Perfection Exception

All Is Fair

Annabelle

I watched Lou clean up the central area for the Institute of Perfection, staring at him through one of the mansion windows. I opened the window to yell at a doll who was pestering him, scaring Lou enough to make him jump and drop the broom he had. He looked up at me, and I looked away from him. I stepped away from the window, walking to a set up that I had made after he had left. Kitty, Lydia, and Tuesday were waiting for me.

I picked up the electric violin that was stained blue and had his name written in cursive on it, something I had done to the violin after finding it. I plugged it into the speaker system that ran throughout the Institute, the three girls doing the same with their own instruments. I very quickly tuned my violin, and I could hear the dolls outside started to gather in the center, the place where the speakers were the loudest and picked up the sound the best. I turned on a television that played camera footage from outside, and I pressed a button that played footage from the indoor cameras on the screen outside.

We played a large amount of songs, and I kept my eyes on the television screen to watch the dolls gently sway back and forth along to the music. I stepped on a foot pedal that switched the footage to a camera that focused entirely on Lou, and Kitty did the same to another foot pedal that controlled the outside screen. I made sure that I looked directly at Lou as if I was standing in front of him, and he stared back as I held my instrument up and played the song.

It had been a song that he had once sang to me while we were alone, and I knew by the look of pure sorrow and longing in his eyes that he recognized it without having to hear the words. By the time the song was over, I realized that I had started crying. I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand, turning away from the camera to hide my face.

"Are you alright, Annabelle?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah." I took a deep breath and shrugged off the overwhelming amount of sorrow and isolation that washed over me. "I'm fine."

I glanced at the screen once more, seeing Lou's hurt expression before the screen went blank. I set my instrument down, grabbing the black tuxedo jacket that still smelled of his honeysuckle and pinewood cologne he always wore and heading out the door. I pulled the tuxedo jacket on as I slipped outside, and all of the dolls looked at me as I walked down the stairs. I ignored their cheering and their screaming voices as I stepped down off of the stage and made my way through them. I paused briefly to look at Lou before walking toward the pipe that led to Uglyville.

~

"You still care about him, right?"

"Yes. It's hard to believe after everything he's done and all the things he's said, but you don't know him like I do. Like I did. He was different when it was just us. There weren't any secrets or angry words. He was nice and kind, and he understood me more than any other doll has. We're basically the same person! We're both Prototypes. We both can't go to the Big World. The other dolls cherished us."

"I understand. He was the only one that believed in you."

I paced back and forth inside Moxy's living room. Mandy sat on the couch with the pink creature, and they both watched me as I walked in circles, having a mental meltdown. The smell of Lou's cologne filled my nose, his tuxedo now draped over my shoulders instead of actually wearing it. I had my hands shoved into my pockets.

"Do you really think he deserves you?" Mandy asked.

I stopped in my tracks and looked at her. "Deserves me? I get that Lou did horrible things, but he was kind to me. He never once did anything bad to me. It's not about whether he deserves me or not. It's about whether he can change from who he was to who he is when he's with me. You wouldn't look at him the same way if you knew him like I do."

"You continue to say that, but how can we believe you if he's too scared to talk to anyone now?"