C H A P T E R   T E N
Vaguely   Familiar

"It's a song you say?" Jo perked an eyebrow at Delia, staring down at the paper with her hands crossed.

"I wrote it as a song I guess, I'm assuming it's a song, it could very well be a poem." She explained, there was a look of conflict that settled over all the girls.

"Will you sing it for us?" Beth asked, a glint of hope in her eyes as she fluttered her eyelids.

"I... yes, I will. I don't have an instrument or instruments for the song yet so it'll just be raw "talent"."

"Talent that you have," Jo responded, gesturing for her sisters to stand up with her.

"Now presenting..." Jo started.

"Delia Acker and her first live show performing...?"

"Uh... Wonderland," Delia blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Off she goes!" Amy grinned with excitement visible in her voice.

"Off she goes..." Meg repeated.

There was a pause before Delia sang softly, her voice filling the room as she glanced down at the paper for reference of the words because she didn't memorize it yet. It was nothing fancy, she didn't want to scare anyone with loud vocals, she only wanted this to be something people would sing by campfires like folk songs about legends and fairytales.

"I see forever, in those sweet, chocolate brown eyes. " Laurie, she thought to herself, picturing him in her mind.

Gods if he found out that she wrote a song partially about him, she would die from embarrassment. She ended the song rushed and
with a shaky voice from her scary thoughts but nevertheless, the girls clapped for their friend.

"It's definitely a song," Amy stated, leaning in forward intrigued.

"Sing it a few more times and maybe it'll be stuck in my head." Jo said, patting Delia on the shoulder as a way of saying, "good job."

"You're good, Delia." Beth smiled as bright as day and Meg nodded in agreement while looking down at her sister.

"Who's the one with chocolate brown eyes?" Jo smirked, she was teasing Delia it worked. Delia's cheeks suddenly became warm and red, they radiated heat.

"Don't tell Laurie about this song..." Delia begged softly, her eyes jerked to the ground, too embarrassed to even look at her friends.

"We won't make any promises," Jo replied for everyone, Delia felt like a turtle hiding in its shell for the prey to go away, she didn't exactly like it when Jo teased her but she didn't mind because she didn't do it too often but she still wasn't fond of it.

Amy was the one who spoke up a lot, she was a good companion, Delia liked her, she was fun and can sometimes be annoying but she hoped Amy viewed her in a better way than she did her which was true, sure there were downsides to Delia but friends focus more on the good things, right?

As the sky grew darker and darker by minutes, Delia decided it was time to leave. She didn't bring much with her, just herself and the slip of paper.

"Before I go..." She mumbled, stopping at the front door, inches from the outside but she could feel the cold wind on her skin. Beth and Meg could too, the coldness from the outside brought them chills down their spines.

"In 2 weeks I'm going back home and leaving Concord for... god knows how long." She frowned and shut the door behind her leaving her friends with her depressing exit for them to think about.

* * * * *

The next morning was something to remember for Delia. She woke up to feeling every muscle in her body ache, she was tired every morning and when she looked in the mirror, sometimes she would look fine however that morning, she looked like a complete and utter mess.

     Her dark eye circles were more prominent, she couldn't care less if she were honest, there were better things to worry about than her deteriorating looks.

     She slumped down the stairs like a zombie, ready to get food into her growling stomach.

     That morning she was craving bread, Aunt Marie didn't prepare bread often for breakfast but when she did, most of the time it was the perfect way to fill their stomachs to the brim.

     Delia loved bread and she wasn't exaggerating when she says love it, there was something about it that made her smile and put her in a good mood. She'd assume it was from past memories of her and her mother baking bread together while her toddler sisters were fussing around and crawling on the floor. She liked to laugh about it but she really did enjoy the time she had with her mother when her mother cared about her.

     Nowadays, her mom worries herself over her twin daughters, they were her angels she would say, part of it was true, they were usually nice, well, that's a lie. They were nice when their little home had visitors around like most people are but they are normally little rats.

     Delia and then had a normal sibling relationship, she liked them sometimes but most of the time she would say she despised them. They did have good memories together, but she had more with her newly made friends in Concord, that says something, well, a lot more than something.

