*Roselyn*
Although she loved her boyfriend, Roselyn wasn't too fond of his family. Or more accurately, they weren't too fond of her. It wasn't like she hadn't made an effort for them to like her, she had. But it was no use. The Hawthorne family was not moved. Well, all the Hawthorne's except one; and Jack, her boyfriend, loved her very much.
They had gotten together one particularly sunny afternoon after having liked each other for a while, not that Roselyn knew that at the time. They were sort of friends before that, occasionally making an effort to hang out with each other after they met at a drama club meeting one afternoon during her grade 10 year (his grade 11 year). She had liked him and hadn't expected him to like her back, but after a perfectly wonderful afternoon when they went out for ice cream to celebrate the end of exam season at the end of last year, Jack confessed his feelings to her and asked her out and Roselyn said yes, and that she liked him too.
It was wonderfully blissful after that. Well, perfectly blissful until they went to his parents house. When she had brought Jack to her house it wasn't so bad. Everyone was very welcoming and hadn't made strange commentary much to Roselyn's relief. She knew that her family (aka her parents and her three younger siblings) had a problem blurting thoughts one normally keeps to themselves at random intervals of the day and that it wasn't predictable. She could list at least ten times this had happened off the top of her head on any given day. The worst time being the time her family had blurted out the fact that she had broken down crying after her crush at the time had rejected her, to another parent on the night of a concert while the guy involved happened to have been standing right there to witness it right before she was to go on stage play with her band. She was mortified.
But luckily they had been good this time, and had made sure not to say anything they thought would embarrass her. Her mother even made extra sure to clear with her what she should and should not say before hand so it would be extra clear. Roselyn had been very touched that her mother had made the extra effort, and even more touched that the rest of her family had tried their best to include him each in their own awkward way.
Her dad made sure to ask him what his intentions with his daughter was, and made at least three dad jokes. Her mom made sure to ask if he was into basket weaving - her latest interest at the moment. Although every-time her mom realized she was about to ask something potentially embarrassing she would pause whatever she was about to say mid-sentence and say: "Oh whoops I'm not supposed to talk about that haha." Her siblings each asked him a different question about school and his hobbies, although Gloria, (her four year old sister) did ask if they did the sexy-time only to receive a stern glare from their parents. Roselyn had coughed awkwardly every-time they had said something potentially inappropriate to remind them not to talk about that.
Sure they were clumsy in their attempts, but at least they were trying.
The real problem was when they went over to Jack's house and met his family. The truth was, Roselyn had known his family for years. And hadn't thought much of their behavior at the time. But the second they announced their relationship, everyone got very... icy shall we say.
When discussing this with Jack earlier two weeks before school started, he had told her to ignore them. They had been hanging out at her house reading books, discussing life problems, and generally preparing for school. Jack had been lying down on her bed looking at a magazine and she was at her desk rummaging through her desk drawer trying to find her school supplies. "I know it's difficult, but can't everyone get along?" He had asked. Roselyn had arched an eyebrow and stared at him in disbelief. "I mean is it really that difficult?"
She had glanced over at him and responded; "Honey, I know you have been living with them your entire life and therefore you are used to their... well, snobbishness, but I'm not. I mean it isn't like this was their first time behaving like this towards me, but then again I wasn't dating you at the time."
Jack had nodded, understandingly.
"And at the time, I could sort-of ignore it because the full power of their wrath wasn't directed towards me. But now? Now it is."
After that conversation, Jack had been busy thinking and finally came back to her with a 'solution' the following Monday; "I've got it! Roselyn, you are formally invited to the Hawthorne residence for dinner this Friday night." Jack announced proudly the next morning when he had shown up at her doorstep.
She wasn't one bit surprised. Anyone who knew him knew it was very common for Jack to randomly come to up to people close to him with an idea or plan that they'd talked about the previous day/week/month. It could be a school project, all the way to finding a way to get two people in a relationship - he'd be there, ready to go with a plan that he'd spend the nights or days leading up to the day of thinking about. And once he had an idea: it was impossible to change his mind. It was one of the main reasons she fell for him in the first place - his plans could be very spontaneous and exciting.
However in this case - it was one of the worst ideas she had ever heard. Get herself and his family together in a room so they could tear each other to shreds? Absolutely no way.
