When We Fall

Chapter 11

                  

Thank you for 200 reads my loves! <3  (above is kitty inspo)

enjoy!

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                                                                                         A u g u s t

The Marlow family would never be quite the same. Though not all their moments would be ones of mourn, they still felt an uneasy burden cast upon their shoulders. Ida feared poverty, Kitty feared fate, Leigh became overtaken in a newfound rage. Though with her sisters she was content, she had a new resentment for her mother. Part of her felt it was her to blame for most of their troubles. 

But weeks after their father's funeral, the Marlows carried on their daily schedules. School came back to reclaim their afternoons, and Kitty started attending a weekly finishing school at the Ionnya's, which was hosted for older girls by Clara's mother. Ida insisted it was fit for Kitty, since she would be getting married soon. They kept the date for Kitty's 17th birthday to marry her to Henry, but the girls could tell Ida was impatient for the date to come. 

On one early Monday morning in late August, Leigh awoke to the sound of young girlish voices chattering outside her room. 

Her eyes fluttered open reluctantly, drowning in the blinding sunlight. Their mother had sold the drapes in their room, so now the sun peeked in overconfidently each morning. With a groan, she turned in bed and hoped she could fall back asleep before she needed to wake up. But then, the sound of the girls' voices carried to her ears and her ears perked up. She pushed herself up and sat on the bed curiously. What's all this noise? 

Leigh slid off the edge of her bed and opened her door, rubbing her eyes to adjustment as she did. When she blinked the fogginess away, she saw five girls sitting on the sofa, talking merrily amongst themselves. She stood in surprise at the door, wondering why the whole gallery of older girls from her school was in the sitting room. 

"Oh, Leigh, good morning!" Leigh heard Kitty from across the room. She saw her walking in the room with a tray, dressed in her nicest pink laced dress. Her hair was done back in a long braid and tied with a velvet ribbon. Leigh was too tired and confused to reply at first, and she pondered if she had even woken up as she glanced back at her bed. 

"What's all this?" She asked. Kitty nodded to her friends as she set the tray of finger sandwiches down on the coffee table, then turned to her sister. 

"A tea party. Don't you remember me telling you?" She explained and gestured to the girls drinking tea. Leigh recognized Clara and Lindy, but the other girls were complete strangers. 

"No..." She mumbled quietly. Kitty pursed her lips and her brows knitted together as if she were remembering something herself. 

"Oh, I suppose I forgot to tell you." She pardoned. Leigh didn't answer but rather watched the girls sipping tea gracefully. The three girls she didn't know were all very similar in a way, that they all had a sort of respectful posture about them. Two of the girls were almost identical, with jet black hair that shot down their back to their hips, and large blue eyes. The other girl had very sharp facial features and a tiny nose, and her hair was sort of like Kitty's, but less red and browner. They giggled to themselves as they carefully brought the cups to their lips and sipped quietly, without a single slurp. "Well, why don't you go get dressed and join us? We don't leave to school for a half-hour." Kitty cut in. 

Leigh looked back up at her sister and slowly nodded, distracted by how put-together she looked. Kitty always tried her best to look nice, but this morning she looked quite exceptional, to say the least.