𝐂𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝗏𝖾ㅤㅤㅤ───ㅤㅤㅤ𝗉𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗋𝖺𝗂𝗍𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖽𝗈𝗀𝗌.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
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▬▬▬▬▬ㅤ 𝐎𝐎𝐏𝐒.

ㅤㅤThat was a word Aura was accustomed to saying a lot of times.

ㅤㅤLike when she accidentally set one of her mother's best shoes on fire trying to fix the wood inside the stove. Her mother arrived at the kitchen, now full of smoke, and all she could say was 'oops' while holding half a shoe in her hand.

ㅤㅤOr when Aura dropped Jack's book in the lake when he was trying to show a part of it to her. She tried to stop it before it touched the water, but ended up throwing it even farther away. All she said to his surprised face was 'oops' before she ran off to ask her father for some money to buy Jack a new book.

ㅤㅤOr when she found out that after five years of knowing him, Aura Mori was developing feelings for Jack Overland beyond their friendship.

ㅤㅤ"Oops." she whispered in her room when she arrived at the conclusion after reading the notes in her study table twice.

ㅤㅤOops indeed.

ㅤㅤSure, that was her objective a year ago, but, seeing as Aura saw him more as a friend now, it was too much for her to deal with.

ㅤㅤIf she was being honest, the girl didn't trust herself with those feelings. Aura had seen how powerful they could be━ people ran away with each other out of love, even Ernest had tried to. But, at the same time, it wasn't really love she was feeling, was it? Aura couldn't be completely sure of that. She was just feeling a bit sensitive from her loss ━although she really rather not even think about Ernest Pritchard, even when she was working with Jack to build a memorial in front of the library for him, it was all too new for her to be comfortable having him in her mind when he wasn't there physically━ and Jack was the only one who gave her the comfort she needed on the right time. Yes, that could be it. That had to be it.

ㅤㅤThe youngest Mori really wasn't ready to be in love yet, she hoped to have a few more years to prepare, that would be great.

ㅤㅤAura was fifteen now, whatever it was that she was feeling would have to be forced away as she was in her age to marry already.

ㅤㅤSpeaking of which;

ㅤㅤHer mother didn't waste any time. As soon as the son of an important business man from her father's job showed himself interested to get to know Aura in person, she forced Aura to eat much more than the girl was used to for an entire week just for the girl to look at least a little chubbier for a date in their house.

ㅤㅤ"Remember," her mother started, raising Aura's arms to be able to adjust the pink dress in her correctly. It was a little loose in the bust and hips since it wasn't made for Aura's body type, which is why her mother had stuffed the insides of the fabric with cotton. "When he arrives, you bow and say 'It is a pleasure to meet you, mister Oxley!', got that?"

ㅤㅤ"Got it." the blonde nodded in affirmation. Just before she could ask anything else about the man, there were three knocks on the front door that made both women jump in surprise.

ㅤㅤAura made a move to get the door, but her mother protested by holding her by the shoulders.

ㅤㅤ"Cosmo!" she called and the man rolled his eyes before he stood up from their father's chair and lazily walked towards the door. Aura and her mother tensed up in anxiety, every slow step of Cosmo's was like torture for the women. Deciding she had enough of his laziness, her mother clicked her tongue and finally snapped. "Get it already, boy!"

ㅤㅤ"Okay!" he rolled his eyes again and finally got to the door, opening it quickly and scaring the man behind it.

ㅤㅤ"Um," he started, and Aura had to hold in her laughter once she finally got a look of his face for the first time. His voice cracked when he tried to greet them and take his hat off at the same time. "Hello!"

ㅤㅤThat dumb looking man had the scruffiest black mustache Aura had ever seen. He had to he at least ten years older than her.

ㅤㅤHer mother pushed her, and the girl took that as a sign to greet him. She stepped forward, gave him a forced smile and bowed slowly, just as delicate as her mother had told her to be. Before Aura had even opened her mouth, the man took her hand and shook it a bit, then cleared his throat, only then noticing what he had done.

