- Turtle-chan
You wake up the next morning to someone jumping onto your
chest. Your eyes snap open and you see
Sally’s bloody little face over yours with a big grin on her face and a
sparkling in her green eyes.
“Morning,
(y/n)!” she shouts.
You
blink and you feel your mouth slip into a smile. “Good morning, Sally. Could you please get off of me? You’re smushing me,” you groan.
Her
eyes widen a little and she jumps off of you.
“Oh, sorry!” she exclaims.
“It’s
fine,” you tell her as you sit up. You
feel something ruffle your hair and you turn around.
“Morning,
Sleeping Beauty,” Jane says. She’s
holding a bundle of cloth in her free hand.
“Good
morning, Jane,” you giggle as you swing your legs over the edge of the hospital
bed. “What brings you here so early?”
“Get
decent and then I’m taking you over to the girl’s rooms so you can take a shower
and get freshened up,” Jane tells you as she hands you the bundle of clothes
she had been holding. “Don’t worry. I got E.J.’s permission.” She winks suggestively and you try not to
blush.
“After
you take your bath, can we play dress up?” Sally asks Jane, clinging to her
teddy bear.
Jane
smiles down at her and says,” Of course!
That’s why I brought you along!”
You
finish slipping on the pair of jeans and shirt you had been wearing the night
before. You try to ignore the sick
feeling in the pit of your stomach that you get when you realize someone must
have changed your clothes for you while you were asleep. “Thanks for doing this for me, Jane. You too, Sally,” you tell them.
“All
ready, then?” Jane asks, turning back to look at you as the three of you step
out of the room.
You nod
and Sally takes your hand while Jane loops her arm through yours like she did
the night before. She pats your hand and
gives you a smile before leading you down the crazy, winding hallways.
“So,
how are you liking it here so far?” Jane asks you.
“It’s
alright. I get a little lonely in that
room all the time, but E.J. walks around with me a lot,” you tell her.
“E.J.
just wants to keep you to himself,” Jane chuckles teasingly.
“I’m
sure it’s not like that. It’s just that
sometime shortly after I got here, Jeff and Ben both tried to kill me and it
caused some trouble, so he’s just trying to keep me safe,” you tell her,
feeling embarrassed that she keeps suggesting that there’s something going on
between you and E.J. In hindsight, you
know that you would have been offended if anyone else talked to you as
familiarly as Jane does when you haven’t known them for more than a few hours,
but you feel like you’ve met Jane before.
Actually, you kind of feel like you’ve met most of the people here
before. Their weirdness doesn’t even faze
you anymore.
“L.J.
says that he wants you to come play with us again,” Sally tells you, tugging at
your hand.
You
look down at her and smile. “I’d love
to! I had fun with you guys yesterday!”
you tell her.
A confused look crosses her
face. “You played with us three days
ago,” she tells you.
“Really?” you ask. “It had to have been yesterday. I went and played with you and then I…”
“Hush, Sally,” Jane hisses,
interrupting you. “Don’t worry about
it. Right now, all you need to worry
about is getting yourself all cleaned up and then you can have some fun girl
time with me and Sally!”
The three of you come to a stop in
front of a door that looks just like all of the rest of them, but when Jane
opens it, the walls are painted a gorgeous blood red. You step inside and Sally skips over to sit
on Jane’s bed which is made up neatly with a black comforter and some black,
red, and white throw pillows. There are
a few photographs on the walls of houses and cemeteries and one of a bloody
knife. You would think that pictures
like that would be disturbing, but they just look elegant and darkly
beautiful. Basically, it’s the perfect
room for Jane.
“Here, you can go in and take a
shower. The towels are in the cabinet
and you can just put your clothes in the basket. The soap is in the shower already. Take as long as you want to,” Jane tells you.
“Thanks,” you tell her, giving her
a smile as you shut the door. You look
around and find the cabinet she mentioned.
You open it up and pull out a soft black towel and then close it
again. You go over to the tub and turn
the water on and wait for it to heat up.
