Accession || Ongoing ||

Fourteen: Both Of Us Are The Same Person!

"Careful with that, it's hot," Sylvie cautioned Alyxia as the latter gingerly picked a pot of gelatin mixture off of the stove and brought it over to the counter. "Make sure you swirl it around a bit; the heat will go a little faster."

Alyxia nodded, focusing all of her attention on the pink Strawberry 'n Peach liquid that threatened to scald her. Finally setting it down onto the counter, she allowed herself to breathe again. Who knew making clear chewies was so anxiety inducing.

As a rare treat, Sylvie would make a whole bunch of clear chewies occasionally for Nash to nibble on when he felt peckish. Because of the whole emotional fallout of Sylvie's revelation, Alyxia thought it would be a good time to make clear chewies rather than actually addressing the issue.

Besides, Reiley was so into her brooding/thinking mode that Alyxia was afraid she would never open her mouth again. Reiley's one guilty pleasure in life would surely give her something to talk about.

Right?

While some steam escaped the gelatin mixture, Alyxia fished out the silicone clear chewie moulds; there were three to choose from, namely snakes, hearts and some odd concave disc shaped mould. Going with her personal favourite, she chose the hearts,  and carefully poured the warm liquid into the moulds. A couple spilled over, but Sylvie assured her that it would be fine. And then it was finally time to put it in Sylvie's mini refrigerator and pray to whoever would listen that it turned out okay.

Now that that's over with, Alyxia thought to herself, back to awkward, awkward reality.

Emerging out of the kitchen which was no longer as imposing as it used to be, she looked out at the scene in front of her: Nash sitting at the dining table and puzzling over a textbook, Farron next to him clearly trying to explain some abstract concept, and Reiley nowhere to be found.

Instinct told her that Reiley would be skimming over some map in their room. She moved forward with the aim of bringing her best friend out of her slump, but her brain chided her. You know that she needs time to think. She'll come around; she always does.

But I don't understand why she's acting like this. She couldn't have possibly known that Farron's parents died because of her mother. It was out of her control. She's not being rational. She's stealing my thing.

How the tables have turned, her conscience mused, and was then silent. She realised that both Farron and Nash were looking at her, and pretended to act cool. "Hey there."

"Hey yourself," Farron smiled. "Wanna join the 'Cram Information Into Nash's Head In Time For His Test Tomorrow' fest?"

"Of course," Alyxia accepted, sliding into the chair on the opposite side of Nash. "Can't have him getting anything less than first in class, can we?"

"Guys," Nash whined loudly. "I'm only eight. This is child labour!"

Farron jokingly messed the kid's hair. "Do you even know the meaning of child labour?"

Nash scrunched the nose. " Well, trying to figure out what we're actually supposed to study now can be labour. Even our teachers are confused."

"What do you mean, sweetie?" Alyxia queried, her curiosity piqued.

"Well, I guess they've changed the stuff we're supposed to study. We were in the middle of studying the royal family when they told us we don't have to study it anymore."

It was as if time stopped in that moment. "They changed your syllabus?" They were altering the education system already? Trying to alter history? She barely even noticed Farron slinking off to who knew where.