ㅤㅤ"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, miss Mori." he raised her hand and kissed the back of it ━Aura didn't even have to force a smile this time, the hairs on his mustache were so straight and thick that they tickled her knuckles━. The blonde became a bit irritated with how he pronounced her name, it was all wrong. Jack would never say it like that, she couldn't help but to compare.

ㅤㅤ"It's a pleasure to meet you too, mister Ox..." she glanced at her mother, who mouthed his name. "Ley."

ㅤㅤHe smiled at her and released her hand, tapping the top of his hat as if unsure of what to do next. Aura glanced at her mother again and the woman pointed at the teapot.

ㅤㅤ"Would you like some tea?" Aura asked in a robotic voice, gesturing in exaggerated but delicate movements.

ㅤㅤ"Ah! Yes, please." he nodded, accompanying them to the kitchen before sitting down and adjusting his chair to pretend to be busy just to not be doing nothing as Aura poured green tea into one of the fancy cups her mother had put out just for the occasion.

ㅤㅤ"So, mister Oxley, have I told you about Aura's good reputation at school?" her mother praised, sitting by the man's side as she smiled dearly at nothing in particular. "Her teachers only ever speak good of her. She's very good at many things outside of school too, Aura cooks for us when I'm unavailable and she has a good eye for sewing..."

ㅤㅤOne, two, three, four, five. Aura counted the seconds as she tilted the teapot just enough to pour the nasty green liquid ━good god, Aura despised that shade of green, it didn't go well with the orange tea set and that was distracting her so━, stopping just as the cup became full. Five was enough, then.

ㅤㅤ"...Isn't that right, Aura?"

ㅤㅤ"Hm? Ah, yes, yes." she paid no attention to her mother, raising the teapot to the next cup to start counting again.

ㅤㅤOne, two, three━

ㅤㅤ"I'm sorry, miss Mori, why are you counting?" mister Ox... ford giggled as he spoke. Aura hadn't noticed she was counting under her breath until now, and so her cheeks went pink in embarrassment.

ㅤㅤ"Ah, well... it's just to count the seconds of tea. I read in a book that depending on the seconds, there's a healthy dose of sugar that's enough for the cup you're drinking."

ㅤㅤ"Oh! That is interesting." mister Oxenfree nodded to her mother in approval and as soon as he wasn't looking she sent Aura two thumbs up. "How many seconds is my tea cup worth?"

ㅤㅤ"Five seconds exatcly. A sugar cube and a half should be enough." she mumbled, putting the teapot back down with a hint of irritation in her eyes because she lost count of her seconds and her teacup looked like it had six seconds instead of five, as it should be, but she didn't know if that was for certain and putting six seconds of tea worth of sugar could make it too sweet. That man just ruined her tea.

ㅤㅤ"Okay then, thank you." he followed her exact instructions and put only one sugar cube, then mixed, and cut another cube in half to put it in his tea, then mixed again.

ㅤㅤAura decided that she didn't like how he prepared his tea. Jack wouldn't prepare it like that, she compared again.

ㅤㅤShe was about to sit down when mister Oxwen stood up abruptly and put his hat away.

ㅤㅤ"Please, allow me." he stuttered as he rushed to stand behind her, pulling her chair back.

ㅤㅤThe girl slowly sat down in confusion as she stared at her mother, who smiled at his good manners, and frowned once he pushed the chair back into place and it got stuck into a bump in the wooden floor. Aura had to hold onto the table to not fall, the mister cleared his throat awkwardly and tried to push the chair again, this time successful.

ㅤㅤAs he sat down again, Aura took two sugar cubes and risked mixing them into her tea. She sipped on one second worth of tea, checking its sweetness, and sighed in satisfaction once she found out that it was the perfect amount. Six seconds, then. Now five, since one had just gone down her throat.

ㅤㅤShe glanced at the mister and held in her laughter once she saw him opening and closing his mouth like a fish, searching for ways to start a conversation.

ㅤㅤ"So..." he finally spoke, "What do you like to do on your free time, miss Mori?"