The one thing stopping her from saying no was the crushed look on his face she knew would be there if she said no. He had been wanting them to accept each other the moment they started dating. After a year in, he had been waiting a long time for this. She couldn't say no this time.
There was also the unwelcome factor of even more criticism that was inevitable to show up from his parents if she failed to accept the invitation. There was no way out of this one. Unless she wanted to break up with him but that was unthinkable at this point. She looked up with a false smile. "Oh?"
"What do you think?" He asked looking at her with a hopeful smile on his face waiting for a response.
"I-I think it is a wonderful idea." She forced herself to say for his benefit. She didn't mean a single word, but she wasn't about to crush his dreams. If showing her boyfriend she loves him required spending an entire evening being criticized by his overly critical family then so be it.
He didn't seem to notice. "Great!" He sighed happily. "I was so worried you would say no. Man you have no idea how hard it was to get my family to extend an invitation to you. I kept reminding them that I love you and that might mean you are a part of the family one day which, means that they better get some practice in being nice to you right now."
'Great.' Roselyn thought to herself. Now they were going to hate her even more. Not to mention if his brother, Wolf was going to be present. Wolf was even worse than Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne! She had tried being nice to him, she really had. But one day he had just flipped on her and started acting like the worlds biggest jerk. He had seemed really nice at first, but then overtime he had changed and hadn't been the same ever since.
But Jack seemed really excited about the whole thing despite all of the tension and that is all that mattered to Roselyn. So, it was going to require a little sacrifice. She could handle it, right?
But the moment on Friday evening when she started walking up the steps of the Hawthorne residence with Jack by her side (he had picked her up by car), she suddenly wished she had said no. It wasn't just that the mansion they lived in was looming high over their heads, intimidated her. Or that Jack didn't seem to understand her apprehension, it had been a long week trying to prepare for grade 11. (It was a big deal! )And Roselyn was tired. And she didn't know if she had the energy to pretend not to be totally infuriated the entire time. Not to mention her hands were beginning to get all clammy and her stomach felt like a swarm of butterflies were floating inside.
But nether less they carried on right into what felt like a lion's den. "It's fine!" Roselyn internally lied to herself. "It's going to be totally fine!" Jack looked over at her as soon as they approached the house. "Are you okay?"
Roselyn instantly knew the answer to that question: No.
But she didn't want to let him down. "Uh, I'm okay I guess." So far so good.
He nodded ceremoniously as if he knew she was lying but didn't want to press the subject and unlocked the door. Within seconds they were greeted by the Hawthorns maid, Molly Smith. "Welcome back Mr. Hawthorn. Roselyn." She nodded.
"May I take your coats?" She asked.
Roselyn had been to the Hawthorne's before a few times, but never for a sit-down dinner. She looked at Caleb to see what he'd do, and then followed as he politely handed his coat over. She did the same. Molly disappeared for a second placing the coats in another room and came back for them.
"Right this way," Molly said, leading them ceremoniously towards the dining room despite the fact that both of them already knew exactly where it was.
The moment they entered the dining room Roselyn noticed two things: Wolf hadn't even bothered to show up, and the parents had already started eating their appetizers. What Jack had told her would happen was normally they congregated in another room and made small talk for a while before all walking together towards the dining room and taking a seat. This didn't even come close to what she was expecting. Not that she could expect very much, after all this was the Hawthorne's she was dealing with.
"Sorry we didn't wait for you; we didn't want the food to get cold. We figured it didn't matter all that much to you since you wouldn't want food to go to waste with all that needing to save money and all." Mrs. Hawthorne explained with a cold smile. Mr. Hawthorne simply sat there and continued to eat his appetizer, as if nothing had happened.
Mrs. Hawthorn was referring to the time Roselyn had refused to throw out her leftovers when invited over at their house for a study session with Jack. They had been eating an informal lunch and they had served her an enormous serving. She refused to waste food and therefore money. Mrs. Hawthorn had been mocking her for it ever since - on the rare occasion they happened to come into contact with each other that is.
Roselyn felt her irritation grow ever so slightly but fought it down because it was only the beginning of what would become a very long night. If she was going to get through this, she would need every ounce of willpower to fight back that overwhelming urge to tell them what for. She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw it was Jack who looked at her with a sympathetic gaze. What he was really saying was; I'm so sorry I got you involved in this whole mess. Are you okay?
