KINDRED. ━ enola holmes. ( ✔️)

XI. WARMTH.

•••

 AS MISS HARRISON RANG THE BELL, Vivienne straightened up in her chair. Her hands rested in her lap, and she tried focusing on the elder woman in front of her, but her eyes kept drifting back to Enola who sat two rows away from her. 

She closed her eyes for a moment, and forced herself to focus once again. 

"How do we laugh? We laugh politely," She moved her hand to an angle which would cover her mouth, "Ha, ha, ha." Miss Harrison then gestured for them to copy her actions, which they did. Vivienne didn't wear a smile as she did so.

"Hm, perfect." Miss Harrison glanced over the classroom with a smile. "You all have the potential, but you are untapped, untested, and most of all, untrained. Walk as we show you to. Speak as we tell you to. Act, think, be as we tell you, and you'll become acceptable wives and responsible mothers. Follow the path of so many girls who once stood where you do now. And just as we molded them, so shall we you." The woman continued in a calm tone, and though Vivienne loathed her with every part of her being, she would admit that Miss Harrison was quite the speaker. "Now, for phonetics."

•••

THE BOOK ON HER HEAD remained unsteady as she walked, yet it didn't fall to the ground as Enola's was about to do. 

The set of girls walked in figure eights, balancing the novels on their heads. It was a tedious task, and with every step she took it was as if the book had become heavier and heavier.

And soon enough it crashed to the floor with a mighty thud, gaining the attention of almost all the girls in the room. Miss Harrison's glare has icy cold, yet fiery with rage. But another thud transferred their attention. 

Enola's book had fallen from her head too, and it didn't seem as if it were an accident. Her poise was confident, and her eyes burned holes in Miss Harrison's head. 

"Fools, both of you. Pick up your books and continue." The instructor spat, before turning her attention towards the windows that faced the garden. 

Enola smiled at Vivienne, and for whatever reason, Vivienne felt all warm and mushy inside, but she suppressed it. She smiled back as she picked up her book and continued walking in the figure eight pattern, yet for whatever reason the feeling didn't go away,

Surely it was nothing.

•••

THE SOUP WAS AN unflattering green color, the color of what grass and dirt combined would look like, yet out of hunger Vivienne ate it anyway. She sipped it as the rest of the girls were doing- well the one exception being Enola, who carelessly slurped her soup. She nudged Enola in an attempt to at least tell her to try before Miss Harrison yelled at her again, yet it didn't work.

The girls across the table from the them giggled as they watched her 'unladylike' tendencies, before one of them whispered to another some rude remark about Enola. This didn't go unnoticed by the girl, who took a sip of her water, before slamming her hand down on her soup bowl, ultimately splattering it all over the girls in front of them. Vivienne couldn't help but laugh as she watched their expressions morph from amused to infuriated, but she would grow to regret it as Miss Harrison stood up in fury, and demanded that both Enola and Vivienne follow her out into the hall.

Vivienne stood up and dusted off her skirt, throwing one last annoyed glare at the other two girls, before she silently walked out of the room, mind clouded with rage.

•••

SHE WATCHED AS ENOLA'S eyes became glassy, filling with tears as Miss Harrison exited the room. The woman's words had cut like a knife bringing stinging pain upon Enola.

"She had no right to speak to you like that," Vivienne mumbled as she looked towards Enola.

Enola bit her lip to keep tears from spilling. "But she made a good point. Why did- why did she leave?" 

"Isn't that what you're trying to find out?" 

"It's more like where she is, but that too." 

Vivienne nodded as she adjusted her position to lie on her new bed. The mattress was still, and the covers did nothing to bring her warmth, so she stared up at the ceiling. "Enola?"

The other girl hummed. "Yes?"

"Will you lie with me?" Vivienne's cheeks flushed red as the sentence escaped from her lips. 

Enola's soon did the same, but she nodded in agreement and walked across the room before shuffling into Vivienne's bed. Her presence brought warmth to the bed, and a wave of drowsiness hit both the girls. As they slipped into slumber, Vivienne muttered a soft thank you. 

And for the first time that day, Vivienne felt somewhat happy.

•••