Reminiscence

Chapter 4

The sun has yet to appear in the sky, as it is now noon and no warmer despite the man on the TV last night saying we would practically broil today. I am quite disappointed, my eyes slowly adjusting to the dimness the open curtains bring. Victorie is no longer asleep, as they move quite quickly past me in the hall before turning back to pause beside me. I may never find out the secrets of this old place, yet that is of no importance to me now. What is, however, is starting to find more people who are interested in finding everyone else. My family, my friends. Enough about that, let's move on to the fact that Vic is starting school. In less than a week and I've got no clue on how to handle this. They start Monday, and today is Wednesday. So... four days? Yeah, four days.

Merra suggested taking us shopping, seeing as Victorie needed new clothes and I had absolutely nothing that was school appropriate. "The school I go to is loose on dress code for the whole week unless we absolutely need to dress a certain way," Vic pauses to look at me "So we need to find you something." I nod and follow them outside to the stairs. We had just left the place where they live (I'm not sure what to call it still) when someone in a white Toyota blew past us, only to slam on its brakes and wait for us. "Hey, Vic! Victorie!" The person gets out and waves. He smiles and makes to hug them when he spots me. "Who's this, huh? Some sorta vacation fling?" He asks, quite irritated actually. Victorie looks appalled and backs away from them. "No! Are you nuts?! I'd never. And I'm not looking for that kind of relationship with him anyways..." They look at each other before turning to me. Vic sighs. "This is Matteo. Matteo, this is Nesra. I met her when I went to France. It doesn't mean I'm sleeping with them!" They add hurriedly. Matteo still looks like he wants to slam me into a wall and gut me like a fish unfortunately. "Well, well well... Looks like you've got something going on. But I'll leave you alone. For now, that is." He stalks off and gets into the car, slamming the doors. I shake my head and was about to turn to Victorie, only to find them running towards the car. "Matteo! Wait!" They call, and he opens the door to allow them to hug him. He kisses their cheek and smirks at me. I must remain composed and unbothered. I simply smile and wave goodbye instead, and pass by the car, Victorie pulling away at last. "Sorry Nes, I didn't mean for that to go on for so long!" They laugh. "He's really quite sweet, he gives me butterflies!" They continue with describing how they met him at a school dance last month. Going on to describe when they hang out, where and why. I'm starting to get irritated, but luckily, we reached the store.

The store is small, cozy and it feels like home. Small things line the shelves, pencil holders, cute erasers and organizers. As soon as we enter, they snap back to what we had originally planned on doing, getting school things. "Okay I'm gonna go find what I need. You can look around. Everything here is free because most times it's so hard to find these things for a decent price." I'm left alone to wander around. I first start by gathering my pencils and whatever other things I need like erasers and such. I move on to browse the clothes. Skirts and shorts on hanger's line racks that smell like pumpkins for some reason. Sweaters in an array of colors swirl through my vision. Shoes, and the overwhelming smell of cleaner. Shirts hem me in between the isles. I finally manage to settle on a few different outfit choices, mainly jeans and some cute shirts and a couple skirts and leggings for when it gets cold out. I scramble to the register and try to find Victorie. I'm slightly annoyed by the end of the day, Victorie had continued to talk about the boy. I was tired and cold, even though I had a warm jacket on. "Oh! Welcome back!" Merra greets us and I'm in no good mood by the time we get back. I hastily made my way to my room after explaining what had gotten me so upset. A knock on the door interrupts my brooding.

"Hey, Nesra... Vic wanted to know if it was alright if they left for a while to hang out with Matteo..." Merra steps into the room "I know you're usually pretty good about that." I look up from the window. And I stay silent.

The candles in the dining hall glow warmly and the food smells good. We're chatting lightly, and a few of Merra's friends have decided to join us. They're actually really nice and choose to respect each other and me. I feel welcomed for once. "Nesra, where did you come from? I know you came from France but before then if you don't mind me asking." Ginny asks. She's like Merra, she has the aura of rich and proud. I don't mind though; she seems to like me more than the other women do. I mention that I don't remember much to try and change the topic. She seems to understand as does Merra. Dinner is pleasant for once; it feels like home.