A Richer Shade of Gold
Chapter Twenty-Two
People claimed that Quebec was culturally and geographically a bridge between Europe and the Americas. It featured exemplary modern fine dining and an endless amount of rustic buildings rich in history. Arriving in December was no mistake either. The bricked streets were covered in a fresh layer of soft snow and the air was refreshing and crisp.
Instead of residing in a fancy hotel like Ridgeman Prep had always opted for on previous excursions, they had decided to change things up and book a few homey cabins in the woods instead. The thought had Kendall mildly disgusted at first, her mind imagining a moulding and termite-infested structure of wood with dusty bed sheets, but upon landing her eyes on the surprisingly trendy but cozy looking cabin, she started to reconsider.
Even though all the students were still in the dark about who they were rooming with, it still took Kendall by surprise when she was handed a key to cabin 4 by Ms Belrose, with Xavier in tow behind her, a string of muttered complaints escaping his mouth. Apparently the school had planned it so the students in the fluent French class were paired with the not-so-fluent students to help them and to ensure no one would be in danger when alone in their pairs around the town. Olivia had been paired with Wesley.
Although Kendall was placed with Xavier, at least it wasn't Wesley. Wesley and Olivia were in the cabin opposite them. Kendall returned Olivia's grimace when the two caught each other's eyes. Olivia gave her a thumbs up before following Wesley, who was paying no attention to anything except for the lock of the door, into cabin 3.
Kendall let out a soft sigh, mentally preparing herself for the next awkward moments to come. She watched her breath visibly fan out in a soft cloud for a second before gripping the situation in front of her.
Literally.
Kendall slid the skeleton key into the lock and grabbed the handle of the door, pushing it open before stepping into her accomodation, wheeling her Louis Vuitton suitcase with her. Xavier followed her, his navy duffel bag in hand.
"Jesus, Kendall, it's a school excursion not fashion week." Xavier said, slight exasperation in his tone.
Kendall refrained from blurting out a rude remark which would only add to the pain of the rooming allocation situation. Instead, she kept her back to Xavier and took her heeled booties off, her feet screaming in relief. "What am I supposed to do? Show up carrying a piece of crap plastic suitcase from Target that says 'adventurer at heart'?" She calmly asked him, her tone dry and bitter.
Kendall didn't need to turn around to know Xavier had rolled his eyes. He kept to himself and started to walk towards the extended area of the cabin where the hallways separated into two bedrooms. Xavier headed towards the room on the left, claiming it as his, leaving the room on the right for Kendall. Maybe because Xavier knew that Kendall was always right...
Kendall said nothing as she dragged her bag into her room and closed the door behind her, settling into her room. She was holding up surprisingly well emotionally considering her period was due in the next week or so. She didn't usually get cramps but she was feeling them now, ripping her stomach up from the inside out. She grabbed a sweater from her suitcase and took her heavy coat off, slipping the sweater over her head. She also stuffed two bags of lollies under her arm and made sure her phone was in her pocket before leaving her room. Kendall grabbed the cabin key and yelled out to Xavier, telling him she'd be back soon. She didn't wait around for a response.
The snow between cabin 4 and 3 crunched under her beige combat boots. She hadn't planned on bringing such a shoe but her father had insisted, not wanting her to catch frostbite on her toes. Thankfully, Clarissa had managed to find a nice pair that did the job. They kept her feet snug and warm and were successful in making her not look homeless. What more could she want?
Even though it was six in the morning, Kendall knew Olivia wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon.
Actually, she didn't think most of the students would be sleeping, she suspected most had already gone out into the town. When Kendall knocked on the door of Olivia and Wesley's cabin, she heard some shuffling on the other side. She heard a grunt before Olivia opened the door. "Wesley's such an ass. Look at how narrow the damn hallway is! He left his huge-ass suitcase right in the middle of it!"
