Butterflies | ON HOLD | ASOUE Duncan Quagmire x OC

4 - MOURNING (NEW)

CHAPTER FOUR - MOURNING

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Vice Principal Nero asked the other orphans to show Aileen around the school since she'd be staying in the broom closet with them for the rest of the semester. She had yet to learn their names, but she could already tell they were nice. They guided her to the broom closet, where they could talk.

"I'm Duncan Quagmire and this is my sister Isadora." The boy introduces.

"I'm Aileen Sinclair." Aileen smiled. "Are you two the twins Mr. Poe told me about?" she asked.

"We aren't twins, we're triplets, but yes," Isadora explained. Seeing Aileen's confused face, she continued. "Our brother Quigley died in a terrible fire with our parents."

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry," Aileen said. Duncan smiled sadly. "My parents also died in a fire," she said solemnly.

"What kind of things are you into?" Isadora asked, trying to change the subject.

"I'm majorly into linguistics," Aileen replied. "Really?" both triplets asked. "Yeah! Het spijt me van je ouders en broer," she said in Dutch. "It means 'I'm sorry about your parents and brother.'" she explains. "What are you both into?"

"I really enjoy journaling," Duncan replied, showing her two of his notebooks. One notebook, thick from use, and the other looked untouched, most likely to replace the other one once it's full. "And I'm into poetry," Isadora responds, also holding up one of her notebooks with the word poetry engraved in cursive on the front. Duncan popped his head out of the broom closet to look at the clock on the wall.

"You're going to want to change into your uniform quickly before we are late to class. You don't want to eat with your hands tied behind your back do you?" Duncan asks.

"Definitely not. I'll be right back." Aileen smiled.

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Duncan waited for Aileen outside of the broom closet so that they could walk to class together. His sister had left for her own class earlier than the other two since they were in separate classes. Mr. Remora's class was boring, so he was hoping that they'd be sitting near each other so they could pass notes. As soon as she returned, they walked down to room one.

Name tags were on the front of each desk. Duncan noticed that they had switched around, most likely to accommodate the new orphans. He located his desk, then looked around for Aileens. The complete opposite side of the room. He was a little saddened by it. He was looking forward to learning more about his new friend. A leather notebook for note-taking sat upon two desks in the room. Aileens and 'Violets' desk. Remora walked into the class when the room was full.

"Good morning class, including our latest orphans," he says dully. Every kid in the room turns in their chairs to stare at the two girls. Both girls looked very uncomfortable. Duncan makes sure to smile at both of them to make them feel welcome. They each smiled back. "My name is Mr. Remora, and today, for language arts, I will continue telling anecdotes from my own life that I find amusing. You'll take notes, and there will be a test." Remora explains. Aileen opens the notebook in front of her and her pen. "Okay, one day, I think it was a Tuesday..." Remora's voice drowns out. Aileen was shocked she was able to fill four pages of the notebook full of her teachers' anecdotes.

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"So what did you think of the class?" Duncan asked Aileen as they exited the lunchroom to return to the broom closet.

"Very long, and very boring," Aileen responds, seeing the sunset outside the large windows. "I'm thinking about writing all my notes in a different language tomorrow so that I don't get so bored."

"Oh gosh..." Duncan replies. "Studying would be difficult. No one would be able to help you if they can't read it." He pointed out.

"Maybe I could teach you a language," Aileen said, smiling towards Duncan. He smiles back.

Once they reach the broom closet, they do their various independent things. Isadora returned later than the other two because she stopped by the library to get a new book. Aileen offered Duncan the German book that she still had from when she went to the park, which he gratefully accepted. They all read late into the night until almost all of them fell asleep.

Aileen tried for hours to sleep, but couldn't help but think about her parents. Why did they send her out of the house that day? How did the fire start? How long did it take Mr. Poe to find her? So many questions swirled through her mind. She ended up leaving the broom closet to try and prevent the Quagmires from hearing her cry, but ended up just sitting opposite from the broom closet door.

Duncan noticed she was gone from the closet when he woke up late in the night. His heart broke when he left the broom closet to find her balled up and sobbing. He immediately rushed over to her side.

"Aileen what's wrong?" he asks worriedly. She lifts her head to see him sitting right next to her. Her puffy eyes indicating she had been crying for a long time.

"Duncan, hey." she sniffed, rubbing her eyes. "I'm just mourning. I was orphaned just this morning," she explained.

"And Nero is just making you go to classes without taking your feelings into consideration..." Duncan said.

"It's not like he or Mr. Poe actually care. They treat us like trash for something that's out of our control. We sleep in shacks and broom closets, and get passed around from place to place without a care for what we think." she said angrily.

"Tell me about them... your parents," Duncan says. She smiles sadly. She told him many stories of their trips and her favorite memories, inevitably cheering her up. He was actively listening, which made her happy to see that someone besides her parents was happy to talk to her and hear what she had to say. She eventually had a burning question of her own and decided to ask it, even though it would potentially make Duncan sad.

"What was Quigley like?" she asked. He sighed. He, just like her, told many stories about him and his family. Like how Quigley got into cartography, how he got into journaling, Isadora got into poetry, and his favorite memory of his whole family together.

They talked for hours until eventually, Aileen got some sleep. It just so happened that she fell asleep on Duncan's shoulder.