(Side note:The quotes are supposed to be like themes that start off a new section.)
Don't friends always share secrets?
- Felicity A.G.A.T.B.
For months now Felicity had been in charge, not much had changed, except for the fact that her friendship with Pippa had grown stronger. Pippa—her second in command, her confidant, her closest friend. They had become thick as thieves. They were inseparable, because together they felt invincible.
The silence of the night settled around them. Moonlight shone through the window, illuminating Felicity's shockingly blonde hair and her impressive gray eyes.
"Pippa?" Felicity asked quietly.
"Yes?" Pippa turned to face her. Felicity's features were sullen, her eyes distant.
"Do you suppose there is some evil in people that makes others do things?"
Pippa yawned. "What kind of things?" she asked sleepily.
"Terrible things." Felicity whispered.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean. We're all capable of evil Fee, every last one of us, but I don't think it has anything to do with other people. Our evil is our own cross to bear, our own affliction. It all depends on what we do about it." Pippa yawned again, her eyelids felt heavier with every passing second. "I'm sorry, did that help? I fear that I'm too tired to make much sense of anything just now." She apologized.
"Yes, that was fine." Felicity whispered, fighting back tears. "It's fine."
"I hate spring, it's always so unbearably gloomy and rainy." Pippa complained, glancing out the window.
"Thunderstorms always seem so powerful to me. I love the rain." Felicity said. "Here, will you help me with this?" she asked, tossing Pippa a scarf.
Pippa sighed. "Alright, but I don't see why we need to make a tent. It will only taunt Cecily more, having our own secret club I mean." Pippa grumbled, reluctantly helping Felicity tie scarves together in a corner of the Great Hall.
"Precisely why I want to build it, besides we need our privacy." Felicity smirked.
"Oh Fee, you're so awful." Pippa giggled.
"There." Felicity said, tying up the last scarf. "Come on." She crawled under the scarves, gesturing for Pippa to follow. They positioned themselves away from the other chattering girls in the Hall. Rain continued to splatter against the windows, resembling teardrops as it trickled down the glass.
"Chocolate?" Felicity offered.
"Thank you." Pippa grabbed one and popped it into her mouth, rolling it around with her tongue to savor the sweet taste.
"Is your mother still insistent upon you seeing that awful suitor? That old one with the beard, what's his name, Mr. Prickly?"
"You mean Mr. Hinckley?" Pippa giggled.
Felicity scoffed. "That's not much better."
"Just be thankful that your mother is too busy to be setting you up with horrible men." Pippa sighed.
"Yes, thankful." Felicity muttered bitterly.
"Oh, I'm sorry Fee. I didn't mean it like that!"
Felicity sighed. " I know." A bolt of lightening flashed nearby outside followed by an earth-shattering clap of thunder.
"Oh my!" Pippa exclaimed.
"No need to jump out of your skin, Pip. It's only the weather." Felicity said. "Let's have a look, shall we?" she walked over to the window to get a better look, but the heavy rain obscured her view of the storm, making everything appear gray and dingy. Another bolt of lightening struck in the woods nearby with a loud crack. Felicity pressed her nose to the cool glass. "Come here and take a look, Pip. The storm won't hurt you." The next batch of thunder rumbled as loud as a lion's roar. "Pip?"
Felicity turned around, not believing that her friend would be so afraid of a little storm. Felicity went from disbelief to horror in a matter of seconds. Pippa was thrashing around on the ground. Her hair was a tangled mess around her face; her body was writhing in what seemed like complete and violent agony. Yet, even in pain Pippa was graceful somehow, beautiful. Felicity rushed to her side.
"Pippa! Pippa!" she shouted. What was happening? What was going on? Felicity couldn't think straight. "Mrs. Nightwing! Mrs. Nightwing!" she yelled. Other girls in the Hall had begun to gather around the awful sight.
"Move please, out of the way!" Mrs. Nightwing ordered, running to the scene. She tore the scarves down out of her way and firmly gripped the thrashing Pippa. Brigid rushed in with a spoon in hand.
"Pippa! Please help her!" Felicity cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. The storm raged on outside with angry rumbles of thunder and vicious flashes of lightening.
"Brigid, call Dr. Thomas at once!" Mrs. Nightwing said urgently.
"What's wrong with her?" Felicity asked frantically.
"Please stand back Miss Worthington." Mrs. Nightwing ordered. Finally, Pippa's violent writhing had ceased, like the calm before a storm.
Felicity swiped at her tears. "Is she…" she could barely think about it, let alone ask it.
"Miss Cross will be fine. It was just a fit. She is afflicted with epilepsy." Mrs. Nightwing explained, wiping sweat from her brow.
"Dr. Thomas is on 'is way, 'e may take a while due to the storm." Brigid announced.
"Thank you Brigid. Girls stop gawking." Nightwing shooed the other students away from Pippa's limp body. "I'll have no one gossiping about this." She warned. "Brigid, would you be so kind as to help me take Miss Cross up to her room."
"Yes ma'am." Brigid answered, lifting Pippa's shoulders.
"I want to come too." Felicity begged.
Mrs. Nightwing shook her head. "I'm sorry Miss Worthington but that is out of the question. Miss Cross will need her rest. You'll be able to see her soon."
Felicity nodded and silently went back over to the window. She watched as Pippa was carried from the room like a sleeping princess.
That evening…
As the girls pulled out their needlepoint or gathered around Brigid for a tale, Felicity sat silently, staring out the window towards the moon. The rain had diminished to only a soft patter now. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder; she shrugged it off and turned around. It was Mrs. Nightwing.
"She's awake now. You may go and see her."
Felicity dashed for the stairs, and ran to her room. The door stood in front of her, looking dark and ominous, cautiously she pushed it forward. Only a single candle lit the room, giving it a morose feeling.
"Dr. Thomas?" Pippa asked weakly.
"No, it's me." Felicity took a slow step forward.
"Oh, Fee." Pippa sighed. Felicity went to her side. Pippa looked so small and weak lying there; her violet eyes had lost their normally vibrant look.
"I've been so worried." Felicity said.
"Well, now you know, and you still want to associate with me, the damaged girl who can't even control her own body? I'd understand if you wanted to stop being friends. I'm damaged, broken. Not even my own parents want to admit that there's something wrong with me. They think I can control it, my mother wants me to hide it." Pippa began to cry softly.
"Oh Pip, don't cry. I'm not going to leave you." Felicity assured her, grasping Pippa's hand gently.
Pippa sniffled. "You won't?"
"No, of course not. You're my best friend, practically my sister, and I can't imagine being without you."
"Thank you." Pippa's violet eyes glistened with tears.
"We're all damaged somehow, Pip." Felicity knelt down next to the side of her bed.
Pippa glanced down into Felicity's worried eyes. "Will you stay with me, at least until I fall asleep?"
Felicity covered Pippa's frail hand in both of hers reassuringly. "I'm not going anywhere."
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