Dear Diary | Proxies

xxxiv. breakfast and greenhouses

Dear Diary,
Maybe I can make some new friends around the house.

I woke up alone again. I wasn't sure what time it was, but if I were to guess, it was later in the morning. The sunlight had forced me awake, shining through his barely-covered windows and falling over my face. I had patted blindly around the bed before cracking my eyes open, realizing that I was once again alone.

It took a few moments of staring tiredly at the wall in front of me to get up. I kept on Toby's clothes, sadder than I wanted to admit that he wasn't with me at the moment. After a glance around, I realized the other two were gone as well. I had no idea where they had put my phone, and I didn't want to rummage through all of their belongings for something to do without permission, so I ended up in front of Sally's door, knocking loud enough for her to hear.

There was the sound of something falling to the ground before the little girl opened the door. She stared up at me with her stupidly wide eyes. "Good morning," she yelled.

"Good morning, Sally. Do you know where I could find some food?" I wasn't supposed to leave the area, but they had left me alone for two days now, and I hadn't eaten at all yesterday. I wouldn't fault them for being busy, but a girl had to eat!

Sally swayed from side to side. "The kitchen!"

"Can you lead me there? I haven't really been around here, yet."

She nodded, running back into her room to grab her bear before leading me away. She gripped my hand in hers tight as she pulled me down the stairs. "I don't know what food they have right now. Sometimes, the others will make food, but sometimes not. One time, they made pancakes, and I ate so many, I thought I was going to explode!" The girl rambled on as she pulled me through the halls, thankfully distracting me enough so that I wasn't as far on edge about the other rooms as beforehand. "Do you like cereal because I really like Captain Crunch! Me and Toby, we – we had a competition one time to eat more, but he won because it hurt after too much, but then, he threw up everywhere and his friends got angry at him, so I think I won, really." She paused, turning to look at me as she continued to lead, and it took me a moment to realize that she actually wanted an answer to the cereal question.

"I like cereal, but I prefer something like eggs!"

She gripped my hand tighter. "Can you make me something to eat, too, then!"

"Of course, kid," I chuckled, ruffling my hand through her hair. She batted it away, and then, we were finally in the kitchen. I paused, thinking about my choice of words with a smile on my face. I couldn't wait to see Tim again.

The kitchen was not empty. Liu, if I remembered his name right, was seated at the bar area beside Jack, who I hadn't even thought was here. Beside them was another man who I hadn't seen before. The blue man thunked his hand on the table loudly before turning to where Sally and I stood. "Juniper?"

Liu looked up from his bowl of what looked to be oatmeal, his spoon still midair and mouth parted. I stepped a bit closer, watching Sally run across the room, bare feet slamming on tile flooring. She climbed into one of the chairs beside the unknown man.

"June's gonna cook me breakfast," Sally screeched before I could even speak.

The final man looked up, almost immediately reminding me of Toby with his messy brown hair and wide, slightly upturned nose. He blinked at me, obviously very tired. After giving me a quick once-over, he turned back to his food. While Liu had his oatmeal, Jack had some kind of shake colored a deep red, and the unnamed man had a bowl of Lucky Charms that were so soggy it looked disgusting.

I shifted from foot to foot. "Is that okay with y'all? I don't want to, uh, get in your personal space and all."

Jack waved his hand. "Go right ahead. If anyone gives you shit, just point at Sal, and they'll go away."