Tawny was alone in a dark void of nothingness.
The only other soul she could see was her mother, Faye, who looked as she did the day she had first dropped Tawny off for school at Ivoree Gates.
"Mom?" Tawny asked. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"
"You've abandoned me," Tawny's mother replied.
"What?" Tawny said, stunned. She shook her head. "No, never. I would never do that!"
Suddenly, Faye's clothes changed and she was wearing the hospital gown. She looked unhealthy, her cheeks were sunken in and her hair was stringy and greasy. "You left me to fend for myself, while you lived your contented life. Well, no more You'll no longer have access to me. From this point over we are finished."
"Mom..." Tawny said. "You don't mean that..."
Faye crossed her arms and turned her back on her daughter. "I never want to see you again!"
As though she uttered an incantation, the distance between them rapidly grew.
"Mom, come back!" yelled Tawny. "I'm sorry!"
As she attempted to run for her mother, the solid state of the void gave way and Tawny felt herself following further and further into the nothingness.
"Mooom!"
---
Tawny awoke. The void in her nightmare was gone, but her eyes found it difficult to adjust to the lack of light in her new space. She was lying down on her back on a very soft bed, that was all the information she had for now.
Then Tawny felt a gentle touch on her skin, cool and damp. Tawny identified it as a sponge; to her left was a figure in the dark holding the sponge and lightly applying it to her forehead.
"I should have been there to protect you," came a voice from the figure.
Professor McCurdy? Again, the room was dark so she couldn't see him, but she recognized the distinct tenor of his voice, and the scent of his sandlewood cologne.
Does he know that I'm awake? she wondered. In the dim light, he wouldn't have been able to see her open her eyes, and she didn't dare move her head to draw attention to herself. Instead, Tawny opted to remain perfectly still, and shut her eyes again to feign her continued slumber.
Professor McCurdy resumed applying the sponge to Tawny's head and neck. "If I had been there with you," he continued, "I could have spared you this affliction, and you wouldn't be recovering in our bed at Rebecca's insistence."
So that's where she was, Tawny realized. In the big, luxurious Alaskan King bed she had seen in passing a few times while living with the McCurdys. Tawny wasn't quite sure she should feel honoured at the opportunity or revulsed at the sheer perversion of the situation...so she decided neither and to let herself enjoy the sensation of the sponge on her skin.
When the sponge traveled to the hollow of Tawny's neck, he paused. After a few seconds, he pulled the sponge away. Tawny cautioned a quick peek; without craning her neck and from the very limits of her peripheral figure, she thought she could see Professor McCurdy rub his face with both his hands.
"Rebecca...I love my wife so very much. She is charming. Compassionate. Courageous. She came to me in my darkest hour and made me the man that I am today. Her return...helped me put a lot of things into perspective. My existence here...this entire situation...it's untenable."
Another pause. Though her eyes were closed again, her senses were overwrought with sandlewood fragrance her professor wore, an indication that he had gotten closer to her.
"Miss Matthews...Tawny," he said, his voice both sober yet overwhelmed, on the verge of breaking. "You are my affliction."
A single tear escaped Tawny's tightly pinched eyes and rolled down her cheek.
The presence of McCurdy and the sandlewood intensifed. She thought felt the lightest touch of the sponge on her skin one last time before she passed out.
----
Tawny was upright in the bed the next day, and she was eating lunch as a house visit doctor examined her vitals.
"Looks like she's improved significantly," said the doctor. "There's no need for her to stay bedridden."
"Oh, that's a relief," said Rebecca, who sat on the foot of the bed, on the corner diagonal from Tawny's position. "Are you feeling better, dear? The food agreeable with you?"
Tawny nodded, taking a sip from the juice box provided. "Thank you, this spread is amazing. Much better than what I would get at the hospital."
Rebecca laughed lightly. "Well, I should hope so." There was a knock at the door and Rebecca turned to look in its direction. "Come in."
Tawny fully expected Rebecca's husband to walk through the door, but instead it was Audrey and Maddie who entered the room.
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"Hey guys!" Tawny said, surprised at how eager she was to see her friends.
"How you holdin' up in here, kiddo?" Audrey said. "Fighting the good fight?"
Maddie nudged Audrey playfully with her elbow. "You sound like a dad."
"Oh, stop," teased Audrey back, grabbing Maddie by the waist in an attempt to tickle her.
Tawny smiled; despite all the craziness of the past several days, it truly warmed her heart to see the two of them together. It was the one bright spot in an otherwise series of harrowing events.
"I'm fine," she finally responded. "How are things holding up from your end?"
"You would NOT believe what has happened in the past week!" exclaimed Maddie.
"Oh?" said Tawny. "Enlighten me."
As the doctor nodded his goodbye and both she and Rebecca exited the room, Maddie and Audrey took their places on the bed, with Maddie sitting right beside Tawny on the mattress and Audrey sitting at the opposite diagonal corner.
"The Dylantantes are done," Maddie said. "They've disbanded."
Tawny was mid-sip of her juicebox at this revelation, and was so shocked she nearly inhaled her straw. "No kidding?" she said.
"Uh-huh, it's true," said Audrey. "The announcement came last afternoon, from ol' Fraus-y herself. All debts and transgressions have been forgiven and the maid uniforms are all to be returned for incineration, thank God."
