^^Lara
Zena's POV
Acacia invited me for some high tea thingy in the gardens. As I was walking down the halls, I heard thrashing and screaming. I furrowed my brows since I unfortunately recognized that yell. I stopped and watched Yeira being dragged away while she clutched onto a can of spray paint. Bridey looked pissed as she dragged my sister towards her office.
My curiosity got the best of me, so I went around the corner. I stopped and stared in disbelief at the horrendous tagging Yeira did. I think she even spelled Hana's name wrong, which made me facepalm. I felt a presence next to me and looked up to see Hana. She shook her head and looked at me to explain, but what was there to explain?! My sister was an absolute idiot!
"I would love to stay and discuss what an airhead my sister is, but I have to be somewhere."
"Oh, ya! I helped Acacia- never mind." She impishly smiled. "Have fun."
I gave her a wave before continuing to find Acacia. I found her in the middle of the garden, pouring tea. I secretly hope she didn't make any of this and left the cooking to Hana or someone else. She spotted me and smiled, causing a smile to make its way to my face.
"Hi." She shyly smiled.
"You're very pretty."
"Thank you. I decided to try high tea."
"Did you make it?" I cautiously sipped it. "Hmm... it tastes good."
"Eris made it for me." I gave her a shocked look. "I forced her to." Yep, now that sounds like Acacia. "So how are you?"
"Witnessed my sister graffiti the walls to proclaim her love for Hana. Hana wasn't amused and neither was Bridey. She dragged Yeira to her office."
"She's very desperate."
"I am a little surprised how quickly you and Hana patched things up. I thought she'd be a little harder."
"So did I." Acacia breathed out. "I just kept apologizing and regretting my actions. I told her that my heart lies with you and I strayed from you. I told her how everything happened and how I was so ashamed."
"So I was thinking we could go away on this couple's retreat. It's supposed to help bring couples closer and strengthen their bond. And then maybe... get married here? I don't know." I shrugged.
"Your birthday is in less than a week, so I was hoping to throw you a party. Or do something special for you." Acacia nervously bit her lip. "That's if you want to. It's totally fine if you want to do something different. We can do something more private or you can do stuff with other people-"
"Aqua, I'd prefer to enjoy the day with you." I kissed her hands. "I appreciate the thought and everything. It makes me happy. It really does. The only thing is that birthdays were never something I really looked forward to since no one cared when I was abducted. It was just another day to remind me that my parents were never coming."
"Oh, I'm sorry. We don't-"
"Even if we just walk the town, it'd be the best birthday ever. I just want to spend it with you."
"How can you want that when I hurt you?" Tears lined her eyes. "Something so simple and... Zena, it kills me inside. I should've never done anything like that to you. You're so sweet and kind and caring and forgiving. You should be angrier! Be made at me!" I wrapped my arms around her. "No! Don't comfort me!" She pushed me away. "Yell at me!"
"Aqua, how are we supposed to move past this when you won't let it go?" I sadly asked. "I forgive you and know it was a little out of your control. I don't think you realize, but you were slightly brainwashed into committing those actions. That's why Hana and I aren't still angry with you. We're angry at Yeira because she shows little to no remorse."
"I just want you to know that I only want you and no one else. I just don't know how to prove that to you."
"Your actions and I'm sure you'll follow through." I squeezed her hand. "I love and trust you, Acacia."
Acacia gave me a soft smile and leaned in, so I closed the gap and connected our lips. Acacia went to pull back, but I held her head in place. I kissed her with so much emotion, so she'd understand how I really felt about her. I felt tears, causing me to sadly smile. I kissed away her tears and held her close.
"What's this?" We looked up to see Yeira. She grabbed a scone and ate it. "Yuck!" She spat it out. "It's so dry."
"What are you doing here?" I aggressively asked.
"Inviting you to the show tonight."
"What show?" Acacia wondered.
"My show to win back Hana."
"Have you spoken to Dr.Linda about this?" She nodded. "And what did she say?"
"That it sounds insane, which means it's outside the box." Yeira proudly spoke. "I'll be performing it in one hour. I expect to see you there." She flitted away.
"Part of me wants to spite her and not go, but the other part is curious about how she can continuously fuck up." Acacia faced me.
"That's the same dilemma I'm under." I chuckled. "I don't have any plans in an hour."
"Neither do I." She laughed. "Want to watch Yeira make a fool of herself?"
"Nothing could make me smile more." I kissed her.
