School of manners

Staying

They got in and Leon showed her how to remove a stain, with a bar of soap and a little brush.

Josephine was impressed, he was good at it and didn't even make a big fuss about doing something most men would say was a woman's job.

They hung it on a hanger to dry and went back to the hall.

After they practiced how to drink tea it was so late that they already ate dinner.
Josephine was so nervous.
She didn't want to finish her meal because after that, the next thing that came was night rest and that's when Lady Lianne wanted to speak with her.

She didn't know if anyone had caught onto her little walk around the manor.
But maybe she could convince her to let her call her parents and they would pick her up as soon as possible.

As Josephine wanted to go back to her room, everyone else has already left, Miss Helen came to her and escorted her to the office.

Like the first time in here, she felt like a rabbit under the gaze of a snake.

Silence for a long time.

"Your behavior today was not the best. At first I was sceptical, if I should keep you here or send you off and say there's nothing to be done."

Josephine had little hope but did not give up on her hopes.

"You will stay here. Running away... "

Her heart skipped a beat, no two, or even three if that was possible in such a short amount of time.

"... will be greatly punished, as you will not succeed. So don't try it."

Her cover wasn't blown, relieve hit her, then the crushing meaning of what she said prior to Running away. She will stay.

"Can I call my parents? "

"Only on the weekends. "

"But it's Mon- " Josephine started but stopped at Lady Liannes narrowed eyes piercing her.

"No buts. Go to your room, immediately . "

She left, tears streaming down her face.
She ran to her washroom, where she could be alone for a moment before going in. She didn't want anyone to see her cry like this, so vulnerable.

She atleast sat there for 20 minutes just crying, sometimes a gasp or a sniffle in between.
After her eyes had no more tears left to cry, she sat emotionless on the floor, her heart ached but it seemed as if for no apparent reason.

She got up and looked in the mirror, horrendous, wiping over her face and splashing water in her face she thought of how to avoid everyone.

She would slip in silently, go to her closet change into her nightgown, and immediately go to bed. She didn't care about brushing her teeth this evening and her hair could be colmed tomorrow if she felt like it, what are they going to do? A little triumph in comparison to the situation.
She felt pitiful and resented herself for being so weak. She didn't have the energy to change anything about it now it had to wait until tomorrow.

Walking in some heads turned and looked at her, she just got in her closet without looking.

The nightgown was pretty, worthy of a princess almost. It had long flowing fabric as soft as the touch of a loved one. In her eyes a work of art, so simple yet so elegant. She got herself to put her hair in a braid and hid paxy behind her back.

As she walked to her bed in slippers and the nightgown the boys in their pyjamas around the table looked at her as if she was a ghost.
She couldn't differentiate between staring and admiring, if she did she would have known what the looks afterwards meant and how dazzled by her they were.

Paxy was successfully hidden and so she crawled under her sheets, facing the wall.

It felt like a tactical mistake exposing her back as it was the most vulnerable spot, because one can't see who was behind them, but it was for the best.

As everything got more quiet and all of them moved into their beds, the lights went off.
She felt the pain in her chest again, it felt like dying.