THE CRYSTAL HOUSE

¶And there was one¶

Mareike

Mareike grabbed the opened bottle of water on the kitchen table and dashed past the other housemates, only pausing for a quick breath when she got to the stairs. She glanced back, daring to hope that someone had run after her but there she stood; alone.

She sighed and advanced sluggishly towards the bottom of the stairs, internally debating on the necessity of going upstairs to apologize. How had it gone wrong so fast?

One minute she was chatting animatedly with Ingrid and Chiara, helping them and watching on as they prepared the food but by the next minute, Ingrid was sprawled across the kitchen floor out of breath while Chiara stared daggers at her.

Mareike shivered from the unwelcome memory and rubbed both hands along her arms, causing the half-empty bottle to slip from her grip and fall.

"Oh come on. Not you too." She complained, staring at the puddle steadily spreading across the tiles floor towards its previous container. "Just go away. I will deal with you later."

She knew what happened next shouldn't have surprised her, but Mareike still gave a little jump backwards when the water sunk into the tiles taking the bottle along with it. She rubbed her eyes furiously and bent forward, looking for any sign of the water she was holding a second ago but there was none.

She shrugged and plopped herself into one of the bean bags scattered around the lounge area, making sure to keep sight of where the disappearing act had just occurred. The bottle and its contents had vanished, just like her friends soon would. The only thing constant was a soft voice in her head- it sounded like that of a female-telling her to come home. Mareike knew for sure it wasn't her mother.

She heard two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs, and turned her head to see who they were. Her heart skipped a nervous beat when she saw Priya and Chiara approaching the lounge. They huddled closely, talking in low tones as they neared the door opposite where she sat.

Suddenly Mareike wished she could fade into the background and avoid this collision but at that moment, three pairs of eyes jammed at the same time, and the girls halted immediately.

From where Mareike sat, she could feel Chiara's anger slowly cascading in strong waves around the room and that made her suddenly want to hug the girl but she stayed still and refrained from repeating what got her into this mess.

"I'm too angry to talk to her now." She read Chiara's lips as she whispered to Priya, and looked on intently as Priya shook her head and whispered back.

"She's your friend, and no matter what happened, she still is."

Mareike totally agreed with that and it looked like Chiara did too, as they started to walk over. By the time they reached her, she was still struggling to get out of the bean bag and starting to regret choosing it. It seemed to have enveloped her in a soft cocoon, but she pushed against it while the girls simply looked on.

Offering no help whatsoever.

"Don't bother trying, Mareike. The chair seems to be holding up quite well, just perfect for your size. Why don't you remain there and think about what you've caused?" Chiara told her, pushing Priya aside as she strode into her room and banged the door.

Priya stood in shock for a second before muttering a quick apology, running after Chiara into the room. Mareike settled back, and allowed the tears to drop onto her chest as she looked at the closed door. Once again, it was just her. Was what she did so wrong that even Priya chose Chiara over her?

She hung her head and waited for the tears to dry before letting herself out of the chair, ready to move upstairs and check on Ingrid when she stopped. A small puddle of water was forming a few feet away, slowly spreading towards her.