—
[CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE]
—
THERE WERE MANY THINGS Odette would never get tired of; the scarlet train in front of her was one of those things. Perhaps because it was only the second time she has seen it, or maybe something else. Yet, she would just stop and stare as the students climbed aboard.
Mei came up to her again and grabbed her wrist, "Come before you make us all miss the train."
Odette followed Mei. Her eyes traveled around their surroundings and she hadn't noticed when Mei stopped walking, which caused her to bump into her. Mei looked back at Odette — who had a sheepish smile on her face — and shook her head. Mei opened the compartment and stepped inside. Odette peeked inside before she followed.
Aditi was in the middle of asking something when Olivia Mae hushed her.
"Mei! Odette! Where were you two?"
Olivia Mae's perfectly painted lips curved into a smile. Odette may not have known her for long, but even she knew that smile couldn't mean anything good.
"Looking for you. What have I told you about scheming without me, Livi?" said Mei.
Olivia Mae laughed, "I'm not scheming, I'm just thinking."
Odette felt Aditi staring at her, so she looked up. The moment they made eye contact, Aditi turned away and bit her lip. Confused, Odette furrowed her eyebrows.
"Thinking about what?" asked Mei, "Haven't you been planning to meet up with that boy?"
"Oh! I have," said Olivia Mae, "but it's only for a day. I'm free the rest of the summer. Don't you always go visit — what's her name again? Oh! Right, Ciara."
"You must remember what happened during Hua's engagement, don't you? That whole scene between her and Ciara. . . we haven't seen her since, you know that."
"Yeah, but you loved Ciara," said Olivia Mae, "Why are you staying away from her because of a fight between her and Hua?"
"It wasn't just a fight, it spoiled everything. I may not always get along with her, but Hua is my sister. You may not agree, but I stick up for my sisters."
"Of course, I don't agree!" said Olivia Mae, "I have sisters and —"
"Like I said, you don't have to like your sisters, but I love mine even when we fight over so many stupid things. What's going on? Why bring this up all of a sudden? Did you fight again with Laura Leigh?"
"No, it's just you should see Ciara again. Oh and I bet she'd love Odette!"
"Even if I do see her, I won't introduce Odette to her," said Mei. Her whole demeanor changed at the mention of Odette. Mei suddenly understood what Olivia Mae really wanted and she didn't appreciate it.
"Who's taking care of her? Who's taking care of her after what Hua did? I get it, Hua's your sister, but how could you stick up to her after what she did. It wasn't Ciara and you know it."
Mei could only glare at Olivia Mae since she didn't know what to say that she already hadn't to defend Hua. Finally, she regained her voice.
"Ciara's okay —"
"She's not hurt physically, yes, but she's not okay," said Olivia Mae, "Many of us aren't. I'm not okay, Aditi's not okay, Hua's not okay, Xia's not okay, you aren't okay."
It was silent for a split second as Olivia Mae's eyes flickered over to Odette before she looked back at Mei, "And I know for a fact that the girl sitting next to you isn't okay either. I don't know why, however I know a lot more than you think, Mei."
"I don't doubt it," said Mei, her voice was barely louder than a whisper. She turned to Odette and said, "Why don't you go change, Odette? Better do it now before everyone crowds around the loo."
"Sure," said Odette, glad to have a reason to leave the compartment. She glanced at Olivia Mae one last time before she left the compartment. The sweet smile was gone and in place was a glare.
Odette didn't want to return to the compartment, she wasn't even sure if she was expected to. She was peeking into compartments for any sight of Xia when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into a compartment. She was practically in shock when the grip on her arm was released.
She turned around to see Regulus closing the compartment door.
"You know this is kidnapping, right?" said Odette, "You could have just called out to me instead of nearly giving me a heart attack."
"I only have a minute to spare," said Regulus as he turned around, "I forgot to tell you one thing."
Odette noticed that the compartment was completely empty, "Sure — who's sitting here?"
Regulus gave her a look before he said, "No one. Unless you really need to, don't owl me. I'll be able to read your letters, but I won't be able to reply."
"How'd you find an empty compartment? And what's going on?"
"Nothing's going on, I just can't reply to you, so don't bother. Unless, like I said, you really need to."
"If I send you a letter, no one else will read it, will they?"
"I don't know what you're suggesting, but no. Even if my parents see the letter first, if it's addressed to me, they won't. I just decided to warn you in case you decided to owl me and think I've died or something."
