A/N at end!


.: Chapter 2 :.


It took me no more than five seconds to fall in love with my new home.

The inside of Marjorie's house left absolutely nothing to the imagination – it was as bold and up front as the woman herself. Even though I was only standing in the middle of the landing in front of the narrow set of stairs that led upwards, I could see directly into the living room, kitchen, and even dining room.

I'd never seen so much organized chaos outside of an antique store.

I also noticed there seemed to be pretty evident themes assigned to the rooms; the kitchen was a pastel yellow with other splashes of bright colors with flowers everywhere; on the table, the counter, the window sills, the side tables. Everywhere.

The living room was practically the world in a nutshell. Framed photos of every major landmark covered every available surface, as did the various souvenirs that were placed methodically around for easy perusing. From where I stood I could make out pictures of what I assumed was a much younger Marjorie standing by the Eiffel tower and on the Great Wall of China, and those were only two of the seemingly thousands decorating the room.

Turning around I came face to face with the dining room and found myself surprised at the chic elegance of it all. There were no obnoxious colors or cluttered shelves and tables. There was only a simple wooden table with four chairs and a miniature chandelier hanging from the ceiling, real candles actually in the holders. One large cabinet adorned the far wall where pale china glinted in the light, swirls of color marring their features and making them appear more expensive than they probably were.

"Isn't it just lovely?" Marjorie trilled as she seemingly glided down the small set of steps to enter the living room from the kitchen.

I had to force my mouth shut so as not to appear rude for gaping.

"It…it's quite something." I eventually managed to get out, still taking in my new surroundings and finding even more things I had missed in my first initial survey.

"Wonderful! If you're ready I can show you to your new bedroom!" There went her hands again; I thought only cheerleaders and dancers did jazz fingers. I nodded, a bit unsure about what else the house could possibly hold, and she clapped in delight as she started for the staircase, plucking onto my jacket sleeve along the way. I stumbled after her for the first few steps before catching up and almost running into her back as she abruptly stopped.

"I've got you placed on the north side of the house, overlooking the backyard. I do hope that's alright!" She turned quickly to face me, genuine concern on her face as she stared at me.

Well this was…weird...

"Huh? Oh, the north?" I repeated, confused as to what that even meant. "North is fine, perfectly fine!" I assured her and watched as her face lit back up like a bulb on a Christmas tree that had blinked out for one quick breath before jolting back to life.

"Excellent!" She clapped, turning back around and fluttering onto the small landing as she turned to face a closed door. "And here we are!" She motioned with a grand gesture towards me; obviously I was supposed to open the door. I held my breath and grasped the brass knob with one hand and turned it slowly, the mechanics within grinding together slightly. I gave a small, sharp push and the door popped open and…

Wow.

This was unexpected.

I stared in shocked confusion at the four blank walls of pure white and newly polished wooden floor, the brightness of it all slightly overwhelming. I stared at it for what felt like forever before turning to Marjorie's beaming face.

"It's, uh, very…white." I finished lamely; I had to admit I was looking forward to another explosion of knick-knacks and color.

"Of course, my little Hollyhock, it's supposed to be!" And with that she pushed past me and into the room, unconsciously body checking me into the door jamb. "It's a blank canvas," She explained with outstretched arms, "waiting impatiently for you to breathe life into it!" I felt my mouth form a small 'o' as she twirled on the spot and smiled.

What the hell kind of dream was this and please, god, wake me up now.

She motioned for me to come join her and I hesitantly stepped forwards, my heart plummeting slightly as I missed the two steps leading down and I stumbled out to meet her. She latched onto my arm with a surprisingly gentle grip and once again made another flourish with her hand.

"I do hope you like it; I'm afraid I don't have much experience with children and the internet said self expression was the best route to take." She mused with her head cocked to the side in thought, something I couldn't help but smile at.

"It's alright, really. It's just…no one's ever really gave me this much freedom before." I shrugged as I stared around the room again, the openness of it already starting to grow on me.

The fact that I had three large bay windows helped.

I turned back to find Marjorie with the same thoughtful expression on her face and almost felt rude for interrupting.

"Can I ask you something?" She snapped out of her trance at this and smiled down at me.

"But of course!"

"Where's the furniture?" She stared at me for a few long seconds before looking up and around the room, a small blush blooming on her cheeks.

