C H A P T E R   S E V E N
Delia's Note

Surprisingly, Theodore Laurence managed to come to a dinner hosted by Marie and Daryl, Delia's Aunt and Uncle. God forbid anything bad to happen.

Delia was sitting in her wooden glazed chair, the feet were quite wobbly which wasn't to her liking but she dealt with it like she did the many days she sat there.

"Thank you for letting me come over for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Acker." Laurie tried to talk his way through the forest of unsettling silence. The house was usually silent, Marie and Daryl were very quiet and mysterious people and Delia was usually out playing with the March sisters and or Laurie.

"It's nothing, Dear Theodore. Though, Delia doesn't talk about you much..." there was a little twinkle in Aunt Marie's eyes that one moment and Delia caught it.

"Well, Delia is a private person, I'm sure she likes to keep her virtues, morals and general secrets a secret." Laurie replied, there was a hint of panic in his voice when he spoke.

You, are not my virtue, you, are not one of my morals, and certainly not one of my secrets, Delia thought ferociously in her mind but it did do something to her heart when he said that. Her heartbeat seemed louder in her ears and her stomach was filling with sensations... was it butterflies? Maybe it was the idea of Laurie eating with Delia's family that made her nerves bubble up. The rustling in the room became louder and louder in her ears and her ears were ringing.

"Theodore Laurence, you are not one of my little secrets! Now, if you'll excuse me—"

"I should leave now." Laurie interrupted Lia, standing up and preparing to head out in a wink, he offered his hand out to the girl who took it shakily from boiling emotions. Once they reached the outside, she slapped his hand away immediately and shut the front door.

"Since when are you a twister of words, Laurie?" Delia snapped in a yelling voice.

"You are not my secret." She said firmly, Laurie stepped back and looked up at the dark, star-filled sky.

"And neither are you." He mumbled, "Then what were you saying back there?"

"What first came to my mind, Lia." He uttered softly, drawing in close to her once again. Delia felt sweat building up on her skin. She felt Laurie's breath brushing against her cheek and neck.

"Now's not the time for your sweet little nicknames. I... I forgot what I was going to say..." Delia sighed, scratching her head and letting out her breath while looking at the ground, trying to make distance between her and him.

"You don't have to say anything, Delia. I'll be heading home, tell your Aunt and Uncle, "I'm sorry," and that the food was delicious." Somehow even when Delia was fuming, Laurie could still manage to make her mood lighten up just a bit.

"I will, but not tonight." Delia whispered to herself and partially to him before running back into her home then up to her room. Aunt Marie and Uncle Daryl stared confusingly at Delia as she had ran up the stairs. Grabbing ink and a quill and a little piece of paper, she wrote the following:

Aunt Marie, Uncle Daryl,

I don't mean to alarm you but I will not be spending tonight at home, instead I will be attending a slumber party. If you wish to see me, we'll have to play a little game of hide & seek.

Yours sincerely, Delia Acker

Very quickly, she dipped her pen in the ink and etched her words onto the paper. Delia had no clothes to bring with her but she thought her woolly jacket would do. Her Aunt and Uncle were conspiring in their bedroom as they quickly ended dinner while Delia ran downstairs and left the letter on the table top. Slipping on her jacket, she dashed across the field of long, untrimmed grass until she reached the March home.

The moonlight made her look as pale as a ghost but luckily, she didn't stand there long enough to become a ghost. Mrs. March answered the door with a slightly shocked look on her face.

"Marmee!" Delia smiles as she said Marmee with enthusiasm. Mrs. March hugged Lia tightly before letting go of her and asking, "Delia, my lovely, what on earth are you doing here so late into the night?"

"I wanted to visit, Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth. Besides, today wasn't a very good one." She mumbled and Marmee nodded, quickly welcoming her into the house she had spent multiple hours in before.

"Marmee, who is it?" Jo rubbed her eyes just slightly before bursting down the stairs to hug Delia.

"Miss Josephine, I'm glad to see you again." Delia was practically jumping.

"No need to be so formal, Lia. I'm not one for it anyways, you've been spending too much time with Meg." Jo grabbed her hand and in a rush, they arrived upstairs in Beth's room which she shared, where everyone was hanging out. Amy looked startled by Jo's joy but quickly followed along, standing up and hugging Delia oh so tightly.

"Delia, you came back." Delia was able to catch Meg, smiling as she walked over as well, speaking those words.

   "Where's Beth?" Delia questioned.

"Over here!" Beth came running over with a grin on her face. That moment, Delia felt as though she was apart of something. The anxiety wasn't completely gone but it wasn't consuming her, just creeping over her and watching her, waiting to strike her once again. As the girls disbursed because of the excitement they were trying to keep down, Jo looked to Delia with a concerned expression plastered on her gorgeous face.