While you’re waiting, you pull your clothes off and put them into what
you assume is the laundry basket. You
glance at yourself in the mirror and notice that you’ve lost a lot of
weight. You look pale and your cheeks
are sallow. The stitches from where Jeff
cut you are still there and you bring a hand up to touch them, but you decide
against it before you make contact. You
can see your ribs through your skin and your hair is tangled and brittle. You shudder at the sight. You look like a skeleton.
The water has heated up by now, so
you get in and turn the shower on. The
hot water beats down on your skin and it stings a little bit, but it’s
enjoyable. You let the water run down
your body and through your tangled hair.
You look down and notice that there are stitches in your side as well
and you remember that E.J. had taken one of your kidneys. You sigh and lean against the cool tile of
the wall. You know that you just woke
up, but you’re tired already.
You allow yourself a few moments of
rest before straightening back up and starting to get cleaned off. You find a bottle of shampoo and pour some
into your hand and scrub it into your hair, all the way to your scalp. Your fingers catch on the tangles, but it
feels good to get your hair clean. You
have no idea how long it has been since you’ve showered. You throw your head back into the stream of
hot water and rinse all of the suds out.
Your hair hangs down and sticks itself to your wet skin. You move on and rub some conditioner into
your hair to make brushing it easier.
You let the conditioner sit while
you clean your body. Jane has some red
soap sitting near the shampoo and conditioner, so you pick it up and pour a
drop into a washrag and lather it up.
You rub the soap all over your body and the scent of roses fills the
air. You breathe in the pleasant aroma
and let it surround you.
After letting yourself just enjoy
the feeling of being clean for a few moments, you rinse yourself off and get
out of the shower. You dry yourself off
with the fluffy towel and then try to dry your hair a little bit too. When you’re done, you wrap the towel around
your body and tuck the loose end in under your arm. You peek your head out the door into Jane’s
room where she’s lying back on her bed and reading a book about serial killers. Sally is sitting on the floor by her bed and
playing with Charlie.
“Um, I kind of don’t have any
clothes,” you say uncomfortably.
They both look up at you and Jane
gets up off of her bed. “No
problem! That’s why Sally and I are
here. We’re going to find you some clothes
that suit you,” she says cheerfully.
Sally nods excitedly from behind her.
“Oh, okay. Um, could we maybe get me dressed soon,
though? It’s kind of cold,” you tell
them, shivering.
They both laugh and Jane sits you
down on a chair in her room while she and Sally go raid her closet. You feel kind of uncomfortable being
basically naked in front of other people, even if they are both girls. You glance out the window as you wait for
someone to give you some clothes to put on.
The trees are full of dead, brown leaves and the sky is grey. It all just seems so dreary and you
sigh. You just feel kind of low, for
some reason.
Jane and Sally come skipping back
over to you with what looks like several different outfits in their arms. Jane hands you the bra and panties you had
been wearing when you were taken from your home and you notice that they have
been laundered. You take them from her
with a little embarrassment. Sally hands
you a bundle of pink clothing and you take it from her with a smile and a nod
of thanks.
“Well, go get dressed,” Jane says
excitedly, shooing you into the bathroom.
You go and close the door behind
you. You let the towel fall to the floor
as you slip into your undergarments. You
then try to put on the outfit that Sally picked out for you. You can’t help but laugh that she’s picked a
dress out for you that’s a similar shade of pink to her nightgown. You don’t think it really looks good on you,
but you walk out in it for the little girl’s sake.
“Ooohh! You look great, (y/n)!” she exclaims,
clapping her hands together happily.
Jane looks at you appraisingly and
puts a long, slender, white finger up to her perfect black lips. “You know, Sally, I don’t think this style
suits her,” she says.
Sally looks up at her
indignantly. “What? She looks so cute, though!” Sally says.
“Well, she always looks cute, but I
just don’t think the Lolita look is what suits her,” Jane says
thoughtfully. “Oh, here! Try this one on!”
She tosses you another bundle of
clothes and you take them with you into the bathroom. You slip the pink dress off of your body and
over your head. You then unfold the
bundle and see what you’re supposed to be trying on next. It looks like it’s a simple pair of black
skinny jeans and a dark purple blouse.
