it has been decided that Basil will open the door.
Basil sighed deeply and pushed himself off the floor where he was sitting. He left his bedroom and slowly made his way to the front door, he noticed how Polly looked delighted to see him out of his room.
Basil took one last deep breath, needlessly bracing himself to see his friends. Admittedly, he was a little excited. It’s been so long, he’s been alone for so long. He didn’t like being alone, but thought he deserved it, that’s why he isolated himself.
he opened the door and squinted as the bright daylight poured into the house.
Kel threw his arms into the air and cheered.
“Basil! It’s good to see you. It’s been awhile.”
Hero smiled. Sunny waved to Basil.
Basil smiled shyly. They were happy to see him, that made him happy. Yet, he felt troubled..Mari hadn’t come. Did she still hate him, after so long? He had to build up the courage to ask.
“Mari, uh…she’s been cooped up in her room.”
Basil nodded slowly, shamefully. He couldn’t help but notice the sadness in Sunny’s eyes as Hero said this. It almost pained him to see how depressed his bestfriend looked. With a start, he noticed all three of his friends looked different. Sunny’s hair was longer now, and messier. Hero didn’t look much different, but his clothes were faded and he wore a small black cat hairclip. And Kel..
“Kel! Your mom let you dye your hair!?”
Kel laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head.
“Nah, she gave me an earfull after I came home..but I couldn’t just let Mari dye her hair on her own..”
Kel seemed to regret saying that last part as soon as it left his mouth.
“Er..sorry..I didn’t mean to mention..you know.”
“I-It’s okay, Kel, mistakes happen..”
“Well, what are we doing standing around!? We should go DO something. It’s been awhile since we all hung out together.”
“We..should invite Mari.”
Basil was a little shocked to hear Sunny say something, he used to be so quiet..well, he still was. Basil supposed he was just…a little more vocal now, maybe.
“I don’t know..remember last time we tried to bring her out of her room?”
Hero sounded hesitent to bring this up, maybe even a little fearfull. Basil’s blood ran cold, what happened to Mari? She used to be so..caring, so nice. What happened to her? Had Aubrey’s death messed her up that badly? Was it Basil’s fault?
“I don’t care,” Sunny muttered. “I want to invite her.”
——————————————————————————
Mari groaned apon hearing a knock at the door. She heaved herself out of bed and lazily fixed her hair up a bit before clambering down the stairs. She figured it was Hero, Kel, and Sunny telling her that greiving is wrong.
She opened the door, and to her rage, she saw Basil standing there with the others.
“What is HE doing here!?”
“Mari!”
“Stop being so filled with hate! We understand you’re sad about Aubrey’s death, all of us are. But it wasn’t even Basil’s fault, her death was an Accident!
“You don’t understand what I’ve been through!”
Mari yelled, blood roaring in her ears.
“You don’t understand what WE have been through! Basil only just now left his house, Hero-”
“Look, Mari. I know you saw Aubrey as a little sister, but what about Sunny? What about..the person who’s actually your sibling?”
Mari slammed the door in their face, leaving the four of them feeling despaired. Basil noticed Sunny’s eyes tearing up, he wished he could comfort his friend, but he was too shocked at how cold Mari had become to say anything.