"Oh, but they still followed through with Elaine's punishment," added Maddie. "She hasn't been expelled but she's been placed on a long-term suspension, effective immediately. That means she can still write the exams, but she won't be allowed on Ivoree Gates grounds until further notice."
"Wow," said Tawny. "How are the Elite 3 taking it?"
"Well, Prude is beside herself," said Audrey. "She's campaigning to have everyone sign a petition to have reinstated back on school grounds, but apparently she's having trouble garnering enough signatures for support."
"I wonder why..." Maddie said, rolling her eyes.
"Anyway, I hear she's also doing a hunger strike as well, so we'll see how that goes."
"And Violet?" asked Tawny.
Maddie snorted. "You mean Elaine 2.0? Violet is too busy enjoying her new status as Queen Bee to really care if Elaine comes back. While Prude is canvassing for the status quo, Violet is recruiting a new posse to replace the two of them even as we speak. On that front, nothing has really changed. Same old evil money, just a new coat of paint in the fall."
"That's a shame," said Tawny. "But...on a positive note, I've notice you two have really gotten close over the past few weeks."
To Tawny's surprise, Audrey closed the distance between herself and the other two girls by crawling across the massive bed. When she reached their corner, she pulled Maddie down on the bed beside her and kissed her until Maddie broke into a fit of giggles.
"Yeah, uh, we're dating," Audrey said, holding Maddie close.
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner," Maddie said. "We wanted to wait until you were feeling better."
"No apology needed," Tawny said. "I'm so happy for you both; you two deserve each other."
"Oh, Tawny..." Maddie said, sitting up on the bed and wiping her eyes. "Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to hear you say that."
"Aw, Maddie, don't cry," said Tawny, feeling herself get emotional. "You're gonna end up making me cry..."
"Alright," Audrey said. "We might as well do the group hug thing before we all dissolve into a blubbering mess in here."
The three girls embraced. They held each other for a long time, savouring the warmth of safety and companionship. In spite of herself, Tawny cried even more, for she was so happy to have finally found her own tribe - or, more aptly, her Tawdry Trio - that she could turn to, rely upon in her time of need.
"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt..."
The three girls separated and looked to the door, where Rebecca had returned, phone in hand and apologetic look on her face. "It's for you, Tawny. It's the library. They said it's something urgent."
----
Maddie and Audrey had to return to campus to prepare for their final exams, so Rebecca was the one to chauffeur Tawny to the library.
"I'll wait here for you," Rebecca said as Tawny exited the vehicle and ascended the steps into the building.
As per usual, when Tawny entered the library it felt eerily vacant, and the entrance door gave a long and ominous creak which permeated through its cavernous interior.
Linda was at her usual spot, and watched expectantly as Tawny approached the information desk.
"Hi, Linda, I came as soon as I cou--"
"Shh!" Linda ducked down under the desk for a brief moment, then emerged with a thick manilla envelope, which she handed to Tawny.
"Oh, is this the magazine issue I requested?" Tawny asked, speaking a bit softer. "Thank you, but I don't really nee--"
"Shh!" Linda's eyes were wide as she removed the index finger from her lips and pointed in the direction of Study Hall.
Not sure what else it was that the librarian expected her to see, Tawny tiptoed down the corridor.
This is silly, Tawny thought. Why is Linda acting so strange? I don't even feel like reading this magazine right now..."
Just when Tawny was thinking of turning around and leaving, she froze.
To her surprise, the Study Hall was already occupied. Immediately, she ducked behind one of the tall bookshelves and peered inside.
Dylan was standing beside a massive canvas he must've brought into the library. On the canvas was a large painting of swirling lively colours, evoking the brush strokes of Vincent Van Gogh:
On the canvas was a large painting of swirling lively colours, evoking the brush strokes of Vincent Van Gogh: [https://img.wattpad.com/a8f8a16fba6b1d698a725dca6f8546434669581c/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f736941657467534a7434664b63413d3d2d313434333932383539352e313763653161626664393134333365323235333434323036343939372e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Standing in front of the painting, his back to Tawny, was Dylan's father, Bryce Westinghouse.
"My God..." Bryce said, his voice low but full of awe. "It looks just her."
"I painted her from my memories," Dylan said. "As few as they were at that time. Where my memory failed me, I used my feelings of her to fill in the blank spots. I didn't want mother to be someone from whom I inherited an unjust hatred of libraries. So instead this is how I chose to remember her. As someone who loved books and adored reading.
"And also..." continued Dylan. "This is the path I choose to follow. I don't want to be like you, father; I don't want to be a businessman. I want to be wild and free and paint with abandon, and honour the Westinghouse legacy through my talents."
Bryce walked right up to the canvas and touched it, his hand caressing the painted visage of his late wife.
"I never knew of your abilities....you know, she always wanted to bring beauty into this world. That was her greatest wish. And now I finally see it. In this painting and in you. Her wish made manifest."
Dylan took a step toward Bryce and placed a hand on his shoulder. Bryce immediately turned around and embraced his son with all the strength and vigour he could muster.
There, the two Westinghouse men stood, their differences melting away in the face of a long overdue reconciliation, with the specter of the fallen family member and Tawny bearing witness.
Not wanting to interrupt the intensely personal moment, Tawny tiptoed away, back to where Linda waited for her return.
"Thank you," Tawny mouthed as she tiptoed past the information desk and exited the library, manilla envelope still in tow.