"Oh my…you will need some, won't you?" She laughed while pulling me into a bone crushing side-hug.

It took all I had not to face-palm right then and there.


"Spontaneity, Quinnella, spontaneity!" The jazz fingers were really starting to grow old as Marjorie fluttered them at me, clearly telling me to shoo away. She nodded encouragingly as I took a few steps forwards before turning back to talk to the elderly man behind the counter.

After establishing that I would, indeed, need furniture (and also a mattress), the woman had practically dragged me out of the house and forced me into her car; the very shiny and new WV Rabbit. I'll never understand the logic behind whoever thought it would be a good idea to give the lady a license, but I digress.

I'm alive at least.

From there she drove us up and out of La Push, a place I had only briefly seen in passing and now called home, to the tiny town of Port Angeles…or at least the outskirts of it, if that was possible.

I think it'd be safe to say were right in the middle between point A and point B at dot X, which happened to be a very large and broken down antique warehouse; clearly my new guardian came here frequently as she whipped into the 'Most Valued Customer' parking space right by the door with an extreme amount of G-force.

My stomach was still reeling from being sloshed around.

We were no sooner inside the door that Marjorie surprised me yet again by whipping out a clunker of a digital camera from her larger-than-a-beach bag purse and tossing it at me, a smile lighting up her features.

"The rules are simple," She had exclaimed as she waved at the warehouse full of junk before us, "find everything you want, but nothing that you need! Find things that represent you!"

And that's how I ended up being shoo-ed away to go find things that represented me. I didn't stick around to watch the inevitable flirting between old folks that was about to go down and picked my way into the mess of jumbled up furniture and miscellaneous items, not quite sure what to expect. Sure, I had been in places like this before, but never to buy stuff that I was going to ultimately be living with.

No one had ever really asked me to furnish an entire room in a way that represented me, either.

Oh my god.

I was one of those people – the kind with no real sense of self awareness or personality.

It'd been so long since anyone had actually asked me about the things I liked or wanted that I found myself not even able to come up with a lie that could convince myself that this whole scenario wasn't completely sad. When exactly had this happened? Better yet, how had I let it happen?

It was these thoughts that made bogged me down as I squeezed through the nooks and crannies of piled up junk to get to different aisles. All around me were things that were cool and stuff, but nothing that really caught my eye or expressed who I was…which was pretty damn depressing when I didn't even know who I was in the first place.

Sighing in defeat I stopped where I was and looked around. The front of the store had long since disappeared behind me as did the chattering voices of Marjorie and her friend. Running a hand through my already knotted hair I stopped in my surveying as a flash of color caught my attention a few feet away. I kept my gaze locked on it as I pushed and shoved other things out of the way as I attempted to navigate over to whatever it was, somehow managing to end up in a small clearing. The thing that had caught my attention was in fact a dresser about waist high with two columns of drawers, the top most layer of pale green paint was chipped away in places that revealed a lighter blue beneath that and another color beneath that and so on.

It was like a rainbow of nothing but pastels had thrown up on the thing.

I smiled as I raised the camera and took a picture.

Maybe I wasn't completely hopeless as other items of similar décor and fashion began to pop out of the mess round me, proving that I indeed had a personality.

Hallelujah!


Marjorie was so proud of me – no really, she was.

"I love how you just opened yourself up to the possibilities and allowed life to flow in, Hollyhock!" I smiled from the passenger seat and reached over to shove a flailing hand back down onto the steering wheel; I could already tell this was going to soon be a natural instinct. "Some of the things you picked out were just simply magnificent; I couldn't have done better myself!"

"I'm sure you could have if you were looking." I replied and shook my head as we pulled back into the driveway of the cottage. The gnomes and other critters still freaked me out, but not as much since my arrival mere hours ago. Together we exited the car and I followed Marjorie down the path and up the front steps, smiling at the many wind chimes harmonizing in the breeze as she unlocked the door and flipped on a switch just inside, promptly causing the porch to light up with various strings of Christmas lights all in a clear bright white.

The whole Disney effect was instantly heightened.

I smiled and stepped inside, the screen door banging shut behind me as I paused to once again look around, noticing even more things I had missed before; I briefly wondered if I'd ever get to see it all.