ㅤㅤAura glanced at her mother in panic, not knowing how to answer. Her mother did a movement with one of her closed fists that resembled a roaking boat and kept the other close, but unmoving. Aura sipped on another second of tea in tension.

ㅤㅤWhat the hell even was that?

ㅤㅤSailing? Knitting? Eating? Cooking? Reading? Fishing?

ㅤㅤ"Eating..." she guessed, but by the way her mother went pale and got more aggressive in her gestures, Aura knew that she had guessed wrong. "...Books."

ㅤㅤ"Eating books...?" mister Oxygen repeated with a confused smile.

ㅤㅤ"Yes," Aura nodded, quickly putting her hand down before she could tap her nose in order to think of an excuse to her senseless wording. Instead, she took her teacup and sipped on another second of tea. "Yes, as in consuming their knowledge."

ㅤㅤHer mother slowly nodded in approval of her quick thinking.

ㅤㅤ"Oh!" he giggled awkwardly. "I see. What kind of books do you like the most?"

ㅤㅤ"Romances," she didn't hesitate with the reply this time, and that made her mother raise her perfect eyebrows in surprise. "I adore romances."

ㅤㅤ"Ah, yes, I should've expected that from a young lady like yourself." mister Oxide nodded, clearly with no ill intentions in his words.

ㅤㅤ"I'm sorry, what is that supposed to mean?" Aura didn't understand his purity over the unintentional sexism he let out, she frowned and simply ignored her mother's glare by drinking another second of tea.

ㅤㅤ"Oh, I... well..." he stumbled over his words, going red in embarrassment. "Young woman do tend to fantasize about finding love, I've heard. I just thought━"

ㅤㅤ"I don't." she quickly spoke over him, sipping on her last second of tea. Five seconds, not six. Yet, the sugar had been the perfect amount, meaning Aura had been wrong. "I trust that you don't think all women have the same mindset on things, mister..." she gave up on trying to remembering his name, mumbling a word that started with 'Ox' instead. "I find it amusing what love can bring to one's mind, on my free time I study the different ways love can present itself in one's psychological thinking, which is why romance focused books tend to take place in my favorite kind. One thing that you'll learn about me in our time together, mister, is that if I want something in my life, I make it happen, I do not fantasize."

ㅤㅤHis widened eyes were enough to tell Aura that she spoke too much. To minimize her mother's scolds ━which absolutely were to happen after mister Ox-whatever was out of the house━ she smiled forcefully and placed her teacup back down with a 'tink!' that added a charm to the awkward silence.

ㅤㅤ"Which, of course, is why we're here in the first place." she waited until he gave her a smile of his own, then held her hands together on top of lap, well-mannered like she was supposed to be. "Would you like more tea?"

ㅤㅤ"No, no. I think I had enough tea for today." he stood up, Aura's mother almost looked a bit desperate to find an excuse to make him stay longer. Mister Ox-whatever took his hat and put it back in his head, then smiled awkwardly. "Well... uh..."

ㅤㅤ"It was a pleasure to meet you." Aura stood up and raised her hand for him. The man's smile widened and he chuckled, taking her hand and making her smile to contain her giggles once he kissed it softly.

ㅤㅤ"It was a pleasure to meet you too, miss Mori. You certainly are an intellectual, independent woman." he nodded slowly. "That would offend a few men, but not me. I've been told I can change women for the better, if you know what I mean."

ㅤㅤAura despised his laughter. She accompanied it with a fake laughter of her own, internally wishing she could strangle the man right there. Jack would never say something so perverted, she compared once more.

ㅤㅤ"I look forward to meeting you again. Missus Mori." he held his hat over his head to not let it fall as he nodded to Aura's mother, then he left with such confidence that Aura almost wished to throw up.

ㅤㅤAfter he was gone, Aura's mother glared at her. Of course Aura had been prohibited to leave her room after that, she didn't expect anything else.

ㅤㅤAt least now she had time to think about the tea.

