No Guidelines

Chapter 14-4

Audrey's grandma removed herself from the table and sat in the living room with Kitty and Gabriel. Her parents started to clean up and so did she. Natalie instinctively began helping; collecting dishes. She didn't make it even a quarter of the way from the table before Audrey stopped her.

"You don't have to clean," Audrey said. She carefully stacked all of their plates together and collected them.

"I don't mind," Natalie said. She immediately started dusting crumbs from the table onto the palm of her hand. "Stop!" Audrey said. She hurried to the sink to place the dishes and made her way back to Natalie. "But I mind."

Audrey grabbed Natalie's hand and led her out of the kitchen and down the hall. The light faded the farther they went in, dimly reflecting off of Audrey's hair as she was led along. Natalie was surprised at how upfront Audrey was, reminding her of how she treated her at her house. Yet another resemblance Audrey started to share with her.

Audrey opened the door at the end of the hall to the left. The room was dark, barely lit by the distant lights from the living room. "Hold on, sorry," Audrey said. She let go of Natalie and moved effortlessly through the dark room. There was a click and then a bright orange light. The room became softly lit by a lamp from the corner of her room. The gray walls seemed to reflect the light, muddying the color a bit.

Natalie wasn't sure what she expected but she should have guessed it would be so... bland.
The room was cozy, not too cramped. There was a twin bed with about the most color in the room—Navy blue sheets and pillows. There was a cluttered desk with shelves beside it filled to the brim with books. No posters or anything on the wall except for one corkboard hung above her desk. Her window had no blinds, instead replaced with greenish-gray curtains that were closed.

Natalie looked to the other side of the room. Near the bed was the closet; the doors were missing. Inside the closet to one side was a small dresser and dull gray and green clothes hung on the opposite side. There weren't many clothes, a lot of the same-looking flannels and cardigans. Near the end of the rack, the dull colors became bright with shades of red. Natalie's dress, the cardigan she gifted here in October, her scarf, and a couple of red shirts.

Above the rack was a shelf with more books. Some of the books had their spines lined with tape. Years scribbled in Sharpie in neat and cute writing.

2007
2007-2008
2008-2009

Up to 2015-.

Diaries? Natalie wondered. Audrey sat at her desk and spun in her chair. She smiled at Natalie and gestured to her bed. "Please, sit down."

Natalie sat on the bed and then immediately laid down. Her bed was soft and cushiony, yet still somehow how firm enough to not sink in. It was no comparison to her bed but it felt just as nice. The quilted blue blanket gave a nice texture different from her usual fuzzy blankets. She yawned as she stretched her body.

"God, I feel like I could slip into a coma after that meal," Natalie said. She rested her hands behind her head, looking at Audrey—who was looking back at her.

"You're telling me," Audrey said, "I get stuffed after one serving unless it's dessert."

"There's always room for dessert," Natalie said.

"You got that right!" Audrey laughed and continued to spin. Natalie looked around the room some more. Not much to look at but she noticed pictures on her corkboard. One caught her attention. A photo of Looz, Sam, Audrey, and Jacob. They were much younger, maybe around middle school age. Natalie jumped off the bed to look.

"Is that Jacob!?" She said. She leaned in closer over Audrey to examine the photo. Audrey wheeled out of her way.

Natalie was mere inches away from the photo, her hands leaning on loose leaf paper on Audreys' desk. It was a group photo of the group. Sam and Looz are on the left., Sam had bangs and pigtails and Looz still had shorter hair, although her left eye was still covered. Next to them were Audrey and Jacob. Audrey had short hair and a tight-lipped smile. The one thing that stood out to Natalie was that Audrey wasn't looking at the camera. She was looking at Jacob.