You squeeze yourself into the jeans
and marvel at how much more comfortable than you thought they’d be they
are. You then put on the blouse. It’s a very form-fitting shirt with corset
lacing on the front. You tighten the
laces up until the shirt conforms to your shape. You take a glance in the mirror and feel
amazed at how transformative clothing can be.
Before, you had thought you looked very sickly, but with the clothes on
you look almost normal.
You walk out into Jane’s room and
her face breaks out into a huge grin.
“You. Look. Amazing!” she shouts, running over and
flinging her arms around you.
You blush a little and say,
“Thanks, Jane.”
“You look really pretty,” Sally
says happily. “Charlie thinks so too.”
“Oh, I’m awesome,” Jane says,
releasing you. “Okay, let’s go fix your
hair up and put some makeup on you.”
You find yourself getting shoved
back into the bathroom again and Jane whips out a red brush and starts to
gently comb through the tangles in your hair.
Sally sits on the ground and talks to Charlie while Jane works.
“You have such nice hair, (y/n),” Jane
tells you.
“Oh, not really,” you tell
her. “It used to be nice, but I feel
like I’ve started looking pretty rough lately.”
Jane smiles at you
benevolently. “Well, I don’t really have
any hair, so almost anybody has nice hair to me,” she tells you and continues
brushing.
“What? What happened to your hair?” you ask her.
“Same thing that happened to the
rest of me. Jeff,” she says and you can
hear anger in her voice.
“What did Jeff do to you?” you ask,
afraid of what answer she might give.
“He killed my parents and then set
me on fire and left me to die,” she
says tightly, brushing a little too hard.
You wince, but don’t pull
away. You’re horrified and saddened by
what she’s told you, but you don’t know what to say. “Oh, Jane…” is all you can come up with.
She shakes her head. “Don’t get upset over it. Old wounds and all. I’m going to kill him one day, the bastard,”
she tells you.
You’re both silent as she finishes
brushing your hair and then she blows it dry.
She parts it to one side and fastens the hair that gets into your face
to the back of your head with a pretty purple flower clip. She steps back to admire her work with a look
of pleasure. “There! Now all that’s left is to do your makeup,”
she says happily. “What kind of makeup
do you usually wear?”
“Um, I don’t really wear any
makeup, actually,” you tell her, feeling a little abashed. You’ve always been too lazy to learn to do
makeup.
“That’s fine. I’ll do something light and see how you like
it, then,” she tells you, pulling out a white makeup bag with red splatters on
it.
She pulls out a stick of black
eyeliner, a tube of mascara, and some light colored foundation. You close your
eyes while she applies the foundation to your skin and then open them when
she’s done. You look up at the ceiling
as she applies the eyeliner to your bottom eyelids and then brushes the mascara
onto your lashes. She looks down at you
appraisingly and then digs around in her makeup bag again. She puts something on your lips that’s kind
of thick and creamy, and then looks at you again and breaks into a huge grin.
“Oh yeah! You look amazing!” she tells you happily.
You brave a glance in the mirror
and almost faint from shock. The girl
looking back out at you looks dark and mysterious. The dark purple of her shirt and lipstick
just enhance her dark beauty. You reach
up and touch your face tentatively, not trusting yourself to believe that it’s
you that you’re seeing.
“Oh my gosh… Jane, thank you so much,” you breathe, still
in awe at your transformation.
Sally runs over and hugs you. “You’re so pretty!” she squeals. “I knew Jane could fix you right up!”
“This is amazing… Jane, could you teach me how to do this on my
own?” you ask her eagerly.
“Of course. You didn’t even have to ask,” she answers,
smiling down at you.
Sally had run out into Jane’s room
for a moment and now she runs back into the bathroom. “Jane, it’s almost time for dinner. Daddy Slender doesn’t like it when we’re
late. He says that only hula-hoops are
late for dinner,” she exclaims with a concerned look on her face.
You and Jane glance at each other
and giggle for a moment. “I think you
mean ‘hooligans,’ Sally,” you tell her kindly.
“Oh yeah, hoogilans!” she says,
still struggling a little with the word.
“Don’t worry about us being late, Sally. I was just about to say that we needed to
start heading downstairs,” Jane assures her.
“Okay!” Sally chirps. “I’ll go tell Charlie!”
