Capítulo 13: CEERET AND ANSWERS
Ceeret straightened out her shirt and scrubbed a bit of the dried mud off from her ruined white shirt again, trying to salvage the little she could. When she realized she could not salvage any more than she already had. Her eyes traveled up the apartment building Lexine lived in. Whenever she came here, she realized why Lexine sometimes called her a prissy rich girl. The difference in the way they both lived was very apparent whenever she came over. While her family basically lived in a mansion, Lexine lived in a run down two bedroomed apartment with her mother.
She walked the three flights of steep stairs that led to the Woods' floor. By the time she was on the third floor, she was exhausted. She had let herself go during summer and was very unfit.
She caught her breath and steadied herself. She knocked on the door and waited for Lexine's mother to open the door. She heard a thud and muttering on the other side, probably Lexine's mother was cursing again. Mrs. Woods had a knack of cursing like a sailor. The trait had been passed down to her only child. A minute later, the door swung open, and Mrs. Woods came into view. When she realized who her guest was, a frown graced her lips. "Oh, it is you. Lexine is not around." She then proceeded to shut the door.
Ceeret, who predicted this would be the reaction, pushed on the door with all her strength. Thankfully, this prevented the door from shutting. She had never understood why Mrs. Woods disliked her so.
Lexine and Ceeret were friends for so long only because the babysitters they had loved having 'double dates' with the kids. They usually met at Ceeret's home and while the two spent time together, their babysitters would watch a movie, while watching them or play games with them. However, ever since Mrs. Woods met her, she immediately didn't like her. Perhaps it was the title of being a prissy rich kid?
"Hello, Mrs. Woods," Ceeret spoke calmly even though her heart was palpitating in her chest. "I am sorry for barging into your personal time, but is Lexine home? I have not found her in school and she is not picking up her phone. I'm scared that she might have been kidnapped. I did not believe they could kidnap her but I don't know where she is, and I have no recollection of the past three hours of my life. I thought she was overreacting and they couldn't do anything to her while we were in school. And I am scared, please." Ceeret said in a rush, afraid Mrs. Woods would go on and shut the door on her. She did not know why she was saying please. She was scared perhaps?
Mrs. Woods did not understand half of what the prissy rich girl was babbling on about but she sighed and opened the door. She gestured for Ceeret to enter. Ceeret nodded relieved and walked into the house. Mrs. Woods took her to the living room and Ceeret was taken aback.
The times she had come to their home, Lexine had only ever taken her directly to her room, since her mother did not like her one bit. Add that to the fact that the woman was just downright frightening with her height and trademark scowl that was much like Lexine's. So to prevent any spats with her mother, Lexine always took her to her room directly. Therefore, it was her first time entering the Wood's living room.
There was a sharp contrast between her living room at home and the Wood's home. While her home was always spotlessly clean, this one was filled with paintings and musical instruments. Candy wrappers littered the floor and there were two empty cups on the coffee table.
There were three different guitars mounted on the wall at the far right of the room next to the television. To the far left of the room, there was a brown set of drums and a black flute on top of the drums. Right next to the doorway to the living room was a Keyboard.
"Wow," Ceeret murmured under her breath.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Mrs. Woods said with a smile. "My husband loved playing instruments. It was like a safe haven for him. Whenever we had an argument he would play an instrument and it would calm him down. That is the only thing he ever splurged on." Her eyes took a faraway look as she thought this.
Ceeret was taken aback by the change in the atmosphere Mrs. Woods had at even the thought of her husband. She looked happy. If her memory served right, Mr. Woods died a few years before. She could remember how it had drastically affected Lexine who had always been close with her father. Mrs. Woods must have really loved him. Then as if she had been snapped back to earth, her trademark frown returned, looking very similar to her daughter's.
"Anyway, that out of the question. I am in a hospitable mood. Would you mind some tea?" The frown on her face said otherwise, but Ceeret wanted information, and it seemed that Mrs. Woods knew where her daughter was since she was being very calm, so she nodded.
"Black and no sugar, please."
"I'm going to put the kettle on."
She then made herself comfortable on the pale blue settee. The room had sticky notes plastered on different parts of the wall. They were written in red. Ceeret was close enough to one to read it. 'Be back soon, mom. Do not forget to pay the plumber when he comes over to fix the sink at five.' Ceeret immediately recognized the handwriting as Lexine's. There was a smiley face at the end of the note which made Ceeret smile. Another note said, 'Don't forget to take medicine for your cold. Soup is in the microwave.'
From what Cee knew of her friend, she was not one to care about others. If they had not been friends since they were younger, Ceeret doubted her raven-haired friend would have even spoken to her seeing as she preferred her own company to the company of others. But, seeing her show this level of care to her mother, Ceeret was intrigued.
She let her eyes wander to the opposite side of the room. The television was playing a show she did not know and she absentmindedly followed it. Her eyes were glazed over as she looked at the characters arguing with each other over something. It might have been a comedy as they laughed over it as the next scene came on.
Mrs. Woods walked in a few minutes later with two brown mugs on a tray. She set them on the coffee table and sat facing Ceeret. "Black, no sugar." she gestured at one of the mugs before picking up the other with milk tea.
She took a sip before letting out a sigh. "Lexine is fine. At least I am hoping so. If anything goes wrong, I am sure that she will be fine. After all, she is my daughter."
"Where is she? I need to know. I know that she received those weird things and that letter. There were some guys stalking her at school and then she disappears and I cannot remember anything from the last three hours of my life. Mrs. Woods, please give me something more than 'Lexine is fine'."
Ceeret gripped her mug until her tanned hand turned a shade paler. She was honestly scared for her best friend. She had been so sure those three hunks would not do anything to her while they were at school, but they had taken her from right under her nose. She felt herself tear up.
Mrs. Woods's nose crinkled up, "First things first, call me Adrianna. That other name unearths memories I would love to stay buried."
Ceeret nodded, gripping the mug as if it was grounding her.
"I do not understand most of it myself," Adrianna said after another sip of her still steaming tea, "The principal of the school, however, came over sometime today. He was curious as to why Lexine had not attended the school and asked for permission to take her to the school. Granted they kidnapped her, they are the only ones with answers about Lexine's father."
"So you are fine with it?"
"It is not that I am alright with it. If in a month Lexine does not want to continue attending that academy then she will return."
Ceeret took another sip of her tea, "They kidnapped her from the school will be my best guess. She took all precautions to ensure she came home. But you gave them permission to kidnap her Mrs. Woods."
Adrianna sighed and ran a hand down her face. "I am not the best at this parenting shit. You, better than anyone should know that. At the moment I felt that what I did was the best. She would find out about her father and we would also find out why she was called to the Academy." It was a foolish excuse, and both of them knew it.
Ceeret frowned, an unsightly thing on her beautiful face, "If anything happens to my best friend Adrianna, I will hold you accountable for it. Searching for an explanation or not, you should not do anything opposite of Lexine's will." She made it quite obvious that she did not accept the reasons Lexine's mother allowed them to kidnap her. If she only knew Lexine was quite comfortable being used as cannon fodder by the mother who rarely asked for anything from her, she might have not been so harsh with Adrianna.
She drank the slightly hot tea in a few gulps down to the dregs. "Thank you for the tea. Let's wait a month." She straightened out her shirt, subconsciously wiping at the mud stains. Adrianna saw her to the door.
After Ceeret left, Adrianna sank to the floor. Tears streaked down her cheeks. She really was using her daughter for her own sake, wasn't she? She was being selfish. But she could not find the strength to go to the tree in the middle of the park and knock as she had been instructed to. She really was selfish.
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