ꜛꜜ𝓐𝓵𝓽𝓲𝓽𝓾𝓭𝓮ꜜꜛ

ꜛꜜ𝓕𝓸𝓾𝓻ꜜꜛ

"They're here!" My mom frantically rushes into my room. I jump up and search for a comb.

"Give me one minute, Mom." I fix up my hair and smooth out the wrinkles on my shirt. I turn on my heels and exit the room, quietly shutting the door behind me.

"Ready?" My mom asks. I nod, and we make our way down the hallway.

Standing in the foyer are a couple other men, but one is tall in particular, taller than my father, wearing a similar suit. The only thing different about their outfits are the ties; my dad's is bright yellow with polka dots on it, while the other man's is light gray and plain.

"Peter! How nice to see you!" The man smacks my dad on the back. Though it seems to be in good fun, my dad flinches and coughs. The tall man smirks, but his face quickly settles into seriousness.

"Good to see you as well, Andrew." My dad says, out of breath. I notice a light orange fabric flowing behind Andrew and a person shifts their weight to the right. A face comes into my view and I lock eyes with Aspen. She smiles and we hold each other's gaze for a moment.

"Come on everyone, dinner is ready." My mom breaks the moment. Aspen shifts her gaze to my mom and everyone heads into the dining room. Everyone sits and we have a quiet dinner, with the dads doing most of the talking. I eat the smallest portion of food I can, knowing there's still bread for me in my room. I begin drifting off into a daydream when Aspen speaks up.

"Is there any way I could possibly use the restroom?" She asks quietly.

"Finch, could you please show our guest to the bathroom?" My mom asks pleasantly. I nod and motion to her. We enter the far hallway that branches off to our bedrooms and I show her the door to the bathroom.

"Thanks," Aspen says, disappearing into the room. I lean against the wall and wait for her. When she exits the bathroom, she jumps.

"Oh, gosh, I did not expect you to be there." She smiles.

"Sorry! Sorry. I was just wondering if you wanted to, uhm, maybe ditch this whole party thing?" Aspen's eyes glimmer with excitement.

"I mean, like, to my room down the hall." I stutter.

"Why not?" She says quietly. I head down the hallway and shut the door.

"Oh dang, maybe I should have listened when my mom told me to clean my room..." I mutter under my breath. I switch the light on and fall into my desk chair. Aspen sits on the edge of my bed and smooths out her peach skirt.

"Your dress is, uh, very pretty," I mumble. She smiles and looks around at all the shelves of carvings.

"So many birds..." She whispers. She gets up and walks over to my desk to examine the shelves above my head. She reaches up and picks up one figure...

ꜜꜛ

"Is this me?" I ask. Finch stares at the light piece of wood in my hand.

"Uhm," He begins quietly, "I guess it is." I examine Finch for a moment. He seems very flustered, and it looks like he's blushing.

"It's really good."

"You think so?" Finch says enthusiastically.

"Definitely."

"Wanna see me in action?" I nod. He picks up a large piece of wood and begins carving away. I notice the shape of a delicate flower begins to form. A thin but sturdy stem supports the petals. The beautiful, intricate petals. Each one is so lifelike, curling naturally. He finishes off the leaves and hands it to me. I take it and spin it between my fingers.