Stay...Calm

Chapter 28

The next day, they woke up and went downstairs to the grand living room to find a big hole in the window. The couch cushion was out of place, and the blanket was strewn across the floor. There were shards of glass all over the floor and sprinkled around the outside grass. Outside, there were shallow footprints in the slush. Edd and Thelma said that they barely saw it happened. But Anais was nowhere to be found. Victorine looked outside to see trees completely devoid of snow.

No said a word about it. Slowly, the house gathered in that large room, staring at the scene of the crime. Thelma had tears building up in her eyes as she gave herself a hug, looking like a pathetic child. Most stood in shock, completely stunned by the fact that it happened at all. But a select few, like Victorine, blankly stared right ahead. She couldn't wrap her mind around it, but she felt...nothing.

Ms.Kion tried to step up and say something about "our unfortunate houseguest" but couldn't even get out a squeak. She stepped back and away, trying to be in the back of the crowd. They all stood there for what felt like a while, unable to move or speak. But after a long six minutes, people started to walk away from the grand living room, starting with Asha. Unsurprisingly, Victorine followed Asha into the smaller parlor across from the dining room, where Asha sat in the center of a couch. More people saw and followed, relocating to that room and resting on the couches. Victorine laid down on the arm of the couch, with Gina in Pauline between Asha and her.

Ms.Kion and Mrs.Daniels stood at the front of the room, leaning against the walls and watching everyone else. All eighteen of them were in that one room, looking at each other, and especially at Asha, for answers. She seemed to have some but didn't know how to say it. Her face was calm and collected as if she had to deal with this before. She had her hands on her lap and her eyes closed. There wasn't a single crease in her forehead or eyelids. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes.

"I know this has to be scary," Asha stated. "Like they said last night. Scary things have been happening. But we can't help that, can we? That's out of our reach. It's been going on since before we were even born. It's none of our faults. We can't control them. But we could control what we do now."

She looked around a bit before continuing. "We could just do what we can. We could make what we have the best it could be. 'Cause we're all each other have anymore. Yeah, most people we knew are gone. But we're still here, right? Isn't that a silver lining."

A couple friends gave each other quick glances. "As you probably know, I've been through this before (that means you, Horace). But I understand that...most of you have as well."

Jacey put her head on Parker's shoulder. "Just remember that if you do something for love, it can't be regretted. Even if it spirals into a world war, at least it had the best of intentions. And we can always fall back on that. I'd just do as much as I can...for love."

They stood in silence for a little bit, letting that sink in.

"Does anyone else have anything to say?" Asha asked. I took a little bit of courage, but Horace raised his hand.

"I have a confession to make," Horace said, sounding a little genuine for once. "To my cousins...you're the reason I drink."

Everyone in the room groaned. Lee called out, "Tell us what you really think!"

Horace took a deep breath, and announced, "I'm...gay."

A silence fell over the room; a silence that lasted until Yolanda interjected, "Wait, you didn't tell us?"

Horace rolled his eyes and groaned. Some people in the room snickered or silently agreed.

"I mean, most of us just guessed..." Paulien shrugged.

"Long story short, we knew," Yolanda clarified, then whispered, "It was the t-shirt."

Horace stared at them blankly. "I hate you. I hate you all. So. VERY-"

"Okay, okay, someone else confess something, please" Asha eased, trying to abort that argument before it could grow. Yolanda raised her hand.

"If it makes you feel any better kid, I'm a little gay, too," Yolanda admitted. "But so's everybody."

Lee bit her lip a little, looking nervous...but seemingly repressing a smile.

"This isn't as much of a confession as it is a warning," Opal announced. "But if you ever use Gina's laptop, never type the letters "p, q, or r. You don't wanna see what she's searched."

Gina's cheeks turned even redder as she nudged Opal in the stomach with her elbow as her foster sister broke out into laughter.

"Timothy," Mrs.Daniels said. "I think you have something to admit."

That really put him on the spot. He practically shrank down into the back of the couch as all eyes went to him. He glanced at some others first, looking for a way out of the situation. But he was trapped. He wiped the sweat from his palms and exhaled. Very slowly, closing his eyes, he loudly admitted, "I'm sorry!"

He opened his eyes and continued. "I'm...kinda sorry about what happened to Anais. Yeah, I kinda...caused her...thing. I didn't know it would make her do this or anything..."

Mrs.Daniels put a hand on his shoulder, and he stopped to take deep breaths. Once he was calm enough to speak again, he said, "Victorine, sorry I made fun of you for not talking that much."

"I don't talk a lot because the rest was of you talk too much," Victorine justified.

Timothy smiled just a little. "Good answer."

"Anyone else has anything to say," Asha announced. "It could be anything."

"I could fix a lawnmower!" Jacey called out.

"I ate a whole lemon once!" Thelma squealed.

"I've stolen several pets," Yolanda uttered. "Oh yeah, and because of all crap that's been going down, last night I m-" 

Asha pressed her hands over Victorine's ears, hard. It blocked out whatever Yolanda was yelling about. She was able to make out a "yeah, I did it," and a couple of yells from other residents, but that was it. Once Yolanda finished letting out her steam, Asha removed her hands from Victorine's ears. 

"...T-E-D!" Yolanda finished, smiling that she got to scream out again. As she thumped back down on the couch, Asha pleaded, "Someone please give a better example to leave off on." 

"I," Ms.Kion announced, "happen to be quite the fan on 80's memorabilia." 

"There we go," Asha sighed, contently. She glanced over to Victorine and mouthed, "I did it!"