Slumber Three

The morning of the move to the school was bright, cheery, and warm. It seemed absolutely wonderful. Yet it couldn't lift Bijou's spirits. This wasn't fair. All she did was make friends with someone. How in the world did that warrant her being tossed into some boarding school? It wasn't like she was going out of her way to do something dangerous. All of this didn't seem fair to her. And she had no choice but to go through with it.

So she got dressed, grabbed her suitcases, and went to the living room. There was a lovely smell coming from the kitchen. Obviously one of her Aunts was making breakfast, but she didn't feel like eating. Her stomach was hurting too much to consider having anything. They couldn't force her to eat like they were forcing her to leave. Bijou set her things down next to the front door for convenience. Then walked into the kitchen and was immediately greeted by each aunt. Each too busy with minor tasks to do more than that. Afua was adding new tasks to Onyx, making sure he was prepared for the school. Zina was on the phone with someone. But Bijou wasn't sure who, so she decided it wasn't any of her business. And Sethunya was using her powers to fix some treats for the trip as well as breakfast. Again, she still felt too nervous to eat. So she opted to have tea instead. She walked up to the cupboard, got out her favorite mug and the box of teabags then filled it with water.

Saying a heating spell, she watched the water slowly come to a boil. A spell she came to like over the years of learning magic. When the tea finished steeping, she poured a little honey in and slowly drank it. As soon as she was done, her Aunts were ready to go. They hurriedly made their way to the door with Onyx obediently following after them. Each not really actively noticing that she wasn't behind him. It felt like they were too wrapped up in forcing her away to even care. As if her feelings really didn't matter to them, maybe they never mattered at all.

Maybe they were even looking for an excuse to get rid of her. All they had to do was wait for when she'd slip up and they'd do this. Or she was just upset and stressed that she had to leave like this. The cabin was her only home, and she didn't know how to act at a school. And the only friend she had was probably not going to the school. So, she'd be alone for once in her life. Truly and utterly by herself. It was...frightening. She walked into the living room as she watched her aunts put on their coats. Onyx was holding out hers for her and she quickly slipped it on. Buttoning it quickly, she helped Onyx pick up her luggage. He took two of her heaviest bags while she took the lightest one. Not because he was forced to, but because he felt that he needed to. To help Bijou start to forgive her for what he had done. And help make the experience a little easier on her.

Onyx followed after her as they all walked out of the house. The door automatically shutting behind him thanks to the charm that Afua put on it. She did it mostly due to Bijou forgetting to shut it when she came home. Now they could probably take it off for a while. Bijou wouldn't be home to forget to shut it anymore.

When they got to the car, Bijou put her suitcase in the way back then stuffed the other ones in as well. Helped Onyx into the backseat with her, buckled them both up and shut the door. Looking out the window, she noticed the sky was barely turning blue. No clouds in the sky but plenty of birds. She wished she could be one of them. Free. Without any rules of where to go. It was all she paid attention to as they made their way into town. Passing by the shops that her and Tamifa went to along the way. Seeing a few people she barely knew as they drove past. None noticing that she was watching them as her aunt, Zina, was driving through. And so far, she hadn't seen her friend as they made their way out of the town. She wondered if she ever would see Tamifa ever again. Or if she'd ever get the chance to visit her aunts even. Would the school let her go home during any breaks? Did the school let anyone go on winter break? As far as she knew with boarding schools, they did. But that was only in fictional material. So she wasn't too sure. And she was afraid to ask.

When they finally cleared the town, she looked to Onyx. Who seemed to be very nervous and possibly would have been sweating if he could. She felt bad for working him up like this. But a small part of her felt like he deserved it. Instead of insinuating this, she asked,"Onyx. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Bijou. Whatever you need.",he told her. His voice sounding uncharacteristically chipper than usual. She gave a small smile as she said,"Play my favorite music for me. I can't stand the silence."

"Yes, Bijou.",he said as he tapped buttons on his arm. Her playlist started with her favorite old song. It was some band that used to be fairly popular in the twenty first century. Something about falling, she couldn't remember the name. But the songs were lovely, and she focused on them as she watched the world go by. Her Aunts humming the lyrics as they went. It made the ride a little more bearable. Eventually she relaxed as she started singing along. Though she wasn't sure of all the words. At least she wasn't the only one. No one seemed to agree what they were, so she had to change the song to the next one. A group that did weird vocals while covering songs. She couldn't remember who they were either but enjoyed the song. As like before, no one agreed on the lyrics. Afua was sure she was right. Zina agreed with her while Sethunya was adamant that she wasn't. Both her aunts turned to her as they asked who was right. Not wanting to cause a fight, she asked Onyx what the lyrics were. They were all surprised to find out that the song's lyrics were vastly different than they thought. Afua was the closest to being right about the song.

One of the lyrics was just hard to completely understand thanks to the effects. The knowledge of the lyrics stopped the fighting at least. And the song resumed for a while before shifting to a song that they all knew. It was from a TV show that they watched now and again. A British woman was singing about how she was made of love. How she'd never be defeated by whomever she was fighting. Everyone sang as they neared the city. Each having a turn at being the woman. Sethunya was the closest to sounding almost like her. It was rather sweet. Bijou was going to miss hearing her sing. But at least they had a few more cities to go before they got to the school. So, she could just have Onyx play only songs from the old school cartoon show. Maybe even play some classical music that Afua liked. Just as a way of saying goodbye to them and to apologize for her actions. If she made them realize how much they would miss her, they wouldn't send her away. Though as they got closer to the second city and further away from home, she knew it wasn't going to happen.

She was probably never going home ever again.