IT had been a few hours since elara's slightly long pondering and doomscrolling. it was now dinner time, around 7:30. she got up, brushing her hair and putting it in a quick low messy bun, then made her way out of her room.
she had made a note to herself on how to get to the kitchen and back, the only slight hole in her idea, was that she didn't know exactly how accurate her memory would be.
elara found herself in the kitchen after traveling a few turns and stairs. it was beautiful at dusk. she noticed mrs. grose and who she could only assume was flora in the kitchen. she smiled at the two when they noticed her.
"hi!" flora spoke out, smiling brightly as she walked towards elara. flora was quite literally the embodiment of happiness, she radiated childhood joy. "hi, you must be flora, right?" elara said, the smile on her face becoming genuine.
"uh-huh! are you Kate's sister? she said you'd be my new friend, is that true?" she asked. elara found flora absolutely adorable. she reminded elara of how she was as a child. "I am Kate's sister, and that is true!" elara responded, slightly leaning down so she could be closer to flora's height.
elara started to feel a yearning to form a true propinquity with flora. it was obvious flora was a sweet kid, so she knew it'd be an easy mission. "good! me and mrs. grose are making dinner, are you hungry?" flora asked elara.
elara nodded in response. "very. how about you, are you hungry, sweet girl?" she asked her. flora hummed an, 'mhm!', before taking elara's hand. "wanna go with me to get miles? he's my brother. dinner's almost done, and I want him to eat with us." flora asked and explained.
"oh, sure! lets go." she said, not expecting flora to drag her off to miles's room. clearly, flora's question wasn't actually a question. as they arrived to miles's room, elara couldn't help but wonder what he was gonna look like, and what his personality was gonna be like. she made predictions in her mind, just to see if she was accurate.
flora knocked on the door harshly. "miles, I'm dying!' flora yelled out. that had made elara laugh quietly. his door opened quickly. his hardened face softened when he saw she was perfectly fine. his eyes flickered up to elara.
she smiled. "hi, I'm elara! I'm Kate's sister." she spoke, forcing a smile. she saw into his room, seeing only a drum set and a bed with a broken bed frame from her angle. "hey." he mumbled, having a clear fake smile.
elara pushed it aside, and decided to be kind anyways. flora grabbed miles's hand, and dragged both him and elara downstairs. they were starting to get uncomfortably close. elara moved away, miles continued in the same spot.
they went downstairs, smelling the delicious food mrs. grose had prepared. elara thought mrs. grose was nice, but she was slightly unsettling to look at.
elara offered to help set the table, which was applauded by flora. when they were all at the table, sitting and ready to eat, mrs. grose had set the food on the table. it looked and smelled lovely, elara smiled subconsciously.
mrs. grose, elara, flora, miles, and kate were all at the table. dinner wasn't as awkward as elara thought it would be, because flora was chattering. not to anyone in particular, but everyone couldn't help listening to whatever she was yapping about.
floras happy aura made elara feel much better about living in the house. when dinner had finished and everyone was retreating back to their rooms, flora was still talking. this time, it was to elara and miles.
she blabbered about horses, elara pretended to understand what her and miles were talking about. the girl had absolutely no experience with horses--as she grew up on the less-wealthy side.
as flora showed elara her room, elara couldn't help but notice how handsome miles was. obviously she wasn't going to try and get with him or anything, but he was definitely easy on the eyes.
she smiled when she saw the kind demeanor he had with his younger sister. elara had always wanted an older brother. she loved Kate, of course, but her mind would consistently end up wandering back to how having a brother would be. seeing miles and flora was somewhat healing to elara.
eventually, elara found herself getting ready for bed in the silence of her new room. even though she had decorated slightly, the room didn't exactly feel comfortable. she turned her phone on to Apple Music, and played her playlist. she listened to the familiar beat of Lana del rey.
she shut her music off, turned all the lights off, and put everything away. she slid into her warm, comforting bed. the only light in her room was the flame of the candles that she had lit and set up on her nightstand.
she texted her friends, updating them all on the house and numerous other random details of her day. the girl felt a sense of home-sickness, which was odd, because she didn't feel this way when she was in an entire other country for a month with her cousins. she knew in her heart it was because she missed her mom, but she wasn't going to admit that to herself.
elara knew it was easier to not process her mother's death than to process it immediately and become unwittingly sad. she knew how it felt to lose a parent, as she had lost her father at an extremely young age.
as her eyes fluttered shut, and her phone fell out of her hands, she drifted into a sleep that was unexpectedly amazing. it was the first good rest she had gotten since the death of her mom. it felt good. almost too good.
when elara woke in the morning, it wasn't with a smile. she woke up with tears rolling down her face, and completely out of breath. she had a nightmare. the first one of what she knew was going to be hundreds.
she heard her bedroom door open. her hand quickly came up to wipe her tears away, and she looked over. she saw Kate's head peaking through the door. she sighed out of relief knowing it was just her sister.
"hey, good morning." elara said, smiling at Kate. Kate smiled back, yet with a concerned look in her eyes. "you okay? i was coming up to tell you breakfast is being cooked. do you need a minute?" Kate asked. she shook her head.
elara didn't want Kate to know why she was crying, and she certainly didn't want her to think she was being childish. "no, no, I'm fine. I just need to change and I'll be down." she said. Kate just nodded.
she scanned elaras room. "okay, well... holler if you need anything. you can always talk to me." Kate spoke, starting to retreat out of the girls room. "I know. thanks." elara said, the door shut quietly after she said that.
elara stood up, steadying herself, then walking over to her bathroom. she shivered in her pajamas, her feet bare against the cold floor. the girl hurriedly put socks on, not wanting to feel the coldness of the floor.
her abundance of skincare was quickly used to make herself look as if she wasn't sobbing her eyes out five minutes ago. she brushed her tangled bed-head out, trying to make herself presentable. she changed out of her sleep shorts into sweatpants, and her tank top was left alone.
she went downstairs, going to where she remembered the kitchen being. she saw mrs. grose setting the table, and received a smile from her. she went to the living room, as mrs. grose told her breakfast wasn't quite done yet.
flora was sitting on the couch, a glass of orange juice in front of her. miles was on the other side of the couch, scrolling on his phone. flora's face lit up when she saw elara.
"good morning, elara! I was so bored waiting for you to wake up. miles is grumpy today, come sit with us!" the little girl exclaimed in excitement. elara smiled, sitting in between flora and miles.
Kate walked in, holding a couple pieces of paper and a children's book. elara smiled at her sister, which got a smile in return. "hey, flora. after breakfast, are you okay with starting school a bit early?" Kate questioned flora. she sighed dramatically in response, then nodded.
"ugh, fine." flora said, rolling her eyes with a smile still on her face. this made elara laugh, which made miles turn his head. the girls laugh was the most beautiful laugh he'd ever heard. miles had found elara gorgeous the night prior, but he would never make a move on Kates sister.
miles was not fond of Kate, at all. he thought she was annoying, controlling even. he didn't want to even try and get his hopes up for her sister to be the opposite of that. miles only realized he'd been staring when elara turned her head towards him and smiled. the boy couldn't exactly deny that he was attracted to elara.
elara had obviously found miles attractive, what teenage girl didn't? when elara looked away, miles took the opportunity to look at her again. mrs. grose walked in, interrupting the moment by calling the four over for breakfast.
(part 3 coming rlly soon!!)
pls leave me some suggestions for parts 3 & 4!! ik this isn't a lot, but I'm not completely done with 3 & 4 yet and I wanted to post.
@wcnyange @lovemehardcoreangel