X
Acacia and I brought popcorn to watch Yeira fail on stage. The only thing that made this somewhat palpable was the small audience. It seems she limited her trainwreck to people she knew and not the entire student body. Eris was in the first row and looked to be excited. Acacia rolled her eyes and threw popcorn at her sister's head.
"What?!" Eris turned around.
"What's got you all smiley?" Acacia rolled her eyes.
"I'm not missing this failure. I'd pay for this if I had to. Get a seat because this one is mine."
"Any idea what she's doing?" Hana walked in with mum.
"I'm at a loss." Mum sighed. "How are you doing by the way?"
"I'm doing fine. Zena's looking out for me, so that's a plus." Hana responded.
Acacia's friends soon found us and expressed their confusion. It didn't take long for the lights to dim. Lexi walked on stage and greeted everyone. Who gave the go ahead for this project? I'm sure maman is regretting making Lexi be Yeira's guardian. They're both idiots. Hailey sat in my lap, making Acacia roll her eyes.
Lexi concluded her introduction and directed everyone's attention to the curtains. Lexi then flitted away and opened the curtains. She then flitted upstairs and manned the lights. Damn, this is a really low budget play.
Yeira then walked onto the stage, with terrible makeup. It made her look like she was crying. Yeira then tripped to the ground and held her chest while silently crying. She then rolled around in agony and thrashed her limbs around.
"Is this supposed to be a silent play?" Hailey whispered.
"More like an embarrassment to fine arts." Acacia snarked.
Yeira slowly got up and grabbed a cape that Lexi flung at her. She pulled it around her shoulders and creepily walked around.
"My name is evil Addison." Yeira made her voice deeper. "And I've come to steal your mate!"
Yeira then discarded the cape and fluffed her hair. She composed herself before scrunching her face in agony.
"Don't take my mate!"
"I'm taking your mate!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Boom!" Yeira then fell down and rolled around. "No! I'm coming for you, Hana! I just have to kill Acacia!" Yeira simulated running. She then stopped and looked around. "You're dead!" She swung her hand down.
Yeira then opened her arms as Lexi sprayed her with red paint. I can't believe this was actually an idea. I pinched the bridge of my nose while Acacia watched in disbelief. Lexi raced back to the lights and made the filter yellow.
"Oh! Ow! It hurts so much because I'm such a weak elf!" Yeira ran in a circle while clutching her neck. "Someone save me!" She began skipping around. "Save me! Save me! I can't save myself!"
"Fuck off!" Acacia yelled at her.
"Oh shoot! I won't let you die, Acacia! I shall be your hero and save you!" Yeira then simulated biting her wrist and pouring blood into her own mouth. "To the dark realm we go!" Yeira hopped around as Lexi changed the filter to dark blue. "Ooooh, where should we go?"
"I don't know, Yeira! You're so smart and my best bet at survival!" She made her voice obnoxiously high. "What would I do without you?" I'm sure Yeira is straining her voice.
"I've got you. I'm the most powerful person to ever live!" Yeira then looked around in a panic. "Are those killer clowns?! Bam! Bam!" Yeira punched and kicked the air. "They're all dead! You're safe now, Acacia."
"My hero!" She fluttered her eyes and Acacia facepalmed.
"Off to the maze!" Yeira ran in a circle. "Look at all these challenges! I shall get us through them!" She walked, but suddenly stopped. "Is that, Zena? Hi, Ze-" She then flopped onto the floor. "My sister is trying to kill me, but is no match for me!"
"I shall kill you, Yeira!" Yeira mocked my Italian accent. "I eat pasta and gelato all the time, so I don't train to be an amazing fighter like yourself. I'm super lazy!"
"It's alright. Only one of us can be exceptional, tiny." Yeira patted the air. "Let's find Addison and destroy her!"
Yeira ran around and pretended to fight Addison. The way she made it sound, Addison was the weakest thing ever. She, apparently, managed to kill Addison in under 5 seconds.
"The end!" Yeira did an extravagant bow.
Lexi swiftly clapped and turned the sign on that told us to clap. Eris stood and gave a standing ovation. You have got to be kidding me. I turned to Hana to see her roll her eyes and leave. Yeira was perplexed, so she hopped off the stage and ran after the kitsune.
"Please make her do a sequel." Eris maniacally clapped with Nat.
"That was peak comedy." Nat added.
"I just wasted an hour of my time." Tatia stated.
"Lexi, you understand that your role is to guide her, not enable." Hailey addressed the tiny guardian.
"It sounded good in hindsight." Lexi stated.
"What part of it sounded like a great idea?" Acacia asked.
