Breathe

4

Silver clanked against platters littered with delectable food that no one had the appetite to devour. Simply, many merely fiddled with the breakfast, using it as an excuse and escape of the lingering conversation that no one dared continue. My presence had clearly quenched the conversation and mood, but as I stuffed my mouth full of the fluffy pancakes taken from others who wouldn't eat them anyways, I hardly felt a tinge of remorse. Even their judging gazes seared into my skin, as if impatiently waiting for me to continue the conversation or offer a remark.

Ha! I wouldn't dream of ever giving them the satisfaction.

My mother remained in the kitchen as she hadn't overheard my descent to the bottom floor. She hummed the tune of a distant melody I couldn't put my finger on, though I could only assume it was one from her teenage years that she still hadn't stopped obsessing about.

My father, on the other hand, was already dressed in his business attire for his shift starting later in the morning. The stereotypical image of a lawyer—unemotional and professional stature, even in his downtime. After his promotion years ago, his business-lifestyle suddenly merged with his one at home, and the father I'd hardly reminisced on had disappeared, except in short bursts of happiness that served as an exception time to time. He hardly spent any time at home, as his firm was stationed in Goldenrod—practically hours away and the closest city providing jobs suitable to sustain a rather large family. Though, with his unannounced success in his recent trial, he'd been granted stay at home or the opportunity to travel to work for the time being, but have little to do. He chose the latter, deciding to travel later on than the usual; I couldn't blame him.

Who wouldn't want to get as far away as possible from this Arceus-forsaken town?

"Eh-hem."

I cocked my head upward to face the opposing end of the furniture. The raspy voice sounded from a frail woman whose fingers were laced together elegantly, elbows resting on the table. With her pale composition and eyelashes thick with mascara, the only wrinkles appeared around the edges of her lips in a disapproving frown. Lush, black hair parted down the center of a flakey scalp, and elongated nails thrummed against the wooden table; a lime-bead of green embedded into a ring tight around her index finger.

I scowled. You're the last person I need right now.

"Yes, Aunt Meagan?" Putting on a smile I hoped looked fake, I stared into her narrowed eyes in challenge. The grin reeked of arrogance, but at that moment, I didn't take much mind to it.

She raised her hands to her chest, as if taken aback by my abrupt statement. She snickered, as if the others believed she was playing innocent. "Oh, did I say something?"

"Oh, no, Aunt Meagan, I only assumed that you were being an asshole again. My bad."

"Veronica!" My fathers fist slammed onto the table definitively. "Aunt Meagan is our guest! Treat her respectably!" He turned to my aunt and his eyes softened. "I apologize for my daughter, Mrs. Meagan."

"Ah, it's okay, Ronald."

As I lowered my face closer to my meal to escape the heat of the moment, I felt her judging gaze pierce my skin.

"Some children are just lost causes."

Anger boiled in my chest. Bile rose on the throat and tickled the tips of my lips, urging to be released.

No.

I took the turn to clear my throat myself, relieving myself of the distraught thoughts and the anger persistent on being released. Instead, sadness engulfed me as I sagged in my seat, the stares of the family overwhelming me. Stuffing my clammy hands into my pockets and fiddling with my thumbs to ease the tension, I could only shakily stuff the remainder of the food into my face with an unbalanced fork.

Light steps pattered against the tile, and my sister appeared in a flash happiness, swinging her weight on the railing of the stairs and bolting into the arms of my aunt. She nuzzled her face into her floral shirt as the woman let out a jolt of exclamation, before a smile seeped onto her lips as she ran thin fingers through her scarlet hair.

"Auntie!" she rejoiced, beaming. "When d'ya get here?"

She patted her head. "Ah, just last night, dear. I was passing through the town and thought I'd pay a visit to my favorite niece!"

"Naw, thanks, Auntie!"

I'm fed up with this.

I abruptly rose from my seat and delicately pushed it back into its original place. The legs scraped against the tile with an unsatisfying screech, cocking my father's eyebrow into the air in interest and my sister smiling at my appearance. Aunt Meagan scowled at my disturbance, and Mother finally peeked her head around the corner of the entrance to the kitchen—about to speak before she locked eyes with me. Her tight posture relaxed at my appearance and she instead popped her hip and rested her free palm at her waist; the other grasping the whisk dripping pancake mixture into the air and away from herself.

The girl waved her hand furiously in the air at my direction. "Sissy!"

"Sit down, dear," Aunt Meagan harshly scolded, "and you, Veronica," she paused before continuing, "sit down and finish your breakfast."

Hastily, I whisked myself to the coat rack and snatched my olive jacket from the hanger, tossing my scarlet scarf around my exposed neck with the other. "I've lost my appetite, Auntie," I retorted blatantly and apathetically. "I'm getting a breath of fresh air."

"You don't have permission—"

"You have mine." My mother's soft voice engulfed the room in silence. Her eyes, skin below sagging in exhaustion and distress, shone in dreariness as she continued, "Let her get a breath of fresh air, Meagan."

Aunt Meagan snickered in protest, muttering something with a high probability of either being "you're spoiling your kids" or "your grandfather didn't fight in the Great War for you to throw a hissy-fit over the most trivial things."

My sister burst upward and looked to Auntie in approval. "Can I go with Vera?!"

My aunt almost looked disgusted at the idea. "No—no! You haven't eaten breakfast yet!" She beckoned her to her lap. "Sit down with Auntie."

"B-But, Mom!"

"Listen to your Aunt, Jessica."

"Mom—!"

"Now."

Before they had the opportunity to argue more on my behalf or against it, I unlatched the locks and flicked the knob to unlock the door and the proceeded to heave the door open. A whiff of winter breeze swept in with rag-tag clumps of snow and a chill that nipped at my nose. My fingers dug into my palms in protest before I ignored my thoughts and allowed the door to sway at the whim of the breeze before closing on itself.

Short, stumbling steps stretched into great strides before I found myself sprinting away from the house, arms jerking forward and back arrhythmically. Only one thought flowed through my mind: Get as far away as possible. My breaths became ragged as my despair came crashing down yet again, and being coupled with the chill that clogged my nose, it didn't make it much better.

Breathe! I soothed, Just. Breathe.