"Luckily for you, I'm here to save you." Kendall told her before stepping in, slipping her snow-covered boots off. Upon heading to Olivia's bedroom, she found herself dodging the suitcase that was left abandoned in the middle of the hallway. Kendall let out a sigh of annoyance and pulled the handle up, pulling it over to the right bedroom.
As Kendall was halfway through the process of opening Wesley's bedroom door, doubts and thoughts of mild horror filled her head. What if he was getting dressed? Or naked? Or in a questionable position? Maybe doing something psychotic like throwing daggers at apples with her picture on it? The door was fully opened, a slight creak to it and thankfully, Wesley was just laying on the king sized bed, a tourist's guidebook for Quebec in his hands.
"As much as I like your parents, did their teachings of manners never fully get through that thick skull of yours?"
Wesley ignored Kendall's remark and flipped over and up. "Did you know that the Scandinave Spa is just under an hour from here?"
Kendall lifted the heavy suitcase up and placed it in front of her and shuffled it forward to the foot of Wesley's bed. "Great, so go tell someone who cares."
"I am."
Kendall rolled her eyes before nodding at the suitcase, "What did you pack in there? Bricks?"
"Ha. You sound like the father I never had." Wesley deadpanned with an inscrutable expression.
"Well, now that I'm finished playing maid I'll leave you to it."
Just as Kendall was about to pass the door, Wesley broke the silence. "You should come." Kendall tilted her head a little to the side. "To the spa, I mean."
"Maybe." Was all she said as she left the room, closing the door on her way out.
-
Kendall let out another groan as Olivia was starting another movie on her laptop.
"I swear to God Kendall if I give you anymore painkillers, you're going to O.D and die." Olivia said, starting up Mean Girls on her Netflix account.
"Don't you always get bad cramps? What the hell do I do?" Kendall complained, laying on her back.
"You could try a hot water bottle, but I'm not sure how we'll get our hands on one." Olivia suggested, offering Kendall the second packet of lollies that they had opened. Kendall took a few gummy bears, making sure to avoid the orange ones. They had always tasted a little strange to her.
"Wait," Kendall said sitting up abruptly, "would a spa do the trick?"
Olivia nodded, a small grin growing on her face, "Yes! You wanna go now?"
Kendall nodded, "We'll just need to ask Wesley for the address."
Olivia nodded, "I'll do it. You just stay here and try not to kill yourself."
"Thanks."
Olivia gave her a cheeky grin before disappearing out the door. Olivia returned a few moments later. "He said he'll tell us if we let him come."
Kendall scoffed, "You know I can just google it, right?" Kendall called out loudly so that the sound would reach his room.
Wesley appeared in the doorway, "Come on, I'll even drive."
"No."
"I even invited Xavier."
"That doesn't strengthen your case. In fact, that weakens it."
Kendall narrowed her eyes just as Wesley looked around Olivia's room. "What in the world is going on in here?" Upon seeing the packet of painkillers, the opened bags of candy and Kendall clutching her stomach, Wesley put the pieces together. "Alright, I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say that someone's not feeling so good."
"You would be wrong. I'm feeling swell." Kendall replied sarcastically.
"I mean, at least you're not pregnant."
"Not helping!" Olivia and Kendall exclaimed at the same time.
"Get out before I give into my hormones and throw something at you."
"If you take me to the spa."
"Whatever."
Wesley grinned, satisfied. "We'll leave in half an hour."
/
I sort of wanted to write a filler that was like this but I incorporated writing about Kendall's rare period cramps because IT HAPPENS. Lol. It is a part of LIFE and it shows that Kendall doesn't always act guarded and isn't always on top of the situation at hand.
And Idk I imagine the cabins something like this. Not exactly but similar. If you want more photos, you can just google 'minimalist cabin woods' or something. That's what I did when I found this photo.
There is actually a place in Quebec that has cabins like these (although they're more like lofts) and it's what inspired me to write about this. The place is called Repere Boreal (if you were wondering) :)
* note that this photo is not Repere Boreal (it's actually a place in Germany I think!)
** oh and imagine it covered in snow lol