Couldn't he have figured out that this was a bad idea much earlier? As in before he had even invited her to this mess?
Roselyn smiled a tight smile his way in response and allowed Jack to pull out a chair for her to sit in. If she was going to keep her cool, she needed to be calm and not mad at her boyfriend right now. Screaming at him right in front of everyone wouldn't help. At all. That wouldn't do.
Besides. He had at least noticed her reaction and checked in on her. He was even seating her at the table. Her sweet loving boyfriend had seated her at the table. Everything would be fine.
As soon as they were seated, Molly disappeared and reappeared with their own appetizers, indeed both cold. Roselyn quickly noticed that while Jack had been served what appeared to be tiny ovals of bread cut in half with little bits of steak, onion, blue cheese, and little bits of what she recognized to be Tomato Jam, Roselyn had been served small pieces of bread with sandwich meats and cheese on it. Molly looked at her with an apologetic smile. "Oh, I'm sorry dear, we didn't want to give you something above your class." Mrs. Hawthorne said with a falsely sweet smile.
Roselyn had decided to take a sip of water at what she later classified as "unfortunate timing" and nearly choked on her drink as she glanced up in disbelief as she gave Jack a sharp look. This was exactly what she was afraid of. Jack's mom insulting her the entire time as she helplessly sat there, unable to defend herself without completely insulting her back. "Mom!" Jack hissed.
"Oh, I'm sorry Jack, did I say something wrong?" Mrs. Hawthorne said with an innocently sweet smile.
"May I please speak with you in private?" He asked with an equally false smile containing his feelings of frustration, and a look of regret. He had finally figured out this was a bad idea.
"You may." Mrs. Hawthorne granted and the two stood up and walked out of the room presumably to speak about what had just happened.
Mr. Hawthorne glanced up at Roselyn and offered her some of his food. "Want one of mine? I know it isn't your fault you came from a family that isn't good enough. After all, it's not your fault you are middle class!"
Roselyn looked up at him with a look of complete bewilderment. What? What the heck was he talking about?
"What's wrong with being middle-class?" She asked with mixed feelings of curiosity, confusion, and a slowly growing feeling of irritation rising through her gut. Why did she agree to this again?
"Oh you know, middleclass aren't classy or wealthy enough to be apart of civilized society." He said as if this was common knowledge, and Roselyn fought really hard just then not to say something equally as rude and ten times sassier.
But then she reminded herself to act like the bigger person. Be patient, mature, calm- Besides, she thought to herself, he genuinely looks like he thinks he's being nice and not horribly rude. He probably is unaware of how entitled he sounds. She took some deep breaths and coached herself to say a polite response. "Uh, sure Mr. Hawthorne. That is very kind of you."
She felt the bile in her throat threaten to rise up and explode all over the table at her false words but worked on those deep breaths as she accepted his offer and took the one, he handed to her. She took a bite of the appetizer and nearly moaned as the influx of flavor hit her taste-buds. She could hardly believe how amazing it tasted. For something so small it sure felt big.
"So, Roselyn, what are your plans for post-graduation? Our Jack has applied to the University of Waterloo, the University of Alberta, McGill University, Trinity Western, University of Montreal, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Queens, and a few more!"
Those are all Ivy league schools! Well except for Trinity but that might as well be one... "Uh, well I haven't decided yet but I was thinking of going somewhere close to home and pursuing something in the arts. I was also thinking of becoming a chef possibly." Roselyn told him. What she was really thinking was: I could never afford to go somewhere that prestigious. Not without working really hard to raise the money for it... Not that you would ever understand what that means!
"Ah well, we can't all be exceptional, some of us are forced to settle for adequate." He said offhandedly, oblivious to Roselyn's pain. She was, at the moment, trying to hold back all of the sassy, rude comebacks that were coming to mind such as; "Not everyone is that privileged you, asshole!" and, "Are you really that stupid, or are you just completely ignorant?"
It felt like the longest ten minutes while they waited for Mrs. Hawthorne and Jack to come back. At least, that is how Roselyn felt. Mr. Hawthorne was genuinely trying to make small talk and just couldn't seem to stop insulting her no matter how hard he tried. Not that he was aware of that. By the time they finally walked back into the room Roselyn felt ready to leave the house and never come back for at least a very, very, long time. Jack looked like he had just aged about ten years and Mrs. Hawthorne looked like she had been crying, yelling, or a bit of both and had forgotten to touch up her makeup. It appeared to have gone very poorly.
