Her Last Plea✨

Chapter 65

Every other Saturday the students of Francesc's were allowed to venture into the nearby town - Velmington - for a few hours as a form of recreation. Everyone was excited about going into Velmington this weekend for it was right before Valentine's Day. In fact, it seemed that all anyone could talk about was either Valentine's Day or the Spring Fling dance at the end of next month. Neither of which held any interest for Mira at this point. But, if all the fluttering and twittering about Valentine's Day and the upcoming dance kept the students from staring at her like she was going to spontaneously combust, Mira kept her head down and her mouth shut.

She sat in the library on Saturday morning, working on her homework for her Math class when Jay spotted her sitting in the back, surrounded by books. Sitting down next to her, he peeked over at her paper, shuddering at the problems on the page, while nudging her with his shoulder.

"You look eerily like Lexi when you're knee-deep into your work like this," Jay commented offhandedly. However, he didn't notice how Mira froze for a second at his words.

As a child it sometimes freaked Mira out when she saw her mother and Lexi side by side — their similar features more prominent than before. And while Mira sometimes hated how exactly alike she herself looked like Delphina, it warmed her heart whenever she would be out with Alexis and someone would comment how similar they looked. She remembered how much she smiled when an old woman on the street had taken one look at her and Lexi and had said to Alexis, "how sweet, your daughter looks just like you," or how one time Ara had gotten kinda upset because the cashier at some store had said, "the older one looks so much like her mother, maybe the younger one took after her dad" — while they were shopping for clothes with Alexis. Moments like those she didn't mind looking like her mother nor did she mind the similarities between Delphina and Alexis.

"You aren't coming to Velmington?" Jay asked Mira when he realized that she'd gone off into a whole other world in her head.

Mira shook her head. "No. Vera and Felicia wanted me to go and look for dresses but..."

"Yeah," Jay replied, knowing that it was something she was supposed to do with her mother. "But you know, there are other things in Velmington. Maybe it would be good for you to get out. Get some fresh air."

Sighing, she shook her head no as she jotted down some numbers. "Jay...I would be awful company if I came."

"It's a good thing I'm used to the awful side of you then," Jay replied, standing up as he stacked up her books, placing them in her backpack as she tried to protest. "You're coming. You didn't go in January, you spend more time in this library than you do anywhere else, and you could use a break."

She didn't want to go. Mira didn't want to be in a crowd, she didn't want people to talk to her, and she didn't want to pretend to feel happy and carefree when all she wanted to do was go to class, do her homework, and sleep - three things that were able to overwhelmingly distract her from the fact that her mother was gone, and the guilt she felt coming back to school as her sister sobbed and begged her not to leave. And more importantly, the guilt she felt when her mind sometimes felt relief at the fact that Alexis would be raising her siblings and not Delphina — a thought that both comforted and haunted her.

"I'm stopping at Lore's Chocolates to get a gift for Layla for Valentine's - maybe I'll be getting something for Karl too," Jay added. "And I bet Ara would be excited to get a Valentine from you. We can send them via post later."

Mira inhaled sharply and sighed heavily. "Fine," she said, standing up from the table. "But don't expect me to be all Suzie Sunshine today."

"Because there are other days where that's an acceptable expectation?" Jay asked cheekily.

She rolled her blue eyes as he followed her out of the library. "I don't like you very much right now."

"Somehow, I think I'll survive."