harmony hall 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

iii.

cw: slight domestic abuse flashbacks and a negative trigger

THE DAYS LEADING UP TO THE END OF SUMMER SEEMED TO SNEAK UP ON OPHELIA. She looked up at the calendar hanging on the fridge, heart in her throat. 'First day of school' was written in her aunt's cursive just two days from today and the thought of orange juice was gone from her mind.

Dallas came jumping down the stairs, coming to a stop beside her. "You alright?" He asked, pulling open the fridge.

Ophelia blinked, stepping backwards to avoid the door. She put her palms down onto the counter behind her, leaning against it. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

Dally swung the door closed, jug of juice that Ophelia was previously going to grab in his hand.  He looked back over his shoulder as he grabbed a mug from the cupboard, squinting slightly to see the writing on the calendar. He had glasses, but he would never be caught dead wearing them. "Aw shit." He swore, "Is that really in two days?"

Ophelia sighed, nodding, "Guess so."

Dally grabbed a second mug, tipping it towards her as the silent offering, to which she nodded. He began pouring two mugs of juice, "C'mon, don't look so worried, O. You're gonna be fine! You've already got 'cool' running in your bloodline."

Ophelia scoffed, grabbing the mug of orange juice closest to her. "You sound exactly like Talia." She eyed him, taking a sip from her cup.

Dally rolled his eyes, but he looked down, cheeks flushing red. Talia and Dallas had a little thing going on where they would constantly flirt. It was obvious they liked each other, but they easily skirted around ever doing anything about it. It had quickly become Ophelia's goal to get them together by the time the year was over.

Ophelia 'aww'ed and he tossed her a glare and a light shove.

"Shut up." He muttered.

"Just admit it." She singsonged, "You like her! It's so obvious it physically pains me to see you together."

"We're just friends!" Dally took an annoyed gulp of his juice.

Ophelia rolled her eyes, "Oh bullshit, Dallas! You're practically drooling over each other! If I have to listen to your flirting any longer without you going out on at least one date, I will ban you from seeing each other!"

"You can't do that, stupid!"

"Just watch me!" Ophelia crossed her arms over her chest. "She's my friend before she's your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Okay okay okay, you two, lets calm down." Her aunt entered the kitchen, seeing the two standing leaned towards each other, arguing. "One of you can take out the garbage to cool down before you do the dishes."

Ophelia immediately put her finger to her nose, only a split second before Dallas, who cursed.

"Language." Abigail scorned, taking a drink from the orange juice that he left unattended. Her eyes flicked up, winking at Ophelia. They were lighter than Dally's brown ones. Ophelia knew that he got a lot of his face from his 'mystery' dad, but he had definitely got her hair colour. People often mistook both Dallas and Ophelia for being her children, and she never corrected people when they did. Ophelia was practically her child. She wanted to raise Ophelia the way her parents never could or would. She was determined to raise both of them away from the judgemental eyes and words of the family, even though it wasn't like she had a choice once her pregnancy out of wedlock was made known.

Ophelia grinned at her, walking over to the sink to fill it with hot water. Cranking the hot water tap on almost all the way, she rinsed the sink before putting the plug in.