You are now Phaedra.
You resist the urge to cry as you ride your cruiser back towards your apartment complex, blaring Mayday Parade as loud as your bike will allow. Ordinarily, a ride on Jazzy would fill you with childlike astonishment, but today all it does is remind you of how Eridan had held on to you so tightly after your first detention together. You'd swear you could feel the ghost of his arms wrapped around your waist, only worsening your mood.
You sigh and try to distract yourself by singing along with Derek Sanders, who has a suddenly-irritating tendency to sing depressing songs. Although, you only have yourself to blame for choosing to listen to this band. Still singing, you near your destination and pull into the parking lot, slowing down a great deal in order to obey the speed limit in this area. You finally pull into a space directly in front of your specific complex, and you find yourself extremely relieved to be home.
After carefully turning off your bike and propping it up on it's stand, you remove your helmet and place it under your arm with the intent of carrying it to your bedroom. First, though, you scrutinize the surrounding parking lot in search of your older brother's hot pink 2012 Honda Civic. You and him were both very picky as far as your vehicles were concerned, and had to do a lot of saving in order to customize them to your own specifications. Hell, you had to save up for an entire year before you could get your damned Harley the way you wanted. Speaking of Jazzy, she was the only familiar car in the area, meaning your brother was out somewhere.
Oddly enough, this sent a wave of relief flooding through you. You didn't want to have to explain your ill mood to anyone, and Ayexis, though lovely, would question you endlessly until you finally opened up. You allow yourself a faint smirk at the little victory, but only succeed in mocking your own misery with the pathetic gesture. Sighing, whether in defeat or sorrow you're not sure, you make your way up to the left hand door on the second floor: home sweet home. Pulling a key from the underside of the helmet, you unlock both the bottom and top locks and step inside, allowing the mixture of lavender and hair spray assault your sense.
Smells like somebody had a date, you think bitterly, unfairly wondering why your brother had all the luck in relationships. Ridding the thought from your mind, you shut the door behind you and lock it before replacing the key in it's usual spot inside your helmet. Instead of putting it away safely in your room, you toss the helmet haphazardly into the kitchen where it ricochets off the counter and onto the floor. You tear your gaze from the object and make your way into your room, slamming the door in the silence.
Natural light seeps into your room through the sliding glass door, which leads out onto the balcony. Never before have you ever been more thankful for said balcony, and you feel yourself drawn to it in your moment of self-pity. In three long strides, you're across your room and unlocking the door, then sliding it to the side and stepping outside. You don't bother closing the door behind you, because bugs don't really seem like a huge issue at the moment.
After a few seconds of gazing at a park a quarter of a mile away, you pull your phone from the hem of your skirt with the intention of playing some more music. Although you know that indulging in depression isn't something you should ever do, you decide to disregard this knowledge and play one of your favorite songs Lead Me Out of the Dark by Crown the Empire. You sing along, as you're prone to doing, and check your messages. A couple from Troi, one from your sister Lumia, one from Ayexis, and dozens from Samantha. You delete hers without reading them, and then delete her number.
You don't bother reading Troi's or Lumia's right now, opting that Ayexis' is more important. Before opening the message, you sigh, suddenly wishing Lumia lived with you instead of her mom, but no: your dad just HAD to be a cheating bastard. You groan to yourself, knowing that only your sister could provide you with the relief you needed. She was always radiating happiness, and you could definitely use some.
The song ends, and so does that thought process. You press shuffle and listen to various songs on the same album before finally getting around to reading Ayexis' text:
As soon as you get home, call me~! I have excellent news~!
You smile a little in spite of yourself, your brother's enthusiasm nearly as contagious as your sister's joy. Exiting your messages, you scroll through your contacts until you find the one you need. With a tap of your finger, your phone dials Ayexis. After three rings, the flamboyant guardian picks up with a high pitched gretting.
"Phaedra my darling, I'm glad you called~! I have plans for you today~" he informs you, filling you with disdain at the very thought of going somewhere else today. In respect for your elder, though, you attempt to disguise your foul mood.
"Oh? And what are these plans?" you ask in what you hope is a polite tone. Unfortunately, he notices your lack of interest and you can practically hear him pout on the other end.
"Come now deary, this is important to me~! Please try to be a little excited~?" he pleads, and you already know that there's no getting out of this. You chuckle a little for his benefit and try to joke with him.
"How can I be excited when I don't know where I'm going?" you question in a light hearted manner. Luckily, he doesn't detect anything murky beneath the surface of your words, or if he does, he doesn't let on.
"Because I'm going to be there~!" he teases, and you laugh good naturedly before he continues, "Anyway, I need you to meet me somewhere~!"
In anticipation of where you'll be going, you lean over the railing on the balcony a little, daring to peer farther out into the expanse of field. Shortly after, you receive the address, and when the memory of a large white mansion registers in your mind, you nearly fall off the balcony.
UPDATED!