"What do say about a little lasagna for dinner, Hollyhock? I'm feeling a bit Italian tonight!" Marjorie called from the kitchen as I made my way into the living room and leaned against the back of the sea foam green couch to look around even more.

"That sounds great!" I called back, slightly distracted by the oh-so many pictures. "Have you really seen all these things?" I asked looking over towards the kitchen to see the chef swaying in time with some music through the double door entranceway.

"But of course!" She laughed before opening a cabinet door and digging around for something. "Everything in that room serves as a reminder of the places I've been and seen in this lifetime."

"You must have seen the entire world." I remarked as I picked up a nearby frame and smiled down at the eccentric looking teenage girl posed with various Bollywood-looking performers.

I was guessing it was taken in India or some surrounding country.

"Ah, yes, that was my first visit to Mumbai." I jumped as Marjorie spoke from behind my shoulder and I glanced over to find her smiling gently. She reached out to pluck another picture off the table and held it up to me. "This was a few years later." There was no denying that the iconic building in the background was the Taj Mahal. I stared wide eyed at it and didn't look away until a light pat to my shoulder brought me back to reality.

"We can learn all about me later, dear, but right now dinner's ready and I would love to know more about you."

"Really?" I asked, placing the picture down gently and allowing myself to be towed off towards the kitchen which was actually a lot bigger than it appeared. Just around the corner of the doorway was a set of double glass doors and a small breakfast nook where two plates of lasagna sat steaming on the table. My stomach growled as I was pushed down into a seat and a napkin and silverware appeared at my side. My new legal guardian slid into her seat gracefully and clasped her hands together in a gesture that seemed to state 'take her away!'.

What was I taking and where was I going with it?

"So!" I jumped at the enthusiastic exclamation. "William told me you're in your senior year of high school; are you happy to be graduating in the spring?"

"Uh, yeah, I think," I stumbled with my words, "I mean I hope I'll graduate – my learning experience hasn't been exactly normal, per se."

"Yes, and how unfortunate! No child should be forced to move around so much." She tsk-ed at me with a shake of her head, clearly displeased.

"It's alright, really," I tried to assure her though I wasn't quite sure why, "I've been in a lot of different schools where they taught different stuff, so if anything I'm pretty well set with the basics of life." I smiled slightly as she rolled her eyes in exasperation and picked up her fork.

"Besides your various forms of schooling what else should I know about you?" She asked with a quirked brow that made me freeze up where I sat. This whole sit-down-and-chat-let's-be-buddies thing was so foreign to me I felt like I was on another planet.

"Well…" I started, not quite sure where to start, "what do you want to know?"

"Just as I thought!" I jumped again at the sudden words and felt my eyes widen as I stared at the fork being brandished in my face.

"Am I in trouble?" I asked automatically, the response practically my default phrase.

"Of course not!" Marjorie laughed as she pulled her fork away and reached over to grab my hand with hers. "The moment I saw you I thought to myself 'well here's a bud that needs to become a blossom!' and that's exactly what you are, Hollyhock." She smiled comfortingly with a small squeeze to my hand, something I wasn't sure how to respond to. "William told me all about your cross country life style and I just want to clarify that just because you've never been properly settled down anywhere doesn't make you that much less of a human being, which is exactly how I'm going to treat you."

I stared at her for a few seconds trying to decide how to feel. A small part of me wanted to get mad and throw a fit that she was bringing up the past that I was trying so hard to forget while another, much larger, piece of me was thankful, relieved even, that I had finally found someone who got it.

"Thank you, Marjorie," I smiled, the latter feeling coming out in favor, "for everything." She smiled back and patted at my hand before retracting it back over to her side of the table.

"No worries, Hollyhock; we'll take life as it comes, especially tomorrow seeing as it's the first day of school! I hope you're an early riser!" I laughed along with her as she fluttered her hands in excitement and tried my damnedest to push down the rising feeling of dread.

How many first days of school should one person have to suffer?


A/N: Oh my gawwwwd, you guys; you have no idea how much fun I had writing this! I know it's a bit slow now, but laying out the groundwork usually is, but no worries: Collin and pals will be up front and present in the next chapter, so don't write me off just yet! Thanks for all the reviews/comments/alert notifications so far! It really means the world to me! ~Fluff