Pecilia paraded the party by herself while Algernon was entangled with some other drab noble or another. The way they swarmed him was like vultures to a fresh carcass, and it killed Pecilia's mood. She waited for an opening in the wake and made her an exit.
Jasper also remained at the party, only because after witnessing the scene between Algernon and Lucy had more questions than ever.
"Pecilia," Jasper said, intercepting her escape. "What is actually going on between Algernon and Lucy?"
Pecilia coked an eyebrow. "Is that not obvious?"
"Them together is one thing." Jasper dismissed. "But what is everyone's interest in them? What did Luke mean by killing the light?"
Pecilia's mouth pressed into a flat line as she yanked her arm free. "It's none of your concern."
"Is that something for you to decide when it's affecting Lucy?"
Pecilia paused in consideration. "You really don't want to get involved."
Jasper stared off concerningly at Algernon. "I have the feeling I need to."
"No, you don't."
"Then I'll ask her myself." Jasper said, turning to leave.
"You'll be wasting your time," Luke interrupted, inserting himself into the conversation as if he belonged there. "Because it seems our little Lahue is the last to know anything about herself."
Pecilia glowered at the intruding and overly confident boy.
"What do you mean?" Jasper pleaded, exasperated by the ever-prevalent vagueness. "What is it that you all seem to know?"
"Why don't you tell him," Luke smiled at Pecilia over the rim of a shimmering blue glass. "It can't hurt her. Unless of course, he wants to hurt her."
"I wouldn't," Jasper swore, offended that he would even suggest such a thing. "Never."
Pecilia sighed, wondering if she was stupid to believe him, but figuring she had no choice but to now. "If I tell you, are you prepared to listen to everything I have to say?"
"Yes." Jasper immediately replied. "If it means protecting Lucy."
Pecilia sucked on her top teeth and glanced over to Algernon. "What if it means the exact opposite."
Jasper looked to where she was starring, and wondered what again was going on.
~~~~~
Pecilia left the party with her head throbbing. The squawking nobles were one thing but what she had shared she could never take back. Now, she just had to trust Jasper meant his promise. She really hoped he did and as her thoughts centered on Lucy she absent-mindedly went to the girl.
Lucy lied in bed, failing at not thinking about how embarrassing and sad everything about the night had been. She pulled her knees to her chest. Less, they had called her, for the first time to her face but many times before in their heads and with her back turned. Lucy wondered what was so plainly obvious off about her. She thought about it for hours because she thought maybe if she could answer that question then she might be able to become enough. Her mind wrestled with the thought well into the night until she was interrupted.
"Oh, my dearly pathetic girl." Pecilia cooed, standing in the doorway of Lucy's room. "Getting all puffy eyed over your loathed lover?"
"No," Lucy whispered, rubbing her eyes. "And you're wrong to say, lover."
"Am I now," Pecilia snarked, lifting up her nose. She detested being around people that felt bad since she so inconveniently felt their emotions within herself, and empathy severely thwarted her attempts of appearing coldblooded. "You know," Pecilia paused trying to find words that weren't too nice, "not everyone here thinks horribly of you." She said but kept her eyes glued to the floor. "But even if they did, you shouldn't let that affect how you think of yourself." Pecilia took a breath and repeated to Lucy what she often thought to herself, to get through the harsh life of living amongst the callous. "Anytime anyone says something to you, and you believe it, it gives them power over you. Never give away that power, Lucy. And especially don't believe anyone has it over you." Pecilia spoke as she spoke everything, with a bit of bite and good intentions.
Lucy smiled, "Thank you Pecilia."
Pecilia rolled her eyes. "Don't be so sappy." She huffed and strutted out of the room but hearing Lucy's light chuckle on her way out made her smile.
"Of course, that Row slept with him." Pecilia froze at the second-floor railing, accidentally overhearing the late-night gossip of two girls of their class.
"She would do anything for his attention. It's pathetic." One of the girls mocked, who was always so nice to Pecilia when they spoke in person.
"It's because her family is destitute." Said Gizelle, a different girl of her year. "She's obviously banking on getting pregnant and stealing the Black family's money so they aren't turned out on the street."
"Well, when you spend so much on one shabby outfit what do you expect?"
The girls giggled as Pecilia quietly listened on. She wasn't angry. She had been raised in the spiteful competition of Emora's upperclass all her life, and this was nothing she hadn't experienced a hundred times over.
"She's not shabby." Pecilia overheard the familiar sing-song voice but was surprised for it to appear in this context. "You girls trying desperately to achieve any kind of attention from at best a halfway decent guy are actually the pathetic ones." Freya chimed in, without any spite or venom to her words, just plain facts she spoke in her natural saccharine tone. "In fact, your self-esteem and ambitions are so low that you won't even go after Algernon when you want to as well, and you try to diminish your insecurities by tearing down someone that is brave enough to go for what they want." Freya had just gotten back from the party, with two full baskets of food as her prize. "It's fine to be jealous, and it's fine to be scared, but own up to it, instead of trying to make someone else out to be as pathetic as you are." Freya said as she came up the iron spiral stairs to her room.
The girls gaped speechlessly at Freya as she made it to the second floor where she saw Pecilia quietly leaning against the wall with her hands tightly wound on her upper arms, trying to stop herself from crying. Freya was pretty dense but even she could tell Pecilia was off. She balanced a blueberry muffin into her folded arms and went on her way.
Pecilia took the muffin back to her room and slept with it by her bedside.