˚* ੈ✩‧₊ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 ⋆ 𝒇𝒊𝒏

three

"hello janie" autumn says as she walks into the kitchen. the maid was peeling potatoes to start up dinner. smiling, she responds with a small hello. "mother said we're having dinner guests since it's friday, i thought i'd help you." this was normal for autumn. usually, the guests were close friends of her parents or family. she would always help jane, autumn calls her janie, prepare dinner. she did this to avoid getting dressed up all pretty early in the afternoon. jane handed autumn a potato and a knife, signaling her to peel it.

a knock ran through the house, followed by the clicks of autumns mothers heels to the front door. "ah, harmon, mrs. andrews. please come inside, make yourself at home." her mother's voice rings throughout the home. autumn stops what she was doing and stares at the potato skins in the trash. is he here? dear god, please tell me he is not in my home. carefully, the girl crept outside the kitchen so that she could take a peak. there were multiple voices coming from the living room. autumn pokes her head into the doorway to see who there was. harmon andrews, his wife, and all of their children were present.
"autumn, my love, come welcome our guests." autumns mother says, surprising the girl who tried not to be seen. "mother, i'm not sure they'd enjoy seeing me still in my school clothes." she says back, earning a look from her mother. shyly, she walks out from behind the doorway. her dress covered in shaved potato skins. "autumn maree, what in the lord's name where you doing? go upstairs and change at once." the older woman yells at her daughter, pointing towards the stairs. this created a thick tension in the air. billy andrews stared at his classmate as she silently looked at her feet and walked up to her room.

autumn winters changed out of her dirtied dress and pulled on her best wear- a yellow dress with a corset tie in the back. puffed sleeves were the latest style trend, so her mother just had to get her one. autumn, however, hated it. the pockets of air made it hard for her to move her arms, and the long sleeves got in the way of her painting. autumn slips on simple brown shoes, buckling them tight so that they wouldn't come off easily. there was a knock at her door. "who is it?" she called out politely, earning a series of names in response. sighing to prepare herself, she reluctantly opened the door. "our parents requested we keep you company, your mother has suggested that you show us your room." jane andrews says as soon as the door was completely open. prissy and billy stood behind her, prissy smiling politely while billy stands silent. "oh um, well come in then." she smiles, moving aside for them to enter. the two girls walk in and around the room, looking at the small details. billy, however, walked in and stood in one spot while looking around him.

autumn's bedroom was very plain, nothing special. the walls were painted a light beige color, and had one large curved window facing towards the andrew's home. her bed came out across the window, the cream colored bedding was messily made. dried flowers were tied to a string and hung above the bed. an easel stood right next to the window, an empty canvas hung on it. autumn's old artworks were piled against the wall, leaning against each other. "i adore your room, autumn." jane smiles, running her fingers across the empty canvas. autumn replies with a small thank you. "art is for know-it-alls." billy says with a very monotone voice. his sisters shoot him a glare, autumn rolls her eyes but focuses on the two girls. "autumn, this painting is divine! what is it of?" prissy exclaims, pointing to the autumn's most recent painting. "oh, well, um... it's not really anything i suppose. i usually just draw or paint things that come to mind. check the back to see what it says." autumn says. the andrews sisters look behind the canvas and sees the word "infuriated" along with the date and reads both out loud. autumn had painted this when billy tripped her and ripped up the drawing she was working on. she looked to the blonde haired boy, who refused to look up from his feet. his arms were crossed and his cheeks were visibly red from embarrassment. "look at this billy, it's beautiful!" jane says, holding up the canvas for him to look at.

a black shadow was in the very center of the canvas, seeming to float. all around it was fire. the shadow's long hair swirled around inside of the red, orange, and yellow fury. lining around the fire was the angry words autumn has longed to say to the andrews boy. "horrid, disruptive, rude, irresponsible, uncontrollable, annoying, infuriating" were just a few. as billy looked at it, it was obvious he knew it was about him. feeling uncomfortable, autumn quickly changes the subject. she shows the girls her other art- both sketches and paintings- seeing as they were so intrigued.