ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ'ꜱ ɴᴏᴛᴇ: apologies that this chapter is a bit short and anticlimactic, but don't you worry: the next two chapters are sure to be much longer and more interesting! 💗
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after taking a moment to process the ambiguous story that wybie told her just moments ago, y/n ended up trying to piece the mysterious together at the moment and instead entered the pink palace where she instantly made a beeline for her bedroom, not caring to stop by the kitchen to tell her mom, who is still typing at her computer, that she's back.
no, no, that was too much!
reaching the top of the stairs, y/n felt a momentary hesitation tug at her, a fleeting reluctance to face what awaited her beyond her bedroom door. but with a resolute breath, she pressed forward, her pace slowing as she neared her destination, each step a deliberate attempt to delay the inevitable. she's so tired and her body aches something awful...maybe she should've waited to ask her parents to drive her to wybie's place, but the other part of y/n didn't regret what she did at all. again, her mom and dad would've pestered her with questions like "what will you two be doing?", "do you like him?", and whatnot. she shivered. she dodged a massive bullet there. nothing gets y/n's gears grinding faster than her parents being invasive with her personal life.
finally, standing before her bedroom door, she hesitated, hand hovering over the doorknob and with a decisive click, she pushed the door open, slipping inside and closing it firmly behind her, shutting out the world beyond its confines.
alone in the quiet of her room, she allowed herself to look around it before her eyes stopped on her bedside table. "right where i left you." y/n walked over and picked up her watch, finally putting it around her wrist and fastening it securely around her. y/n turns to grab the doll off her bed, but stops when she sees that it has miraculously disappeared. "all right, little me, where are you hiding?" she thinks out loud, scanning the room high and low for it before she spots the doll at the window sill, hobbled over. "hey, that's not where i left you."
the doll couldn't have moved on its own. sooo...did someone come into her room and move things around without her saying so? it pissed y/n off whenever her parents did that because more often than not, that's how her stuff goes missing for months on end. luckily though, the strange doll didn't disappear but only changed spots, though that was weird in of itself.
slowly walking toward the doll, y/n grabbed a hold of its soft arms and tugged it her way, pulling it off of the window sill and carrying it over to her bed where she tossed it on the mattress. the doll landed on her pillow facedown. "geez..." y/n yawned and then fell back onto her bed too, being careful not to land on the doll.
she stared up at the boring sealing for a few seconds before her heavy eyelids fluttered shut, seeking solace in the promise of a few moments of respite before the demands of the evening encroached upon her sanctuary.
but no sooner had she succumbed to the gentle lull of drowsiness than a faint sound pierced the tranquil silence of her room. at first, it was no more than a distant murmur, a gentle tug at the edge of her consciousness. but as the voice grew louder, more insistent, y/n's eyes snapped open with a groan. couldn't she get a moment of peace in this house? guess not...
"y/n! come down, dinner is ready!" her mother's floated up from the depths of the apartment below, pulling y/n from the verge of slumber with an unwelcome jolt. grumbling some unkind words under her breath, the teen buried her face in the softness of her pillow, the promise of rest slipping through her fingers like grains of sand.
for a moment, she entertained the fleeting hope that her mother's call would go unanswered, that she could steal a few precious moments of solitude before the inevitable summons to dinner shattered the fragile peace of her room. but reality, as it often did, intruded upon her reverie, dragging her back to the harsh light of responsibility. as much as she hated to admit it, y/n was hungry too. she really should've gotten something to eat when she got back, but it's too late now.
y/n dragged herself upright, her limbs heavy with fatigue, her eyes bloodshot. anger simmered beneath the surface of her exhaustion, a volatile mix of resentment and resignation threatening to boil over at any moment. finally dragging herself from the warm cocoon of her bed, y/n stumbled across the room, her movements sluggish and graceless. summoning what little energy remained within her, the h/c-haired girl straightened her shoulders, steeling herself for the inevitable confrontation that awaited her below.
"coming..." she called out to her mother, her voice tinged with a note of irritation that she made little effort to conceal. "i'll be right down," she added, the promise of dinner offering little consolation for the loss of the precious moments of rest she had so desperately sought.
