Closer 2

163.

It had been a few days since the incident, and Elise seemed to sometimes love being around her brothers and sometimes hate it. She also definitely was not noticing all the things they did to prepare for her upcoming birthday party.

Baking a cake? Just making some different food. The present wrapping was of course done after she had gone to bed, and she of course didn't notice that the house was cleaner and tidier than normal either.

She honestly had no idea it even was her birthday soon. All she knew was that baba and daddy were even more busy than before, so she probably shouldn't bother them much. At least auntie stopped by her room to draw some with her occasionally.

That wasn't happening today, though. Auntie had told her yesterday that she'd be out buying something 'super special for Friday' today, and that she couldn't come. She had asked to come with her, but auntie had just laughed a bit and said no. Elise had been sad about that, and when auntie had told daddy and baba about her being sad they had laughed too. She didn't like when everyone laughed at her.

That's why she spent today alone in her room. Or well, not alone. She had Sharkie, and the cat was sleeping next to her paper she was trying to draw it on. She honestly thought she was doing good. She had a pencil that was almost the same gray as the cat, and she had green like the cat's eyes. The drawing had legs and a tail and ears. It even had claws!

...

May was back in the studio, still trying to figure that landing out. She only had a few minutes left of her booking, and the girl that had booked it after her was waiting impatiently in the doorway. It honestly made her uncomfortable that someone was watching her struggle, and it certainly didn't help that this someone was the girl from her class who already had been accepted into a prestigious masters program in Europe and boasted about it at every opportunity she got.

"Your center of gravity is off," the doorway girl, Misty, pointed out to May as she tipped forward once again. May honestly wanted to reply with a snarky 'no shit Sherlock', but Misty continued before she had the chance to. "It's possible it's related to your recent weight gain."

"Excuse me?" May said, turning to her. What a bitch, who was she to comment on that? As if she hadn't noticed it herself. "I can't remember asking."

"I'm just saying, since you've been working on this simple jump for days I figured you didn't know why you keep messing it up," Misty shrugged, completely unfazed by May's clearly annoyed tone. "You know how important it is to stay in shape to make it in the business. Maybe time to cut back on the chocolate cake? I've seen you buying it several times this week."

"Well, it's literally none of your business anyway, Misty," May muttered, deciding she was done and going to grab her bag. "As if you could do the jump any better."

"That simple jump? Oh please," Misty said, stepping into the room and putting her pink bag down by the wall. "I haven't warmed up yet, but I don't think it'll be a problem."

May leaned on the doorframe, expecting her to demonstrate. Misty seemed to catch on, and decided to do just that. Perfectly, of course. That bitch.

"See, told you," she said, tightening her already way too tight ponytail. "Just let me know if you need some help with your diet or workout routine. What you're doing now clearly isn't working."

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks. See you," May muttered, slamming the door as she left the studio to hit the shower. It took everything in her to not break down in tears.