Monday, April 28, 2014

As Perceived by Crystellen 12

The next day I saw little of Emerys.  When she did leave her room, she ate and then sobbed some more.  And when she didn’t sob, she looked glum.

When Cat and Robert came over Thursday afternoon for supper, Em still wasn't herself.  She didn’t cry anymore, but she still looked down.  Not to mention, she had skipped school most of this week.  Before they left, Cat asked how our sister was.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, since in our house, it seems voices can be heard everywhere.  “I’ve never seen her act like this.  I’m not even sure what happened.”

“Mom told me she had a spat with Losten, but that’s all she would say.”

I led Cat to the back porch, where we could talk more freely.  I had always liked Cat, even though she was considerably older than me.  Plus, when I was with her, it felt nice be around someone who wasn’t blonde.

“I’m getting worried about Em,” I said.  “She seems to be really into this guy.  Do you think-” I paused.  “Do you think she might be suffering Broken Tail Syndrome?”

Cat appeared shocked.  “Crissy, don’t be ridiculous.  You know our sister would never dishonor herself with a guy.”

“I wasn’t suggesting she had sex with him.  It’s just, she seems so down and unlike herself, I was wondering if she might somehow be going through it without having been physically intimate.”

Cat smiled.  “There are some things, my little sister, that you won’t learn until your wedding night.  Trust me, there is no way she could have bonded with him that deeply without being physically involved.”

Robert stepped onto the porch and asked if Cat was ready to leave.

“Keep a close eye on our sister,” she said, “and let me know if anything changes.”

She stepped away from me but I grabbed her arm.

“What if I can get Losten to talk to her?  Do you think that could clear things up?”

Cat nodded.  “We should probably talk to him first, though; otherwise, he might not have a clue how bad Emerys feels.”

I paused a moment.  Cat did have a point; we should probably talk to him before we just throw him in front of Emerys.

“Alright," I said, "how about tomorrow then?”

Cat leaned back.  “Tomorrow for what?”

“How about I bring Losten by your house tomorrow evening?  Em’s on patrol then, and we can see if we can straighten things out between them.”

Cat bit her lip.  “That might work,” she said.  For several seconds she didn’t speak.  “Hmm, Robert will be packing tomorrow night, so what if I arrange for the two of them to talk?  He might be able to shed some light on things for Losten.”

“That’s sounds great,” I said.

Cat looked at me with suspicion, probably because I had shown so much excitement at fixing this mess.  “Now, how are you going to get Losten to come?”

I smiled.  “Don’t worry, I’m sure I can convince him.”

Cat gave me a worried look.  “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but please don’t do anything to make this any worse.”

I put my hands on my hips and smirked.  “Sis, would I ever do anything like that?”

Monday, April 21, 2014

As Perceived by Crystellen Treasure 11

That afternoon, while I was helping Mom fold laundry, Emerys came home.  Mom went out to greet her, but didn’t come back to help me.  Great, I thought, here I am stuck folding laundry all by myself.  Not that it was difficult, but it would have been nice if Mom appreciated me enough to not leave me just because Em was here.

I placed the last towel in the laundry basket and carried it upstairs to the closet.  As I passed the railing that looked out over the parlor, I heard a sob.  I glanced over the edge.  On the couch in the parlor sat Emerys with her arms around my Mom.  She was crying.
            I put the laundry basket down and knelt beside the railing.

“I don’t understand it,” my sister said.  “He accused me of leading him on.”
“There, there,” Mom said.  She stroked Em’s hair.  “I’m sure it was all a big misunderstanding.”
I pressed closer against the railing.  What had happened, I wondered.
“Losten said I had led him on by not telling him about my tail sooner.  He also blamed me for the fact that he has to keep this secret from his family.”  She sobbed some more.  “Mom, I don’t know what to do.”
Wow, she was really into this guy.  I mean, I knew she had strong feelings for him, but I hadn’t seen Em cry since Dad died.  Losten must really be a jerk, I thought, to make my sister cry like that.
               Emerys continued to sob, so I picked up the laundry basket and put the towels in the closet.  Whatever he’d done though, Em would forgive him tomorrow.  She was that forgiving and she liked him too much not to do so.

Monday, April 14, 2014

As Perceived by Crystellen 10

It was a couple weeks before I saw Losten again.  In the meantime, I kept my distance from Emerys.  For some reason she still seemed to be upset with me.  Didn’t she know that I was just trying to protect us?  She’d always been the one who tried to watch out for me, especially since Dad died, so I hoped she would have appreciated me doing the same.

The day after Losten left, Mom walked into my room and sat down on my bed.
“Young lady,” she said.  “We need to talk about what you did.”
Oh great, I thought.  This sounds like another lecture about how I’m supposed to behave. 
“Okay,” I replied, “let’s get on with this.”
Mom looked at me for an uncomfortably long time.  “You know what you did was wrong, I hope.”
I rolled my eyes.  “Can we please not start this again?  We both know you’re only saying this because my hunch proved wrong.  Had he been Manicotti, you guys would be all thanking me for what I did.”
Mom gave me an unpleasant look.  “I’m disagreeing with your methods, not your concern.”  She scooted closer to where I sat on the bed.  “You should have told me of your suspicions, then we could have discussed whether there was need to take action.”  She paused.  “Which there wasn’t.  I would have told you, had you spoken to me, that I’d already talked to Emerys about Losten and she assured me that he could be trusted.”
My mouth dropped open.  “And you believed her?  Have you seen the way she looks at him?  I think if he asked her to marry him tomorrow, she’d run off and leave us all."
Mom sighed.  “Crystellen Treasure, you’re exaggerating again.  Just because this is your sister’s first relationship doesn’t mean she’s going to lose her head.  Emerys is pretty level headed.  If he’s not a good man, I think she’ll let us know.”
I looked past Mom at the picture of Dad on my desk.  I wish you were here, I thought, because you would know what to do.  I glanced back at Mom.
“We don’t know anything about him.  Just because Losten’s not Manicotti doesn’t mean he’s the kind of guy we want dating my sister.  If Dad was here, he’d-”
“Unfortunately, he’s not,” my mother interrupted.  She leaned over and held my hand.  “Look, I miss him, too.  I really do.  But, it’s not your role to try to protect us all.  I know what it’s like to be your age, but you’ve got to trust that I know what I’m doing.”  She smiled.  “I haven’t been around as long as I have without learning a few things.”
I looked down at the quilt between us and then back at my mother.
“But, Mom, if Dad was here, he’d be just as concerned-”
“If your father was here, he would have discussed the matter with me.  He knew firsthand how horrible cassidium poisoning could be, and he would have never condoned what you did.”  She got off my bed and reached out a hand towards me.  “Now, why don’t you come help me fold laundry?  And promise me you won’t do anything else to Losten.”
             I didn’t reply and followed her out of the room.