Jane glances at herself in the
mirror and straightens a few stray hairs on what you’re now assuming is her
wig. Then, she straightens out her
pretty black sweater and nods at her reflection approvingly. “Well, that’s as good as it’s going to get, I
guess. You ready to head down, (y/n)?” she
says, looking at you out of the corner of her eye. Or you assume that’s what she’s doing. It’s a little hard to tell since her eyes are
black and her makeup is too.
“Yep,” you tell her, giving her a
smile.
She leads the way out of the
bathroom and you follow her. As you pass
by, Sally takes your hand and you both walk out into the hallway with
Jane. She and Sally make sure that you
find your way through the crazy hallways without getting lost and it seems like
you’re standing in front of the doors to the dining room in no time.
When you enter, there is no one
there except for the three of you, Masky, Hoodie, and the Slender Man
himself. The three men are setting the
table. The Slender Man has his hands and
tentacles full of plates with a variety of foods on them, ranging from the
delicious to the disgusting. Masky and
Hoodie are setting out plates, silverware, and napkins. Sally wastes no time in letting go of your
hand and running over to the Slender Man, attaching herself to one of his long,
thin legs and shouting,” Daddy Slender!”
He turns his faceless white head
down to look at her and places one of the dishes on the table before using his
newly freed hand to pat her on the head.
“Hello, Sally,” the whispery, static-filled voice says in your head.
“Look at what Jane and I did to
(y/n)! We made her all pretty!” Sally
exclaims happily.
The Slender Man turns his head
toward you and nods, looking back down at Sally. “I see that.
You did a very good job. She
looks lovely,” he says and you blush a little at the compliment.
“Do you need any help, Mr.
Slender?” Jane asks. It seems like she’s
very polite around him.
“Oh no, my dear. I believe we can take care of it. Thank you for the offer, however,” Slender
Man responds.
“Alright. Well, come with me, (y/n). We can go into the common room to wait for
the others,” she says, lightly touching you on the arm.
You follow her out into the room
where you had seen the Puppeteer and Helen the night before and she sits down
on the couch where Jeff had been. “So
how are you feeling, (y/n)?” Jane asks you.
You think for a moment before
responding. “I’m a little tired, but I
feel fine otherwise,” you tell her.
“Oh good! E.J. said that you’d probably get tired
easily and that I didn’t need to push you too hard,” she says with a
smile. “He worries about you a lot, you
know.”
“Well, he’s a doctor. Of course he doesn’t want to create more work
for himself,” you tell her, trying to push away thoughts of what she’s
insinuating.
Jane laughs at you a little,
noticing what you’re trying to do. “Oh,
there’s no need to get so embarrassed.
I’m just teasing you,” she tells you.
“I know,” you respond. “I guess I just don’t really know how to
interact very well. Before I came here,
I never really had any friends.”
“Aw, well you have friends now,”
Jane tells you, squeezing one of your hands in her cool, gloved ones.
You giggle. “Thanks, Jane,” you say with a smile.
Someone walks into the room while
you’re laughing together and you both look up with smiles on your faces, but
Jane’s immediately turns into a frown.
“Jeff, what are you doing here?” she demands in a cold voice.
Jeff chuckles and fingers the blade
of his knife. “I live here too, don’t
I?” he responds, coming to lean on the back of the couch where the two of you
are sitting with his smiling face between you and Jane. He doesn’t take his eyes off of her for a
second.
“Unfortunately you do, but that’ll
change as soon as I kill you,” she says angrily. You wonder how often she’s said that to him
before.
Jeff chuckles again. “Whatever you say, babe,” he tells her. Then, he turns and looks at you. “Looking good, (y/n). That pale skin of yours really makes the
stitches stand out.”
“Thanks, I guess,” you say warily.
“No problem. Maybe E.J. and I would make a good team after
all. I could cut ‘em and he could stitch
‘em. No worries,” Jeff says cockily,
eying Jane as he does so.
Jane obviously has just realized
how you got those scars and she looks royally pissed. “Jeff…” she says slowly and calmly. “Are you the one that cut (y/n)?”
“What do you think?” Jeff asks,
fingering the blade of his knife.
“I think,” Jane starts out, slowly
drawing her own knife. “That I AM GOING
TO KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!!!!”