ㅤㅤEither her knowledge of the sugar and tea had been wrong or the book's was. Either way, in that case, her knowledge on that was flawed, then what else could be and she had no idea?

ㅤㅤHer blue eyes scanned her study table, she couldn't help but to remember of Ernest's book. 'When Fear and Love Walked Together' hadn't taken place in her mind for so long that she had almost forgot it existed.

ㅤㅤAura liked to think she had grown mentally in the last two years, maybe her opinion on the mysterious English man's book had changed.

ㅤㅤThe girl sat on her windowsill, looking down at the distant ground. She could make it without Jack's help, of course she could. Aura took a deep breath before she forced her eyes closed and pushed herself out the window. She tried to roll as soon as she reached the floor, as she read it helped to minimize the impact, but the girl had no idea how to roll. She flopped to the side awkwardly and stayed laying in her back, refusing to move out of embarrassment.

ㅤㅤAs soon as she heard laughter, Aura turned her face to glare at Jack, who most likely watched the whole thing.

ㅤㅤ"Thank you for your help." she rolled her eyes, sitting up.

ㅤㅤ"Oh, you didn't need it." he shrugged. "You can take a fall, you're a strong girl."

ㅤㅤ"You said that before." she remembered with a smile, standing up to brush the dirt off her new dress. Great. Now Aura would have to come up with an excuse as to why her dress was dirty if she had been in her room the whole evening.

ㅤㅤ"Yeah, well, it's still true, what can I say?" he raised his hands in mock surrender and turned around. "Do you want to go to the lake?"

ㅤㅤ"Can't go right now, I have something to do." she explained, getting to the fence and clearing her throat to get Jack's attention.

ㅤㅤ"Oh, right." his eyebrows went up when he saw her struggling to jump over the fence. The boy held her by the hips and frowned as he pulled her to the other side. "Is that a new dress?"

ㅤㅤ"Yes, actually." Aura smiled, blushing as Jack was so quick to notice her clothes.

ㅤㅤ"It doesn't really look like..." he visibly struggled to find the right word. "You."

ㅤㅤ"Mother stuffed it with cotton." Aura sighed, analyzing her own state with a disappointed frown. She truly didn't look like herself.

ㅤㅤ"Oh." he laughed as he walked alongside the young Mori. "Why?"

ㅤㅤShe didn't answer. Instead, all Aura did was shrug.

ㅤㅤAs soon as they got to the public library, Jack gasped in surprise and understanding.

ㅤㅤ"Do you... want me to go in with you?" he asked quietly, putting his hand over Aura's shoulder to give her some kind of comfort.

ㅤㅤ"No." she ignored the lump in her throat, her face hardened and cold as could be. "I'm just here to get a book."

ㅤㅤJack nodded and took a step back, waiting by the side.

ㅤㅤAs soon as Aura walked in, she felt a wave of nostalgia hit her. Three years. She hadn't been there in three full years.

ㅤㅤ"Oh, it's you again!" the new librarian, Victor Loya, called from behind Ern━... his desk. He waved with a smile on his face, but Aura paid no attention to him, too surprised with the amount of people sitting around the tables.

ㅤㅤShe had never seen so many people in the library. Did they not like Ernest? Is that why the library rarely had anyone in it before?

ㅤㅤ"Um..." she walked to his table and shook her head to try and shake those thoughts away. "Yeah. Hi."

ㅤㅤ"Hi! I haven't seen you since... well." the man winced, feeling as he had spoken too much. Victor then cleared his throat and gave Aura a nice smile. She didn't see it, too focused on the flower shaped button he had in his coat. "Anyway, how can I help you?"

ㅤㅤ"I'm searching for a specific book. 'When Fear and Love Walked Together'. Do you still have it?" she tapped her fingers on the table in anxiety. Aura didn't want to be too hopeful on that, but she truly prayed for the book to still be there, somewhere. Victor hummed and narrowed his eyes, trying to remember what he had done with the book.

