Clentine:
"Clentine, wake up."
I heard a soft whisper and opened my eyes, rubbing them hard to clear the sleep away.
My focus settled on sothing dangling in front of , a red, glittering cherry pendant hanging from the neck of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
My mother.
"Mother?" I sat up in bed, staring at her face.
"I brought you this," my mother said softly, smiling weakly as she held out half a cupcake.
It didn’t matter that it was only half. What mattered was that she rembered my birthday.
"You rembered it?" I asked in a small voice.
"Of course. You’re my little angel. Of course I did," she replied, making take a bite of the cupcake.
Earlier that day, I had asked my father about my birthday, and he got upset.
He punished by sending to sleep in the basent.
My mother argued, cried, and tried to stop him, but he dragged there anyway.
Now she was here. She had found a way to be with again.
"One of these days, when you celebrate your birthday, I’ll have a gift for you," my mother said, smiling.
A tear ford in the corner of her eye before she quickly wiped it away, pretending to itch her eye.
Then I thought, I’ll wear that pendant one day.
She must have known what I was thinking because she noticed my eyes on the pendant and laughed.
"It’s a little big for you right now, but one day I’ll give it to you as a gift," my mother promised.
"Clentine, Clentine, wake up."
I heard the whisper again and jolted awake.
I was still sitting in one of the streets, crouched down, waiting for the others to return.
"Clentine, wake up," Yorick said softly.
He was sitting beside , watching with wide eyes.
I rembered that we had stopped in the street to catch our breath while Haiden and Troy went off to look for Oriana.
I refused to go with them, so I stayed here. I wasn’t sure why Yorick chose to stay behind.
I had seen the three of them whispering earlier, and then one of them ca back to sit with .
"You were having a dream, probably a nightmare. I couldn’t tell. You seed upset, but then there were monts when a smile crossed your lips," Yorick explained.
I turned my head away.
"So you’re not going to talk to now?" he asked.
Once again, I answered with silence, and I could tell it bothered him. He shifted uncomfortably, clearly affected.
"I don’t know what’s going on. What am I doing wrong, Clentine?"
The audacity of him to still ask that made snap my head toward him and glare.
"You really don’t know?" I asked, watching him shake his head slowly. Sothing about it felt off.
"You all betrayed . That’s what’s happening," I said, watching him glance away.
And there it was. He knew what he had done.
"I know we did, but I just don’t know why. It’s as if Oriana is— irresistible," he admitted.
His words didn’t help. I got to my feet imdiately.
"Wait, what are you doing? We’re supposed to wait for them," he said when he noticed walking away.
"So they can bring back their beloved Oriana, my bully and your seductress?" I hissed, the words spilling out in anger.
"That’s not true. She’s not that bad," he said.
As soon as he said that, I completely lost it.
"Okay, wait. Stop it," he called out again, but I was already walking away.
"Guys, she’s leaving!" he yelled, and the other two ca back.
"We couldn’t find Oriana," Troy stated.
Soon after, I heard them following .
I slowed down to tell them that we didn’t have to stick together anymore, but they refused to leave my side.
So, we kept wandering together.
Then the weather got worse. Of course it did, it was the North. We had to find a place to stay.
We finally ca across a small house that looked like a decent place to stay for the night, or at least until the rain stopped.
The temperature had dropped suddenly, and it was freezing.
"I wonder where Oriana is," Yorick muttered, but went silent the mont I gave him a side glance.
I wasn’t jealous. At least, I hoped I wasn’t. I was just angry.
Why was I given three such useless mates?
We entered the house, and as soon as we reached the living room, they said sothing that made my blood boil.
"You shouldn’t have slapped her. You could have politely told her not to panic," Haiden said.
That was it. I turned to face him, glaring.
"Because of her, those things ca down. And it wasn’t just a one-ti thing. She was scared the entire ti. Sobody had to knock so sense into her," I hissed, standing against the three of them, my fists clenched.
The three exchanged serious looks.
"And you think slapping her was a good idea?" Yorick asked, his tone sharp.
"As if telling her to calm down would’ve worked," I shot back. "That was the only thing I could do. You should thank for saving your girl’s life."
As soon as I yelled that, I saw the frowns fade from their faces, replaced by a strange, almost sad expression.
"She’s my girl?" he asked, stepping closer and pointing at his chest.
In response, I folded my arms over my chest and rolled my eyes. That should have been enough for him to understand what I really thought.
"How could you say that? If she’s my girl, then whose girl are you?" Haiden asked again, and I stared at him in disbelief.
Then the others stepped closer, staring at the sa way.
"Tell us, whose girl are you?" Troy demanded, his tone sharp enough to catch off guard.
The way they were all watching my face shocked .
"I’m no one’s girl," I said calmly and firmly, letting them know they had lost the chance for to even think twice or ask for ti to decide whose girl I was.
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