The Company of Myself.

The Company of Myself - Chapter 12

Note: French translations are at the end of chapter. Probably messed up the translations a bit, but they seem fine for now. Haha...                     Sorry.

________________________________________________________________________________

Astrid wound the blanket around me tighter, filling me with warm sensations. She kneeled down so that she was eye level with me. Her bright blue eyes weren't as bright today, and she gave a tight squeeze before walking away to help Lucie.

Lucie's house was small compared to Katie's and Lydia's. One story, spacious, clean, and neat. Her house was organized in a fashion that gave the illusion that it was much larger than any normal house, but in truth, was probably on the smaller scale. Her parents' liked the small space for some reason, and had plenty of small corners and seats where they could crawl up into and sit. Lucie had put me in the hanging chair in her living room. It hung from the ceiling, danging a good foot off of the floor. It was made like a cage; in wooden sticks that bent and curved to make a seat. She'd thrown a pillow in, since her parents normally kept it bare and hard.

Astrid came back, her arms flooded with food from the kitchen. The doorbell rang, and I could see from far away as Lucie stood up and opened it to Jas and Lix. I returned my eyes back to Astrid, who handed me a mug of coffee, smiling. Her hair was a mess that morning. She's originally a blonde, and I guess that day, she needed to dye it again. The hot pink in her hair was fading, and the black was now contrasting harshly against the blonde. She ran a hand through her locks and groaned, realizing what she needed to do, and sat down across from me on the floor. From across the room, Jas and Lix slowly entered the room, their heads hanging low. They slowly seated themselves down on the floor with Astrid, waiting for Lucie to return.

I didn't want to feel left out, so I scooted down and sat with them, awkwardly, just as Lucie returned with the last of our breakfast.

We stayed quiet, just letting the silence seep into us. Only a few sounds came to. A clatter of silverware. A sip of coffee. A bird calling outside. I gazed at a photo frame of Lucie's parents. Her mother, of Japanese descent, and her father, of Italian and Taiwanese descent, had been at their wedding day. Her mother had managed to pull off a wedding gown, and stood with Lucie's father by the chapel, arms risen, and lips locked together. It looked magnificent, making me wonder, did they start out as Pandora and I had? Had they been awkward at first and then eventually become closer and closer? Did she have a boyfriend at the time they met?

"Quinn." Jas said, a look of compassion on his face. "I know you're feeling... sad. But how do you expect us to know what's wrong if you haven't even told us?"

Lix added, "How can we 'elp, mate?"

I wasn't surprised that they saw something wrong with me. I'd been staring at my food for the past ten minutes and had failed to put any of it into my mouth. My eyes had dark rings around them, and an overall depressed aura surrounded me. Lucie and Astrid had put stuff on my plate trying to get me eat, but all I'd done was stare at them.

"It's nothing." The scene from last night played over and over in my head, reminding me of what I'd done. Stupid, and pathetic in my mind. I cringed, and cold sweat ran down my forehead, making me shiver. I looked away from them, too upset with my actions to tell them. After what seemed like a long time, Jas spoke again, with a serious tone. 

"It's her, isn't it?" His eyes were steady when he looked to me, and he put down his things.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jasper."

"Pandora. We all know it, Quinn." Astrid spoke this time, an arm sliding under mine to link together. She rested her head against my shoulder, and sighed heavily. Lucie and Lix nodded.