Awaiting company

Kei looked at the clock in the kitchen between her bites of the food. Her mother stood by the sink, washing dishes and humming a tune while she did so. A quarter to seven, said the time. In about fifteen minutes, Jo and Mad would arrive. Kei threw in the last bit of food in her mouth, put her dirty dishes in the sink, thanked her mom for dinner and went to her room upstairs. She closed the door carefully and looked around the room, taking her time as she did so. The room seemed different since she’d come back… She had prepared some things she and her friends could do during the evening. She had missed them while she was away and now wanted to make up for lost time. They would first talk through what had happened and after that they would watch a DVD, with plenty of snacks about during aforesaid movie time. She sat down on the couch and put up her feet on the table; letting herself drift into an easy, relaxed state.

"Kei! Your friends are here!"

Kei awoke from her reverie from her mother’s cry and was about to stand up when the door opened and the two friends rushed into the room. Madelynn sat down with a pillow on the floor while Josephine eased onto the couch next to Kei. The two girls looked around the room as if they expected C.L to jump up any second.

"I have prepared some stuff to do tonight," said Kei with a smile, pointing to the various things they could entertain themselves with during the evening.
"Sounds fun," said the two girls at once.
"All right now," said Jo, who leaned back on the couch. Madelynn made it more comfortable for herself on the floor, even pulling out another pillow that she could squeeze should the story turn exciting.
"It's a long story…" said Kei guiltily as she looked down into her lap.
"We have all night," said Madelynn, who hugged her pillow.

"I've been to France-"
“FRANCE!" screamed Jo and Mad together as they pulled closer to Kei. "Why? How?!"
Kei answered them both, “-With C.L…” She looked from Jo to Mad. They looked at her with eyes big as teacups, but they didn’t stop her. "I accompanied him to France because I wanted to come, and he would have left me here otherwise. So, we borrowed Sebestjen's Arabian and ran away. We rode down to France, stayed there a few days and..."
Kei told the whole story to her friends, except things that could harm or upset C.L. When she was finished, she relaxed, feeling a large, heavy rock fall from her shoulders. She slumped into the couch with a sigh.

"You died…" Madelynn whispered into her pillow. She was thoroughly shocked with the story of Lance, who had threatened and almost killed C.L and Kei.
"No, I did not die. I was just unconscious," Kei clarified.
Jo cut in, "And now you can hear C.L's thoughts?" You could hear the skeptical note in her voice.
Kei nodded. She had chosen to leave out that bit about her hearing Cher Ami’s thoughts; it would not do any good for Jo or Mad to know.
Jo leaned her head into her hand. "How is it then- I mean, to hear him?"
Kei shrugged. "It's... Different."
Madelynn grinned behind her pillow, "How many nights did you two spend together down there?"
Kei stared at Mad, blushing slightly, "Some nights. He was gone most. But we spent some nights…” Kei lowered her gaze. She knew what Mad would ask now, she knew exactly what was coming next and she was terrified of it.

"Have you-" Madelynn began but was interrupted by Jo who forced her way into the queue.
"Why did you not tell us where you were going? We're your best friends, Kei…" she accused.
"You would only worry about it," Kei said gently.
"We were more concerned when we knew nothing! And to say nothing to Sebestjen, that was-"
Kei gawked at Jo, "Sebestjen?!"
"He was beside himself with worry for more than a week! We knew that something was wrong when you and his mare disappeared. He said he had sent the Arabian to a friend or something like that. But we did not believe it. Something was wrong…" Jo looked down at Madelynn, who nodded in agreement.

The three friends were silent for a few seconds as they looked at each other. Madelynn then realized that the silence was just a bit too tense; she grinned again.
"Have you done it?" She whispered excitedly to Kei as she leaned into the pillow, practically squeezing the life out of. Jo winced beside Kei, then started giggling; she asked, "Well, have you?”
Kei looked quickly from Mad to Jo and back again. She tried to start a sentence, but received only single syllables, which included (but were not limited to), “Uh, what, eh!”
The two friends giggled loudly while Kei flared. Jo stopped laughing first.
"No, but seriously... Have you?"
"NooooOOOO!" Kei broke off when she realized that the “no” had become a high shriek. "No, we have not," she affirmed, lower this time.
Madelynn and Josephine looked at each other and then at Kei.
"He is not like that," Kei said quietly as she thought of all those nights she had actually spent with him. "He does not use... others," she stated, smiling slightly.
She looked at Jo and then at Mad. The two friends nodded and smiled back. All of a sudden Madelynn asked cheerfully, "So, what movie is it?" She rushed from her seat on the floor to the television.
"I'm glad you're back," said Josephine, smiling warmly at Kei.
"It's nice to be back..."
"Ooooh, ‘The Notebook!’” Madelynn shrieked happily.

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A new picture and the story continues
I think my Disney latest has helped my human anatomy a whole lot. A real boost maker
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Tools & Info
Refference: No Reference
Estimated time: About 1- 2 hours
Tools: Wacom bamboo tablet & Photoshop CS
Layers: About 13 layers
Editor of Text:
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