𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 𝑰𝑺 𝑨 𝑾𝑰𝑺𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟑𝟓

Delphina felt like she was floating out of her body that night. After she had gotten back to her dorm, she finally collapsed onto her knees and broke down sobbing. And that was all she did for hours.

She didn't have to start reading again until eight AM. She could've finally written her apology emails to her friends. She could have done anything with her time. But the journals were gone. She didn't need to brew anything else. And frankly, she couldn't find a reason to get out of bed once she had crawled in. Not even to retrieve her laptop. So, she cried.

She cried because she couldn't sleep.

She cried because she couldn't talk.

She cried because Audrey wasn't there and Delphina hadn't heard from her at all.

She cried because she was too scared of hurting Ben again to approach him.

She cried because for once, she missed the basement on the Isle. That was always where she let herself cry before. Late in the night, after Dizzy and Bella were fast asleep, and Anthony was snoring next to her. When no one could see her or extort her for her emotions. That was when she let the tears fall, when she muffled her sobs so she wouldn't wake up her sisters.

That was when Anthony would reach over and gently grab her hand because he had never really been asleep. The fact that he had stayed awake to be there for her, that he always knew when Delphina would break, always made her cry harder. So he hugged her. In that dingy, cold basement, on that hard, too-small mattress, under a thin, ratty blanket, Anthony hugged her. He let her cry into his shoulder until she fell asleep.

The memory only made her cry more.

She missed Anthony's hugs.

She missed the way Anthony always knew what she was thinking.

She missed how Anthony always knew how to help her get her emotions out without speaking.

She missed Anthony.

She missed Gil.

She missed Harry.

She missed her brothers.

She missed Uma.

She missed the crew.

She missed her family.

And the fact that Delphina missed so much about the Isle made her cry a little longer.

By the time eight AM hit, Delphina didn't know if her tear ducts were empty, or if her mind had just forced her to stop crying so she could go get her next round of books.

At this point, she didn't even care.

Delphina didn't waste the minimal natural energy she had left on brushing her hair or putting on shoes. She just stuck her feet in a pair of Audrey's fluffy pink slippers and grabbed a jacket to fight the morning breeze before she trudging across the school lawn, toward the main building.

The librarians and the handful of students in the library watched her warily as she skulked into the archives, piled half a shelf into her arms, and checked them out before beginning her journey back to her dorm.

"Ah! Mademoiselle Tremaine! Finally!" The French-accented voice of Madam Fifi had Delphina sighing softly, pausing in her steps as she heard the woman rushing up to her. "I looked for you everywhere yesterday. You missed rehearsal yesterday and..." Madam Fifi's voice faded in the confusion of Delphina's thoughts.

Rehearsal? For what? She wasn't in choir. In fact, she profusely refused to join choir after Madam Fifi had approached her about it after class one day.