“Jane!” you exclaim, worried that
your new friend might get hurt by Jeff or punished by the Slender Man for
fighting.
“Oh, just let her get it out,
(y/n),” Jeff says, easily fending off Jane’s attacks. “I can take care of myself.”
“I wasn’t worried about you, you
idiot!” you shout before you have time to think about it. They both stop fighting and look at you. Jane looks amazed and Jeff looks amused, but
it’s hard to tell really when he’s smiling all the time.
“Ooh, someone’s got some spirit
after all,” Jeff says laughingly. “Maybe
you will be alright here in the end.”
“Just shut up, Jeff. You don’t know when it’s best to keep your
mouth shut,” you snap, deciding to just roll with it.
“Alright, alright. I get the message,” Jeff says, holding his
hands up in a gesture of surrender.
“I’ll catch you ladies later.”
“Ooohh, I just hate him so much!”
Jane exclaims, her hands balled up into fists at her sides.
“He’s annoying sometimes, but I’m
sure he’s not all bad,” you tell her, hoping she’ll calm down.
She looks at you
incredulously. “Of course he is! I can’t think of a single time he’s been nice
to anyone!” she says. She’s still very
angry.
“Well…” you start to say,
remembering the night he guarded you for E.J. but you decide it might be best
to not mention it.
“Well what?” Jane asks, not
sounding angry anymore but curious, rather.
“Nothing,” you say, shaking your
head. “I was just thinking that maybe we
should go see if it’s time for dinner yet.”
Jane stares at you appraisingly for
a few moments before smiling at you again.
“Alright, let’s go. I want to see
how E.J. reacts to your new look,” she says teasingly.
You blush a little bit, as you
generally do when she teases you, but you’re happy that she seems to have
forgotten her anger for the moment. You
follow her into the dining room and she drags you over to sit in the chair next
to her. Everyone seems to be trickling
in and most of the chairs are filled.
You look up to see E.J. walk in and sit down in the chair across from
you.
“Hi, E.J.,” you say quietly,
smiling at him.
“H…,” E.J. starts to say, but he
trails off when he looks up at you. His
eye sockets face toward you and even without having the ability to see his
facial expression, you can tell he’s surprised.
Jane starts laughing beside
you. “Cat got your tongue, E.J.?” she
giggles.
E.J. doesn’t respond. He just keeps staring at you and you’re
starting to blush. “Um, E.J.? Is something wrong?” you ask him
uncomfortably.
E.J. shakes his head slightly, like
he’s trying to dislodge water from his ears.
“No, no. I just didn’t recognize
you at first,” he says in a tense, overly deep voice. “You, um.
You look good.”
“Th-thanks,” you say, feeling your
blush deepening.
Jane looks like she’s going to fall
out of her chair laughing. Someone sits
down in the chair on the other side of you.
You hear a familiar laugh join in with Jane’s and you look up into the
face of Laughing Jack.
“Hee hee! You look gorgeous, sweetie,” Laughing Jack
tells you between giggles. You thank him
a little uncomfortably and he laughs even more.
“I’m surrounded by idiots,” E.J.
mutters as he reaches over to put a kidney on his plate.
You can’t help but smile and you
try to hide it behind your hand. You
wait until everyone around you has finished reaching around for food until you
decide to try to get something to eat yourself.
You reach for a salad again, but E.J. speaks up and you stop.
“(y/n), you need to eat something
with a little more substance than that.
I commend you on trying to eat healthily, but you’ve lost a lot of
weight since you came here and you need to make sure your body is properly
nourished,” he tells you quietly.
“O-oh. Okay,” you say, not sure what you should eat.
“Would you like to try a bite of my
kidney?” E.J. asks you jokingly. He has
pushed his mask up off of his mouth so that he can eat and you see his cracked
lips turn up into a smile.
“I think I’ll pass on that, E.J.,”
you laugh. You look around again, still
not sure what to eat.
“Would you like some candy, sugar
puff?” Laughing Jack asks you with a chuckle.
“No thank you. Somehow I don’t think that really counts as
nutritious,” you tell him with a smile.