"She said she wanted to explain everything to Hana." Lexi stated.
"I wasn't even there and I'm almost positive none of that was even remotely accurate." Franni stated. "None."
"Lex, would you mind running after Yeira? She's probably confused why Hana is mad." Maman spoke.
Lexi nodded and flitted away. Acacia looked at me in shock, but I raised my shoulders because I couldn't rationalize what we just watched.
"Yeira stated that she spoke to Dr. Linda about it. I think you need to switch therapists because I don't think Dr. Linda has a handle on her." Acacia advised.
"I'm not sure another therapist could deal with Yeira's antics." Maman groaned. "I'll send her a bottle of wine and a generous check."
My parents asked if we wanted to have a drink with them, so we journeyed back to the mansion. Maman hogged a bottle to herself while Acacia, mum, and I shared a bottle. We told them of our preemptive plan to wait until after my birthday to get married. My parents were happy, but Maman was a little disappointed at not being able to plan a party.
I told them that I kind of wanted to get married in the elf realm. Acacia gasped and tears lined her eyes. I smiled and squeezed her tight as I told them of how beautiful the realm is. Acacia excitedly nodded and entertained the idea.
As we were talking, the door was thrown open. Hana entered and ran her hands through her hair. She then began complaining about Yeira and asked what possessed her to do all these terrible things. I stared at my parents since they're the ones who made her. Maman pointed at mum since she carried us. Mum scoffed and pointed at Maman since Yeira was a replica of Maman.
It took a while, but Hana eventually calmed. She laid on the couch and groaned into the pillows. I felt kind of bad for her. After a while, she looked at me and furrowed her brows.
"Zena, how good is your eidetic memory?"
"Umm... could be better." I admitted. "Yeira practices more, so she's much better."
"Hmm..." Hana mumbled and buried her head in the pillows again.
"Why don't we play a game?" Mum proposed. "An art game."
"I'm down." Maman and I simultaneously spoke. We grinned at each other before facing mum.
"Don't look, but I want you to draw Lara from your memory. And Larz, I want you to do a self portrait... without looking in a mirror."
"That's hard." Maman and I whined.
"It'd be so cool." Acacia shook me.
"And I'd like it." Mum added.
"Okay!" Maman and I stated.
"Whipped." Hana snickered.
Maman and I sat back to back while sketching the image. I looked to my right and winked at Acacia. She smiled and sent me a kiss. I chuckled and went back to drawing. I'd have to occasionally stop to try and remember certain features. I sensed maman's emotions and got an uncertain vibe from her.
"I may stare at myself in the mirror a lot, but I don't remember everything." Maman chuckled.
"This is hard. Are your eyes massive?" I smirked.
"Shut it, Zena." Maman spoke. "I'm going to draw you next."
"Oh, please don't. I have no idea how I look. I could link my mind with mum and see-"
"That's cheating, petite chou!" Maman stated.
"Fine, buzzkill." I muttered.
"5 minutes left!" Mum announced.
"I didn't know this was a timed event, my love!" Maman sped up her movements.
"No one wants to wait an hour for you guys to finish." Mum rolled her eyes. "Plus, you guys have super speed, so use it." She chuckled.
Maman and I laughed while yelling at each other. We were rushing to add the final details as mum counted down the time. When mum reached zero, Maman was still working. I kept yelling that she was a cheater, but she zipped to the wall and added her final designs. She then laughed and approached us.
"Does it capture your ugliness?" Mum teased Maman.
"Definitely." She giggled. "Ready, Z?!"
"Yepo!"
We turned our pictures around and compared them. Maman and I began explaining why we drew certain things and criticizing our pictures. Maman pointed out a failed technique while I told her where she could improve upon. We then faced the others, who were in shock by the realism. Well, mum was used to it. I never really drew around Acacia, so she was shocked. She then demanded I draw her. I laughed and promised.
(The portraits of Lara)
"Who wins?" I asked.
"It's hard." Mum stated. "I'm going with Z because she's my baby." She squeezed me.
"Z!" Acacia flung her arms around me.
"I feel like you didn't even consider mine to be in the runnings." Maman chuckled.
"Lara's." Hana stated.
"And she's now my favorite daughter in law." Hana laughed at Maman's words.
"Draw, Z! Draw her!" Acacia demanded.
"Okay." Maman chuckled.
We then spent the rest of the night drawing each other and having a fun night. My mind drifted to Yeira and wondered how she was doing. Hopefully, Lexi was keeping her entertained.
We're nearing the end. Only a few more chapters left!