Roselyn guessed he had finally figured out that his perfect fantasy of everyone getting along simply wasn't going to happen. At least not yet...
So much for us bonding. Roselyn thought to herself.
Mr. Hawthorne rang a bell and Molly briskly headed back into the room. "Yes, Mr. Hawthorne?"
"We are ready for the first course." Mr. Hawthorne said contently, not reading the room. He seemed to be the only one having a good time, and as a result was oblivious to the unspoken tension in the air. The elephant in the room.
"Right away Mr. Hawthorne." Molly replied and disappeared out of the room.
"So, Roselyn, where are you planning on going to Post-Secondary? A community college?" Mrs. Hawthorne sneered.
"Mom what did we just talk about- "Jack said, no longer trying to hide his frustration.
"Well actually Roselyn and I were just talking about that!" Mr. Hawthorne told his wife delightedly, effectively interrupting his son. "Isn't that right?"
"Uh, yeah I guess that is." Roselyn said nearly at her wits end relieved that the conversation had taken a sort of friendly turn.
"Where did you say you wanted to go again? I forgot dear." Mr. Hawthorne asked her, quite enjoying this conversation.
"I bet she doesn't even know yet. Typically, commoner behavior. Thinking they have the right to associate with the upper-class!" Mrs. Hawthorne spat.
"MOM!" Jack shouted.
"Well, as a matter of fact I don't. But it has nothing to do with my financial status in life. I'm not sure why that matters so much to you." Roselyn finally responded in a sassy manner having completely run out of willpower to holdback any potentially "rude" responses.
"Roselyn?!" Jack whipped his head around in surprise at her blatantly rude response. If he was ever going to get them to get along, he had to at least have Roselyn on his side. And he was nearly at his wits end.
Mrs. Hawthorn gasped. "I beg your pardon?!"
Mr. Hawthorn seemed to finally understand that the tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. And as a result, decided to try to defuse what appeared to be a metaphorical ticking time bomb in the shape of three people. "Evelyn dear, perhaps we can let this little matter go for now and review it later. It doesn't seem to be such a good idea to talk about this, especially not with other folk around who might not understand where we are coming from." Mr. Hawthorn tried quietly whispered in her ear.
But Mrs. Hawthorn had had enough. "No, I think this is a wonderful time to talk about this. Roselyn is courting our son, and so I think there is no time like the present to discuss the situation that is happening in front of us."
"Mom, I am DATING Roselyn. Not courting her, DATING her." Jack corrected her with a hiss.
Mrs. Hawthorn instantly directed her fury at her son. "You have made it very clear that you have very poor judgement in that area and so I think I'LL DECIDE WHAT TO CALL IT THANK-YOU VERY MUCH!"
"Excuse me?" Jack and Roselyn said at the same time. "What exactly are you trying to say about me here, Madam?" Roselyn said with as much hostility as she was getting.
"I am TRYING to have a conversation with my son here dear, please don't interrupt." Mrs. Hawthorn told her; her voice laced with venom.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought I was supposed to be a guest for a fancy sit down dinner. Is this how you treat all your guests? No wonder they don't come back!" Roselyn blurted.
"I beg your pardon child!"
"I'M SIXTEEN!"
"You owe me a HUGE apology. You come into my home, I extend a generous invitation- "Mrs. Hawthorn ranted.
"And then you treat me like crap and wonder why I'm mad. What the hell is wrong with you?!" Roselyn interrupted all self-control gone out the window.
As Molly appeared again, the room went quiet as she carried a tray with four plates of food on top around to everyone's spot. The dish appeared to be a lavish version of Chicken noodle soup, which, seemed perfect for the upcoming fall weather. She placed them down one by one on the parents first, and then on Jack's spot, and then lastly placed a small plate with a carrot on it and what appeared to be a teaspoon of broth in front of Roselyn's spot.
Roselyn instantly looked up and glared at Mrs. Hawthorn. "Is this going to keep happening the entire night?!"
"I don't know what you are talking about dear." Mrs. Hawthorn sniffed.
"You don't even know me! Why do you look at me with such prejudice?!"
"Why are you dating my son?!" Mrs. Hawthorn finally blurted. The thorn on her side, finally revealed for all to see. The hurt look on her face said it all.