You reach over to grab a slice of
bread to make a sandwich with, but a large, pale, leathery hand gets there
first. You look up and see Jeff holding
four slices of bread in one hand and his knife in the other. “Allow me,” he says dramatically and darkly.
Jeff sets the slices of bread out
and begins to attack them with strawberry jelly like he had done the night
before. It’s a little scary that he
looks so happy doing it, but it’s also kind of funny. He’s like a little kid.
When he’s finished, Jeff slaps the
top slice of bread onto both sandwiches and hands yours over to you. You take it from him and thank him. Jane sits next to you with her arms crossed,
glaring at Jeff who you have just now realized is sitting across from her. Crap.
“Um, so Jane. Are there any other girls around here except
for you and Sally?” you ask her nervously, trying to distract her attention.
She continues glaring at Jeff who
is now licking the jelly off of his knife while staring Jane down. “It depends on the day, but yeah. I can really only think of two others who are
here right now, though. Luna and
Clockwork. They’re both younger than you
though, probably. Well, actually I have
no idea how old Luna is. She doesn’t
talk at all. And Clockwork pretty much
keeps to herself,” she tells you.
“Oh, well that’s kind of sad. At least there are girls, though, I guess,”
you say, not really sure where to take the conversation.
Luckily for you, everyone is
content to eat in silence. Well, not
quite silence because Laughing Jack is always giggling over something, but
there’s no conversation. You all manage
to finish eating without a fight breaking out and everyone moves off into the
common room like they had done the night before.
A kid in a Link outfit walks up to
Jeff and punches him in the arm. “Hey,
we need a fourth player. You wanna
join?” he asks. You recognize him to be
Ben and you involuntarily shrink closer to Jane and E.J.
Jeff agrees to join and starts
walking over, but Ben notices you. “Oh,
it’s (y/n). ‘Sup?” he says, tipping his
chin upward and staring at you with his lifeless eyes.
“Nothing much,” you respond, trying
not to seem afraid. “You?”
“Nothing much,” he says
casually. “See ya around.”
You sigh with relief as he walks
off, but you jump when you feel a hand on your shoulder. You whip around to see the Puppeteer grinning
down at you.
“Hey, Kitty,” he says, winking down
at you.
You loosen up and smile. “Hey, Nightcrawler,” you say, smiling at him.
He laughs a deep, warm laugh. “So hey, do you guys want to come hang out
with me and Helen again? He fell asleep
right after dinner and I want to play a prank on him!” he says mischievously.
You and Jane exchange a look and
you both smile. “Sure!” you tell him.
He grins and beckons for you to
follow him. “Come on, then!” he says,
taking off for the loveseat where Helen lay sleeping.
You walk after him, as does an
amused Jane and a reluctant E.J. Helen
is curled up on the love seat with one arm underneath his head and his
sketchpad lying next to him. Puppeteer
glances down at him and then back up at you.
“So what should we do?” he asks.
You keep looking at the sketch pad
and, before you realize it, you’ve picked it up. Puppeteer, Jane, and even E.J. crowd around
with you to see what sorts of things Helen draws. As you flip through it, you’re amazed by his
skill, but you also feel a little sad looking at the pictures. For some reason, even the pictures where
everyone is smiling seem sad. It’s
strange, but it also gives you an idea.
You flip to a blank page right after Helen’s last drawing and you pick
up his pencil. You sit down on the chair
across from the love seat where he is sleeping and you start to draw.
At first, Jane and Puppeteer look
over your shoulder to see what you’re doing, but you refuse to let them see it,
so they get bored and they start talking together. You keep glancing up at Helen, taking in his
soft, almost girlish features. You also
notice that he wears a smiley face button on his blue jacket and you wonder if
that’s always been there. It takes you a
little while, but you’re finally happy with the result and you close the
sketchpad and put it beside Helen again.
“So, what did you do?” Jane asks
you.
You smile. “It’s a secret,” you tell her. The Puppeteer reaches over to look at it, but
you stop him. “Don’t! Just wait until after he’s seen it. Or at least until I’m not here. It’s embarrassing!”
“Did you draw something naughty,
Kitty?” the Puppeteer teases you, his gold eyes flashing.
