[Calann]: 135.Happy House.Ground floor

Kitchen.

Humming absently to a tone, a woman nurses a coffee mug in petite, perfectly manicured hands. Brief, repetitive glances to the clock above the door inform that it's well past the time for lunch. Content with its position on the counter, a cat stretches, lazily, basking in the afternoon sun. Nerves snap, and the mug, still full of hot liquid, is flung at the animal. It hisses, and is chased in through the basement door. Just before the door is closed, a faint cry echoes up the stairs. Slam, bolt, locked. Auburn hair is tossed over a slim shoulder, a finely sculpted nose sniffed haughtily.

"May damn well eat each other down there. Such nuisances."



Porch.

Floorboards creak, and a girl jumps back a bit, startled. There is such a hush around the house, it's nearly disconcerting. Peeking in through the windows yields no result, the cherished best friend is nowhere to be seen, only the impeccably clean dining room. She goes to the side where the porch continues, repeats, and is scared out of her wits as the sharp blue eyes of her friend's mother meet hers. The woman is hard, all steel and sharp edges, not bothering with even a show of warmth. She used to be sweet, once, before her husband died. Then something changed, the widow emerged from grief with a blackened heart. Remarried probably for convenience. Her daughter refuses to speak of life at home.
The girl runs off the porch and onto the pathway leading to the street. A moment of nervous pacing follows, a helpless shrug of shoulders. She leaves, deciding to wait it out. Mutters reassuringly to herself.

"It's not like she's never been gone for days before... she's like that. Irresponsible, really."