"Why did I even bother- "Jack muttered, referring to his plans to get his family and girlfriend to get along. If only Roselyn had told him just how mad she was he might have not even bothered with the whole thing. It was just too much effort. And as a result, he was ready to go to bed despite the fact that it was only 7:30pm!
"I know you are upset dear, but we can't give you something above your class. I know it's not your fault you were born lower class." Mr. Hawthorn tried consoling her.
Roselyn looked up at him with venomous eyes. "Are. You. Fucking. Serious. Right. Now?! Not that it makes any difference, but I AM MIDDLE CLASS. AND I DON'T SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM IS! And quite frankly, I know you aren't aware of it, but you are entitled, rude, and almost JUST AS BAD AS MRS. HAWTHORN IS!!!"
He gasped offendedly. "What's so bad with my wife?"
Mrs. Hawthorn crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and turned her nose up as she turned her head to the side. "Hrmph!"
She gaped in disbelief at his confused and offended gaze. "Are you serious right now?!"
Jack gently placed a hand on her arm. "Roselyn, please."
Roselyn turned to look at Jack. Why wasn't he defending her right now? She felt hurt. "What?!"
"Look, this is a complete disaster so maybe you should go," Jack told her. What he was thinking was that he was doing her a favor. If she left, she didn't have to deal with his entitled parents anymore. He had made a huge mistake trying to get them to get along this much, this quickly. They just weren't ready yet.
She looked at him with all of the pent-up fury she had been feeling all evening. "I cannot believe you right now." What she was thinking was that why did he even bother inviting her if he knew this would happen?! And then why did he decide to shun her out of the home before they'd even finished the silly excuse for a first course?!
She stood up and walked out of the room without even looking back and tried to find either Molly or the room where she had put their coats. She wanted her coat back. But their house was so big. And she didn't even know where to begin. Where was the door again?
After what felt like an eternity, she finally found Molly, at which point she felt like she was so devastated that she ready to collapse into a puddle of tears right on the spot. "Molly, may I please have my coat?"
She nodded. "Follow me."
Molly led Roselyn to a room not to far from the front door she had passed a million times in her wild goose chase and led her to a closet where coats might be held. She opened the oak wood doors and gasped in surprise. Roselyn wearily peered over her shoulder and promptly burst into tears.
Where her coat should have been was a pile of cut-up fabric instead. Her lovely lavender plush trench coat she reserved only for special occasions that she had gotten from her now deceased great grandmother was in pieces on the floor. Suddenly there was a voice at the door.
"Should have thought about the consequences before deciding to date my son." Mrs. Hawthorn said in oddly calm manner.
Roselyn picked up the pieces of her heart as well as the fabric off of the floor and started speed walking out of the house as fast as she could. Suddenly she just wanted to go home, and she wanted to go home now. She walked past Mrs. Hawthorn and turned the corner and raced to the door as fast as she could. The sooner the better. There she struggled with the locks but after a little jiggling she finally managed to yank it open and raced down the steps and down the path. She was nearly off of the Hawthorns property when she bumped into a wall of muscle. "Oof!" The carefully collected fabric fell to the ground as she felt the tears get worse.
"Woah, watch where you're going!" Said a male voice. "Are you okay?"
Roselyn looked up at who it was and saw that it was Wolf of all people. "I wouldn't have had to if you would have been there for the dinner!" She wailed, the tears freely streaming down her face at this point.
"I didn't know you even wanted me there. Besides, I was busy. I had other things to do." Wolf said running a hand through his raven black hair.
"You were fucking invited were you not?!" Roselyn snarled at him, feeling her fury grow stronger through her deep sadness.
"I was." He admitted with an amused smile and a hand in his hair, glancing at the pile of fabric in her hands. "Are you carrying around a pile of fabric?"
Momentarily distracted, she eyed the fabric she currently was gripping in her hands. "Er, yes."
"Why?" He said looking genuinely amused.
"Ask your mother." She said with a chilly expression."Speaking of which, you would probably know this if you would have been there tonight. What was so important that you had to miss the- you know the..." She gestured vaguely at the house behind her meaning the dinner.
"The dinner?"
"If you can call it that." She said feeling tears dangerously close to the surface.
"That bad?"
"What do you think?"