You blush a little and refuse to
think of what he could possibly think you would have drawn. “Of course not! It’s just that I don’t like showing people my
drawings,” you tell him shyly.
“I didn’t know that you like to
draw,” Jane says.
“Well, not many people do,” you
respond. “I kind of keep it a secret,
but Helen is an artist, so I thought he might like it.”
“Oh really?” Jane says and you
recognize the mischievous look on her face.
“No!” you say, holding your hands
up in front of you. “I know where you’re
going with this and I’m not flirting with him, nor do I intend to! Put the ship back in the harbor!”
Jane giggles and the Puppeteer
chuckles. You think you hear a snicker
from E.J. who is sitting behind you.
“She sure showed you,” Puppeteer tells Jane jubilantly.
“I heard!” Jane exclaims, still
grinning.
Around that point, you hear a groan
and turn around to see Helen sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He looks around at all of your faces with
confusion in his bleary blue eyes. His
messy black hair looks even messier after sleeping, with one side pressed flat
and the other side sticking up at all angles.
“What’s going on?” Helen asks,
picking up his sketchbook and holding it to his chest.
“Nothing. We were just waiting for you to wake up,” the
Puppeteer says, struggling to hide a smirk.
Helen’s eyes narrow and he clutches
his sketchbook closer. “What did you
do?” he asks warily.
“Oh, I didn’t do anything,” the
Puppeteer chuckles. It looks like he’s
about to fall off of the arm of the chair that he’s perching on.
Jane is also struggling to hide a
laugh and you hope that you’re not blushing.
He gives all of you a suspicious glare and starts slowly flipping
through each page of the sketchpad, scrutinizing them thoroughly. He seems satisfied when he gets to his last
drawing, but then he stops. He looks
confused and he flips the page over to your drawing. You feel your heart leap in fear of being
discovered, but you try to act calm.
Jane and the Puppeteer glance over
at you and then start watching Helen again.
You notice his lips twitch a little and you think that maybe his
expression softens for a moment before he closes the sketchpad. “Alright, you’re off the hook for now,” he
tells the Puppeteer gruffly.
You stifle a sigh of relief and
Jane smirks at you. You stay a little
longer, listening to the banter between Jane and the Puppeteer and occasionally
joining in yourself, but you’re starting to feel so tired that you’re afraid
you won’t make it to your room. You
don’t want to drag E.J. or Jane away from the company of friends, but you
really need help getting back to your room.
You glance back at E.J. to find him watching you. He jerks his head toward the door and you nod
with a look of apology on your face.
He stands up and stretches. His hoodie rides up a little bit and you can
see a small strip of the flesh of his stomach showing between the hem of the
hoodie and the waistline of his jeans.
You force yourself to look away.
“We’re leaving,” E.J. says quietly.
The others look like they’re going
to protest, but then you stumble trying to get out of your chair and they nod
solemnly. “We’ll see you tomorrow,
right?” the Puppeteer asks you.
You nod and smile at him
wearily. “Yeah. Sorry to be such a spoilsport,” you tell him.
“No worries,” Jane says. “You need your rest.”
You give her a smile of thanks and then
wave to Helen who nods back at you. E.J.
leads you out of the common room and up the stairs. “Don’t wait so long next time,” he tells you.
You look up at him. “Sorry, I didn’t want to bother anyone,” you
respond.
“You’re not bothering anyone and if
you are, I’ll take care of it,” he says.
“Sorry,” you murmur. Then you trip over your own feet and almost
fall until E.J. catches you and steadies you with an arm around your
shoulders. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he says, looking
straight ahead.
He still hasn’t let go of you, even
though you’re steady on your feet now.
You aren’t sure if it makes you uncomfortable or if you enjoy it. His arm feels strong and lean and his hand
lightly grips your shoulder.
The two of you walk like that back
to your room and he releases you when he goes to open the door for you. As he does so, he lets his fingers brush
against your back and you shiver a little at the unexpected contact.
“Go straight to bed,” E.J. tells
you.
You nod and head for the bed,
collapsing onto it immediately. You
don’t even bother to take your hair down or wash off your makeup. You physically aren’t able to. Even before you hit the pillow, you’re
asleep.
~ ~
~
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