     "Delia?" Aunt Marie looked confusingly at her niece before handing her a cardboard box, there was a bright lapis lazuli blue ribbon that tied the box sealed. An enticing little gift it was.

     "Who sent this?" She gasped, excitingly holding the box with care, Delia looked under the box and uncovered a card stuck onto the cardboard with a dot of adhesive.

     She ran to the dinner table and placed the box neatly onto it, with her delicate hands, she took her thumb and index finger and took hold of a piece of the ribbon. In her mind, Delia was recording a video of her opening the present. And then the ribbon slid off the box and there was the darkness from inside the box that intrigued her, she couldn't contain her excitement and opened the box.

     A wide-eyed expression appeared on her face, her mouth was agape and she couldn't believe her eyes.

     It was a beautiful guitar, glazed and not a scratch visible on it. She wanted to pluck one of the strings of the wonderfully crafted guitar but she took it out of the box first and placed it beside the cardboard box it was contained in.

     Aunt Marie had a shocked look on her face and walked away from her niece, letting her be by herself because she thought she would feel better alone. There was a smile that was present on Marie's lips however she hid it because she didn't want her niece to see.

     Delia thought to herself about every thing she had to learn. While doing so, she nearly failed to open the card but she made it atlas.

     "Delia, I hope this gift finds you well, one day I can hear you strum the strings of this guitar and hear the sound of your bright voice singing along to the chords you'll play. Sincerely, Laurie." Delia read the card aloud but softly to herself so her aunt and uncle couldn't hear.

     There was a dumb grin that was plastered onto her lips without her knowing, it was a bright happy smile. She looked as radiant as the sun at that moment, bursting with happiness.

     "Aunt Marie!" She called for her aunt which sped into the room with a questionable look on her face.

     "Yes, Delia?"

     "Who gave you this?" Delia asked and Aunt Marie grinned a bittersweet smile.

     "About 15 minutes ago, that Laurie boy stopped by and knocked on our door until I opened, he was very persistent." She informed her bubbling niece who ran out the door right after she finished her reply.

     "Delia..." Aunt Marie mumbled to herself, it was intended to be a scowl, a loud yelling for her niece but it came out soft. When Marie reaches up to touch her lips she found them curved and in the form of a smile, snapping herself out of her daze and starting to cleaning the table.

     Delia ran with all her might, she ran and ran until her legs burned and her abdomen was cramped up, she was out of breath, breathing extremely hard but she continued running like a little boy playing tag. In the mere distance, she saw who she was running after, Laurie.

     A spike of energy surged through her and she ran until she saw Laurie in front of her and had a surprised expression on his face when Delia jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

     "Delia, this seems vaguely familiar." Laurie laughed as Delia let him go and fell to the ground lying next to him.

     "You— didn't have to," Delia spoke to him, in her hands Delia was still clutching onto the card. With her left hand, she took it and gave the card to him.

     "You don't want it?" Laurie questioned, pushing all of his weight onto his right forearm, looking longingly at Delia.

     "Oh, I want it, and I'm keeping it but keep the card in memory of me." She uttered, still breathing heavily in and out.

     "I don't need a card to remember you. I see you in my imagination, I hear you talking in my mind." Laurie explained. This made Delia's stomach fill with butterflies but it helped that she let out a teeny tiny laugh that erased some of her anxiety.

     "You're a good man, Theo. I hope you can hear me singing in your dreams as well." Delia commented, her heart ached as she mumbled those words.

     "Jo, Beth, Meg and Amy told me, Lia," Laurie said and Delia didn't look shocked, she expected this, she knew it would happen but she wasn't mad, it would be stupid to be mad.

     "Sweet, chocolate brown eyes..." Delia's eyes met Laurie's, she sat up and stared at him with curious eyes. She could see flakes of gold in his eyes, the more she stared the faster her heartbeat.

     "They're hazel at times." He pointed to his eyes and that brought a grin to both of them. "You're a strange man, Theodore Laurence..."

A U T H O R ' S N O T E

So thoughts on Delia writing a song
partly about Laurie?

When I first wrote that scene I cringed so much, I was considering taking it out but I decided to leave it in, so let me know what you think! Love you guys, stay safe and thank you for the support
on this book so far!

Also... something's gonna happen
next chapter... :)