"Ah I'm sorry that really sucks, I know they can be uh, how do I put this delicately? Difficult to deal with at the best of times."
She nodded in complete understanding. One evening was bad enough, she couldn't imagine dealing with it 24/7! "So why weren't you there tonight?"
"I had other things to do that were more important. What's it to you?"
Immediately the vulnerable understanding built between the two of them dissipated into a puff of smoke. She recoiled in a bit of shock at meeting Wolfs Jeckle to his Mr. Hyde. It was very abrupt.
"Oh wow. Okay, so you miss this event that would be incredibly important to your brother and I and that is your response?! Should have known not to expect anything less from Mr. Asshole."
"Excuse me?"
"You know what I'm talking about. I enter the room and suddenly you turn into an asshole. It's not cool dude. Also now that I think about it, more important how? What would possibly be more important than this???"
"Have you ever considered that you aren't the center of the universe?!" He shot back at her.
"Oh, that's rich coming from you! You wouldn't know that because you are too busy thinking the FUCKING PLANETS orbit around you! Ever thought that maybe this was important to your brother? Ever thought of maybe trying to be there for him every once in a while? Oh, wait, I'm middle class. I guess it's not my place."
"Hey, I am not my parents! And I am there for my brother a lot! Not that his lower-class girlfriend would know that!"
"I am not lower-class! What is wrong with you?!" Roselyn cried out, suddenly remembering what had happened to her coat, and felt her eyes brimming with tears. "Why do you hate me? What did I do that was so inherently wrong?! Why am I such a threat to you people?!"
"I DON'T HATE YOU!"
"Oh yeah? Then why do you act like it?! Why do you act as if I am a parasite that got attached to your brother ever since we started dating?! What is so wrong with me that you must act like I am from another planet?!" She said all of these points while poking his chest.
"I DON'T- "
"Yeah, you do!"
"I DON'T MEAN TO-" He sighed while turning around with a frustrated look on his face. How on earth was he supposed to tell her the truth? "Because-"
"Because WHAT?!"
"BECAUSE I-"
After hesitating for a moment, Roselyn pushed the scraped heaps of what was left of her coat again his body, hard, and ran away in tears. He grabbed her arm in an attempt to steady himself but instead found himself falling over on top of her instead. They looked at each other, panting for a moment. Why wasn't he getting off of her? What was he planning on doing?
They were suddenly in a very awkward position, with Wolf unintentionally pinning her down with his fit, muscular body.
Before she could say anything or react to what had just happened, Wolf leaned forward and kissed her like she was the last drink of water on earth. She starred at him unable to know what to do, before allowing him to make an undeniable spark travel through her body. He continued to passionately kiss her lips and play with his hands in her hair before pulling away panting and starring at her - shocked - suddenly aware of what he had just done.
"I love you Rose- in fact I've loved you for years I just didn't know how to tell you and then you were dating Jack. I- I am so sorry I shouldn't have done that-" He had a waterfall of words that fell out in a nervous grin. Because there was a grin there. But then a frown of realization. What had he just done?!
He started to get off of her. "I-I am so sorry I-"
Roselyn simply stared up at him with wide confused eyes, frozen in place, completely shocked. She had never felt anything like that before in her life and yet she was certain she never wanted it to stop. What was that? Why hadn't Jack tried that before? That would have been so much more fruitful than this dinner-
"Rose, are you okay?"
But no, she could never do that again - at least not with Wolf while she was dating Jack - what had he been thinking? What if someone had seen them? They were on the Hawthorn's front lawn for goodness sakes!
"Do you want me to drive you home?" He nervously offered, his gorgeous grey eyes darting from side to side. "It's the least I can do-"
Why was he calling her Rose - was that a pet name?
"I- Jack drove me here." She finally managed to say. "I don't have any way of getting home besides walking..."
"I can drive you?" He repeated, avoiding her gaze. What the hell did he just do?
"That- that would be nice-" She stuttered uncertain of what to do next. What the hell had just happened?!
Wolf leaned down with a muscular arm, offering to help her up.
Since her home was far away and she felt traumatized, dazed, and a little upset still about her coat, she wearily accepted his help standing up and ignored the spark that had traveled up her arm immediately after contact.
How else was she supposed to get home at this point?
"Follow me. The cars' this way." He mumbled.
She nodded her head and followed after him - the coat suddenly didn't seem to matter anymore.
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