"Lia... are you alright?" She asked while bringing her hand to touch Delia's shoulder.

"I... well— I..." Delia didn't have an answer to answer Jo's question, in fact, she was hoping that someone would realize how uncomfortable she was.

"Jo, let her go, she clearly doesn't want to answer your question." Amy scowled at her older sister.

"My questions are asked when necessary, if Lia is uncomfortable, she could tell me herself, friendships are made up of trust." Jo countered Amy's words and the room had suddenly felt colder than before.

"Jo..." Meg sighed while looking at the ground with her eyebrows furrowed. The excitement was wiped from all of them, all because of me, Delia thought to herself, she wanted to just sit in the corner and wait for this to pass by.

"I... don't want to answer your question, I'm sorry, Jo."

"Told you, Jo." Amy practically hissed Jo's name out and all Jo could do was growl softly at her younger sister.

"Enough. You're upsetting her, all of you." Meg said, Beth turned to look at the rest of the group, she wasn't involved in the problem and she knew Meg wasn't talking about her.

"Sometimes..." Delia fell to her knees, sitting down, the skirt of her dress pooled around her.

"There's a feeling of doubt, then self consciousness, and all of my 5 senses get amplified by a thousand. Those days, I don't come over, I can't bring myself to, it feels to me like plaguing all of you with sadness if I did." She explained and Jo sat down next to her on the floor, her hands were in her lap and her fingers were turning red from using the other hand to squeeze and stop blood flow to part of her other hand.

"Does anybody else know?" Meg questioned innocently.

"Laurie tries to help sometimes..." Thinking of the things he did do to help brought a second of a smile to Delia's lip before they faded into a distanced and depressed expression. A flicker of something flashed through Amy's eyes when Delia said those words but she was able to cover it up immediately. Suddenly, Delia felt an urgency and started panicking.

"You all mustn't tell a single soul. They'll put me in a mental asylum for this." Lia mumbled as the anxiety felt overwhelming once again. She caught herself biting down on her bottle lip and blood starting to ooze fron the tiny wound.

"Not a single secret seeking soul." Jo repeated, looking sincerely at Delia as she said it. The other March sisters nodded in agreement, still processing what Delia had just explained to them.

"Lia, come here. I want to practice the piano with you singing along to the music." Beth requested standing up and walking to the door. Beth was about to head downstairs to her piano which was located in the floor below while Delia immediately pivoted to gaze at Jo.

"I'm not very good at singing..." Delia said, Jo cocked her head just slightly, slightly enough for Delia to notice and grinned.

"Of course you can, Lia. You told me yourself." Jo argued, she didn't have proof but she didn't need proof and Delia knew that.

"I was lying to you, I wanted good impressions and blurred out the first talent that came to mind." Jo had a conflicted look in her eyes, it was like she was screaming out her emotions but Delia knew she had lost this fight.

"Why don't you sing us something, we'll be the judges." Jo suggested and the blood rushed immediately to Delia's face as she gulped in embarrassment.

"Jo, what if she is not good? We can't just insult her." Meg tried reasoning with her younger sister but Jo had her mind fixed on the outcome of the night and she wouldn't stop till she got what she wanted.

"Jo, you always ruin the fun in everything, you're like a little rat ruining a woman's day by frightening her." Amy attempted to start a quarrel with her sister again, though it was on accident, she couldn't contain her thoughts.

"She's our guest and she will perform something for us, she can tell us if she's not comfortable." Jo claimed calmly, ignoring the tension in the room that was stuck between her and her sisters.

"Not with this again!" Amy March vented.

"I was just suggesting she sing along to my piano. I didn't want for this to end up in a quarrel!" Beth spoke loudly, she was clearly tired of Jo and Amy always ending up in arguments with one another.

"I have faith in her, even if she doesn't have faith in herself." Jo remarked and Delia couldn't bring her eyes to look at her.

"Oh... alright." Jo and Amy turned to her and sighed, Amy sat down on the bed and Jo grabbing a local stool to settle down on.

Quietly, in a shaky but smooth voice, Delia recalled her mother singing her this song while she was sick. It was particularly sad but sometimes it made her mother tear up, Delia never bothered to ask why but she was wondering about it now. It sounded like a poem, the lyrics didn't make sense but it made for a catchy and emotional song. Delia's face was as red as ever, but it was hardly noticeable because of the dim lighting of candles, finally, she ended off the little singing session with a bit of belting, trying to not sing too loud as it was late and she was afraid the March's neighbours could hear her voice.

"Someone's a little liar..." Jo smirked as she was at peace once again, standing up and walking over to Amy. Meg kicked her in the shin and Jo winced at the pain. Amy and Meg had sat somewhat close to one another. They all could see the wicked smile of satisfaction in Amy's face.