with uncertainty.

"That's good. I'm glad that you do." I grabbed her hand and felt that glowing feeling that rushed through my veins, lighting me up.  She didn't pull away from me.  We were less than five inches away. It was close enough for me to see her brown eyes. It was close enough to make my heart beat so fast that it was difficult for me to breath, to think. I could...I could almost...

"Alright, it's been five minutes!" Frica bursts into the room suddenly, her curly hair swaying from side to side. She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Silya. Madeline came in running in after her. She grabbed Frica by the arm, pulling me along with them. I had lost my balance slightly and dropped my crutches.

"Wait, I didn't-"

"It's been five minutes though and that was the deal I made with Silya. You should be grateful that I allowed you to even see her. I even went as far as to let the Headmaster grant her more time to teach you." Frica tugged on my arm as if she was a kid begging for ice cream at a carnival.

Silya stormed over to Frica and pulled her out of the circle. "You broke our deal. That wasn't five minutes, that wasn't even two." I never heard Silya sound so mad before in my life.

"I make the rules because I'm going to be the one to marry him, not you," Frica snapped back, shoving her a bit. "You're lucky I did anything for you. You two looked pretty comfortable just a second ago too."

Silya and I shot quick glances at each other before Madeline spoke.

"The Headmaster said that he wants Miss Emerson to come back tomorrow to teach the Young Master." Madeline looks at me. Her expression was a little softer than it was earlier.

"Yes, of course. I agree with this," I said as I tried moving closer to Silya's side.

"But, I will be with you when Silya is teaching you. It will benefit me in learning what you like to do and what new things you have learned, I'm sure the Headmaster would not mind." Frica tugs me down closer to her.

"No, I want to have time with her. Besides you've had a lot of time with me these last couple of days.' I walk away from Frica.

"Whatever Frica wants is what I'll do," Silya glares at Frica who is clapping her hands together in delight.

"Wonderful, absolutely fantastic, Silya! I'm glad you'll let me join you. Besides I wouldn't want you to become a third wheel between Jaylin and I. Let's all become great friends!" She grabs me and Silya and pulls us both down together, squishing all three of us together like a sandwich.

Silya rolls her eyes, "Who said that I would be your friend? I'm only here for Jaylin."

Madeline and I both raise an eyebrow in surprise.  Was it true that she came here because of me? Maybe she liked me even just a little bit.

"Don't take it the wrong way, Jaylin," Silya says meekly, "this is part of my job as your teacher. My deal with your father was that I would teach you about new experiences that would help you be capable of running the Hennery family in the near future. In addition to that, your father wanted me to help you find a suitable wife for you to someday marry. Frica is that girl, so it is in my best interest to do whatever Frica sees fit so that way she will be able to be a wonderful wife to you."  

"I don't want this," I mumbled to myself.

Was this how everything really was between us? I met Silya and became friends with her just so she could do what my father told her to? All this time had this whole experience with her been an illusion? It was all a lie. Something inside of me started breaking apart. All of a sudden a gloomy burst of energy came rushing out and I felt the floor slowly disappear before me. I could hardly manage a word out as I fumbled through my mind to find what I could say next.

"You can't be serious," my throat became dry and my lips felt so stiff as I try to shake off the feeling of melting to the ground.

The door open suddenly and my father steps into the room. He looks around at all of us into the room He tells Madeline to step out of the room. Madeline dismissed herself discreetly.  My father is dressed in a white suit with a pink tie and undershirt. His hair is neatly combed back and I could see the strains in his face as he glances at me and Silya falling apart quietly.

He walks over to the picture of my mother holding the little girl in her lap.  He sighs a little as his head looks to the ground. His hands went behind his back. Frica watches my father in silence. Silya stands like a statue, not moving a muscle and I am still trying to get my feelings all together.  He turns around swiftly and his eyes fell on me.

"Your mother was so beautiful Jaylin. She was like a rose blowing in the wind. The thorns are the words that had walked away from me on that day after you got out of the hospital. You didn't know anything, even though you were not a baby. The red petals are her personality that burned with passion at everything she saw. It was the color of her lipstick that took my breath away in our younger days. She was like all women are and I was the fool to fall for her. Their promises, words and love bloom temporary and will wilt to a crisp eventually. That is the way the world of love works, my son." He laughs bitterly as if he was trying to accept the truth himself of his own words.

Silya, Frica and I sat in silence. I wasn't sure if the two of them could find any words to make the atmosphere of this entire room shatter. Frica walks over to my father swiftly and whispers something in his ears. He bends down and nods slightly. There was something about the way that Frica whispered that made me shiver. It was another secret, another deal that would be kept from me until the right time for the truth to be split open. In this room, there were liars. Everyone in their own way was one for many different reasons, in many different ways.

Silya looks at me, her eyes were clouded. "I'm sorry Jaylin, this is the truth though."

My fingers grew numb. I couldn't find a reason anymore to like her or hate her. There was no "yes" or "no" anymore. There was never a first time. There was never   this thing called "friendship." There was only a list of lies that just kept on piling up.

This is the only truth there is.