Written by **EYRAM**
The next day, Serena woke up rather early, having mixed feelings about the day. Not too long after Serena got dressed, in her uniform, which looked like it had come straight off a runway.
She went to school, leaving Seraphina at home because she had not gotten ready for school yet, and she had a pretty bad hangover. At school, she realized Sophia was the only one who was there, sitting in a corner, reading a book.
As soon as Serena approached her, she began to move backward and asked in a shrill voice.
"What do you want from me?" looking traumatized
"It's okay, I just wanted to see what you're reading, that's all," Serena replied.
"You… you are not human," she said, her voice even smaller than usual, and Serena was shocked to her core. For some time, the words she said lingered in her head, and she knew she would not be able to brush them off.
Coming to think of it, Serena's blood was yellow, the time her skin had yellow lines, when she killed the doctor in cold blood was vivid in her memory, and she was anything but human.
Soon, other students arrived and classes began. Serena quickly took the spotlight, answering questions in class very quickly and always accurately. Any question she did not have an answer to, she did not attempt.
But Serena could not shake off the thought, imagine if Sophia told someone else, how did she even know this? Something even her twin sister did not know about her.
During lunch break, she steeled her resolve and decided to meet with Lance. He was the one always around Sophia, and the girl was just way too shy to give her a good explanation, but Lance, on the other hand, was rather direct and clear.
She approached him, and like he did not even see her, he walked past. She tried calling out his name, but was totally ignored. Then, out of nowhere, Seraphina arrived in front of her, asking.
"Were you not the very one who said, in quote, if I were you, I wouldn't go for a guy who is already with someone? I saw him first."
"Seraphina, do not misinterpret my intentions. There was just something bugging my mind, and I wanted to clarify"
"And do you expect me to believe that?"
"Seraphina! I have more important things to do; I should not have to explain myself about something so trivial to you."
"You might be so book-smart, but I'm street-smart. I can see the way you guys interact." Then she walked away, looking at Serena judgmentally, and at that moment, the girl she felt such close belonging with looked like her worst nightmare.
Serena decided not to dwell on past incidents and looked at what was best to do next. So in the end, she began to look for Sophia, who was extremely slippery and very hard to get a hold of. Every time the girl saw her, she went to hide somewhere and practically evaded her the whole day. Oh, how she had already begun to hate this school, this rich life, so early into it.
She decided not to pursue the matter anymore and went to study instead. After school was over, Serena was craving Sautéed vegetables on flour flakes, an original recipe she made herself. When she went into the kitchen, all the maidservants tried to stop her. Then, the head maid, Wendy, approached her and asked.
"Whatever you need, my lady, just ask; you are not to go into the kitchen, where I reign."
"I just wanted to do something simple, I won't bother you."
"There are clear rules in this house that need to be followed despite being unspoken, is that clear or do you need a demonstration?'' and at that moment the walls, halls the extravagant rich life she always thought she would appreciate, she hated it, if she could not even do the simple things in life how would she enjoy the bigger things.
She just had to obediently eat the complicated, expensive food that tasted like trash, which serves half-cooked meat and calls it rare. Old drinks that tasted so bitter and call it fine wine.
She tried to get out for some fresh air, where she was blocked again, and that was when she realized she was trapped in this house, invited so welcomingly and now trapped in this endless cycle with no way out.
That day, before she went to sleep, Seraphina knocked on her door, but she was too beat to answer. Then she broke the door and called someone to fix it. Serena looked at her, shocked, and asked.
"How did you do that?"
"Oh, now you're not ignoring me. I'm sorry for the way I treated you today. I'm just a bit extra when it comes to Lance. I may or may not have bullied Sophia back in middle school because of her connection with him."
That was when it dawned upon her that what Sophia said to her, she may have mistook her for Seraphina; talk about reading too much into something. She totally had it wrong, and that was when she began to thank the heavens that she didn't confront anybody about it.
"And I should not have defended myself so vehemently; I should have tried to understand your side of things."
"Say what now?" Then Serena burst into laughter and said
"I definitely need to get you a dictionary."
"So, I want to make it up to you. Do you want to go shopping, partying, or how about we have a sleepover?"
"A sleepover sounds good," Serena said, and they both slept in Seraphina's room while her door was fixed, and there she realized that she found solace in her sister despite how chaotic everything else was.
And just like that, they slept the night away.