Love, Aurélie | REGULUS BLACK

Chapter Forty-Four

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CHAPTER FORTY FOUR
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TAP. TAP. TAP.

Mei glanced over to look at Odette. Odette had stopped taking notes and was tapping the tip of her quill against the desk. She seemed unaware of her actions as she was buried in her daydream. Mei wasn't sure what happened, but Odette was certainly in a better mood. The small smile and the look in her eyes told Mei everything.

Nevertheless, Mei took the quill and placed it down on the table. Odette jumped and looked over at her. Mei didn't look over at her and immediately continued writing her notes. Odette stared for a moment before she slowly picked up her quill and began to write once again.

"What's got you so giddy?" asked Mei as they left the classroom afterwards.

"Huh?" said Odette, her skipping came to an end as she looked at Mei.

"You're so happy today. . .it's a bit strange."

"Strange?"

"It's not a bad thing! It's just. . .you seem like such a different person today."

"Oh! Well, good things happened."

"Care to share? We all need some happiness around here, most of us here are miserable at the moment."

"Good things don't last long anyway," said Odette, "How's Naomi doing?"

". . .Better," said Mei.

"And Chloe?"

"I don't know about her," said Mei, "Neither does Olivia Mae and if there is something Olivia Mae doesn't know, then it's unlikely anyone else does."

Odette remained silent as she adjusted her bag's strap on her shoulder.

"Do you ever. . .just want to run away?" said Odette, "Run away from everything and never look back?"

". . .I used to," said Mei, "But I learned running away isn't an option."

Odette looked down at the floor.

"I hope you're not planning on running away," said Mei, "It'll cause more harm than good, you know."

"I know," said Odette with a small smile, "Thanks for sticking around."

"Of course. I should be thanking you," said Mei, "It's nice to have new people around sometimes."

"I'll have to agree to disagree with you there," said Odette with a chuckle.

"Odette. . ." said Mei.

"What?" laughed Odette.

"How could you not like new people? If you hadn't met anyone new, you would have never met a certain someone. . ."

Odette felt warmth rush up her cheeks, leaving her at a loss for words, "M — Mei!"

"What? Am I wrong?"

"I would have been fine without any of this. I had a life before I became Odette."