ㅤㅤ"Oh, yes! The book was in shambles, but I didn't want to get rid of it━ I didn't find any other copies of it, and I really like to keep history alive, so I left it in the back with the rest of the old librarian's things. He left a bunch of stuff here, you know?" he started rambling, and Aura almost saw a hint of Ernest in that side of Victor. She smiled at the thought and nodded in understanding.

ㅤㅤVictor nodded awkwardly for almost an entire minute before he sighed in what Aura could only guess was pity.

ㅤㅤ"I heard you were very close to him." she stiffened at that. "If you want, I can allow you in the back to get a few of his things, anything you think might keep his memory. I'm afraid you can't keep the book, though, since it's not my property nor his to give."

ㅤㅤ"It was his property, though." she tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Someone gave it to him."

ㅤㅤ"Oh, really?" Victor's eyebrows shot up, then he hummed. "Well, then I suppose you can take it with you, if that's what you'd like."

ㅤㅤ"No, I..." Aura raised her hands in front of herself, suppressing her surprise with how easily that man would simply give the book up. "I agree with you, I'd like to keep history alive. I think the only way to protect the book is to keep it here."

ㅤㅤ"Okay, then." he nodded, and went around his table to touch her shoulder in sympathy. "C'mon, little one."

ㅤㅤAura blinked, and turned around to hide her face from Victor. She tried her best to control her breathing as he guided her to the back of the library and then to a room she'd never been to before.

ㅤㅤLooking around, Aura silently gasped. So many wooden boxes around the room, she could almost smell whatever lasted of Ernest's cologne in there. There were a few paintings thrown behind the boxes or poorly hidden by red fabric torn in multiple pieces for there to be enough to cover most of the paintings.

ㅤㅤ"I found some paint and brushes as well but those were too broken and stinky to keep, I'm very sorry." Victor scratched the back of his own neck in embarrassment.

ㅤㅤ"Do you..." Aura gulped. She didn't want to cry, not now, not with someone looking. "Do you mind if I stay here for a while? Alone, I mean."

ㅤㅤ"Not at all, stay for as long as you want." he nodded and left her alone in the room.

ㅤㅤThe girl didn't know if it had been a mistake to ask to stay there alone or not, because as soon as he closed the door behind him, she broke down in tears. She wasn't loud, in fact, Aura let out no sounds at all, quietly crying in the room full of memories she didn't know existed.

ㅤㅤAfter she managed to calm down, Aura started to walk around the room, too scared to open one of the windows to let out the dust in fear that it would also let out the rest of Ernest's cologne.

ㅤㅤHer nose protested at that, the young girl sneezed so much her nose became red, but Aura barely noticed it. She became numb as soon as her tears stopped coming.

ㅤㅤShe felt so disconnected from her emotions that she began removing the fabrics covering the paintings with no fear that they would most likely make her even more melancholic.

ㅤㅤAura had no idea Ernest liked to paint.

ㅤㅤThere was a brown puppy with sad looking eyes hiding inside a flower vase in the first painting, the second one was just an old dog laying down with his eyes closed ━Aura could only hope he hadn't painted a dead dog━, the third was a dog running from a black cat ━which Aura quickly noticed was not Ernest's strong suit, the cat looked like a little fluffy twig with pointy ears━, the forth was a man in a pretty suit standing with a raised chin and narrowed eyes, he looked so serious that the girl almost shivered under his stare. Just like Aura, he was blonde and had blue eyes, but his face was much longer than hers and he had a more chic look to himself. If it weren't for that, Aura would've thought they were related.

ㅤㅤThe fifth painting made Aura's curiosity and numbness go away in a flash. It was her. Painted with a smile so wide that both her dimples were showing and holding Ernest's favorite book, the one from his childhood he said she would like and the start of all her studies.

ㅤㅤSuddenly Aura's legs weren't so strong anymore. She fell to the ground and took a deep breath, running her fingers through the delicate golden paint he used to do her hair. She looked so young there, and he painted her so well just by memory.

ㅤㅤMaybe that had been Ernest's special thing.

