To No One

Ch.15 - The Forest Passing

E - So Beth.

B - Yeah?

E - You mind explaining me why are you here?

<B - When I thought about it, it might've been rather strange for Evelyn to see a group of strangers barging into her house on the anniversary of the passing of one of her friends.>

B - I was hoping that Samantha had explained everything to you by now.

E - Erm... don't get me wrong, but as much of a sweetheart that she might be you really shouldn't count with her to remember stuff for you.

B - Oh.

E - Would you mind being the one explaining why the gang is here?

B - ("The gang"?) Well, Samantha asked us if we wanted to come along to make you some company.

E - Aww, you came all this way for little old me?

B - Mhm.

<B - The golden haired girl leaned forward slightly while squinting and crossing her arms, then gleefully acted like a detective looking for a twitch in the suspect's eye.>

E - Are you sure that you didn't actually come just to lounge around in the beach?

B - That's probably what Claire was thinking...

E - ...

B - She didn't even ask where we were going in the first place, so it's kind of her fault.

E - Hehe, aren't you an honest one?

<B - Evelyn and I spent a fair amount of time talking about a few subjects. It was nothing remarkable, but for being the first time I even spoke to her, it was rather enjoyable. After a while she told me she was going to get some drinks from her kitchen and happily walked away.

It wasn't until then that I realized in the time we spent talking we hadn't moved from the entrance at all. I followed the sound of the voices to what I assumed was the living room. It was a decently sized room, with only the minimum essential furniture. There were a few pots sprinkled all over the room adding a bit of color to the otherwise predominant white scheme of the couches and coffee table. At the back of the room there was a typical glass door leading to an exceedingly green backyard.

Claire and Daniel were both sitting at opposite sides of one of the couches. They were talking their mouths off; a sight I was slowly starting to get used to. Arthur was standing at the garden door, joining in on their conversation (or rather, he was pulled in it) every so often. Samantha was nowhere to be found, but I presumed that she was helping Evelyn in the kitchen, so I didn't give it a second thought.>

C - Ah, there ya are!

D - About time for you two cut the chatter over there.

B - We've only spent a few minutes talking.

D - More like half an hour.

B - Details. Anyway, what have you been up to?

D - Sure, evade the subject...

C - Welp, we've been talking about what to do after the memorial.

B - Hold on, you knew already?

C - Well, duh. Daniel told me all about it on the ride here.

<B - I looked at Claire's cheerful demeanor in disbelief. Could it be that she wasn't as naïve as I originally thought? I must've stared at her one second too long, since her expression turned to confusion.>