"I wouldn't think you've died," said Odette, "I would just think you're ignoring me."
"I don't know which one's worse," said Regulus, "That's all. Goodbye."
"Wait!" said Odette, "You never answered my other question."
"It was empty," shrugged Regulus.
"Lies," said Odette, "No one would be able to find an empty compartment around this time. How'd you even know I would pass by here?"
"I saw you passing by."
He didn't give her a chance to ask any more questions as he hurried out of the compartment. Odette quickly opened the door again and peeked out. She was only able to see Regulus's robes as he entered another compartment quite close. Odette walked out of the empty compartment and walked closer. Regulus had his back to her, Odette wasn't sure if it was intentional or not. However, she could clearly see the three other Slytherins in his company. She didn't agree with her friends, but even she had to admit that his friends looked quite scary. Especially when one of them made eye contact with her.
Odette didn't stick around that compartment any longer.
Odette ended up staying in the empty compartment because she couldn't find anyone else she knew. She had rested her head against the wall as she stared out the window. It was quite of a boring train ride, but it was better than awkwardly listening to Mei and Olivia Mae argue. The thought had hit her; had it been her fault?
She didn't get much time to dwell because the compartment opened and she found herself staring at Regulus, who looked shocked to see her there.
"What are you still doing here?"
"Nothing. What about you? Planning to kidnap another girl again?"
"Oh ha ha, you're very funny, you know that?" He wasn't smiling, but that didn't stop Odette from doing so.
"Thanks, I try."
"Perhaps you try a bit too hard," said Regulus, "Listen, what did you do?"
The smile faded from Odette's face, "Me? What did I do?"
"That's what I'm asking," said Regulus. Now that he said that, he did look a bit frustrated.
"What makes you think I did anything?"
Regulus opened his mouth, but then he looked down at her and stopped his pacing. He closed his mouth and sighed.
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
He left.
Odette hurried to her feet and peeked out of the compartment. Regulus was back in his compartment.
"What the hell. . ." She whispered to herself. She considered going after him, but she remembered his scary friends and fell back to the seat.
It felt like it was mere seconds when the train came to a stop. She could hear the chatter of the others as they left the compartments and headed off the train. Odette remained. She saw Regulus pass by, but he was alone. The other Slytherins that were with him passed by only seconds later, but they were missing one. Odette waited for that one to pass, but the compartment slowly got less crowded and she saw no sight of him. Odette didn't really care too much and headed out. She stopped. He was just standing at the end.
Odette shook her head and hurried off the train. While the train had gotten less crowded, the platform had not. Odette wasn't sure how she was going to find anyone in the crowd, especially as it wasn't like she was a giant in the sea of people.
As she hesitantly walked along, she felt someone bump into her. Odette turned, but whoever it was had blended into the crowd. She shrugged it off.
She was able to find Liu eventually, but there was still no Mei or Xia.
"Odette!" Said Liu, "I'm so glad you found me, but I was hoping my girls would be with you."
"I'm not sure where they went," Said Odette.
Liu sighed, "Sometimes I wish I could just summon them over here."
"Can't you?"
"I'm not sure, besides that's a safety hazard. My bones aren't as strong as they used to be."
Mei and Xia eventually found them, though they barely said a word. Both looked very upset and wouldn't even look at each other, which could only suggest that a fight had taken place and not one of their daily fights either.
The way home was awkward as the silence ate them alive. Every time Liu tried to talk to her daughters, it would result in an argument that would drive Liu to shout at them to be quiet.
Mei and Xia ran into the house the moment they got home. By the time Odette entered, all she heard were doors slamming.
Liu sighed, "Those girls. . . are you hungry, Odette?"
"A bit," said Odette, "I think I'm going to freshen up a bit first though."
"Go ahead, I'll call you down in ten minutes."
Odette nodded before she hurried up to her room. She let out a sigh the moment she closed the door. It looked the same as it did when she left, except perhaps a bit cleaner. Still looked as empty as it was the first day she arrived.
Odette removed her coat and as she threw it on the bed, she heard something hit the floor. Odette looked down; it was a galleon. However before she could look away, she noticed a folded piece of parchment peeking out from under her bed. Odette leaned down and picked it up. She didn't remember putting anything in her pockets, — the coat was Mei's and the galleon was probably left forgotten in there — especially not a piece of parchment.
Odette stood back up and unfolded it.