ㅤㅤShe stared at the painting for what seemed to be hours. Aura didn't think she'd ever grow tired of searching for new details everywhere in the painting, like how her name had been smartly hidden in the background wall, camouflaged as small markings in the wood.

ㅤㅤThe girl looked back at the painting of the man, searching for his name in the background out of curiosity. Arvel Lloyd, hidden between his ridiculously charming ponytail and the red wallpaper with golden star markings.

ㅤㅤArvel Lloyd.

ㅤㅤIt sounded familiar, somehow.

ㅤㅤSomething that reminded Aura of Ernest's book.

ㅤㅤAh, yes, the book!

ㅤㅤShe searched for it in all the boxes, and sighed in relief once she found it the same way she had left it three years before ━Aura had no idea why, but she expected it to be even worse with the way Victor had been describing it━.

ㅤㅤAura sat by one of the windows to have enough light to read it, she opened the first page and jumped in surprise when one of the pages fell out.

ㅤㅤ'The pages are still intact' he said. Aura scoffed and rolled her eyes, picking up the page to put it back. She frowned at the state of the page, yellowed and brown at the corners.

ㅤㅤBefore she could compare it with the next page, she finally realized that it was no part of the book. Aura had just found a letter.

ㅤㅤDear Aura,

ㅤㅤShe froze. Aura stood up abruptly and put the letter safely back inside the book before she ran back to the front of the library.

ㅤㅤ"I changed my mind," she told Victor, who stared in shock at her sudden appearance. "I'm gonna bring the book home with me, but I'll bring it back as soon as I'm done."

ㅤㅤ"O-Okay?" he mumbled.

ㅤㅤAura hurried off the library and ran into someone as soon as she was out the door.

ㅤㅤ"Woah, careful!" Jack held her by the shoulders before she could fall and helped her stand. "You were there for a while, are you okay?"

ㅤㅤ"You were waiting for me out here for this long?" Aura's eyes widened, she had been in the library for at least an hour.

ㅤㅤ"I said I would, didn't I?" he shrugged, a playful smile in his face.

ㅤㅤ"No," she shook her head. "You didn't."

ㅤㅤ"Oh." the boy blushed in embarrassment before he scratched the back of his own neck. "Well..."

ㅤㅤ"Thank you." she smiled minimally, hugging the book to stop herself from hugging him.

ㅤㅤJack nodded, looking away while hiding a smile of his own with the back of his hand.

ㅤㅤ"He was a painter," she pointed at Ernest's picture in the memorial they had built. "Did you know?"

ㅤㅤ"No, I didn't." Jack tilted his head in curiosity. "What did he paint?"

ㅤㅤ"Portraits and dogs." she smiled at Ernest. "And I think they're all by memory."

ㅤㅤ"Woah! And was he good?" Jack's eyebrows shot up in amazement.

ㅤㅤAura hummed in affirmation, then gave a long sigh. She wished to stay out with Jack a bit longer, but Ernest's letter couldn't wait, it just couldn't.

ㅤㅤThe youngest Mori ran back home and hopped up on her window with Jack's help so fast that she ended up falling with a thud on the other side.

ㅤㅤJack laughed at the sound from outside, and Aura had to shush him away as her mother knocked on the door to check on her.

ㅤㅤAs soon as she was alone, Aura took the chance to sit down and calm herself down a bit before she threw the book over her notes on the study desk and opened it.

ㅤㅤDear Aura,

ㅤㅤShe paused. Was she really ready to read it?

ㅤㅤAura tapped the tip of her nose in thought. That letter was all she had left to pretend he was still there, waiting for her at the library. If she was over with it so soon, Ernest would go away for good much faster than she was ready to let him go.

ㅤㅤThough, even if she wasn't ready, he would have to become only a memory at some point. Aura would have to get used to it, to accept it and take her chance before whatever she had left of him was taken from her forcefully.

ㅤㅤDear Aura,

I'm hoping you give this book another chance while I'm out, this letter was made in case you did.

This book was given to me by my former mentor, Arvel Lloyd, who wrote it also. I know you don't agree with his beliefs, but I see a lot of him in you.

