Of Kings and Queens

1/Dilapidation/

acquiescence
ˌakwɪˈɛsns/
noun
the reluctant acceptance of something without protest
•••

A young girl with hair the colour of lemons stepped onto the curb of Ingrams street, some time after mid-day in the midst of summer's peak of humidity. At her brisk pace it took but a few paces to reach the door of No.28, and her face held much excitement as she shakily raised her right hand to knock. Her left hand was preoccupied, as it was holding not one, but three crisp white envelopes.

She didn't have to wait long, and the door opened suddenly and abruptly. The man standing on the other side grinned when he saw her, calling to somebody else inside the house while leading her inside.

•July, 17th•

"Delia's here!" Chris Calzone called over his shoulder to his children who were currently playing upstairs. But when news of their friend's arrival reached their ears they were dumping their controllers on the ground and hopping down the stairs two at a time.

A boy who looked to be around twelve years old, thundered down the last few steps and raced towards Delia. He grabbed her arm excitedly just as a girl, slightly older looking, started yelling eratically at her, "Do you have them? Have you opened yours yet? Oh my God, Delia! I can't believe they're here!"

The girl pulled Ðelia into the sitting room further down the hall where her father was lounging leisurely, waiting for them to calm down. Delia sat down on the 4-seater sofa and laid the three envelopes onto the small coffee table that served as a foot rest sometimes.

The kids moved to sit down on either side of Delia and took their letters from the table. There, the three of them sat, looking at eachother expectantly waiting for the other to open theirs first. Mr. Calzone looked on leaning his elbows on his knees in anticipation, from his usual armchair beside the hearthstone.

"Perry, you go first. I could couldn't handle it if I got in and you didn't, or vice versa," the girl gulped as she confessed to her twin from the other side of Delia.

"Okay," he stammered nervously.

For the next few seconds, the only sound in the whole house was the tearing sound as he gently ripped off the outside layer of crisp white folded paper. His hands trembled as he shed the envelope and released a page folded into thirds.

He straightened it out and read aloud the first line.

"Mr. Peregrine Dar Calzone, -- We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to receive-" He glanced up at faces watching him attentively and marvelled, "I got in! I got a scholarship!"

His friends' faces broke into a grin and his father clapped him proudly on the back.

"I knew you could do it!" Laughed Delia as she hugged him her congradulations.

He poked his sister's shoulder and encouraged her to open her's next.

"Come on Robin."

"Okay then," she uttered hesitantly, "Cross your fingers for me."

She glanced at him, a look of hope plastered on her face.

She gathered all her courage and hurriedly ripped it open and assertively skimmed through the first paragraph, holding her breath until she knew it was safe.

A few painstaking moments later, she let out a huge breath of air and started laughing hysterically. Delia yanked the page out of her friend's hand while she was still wiping tears from her eyes, still laughing wildly.

"It's okay, she got in. She has the scholarship." Delia confirmed, watching her friend as she slowly but gradually stopped her spontaneous cackling and whipped the tears from her eyes. There was an audible breath of relief released from Perry.

"Delia. Your turn." He commented once things were relatively calm again.

Her hands shook slightly as she opened up the thirds folded on top of eachother. She hopeful smile soon vanished and she sucked in a gasp.

"Miss Cordelia Saunders- we're sorry to inform you-that you have not-" she choked in her throat as a tear slowly rolled down her cheeks. Her eyes scanned the rest of the page, "-We're sorry for the inconvenience, but we decided to go a different way."

Their father looked at them expectantly as if pushing them to console her, and patted her shoulder on his way out of the room, "Sorry. Delia."

He never was a man of many words, but now, at this moment, it didn't matter, because Cordelia couldn't hear anything. She was too wrapped up on the thought that her bestfriends would be leaving their small town without her. Together.

Robin wrapped her arm around her shoulder and rested her forehead against the side of her friend's head consolingly. "Shhh-It's okay. Delia, I'm not leaving yet. Come on, it's not the end of the world," she's said unconvincingly.

Perry brought Delia in for a hug and reassured her that nothing would change, but as he and his twin made eye contact over her shoulder, he knew she felt the same way.

Niether of them knew what would happen.