[ 𝐿𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓇 ] ~ 𝐿𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑜𝓃 𝑀𝓊𝓇𝓇𝒶𝓎 𝓍 𝒪𝒞

XI - Mama et Papa

"Star you're not dressed." Bela exasperated, waving her hands in the direction of the girl who was in a big t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"I'm not coming. I appreciate the invitation, but I just. . .have things to do tonight. Besides you're going to be off networking and Kimberly's going to be stealing everyone's attention. I'd just be eating snacks or something. And I'd much rather do that here in my comfortable pajamas." They smiled, patting the mattress under them.

"But we were-"

"What do we think?" Kimberly cut Bela off as she walked into the room.

"Wow." Bela gaped.

Star whistled playfully. "Smash." They gave a gentle nod, pushing their glasses up on the bridge of their nose.

"Really?" Kimberly smiled, doing a spin in the black dress that hugged her figure.

Star gave a nod. "Most definitely. Hot. Okay, you two have fun. I've got some studying to do."

"Ugh! Buzzkill! You're missing out on all the fun!" Bela called, hooking her arm with Kimberly's and walking out of the dorm.

"Bye!"

"Bye, Star!" Both girls called as they left.

The brunette chuckled, gently shaking their head and checking the time. It was seven, which meant it was one in the morning in Bordeaux. Gabriel surely would still be up, playing games on his laptop, but their parents would be asleep, and if not they'd definitely ignore Star's call. The phone rang on speaker, the noise echoing in the empty dorm.

"Star?" Gabriel's groggy voice came through on the other end of the phone. "It's the middle of the night, what do you want?"

They couldn't help but smile, looking at the dark ceiling. They hadn't heard her little brother's voice in weeks. Which was weird because before moving to Vermont, they had been with Gabriel every day of his life. "Oh- Just wanted to check in on you guys. Mama and Papa haven't called so I just was making sure everything was alright up north."

"Did you want to talk to them? They're just in the other room." Gabriel shuffled out of his bed and his footsteps were light down the hall of their home. Star could almost imagine the situation in her head; Gabriel stepping over the shoes he'd most definitely left in the hallway after school, stepping around the bathroom door their papa always left open, going past Star's perpetually closed bedroom door and into the kitchen. "Ma, Pa, Étoile est au téléphone."

"Étoile? Pourquoi appelles-tu si tard? Est-ce qu'il s'est passé quelque chose?" Their father's strong voice cut through the line.

"Salut papa. Je vais bien, je voulais juste vous surveiller les gars. . ." Star couldn't help but smile. "Comment allez-vous? Quelque chose d'excitant qui se passe au magasin, à la maison ou-"

"Étoile, il est tard. Nous ne pouvons pas parler pour le moment, il y a des soldes au magasin demain, nous n'avons pas le temps pour ça." Her mom's words were harsh and straight to the point.

"Droite. Bien sûr. . .bonne nuit mama, bonne nuit papa. . ." Star sighed as the line went dead. Her parents were never much of talkers when it came to Star. . .not that Star was herself. She just wished her parents would give the same time and energy that they did to a single design, as if maybe, just for a second, she was worth the same amount to her parents as the two hundred euro dresses her mother made. "Au revoir." She whispered into the air, letting her phone fall to her side as they went back to their computer. Studying. . .just like they told Bela. Might as well make something of the night. It wasn't often that Star found themselves with a quiet dorm, better to make the best of it than just mope around for no reason.

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Word Count - 633

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Published - November 11, 2024

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