“Pretty close. Like two peas in a pea pod. You spend more time with us than you spend time alone. I called my family and told them the situation you’re currently in. They were shocked at first, but all agreed to meet us at my house to spend quality time with you, and introduce themselves.”
Elide nodded. That was good to know. Her train of thought drifted towards her own family. Jacquline had said that her parents weren't the best but clearly her and her brother had been kind of close. She contemplated calling him, but didn't know what she would say, "That's good, I can't wait to talk to them and get to know them."
She smiled and lead her out of the hospital. She stopped when they reached Jacqueline’s car, unlocked the door and then opened the door for the passenger side. “I’m sure they can’t wait to talk to you again. Especially one of my sisters. She likes you more than she likes me. I guess it’s because you’re such a great and awesome person to hang out with.”
She blushed, obvious against her pale cheeks as she climbed into the car, “I don’t know about that. Then again, you’re the one that new me before all of this. What’s your sister’s name?”
She closed the door, walked to her side, got in, buckled up, started the engine and started driving the car away from the hospital. “Well, the youngest one is named Amaya. She’s the one that likes you a lot. She says you’re the nicest, purest human she’d ever met in her life. Which, i completely agree with my sister. You’re the nicest, purest person I’ve met in my life. And you’re quite funny too.”
Elide, if even possible, went even redder. She sunk down in the seat a little, hiding her face behind her hands, "I… wow I… I can't even counter because I don't know if it's a lie or not.. but thank you, even though I feel like you might be lying."
“I’m incapable of lying.” She looked over at Elide and the daw the look Elide was giving her. “No, really. I can’t lie. Even if my life depended on it, I wouldn’t be able to lie. I call it a curse, but sometimes I call it a blessing. It depends on the situation I’m in.”
Elide raised a brow, letting her hands drop as a confused pout crossed her lips, “Seriously? How is that even possible? Like, is it just really obvious you’re lying when you do?”
Jacqueline chuckled as she nodded. The car came to a stop and she sighed. “Looks like we’re going to be stuck here for a while.” She said, addressing the traffic in front of them. “Yeah, it’s pretty obvious when I lie. Mostly because I’m a horrible liar.”
Elide shuffled up the seat a little, bringing one leg up so she could rest her cheek onto it, "Damn, that must suck. Imagine if you broke your phone and you couldn't lie to your mum about it. That would be the worst."
“Ah, yes. Those were fun times. Not being able to lie to my mum about it and then get grounded for a very long time until I felt and looked old. You don’t know the many times I was in my room and not being able to do anything fun. It felt like all the color of the world was drained.”
"It sounds like a nightmare. I mean, you must have done something pretty bad to deserve to be placed in what felt like prison for so long. Your mum clearly loves you so she just thought she was doing the right thing at the time."
“Yeah, I was a bit of the trouble maker when I was a little kid. It didn’t matter how many times I got into trouble, I would always make more trouble whenever I was off the hook.” Jacquline sighed and looked forward, noticing that the cars were starting to move one again.
Elide turned her head out the window, resting her head against the glass after a moment, "Why? Did you find it fun or something?"
“As a kid, yes. As you may already know, when one is a kid, they act a bit weird. They think high-fiving people with a thumbtack between their fingers and getting the other bleed is fun. They think that putting thumbtacks on the chair of a teacher is funny to see. Okay, maybe that one might be a little funny to see. . .”
“It is not! The poor teacher! That would hurt and I for sure would not want to be pricked up something on my bum. It hurts just thinking about it.”
Jacquline gave Elide a universal shrug and started to focus on the road. She had to switch lanes, avoid potholes, and hit the brakes as fast as possible to avoid running some reckless kids over. “Well, it depends on who the teacher is or how the teacher has been behaving. Some teachers might deserve the horrible prank.”
"I guess that's fair." Elide looked back out the window, watching everything go by and trying to see if any o fit triggered a memory. It didn't, "Hey um, where are we? Like, the country, state whatever?"
“Uh. . .New York City, we’re currently in a New York City borough named Queens. Do you think by knowing the state you’re living in, it’ll trigger a memory?” Jackie asked as the car came to a halt and she turned off the engine. She sighed and waited for a car to pass before opening the door, getting out of the car, close it and then walk to the other side to open the door for Elide.
“I thought so,” Elide mumbled, stepping out of the car with a sigh. She swivelled around on the spot for a moment, trying to find anything that would trigger a memory. Nothing came to mind and a look of sadness crossed her features, “But… there’s just nothing.”
She closed the door and sighed. She really hated seeing Elide look so sad, it just made her feel bad. She smiled warmly, grabbed Elide’s hand and looked at her. “Don’t worry, they’ll come back to you sooner or later.”
Elide looked up at her with a soft sigh, trying a smile but it faltered and faded after a second, "Yeah, maybe. Hopefully." Honestly she didn't know if they would with the way everything was going so far.
“Everything will be fine. Well, I at lease hope so.” She paused and looked at the house in front of them. “Come on, lets go. I can already feel the excitement coming out of the house and into the street.”
She tried to brighten up a bit, she herself excited herself to meet everyone again, "They won't like… run me down and knock me over, will they?"
Jackie shook her head and laughed as she opened the door to the house. She stepped in and saw that everyone was sitting on the couch, on the ground or on the chairs, and they were all waiting for Jacquline and Elide.