Between Wake and Slumber

Chapter 3: Reunions and Revelations

Chapter 3: Reunions and Revelations

The next morning, I walked downstairs glad that the rest of my night had been peaceful. I remembered a hazy nightmare about someone with an axe, but couldn't bring the whole dream to my mind no matter how hard I tried. Well, at least I had got a good night's sleep.

My parents were already in the dining room when I arrived. Douglas was still asleep; he was lucky since his school didn't start until 10.30 on Thursdays.

"Oh, there you are, Victoria," mom greeted warmly. "Sit down, I actually have something to tell you."

I sat down and started buttering a piece of toast.

"What is it?" I asked after a while of silence.

"Laura and Dennis are coming to dinner tonight, so we just wanted to make sure that you'll be home by then," dad answered. Laura, who was studying in university to become a teacher, was my older sister and Dennis was her fiance. They had gotten engaged last year, but had dated for years before that so Dennis was already very familiar to us.

"Sure, I didn't have anything planned anyway," I said with a smile. It had been way too long since I had last seen Laura, her studies kept her very busy most of the time.

"And also," mom said while standing up and walking with her dishes towards the kitchen, "Laura asked if Millie would like to join us. She says she'd love to meet her again."

My smile grew wider. I was so happy that Laura liked Millie so much and vice versa. Millie had gone on a roadtrip with us a few summers ago, and since then Laura had frequently asked how Millie was doing.

"I can ask her, it's quite short notice though," I said and poured myself more juice. "I'll message her as soon as I finish eating so she has time to ask her parents before she leaves for school."

"I don't see what they could possibly have against it," my mother mumbled. "Clarissa and Daniel will probably be happy to let her come. They'll just be excited about the fact that she'll stay somewhere else. Actually, if you'd like, you could even ask her to stay the night."

My excitement grew even more after hearing this. Millie would probably be as excited as I was, because she preferred my family to her own. My parents and her parents didn't really get along, because Millie's parents were mostly cold and indifferent towards their daughter. Millie had often told me that she felt like they were ashamed to have a blind daughter, which was also one of the reasons why Millie had loved Hazelwood Academy, her previous boarding school, so much. She had been able to live away from her family for most of the year. This was one of the reasons why I always felt so happy whenever I could offer her some time off from her own chaotic and sad home life.

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The school's auditorium was full of nervous chattering. Almost all of the theatre group members were already there, and now we were only waiting for our director Alex who would announce our roles for the upcoming musical production, Little Women.

I had almost been late to school that day. I had messaged Millie after breakfast and after she had confirmed that she was free for a sleepover that night I had gone to her house, picked up Millie and her stuff and walked back home to take her bags to my room before leaving for school. On days when our first class started at the same time, I often walked to school with Millie because she lived on my route to school. Whenever I couldn't go get her for some reason Janet did.

"I'm sure you'll get one of the sisters," Susan's excited voice roused me from my thoughts. Susan was a tall blonde who was one of my closest friends. However, she was already in sixth form, so we didn't often get to spend time together at school except for the theatre practices.