I truly admire your strong will, Aura Mori, as I admired his. You are a wonder, always enlightening me with your creative opinions.

I know not if you see me as a mentor, but I do hope I somehow manage to inspire you as much as my own did.

ㅤㅤThere was a scribbled paragraph, Aura could only manage to catch the words "sorry", "own" and "daughter".

If you read the book, write everything you disagree with and why, that should help you. Show me your notes once I'm back, I'll be more than happy to know of your vision on it.

It is yours to keep now, I'm passing it to you as mister Lloyd did to me.

— 𝓔𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓽

ㅤㅤAura didn't even notice she was crying until she let out a quiet hic. She wished Jack was there to tackle her again, as he had done when she finally let herself mourn.

ㅤㅤEven with the big tears making her unable to see well, Aura was smiling. Truly smiling. It was hers now, it was her book, she had to keep it.

ㅤㅤHis letter was placed over her bed, stuck in the wood with a single needle she could find in the house.

ㅤㅤAura took off the flower shaped button from her coat's pocket and put it with the rest of her collection, then went to lay down in her bed, not able to stop smiling.

ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ𝐎𝐎𝐏𝐒.

ㅤㅤThere's that word again.

ㅤㅤIt seemed as it was the only proper reaction to Aura when she was caught doing something she shouldn't do.

ㅤㅤAt that moment, the thing she wasn't supposed to be doing was being out with Jack Overland. Not only that, but sleding with him.

ㅤㅤAura screamed in pure excitement as they went down the snowy hill near Burgess' lake in such a high speed that the wind in their ears didn't let them hear well enough to notice how loud they were being.

ㅤㅤOf course she wasn't the one to have that idea, however it seemed that Aura agreed with whatever Jack told her to do, so it was partially her fault.

ㅤㅤThey lost control of the sled at the end of the hill and finished going down rolling over each other until they were at the frozen lake, right by the border.

ㅤㅤJack's laughter was contagious, she couldn't help but to laugh along. He took a glance at her hair and gasped, making Aura worry for it.

ㅤㅤ"Your hair!" he pointed at it, and the girl immediately took hold of a single curl to look at it.

ㅤㅤ...Curl.

ㅤㅤThat couldn't be right. Aura had no curls, her hair was as straight as could be.

ㅤㅤAura glanced over at her reflection on the lake━

ㅤㅤAs impossible as it seemed, the sight of curly blonde hair was enough proof to Aura.

ㅤㅤHer mom was going to kill her when she got home looking so different.

ㅤㅤWith that thought, Aura laughed even more than before. Jack laughed with her, encouraging the reaction to her new hair.

ㅤㅤ"Aura!" she looked at Jack, only to find out he hadn't been the one to call her.

ㅤㅤShe turned to look at her mother, the woman stood red faced and with her arms crossed━ never a good sight.

ㅤㅤ"Oops." Aura mumbled.

ㅤㅤOops indeed.

ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤ𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃, that was the new normal to Aura when she was in her room.

ㅤㅤShe played with the lock on her window, wondering how she would break it without her mother knowing━ she knew it was impossible, but daydreaming seemed to be her only escape now. Thinking of how reality was for her... hurt, as much as she denied it.

ㅤㅤEverything was shit.

ㅤㅤAnd it was all her mother's fault.

ㅤㅤOh, how her hatred for that woman had grown over the past few weeks. Sure, one could say that she only thought that because the woman had separated her from Jack Overland just as she had figured out she liked him as more than a friend, but it was more than that. Although that reason did play a big part on Aura's hatred for her mother━

ㅤㅤShe liked him. Aura truly liked him, in the purest way she'd ever thought she could.

ㅤㅤBut now there was no way to explore those feelings, as she was now a prisoner with her door wide open and her window locked.

ㅤㅤIntelligent as she was, Aura knew immediately that the door was only to remain open so that her mother could shove her authority down her throat, that woman wanted to make it clear that she was the owner of Aura until a man took over her place.

