Manor of Memories

2. M-eeting

ˈmēdiNG: to make the acquaintance of someone for the first time

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Moments passed as Lilly was rooted to the ground from the boy's arctic glare across the room.

Thawing, she blinked and gulped. She backed away, slowly turning the knob as she quietly shut the door in front of her.

"Hey, I was talking to you!" A muffled voice called from inside the room.

Just as she was about to turn and run back down the hallway, rapid footsteps resounded and the door flew open.

The boy stood directly in front of her, appearing to be around her age– maybe older by two years at most. With pinched eyebrows and a downturned mouth, his eyes flashed as he regarded her, eyes that she found to be rather...captivating.

They reminded her of the ocean on a cloudy day, a sight she had witnessed a handful of times whenever Papa had taken them all to the beach. Matching the colour of the water, the boy's eyes were a peculiar shade somewhere between blue, green and grey. The longer she stared at them, the more she was fascinated, especially with his dark gaze intently trained on her.

"Excuse me, I asked you a question." The boy scowled.

Lilly snapped out of her reverie and focused her attention fully to the matter at hand. "W–what?"

"I asked you: who are you? And more importantly, what are you doing here? Do you make it a habit to spy on people?" He demanded.

Lilly blinked at him owlishly a couple times. Then she remembered why she was there in the first place and grinned.

"Hello! My name is Lilly– Lilly Linton– and I really like piggies, especially yellow ones! I heard noises from here. Are you Lady Samantha's son? Do you want to be my friend?"

The boy stared at her for a few moments longer and– slam! The door flew shut right in front of her. The sound of footsteps receded until they stopped, only to be replaced by the same clanking sounds from earlier inside the room.

It took Lilly a few seconds to process what had just happened. She scowled and rammed the door open, stomping towards the boy.

"Hey! I asked you nicely! Why are you so rude?" Planting her hands on her hips, she glared at the back of his head.

He paused but did not turn around. "You didn't answer my questions, so why should I answer yours?"

"What ques– oh." She rapidly blinked. "Well, uh, your mama invited my mama to tea and my mama decided to bring me and I heard some loud noises so here I am."

She smiled broadly and widely spread her arms, although it was not of much use. The boy's back was still facing her, his position unchanged.

He grumbled something under his breath too low for her to distinguish and then said, "I see. Yes and no."

"What?" Lilly frowned.

"You that word a lot, do you have a hearing problem?" The boy enquired.

"No." She asserted. "And why are you saying 'yes and no'?"

He slightly turned his head and sent a sidelong glance at her. "To your questions from before: yes and no."

"Oh." Lilly blinked rapidly before her eyebrows knit together. "But why don't you want to be my friend?"

"Well, we just met. Also, I don't want to be friends with someone who spies on others."

"I didn't spy! I told you, I only heard some loud noises!"