ㅤㅤAnd, apparently, the man to take over Aura's ownership was the damn Oxygen man. She did not care about him enough to remember his name, Aura only cared for Jack Overland━

ㅤㅤBut don't confuse her feelings! She liked Jack, is all. She did not love him; she felt no desire to marry him nor to start a family with him. Aura felt as though she was incapable of feeling anything beyond what she felt.

ㅤㅤBut it did not matter if she liked, loved or desired the boy, as he was too far away now.

ㅤㅤAnyway, that was not the reason she grew to hate her mother so much. But although she thought about it for the longest time, Aura could not figure out what was it that she hated about that woman.

ㅤㅤIt was infuriating, to not be able to point out why she felt the things she did.

ㅤㅤShe tapped the window instead of her nose, the sound of glass was much more appreciated than the silence of touching skin. One, two, three, four...

ㅤㅤFive. Jack was out the window, jumping the fence, waiting for her.

ㅤㅤAura looked at her door, carefully taking in the silence, then shook her head, pointing at the lock on her windows as she struggled to show it to Jack through the glass.

ㅤㅤHe frowned and started to draw on the snow with his foot.

ㅤㅤ"Why?" he wrote.

ㅤㅤAura shrugged, pointing at him.

ㅤㅤJack seemed to understand what she meant, because he sighed heavily and hoped over what he had written to erase it, then started writing again.

ㅤㅤ"Sorry" he wrote, and her heart broke a little for the boy.

ㅤㅤAura ran to her desk and took a paper and a pen, quickly writing something in big letters so he would be able to understand what she had written as she pressed the paper against her window.

ㅤㅤ"Don't you dare apologize." she wrote harshly, even when her words were meant to be comforting.

ㅤㅤJack jumped on his apology to erase it, then remained still for a moment, deciding if it was a good idea to stay there. In the end, he only waved at Aura and went back home.

ㅤㅤShe placed her hand on the window, wishing he would've stayed with her, even if not talking to her at all. Even when he wasn't speaking, it was never silent when she was with Jack Overland.

ㅤㅤHowever, it was silent in her house━ Aura felt that it was easier to feel lonely in a house so big that it sounded silent all of the time, and she didn't like that.

ㅤㅤOne, two, three, four, five... she waited for Jack to show up again.

ㅤㅤHe didn't. It was silent.

ㅤㅤOne, two, three...

ㅤㅤAura didn't feel like counting anymore.

ㅤㅤShe heard someone cough and turned back to see her brother, Cosmo, at the door.

ㅤㅤ"What?" she impatiently asks, however he quickly shuts her up by placing his index over his own mouth.

ㅤㅤCosmo points at another door━ the room he shared with their older brother.

ㅤㅤConfused, Aura stands from her place under the window and follows him inside the room, only to be faced with an open window and a set of stairs under it.

ㅤㅤ"I don't like your fiance one bit. I much prefer Jack over him." he crossed his arms, mumbling the words just in case their parents were close enough to be able to hear him.

ㅤㅤHe was wrong, the silly mustache man was not yet her fiance. But Aura did not correct him, as she was too shocked with the help she was given.

ㅤㅤInstead, the girl stares at her brother for a moment before she smiles ever so slightly.

ㅤㅤ"Me too."

ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ

abrupt ending much?

yea I forgot I had to end this chapter somewhere and ended up writing too much :"D

I do have to say tho, I'M SO EXCITED TO WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTERRRRRRR AAAAAAAAA

I won't tell u why tho.................

no really, I won't tell u why

anyway, don't ask me if I cried writing ernest's letter, you already know I did.

I never thought I'd feel this emotional over a character who was always dead since the beginning of the story for me </3 i miss him guys

do you guys know the old teacher in anne with an e??? the asshole one.

yep, that's who I based mr oxley on, ESPECIALLY his appearance

he's suck a dick <3<3

anyway, stan cosmo mori!!!!

I won't bore you guys any longer, this chapter is already long as it is

have a great day/evening/night!!! ily, byeeee

- beex