InsaneJournal

Who: Celeste, Esme, Mindee, Phoebe and Sophie Cuckoo
When: Saturday evening
Where: Frost Mansion, Cuckoo's room
Warnings: Odd formatting, due to excessive use of telepathy. Sorry.



Sophie had not been looking forward to this, but the other girls were pushing her into it faster than she would've liked. It was impossible to avoid them, and equally impossible to ignore them. When she returned to her room from her outing with Ms. Frost, the four girls were waiting, glaring at her.

We should talk.. Sophie started.

What's to discuss? Esme asked as the four crossed their arms over their chests. You've obviously already made your decision. The girls knew that Sophie had been out with Quentin earlier in the day, and they knew the thoughts in her mind. They had also felt Sophie's thoughts become slightly more fogged--harder for them to access.

You're leaving us, Esme, Celeste, Phoebe and Mindee thought simultaneously.

Sophie pursed her lips together in annoyance. I'm not going anywhere.

We're the five-in-one, Phoebe thought, her tone accusatory. What are we without you? You're destroying us. How could you abandon us? For that.. that thing!

Quentin isn't a thing. He loves me. You've seen it just as I have. The unvoiced thought was that the other Cuckoos were jealous. Jealous of seeing someone love Sophie as an individual, and jealous of the idea of Sophie developing a unique power, as she did in Quentin's world. How is this even fair? Esme screws around with James and that's fine, but I want to be with a boy I really like and suddenly I'm the bad guy?

Esme rolled her eyes. James isn't a threat. That has nothing to do with it.

No. Don't brush this off like it's nothing. There was admonishment in Sophie's tone. What you did was messed up, Esme. You've endangered our relationships with pretty much everyone in this house. Rose is pissed, Ms. Frost lectured us all over it, and who knows what Rachel will do. You weren't acting in the best interests of the five-in-one.

Sophie looked at Phoebe, Mindee and Celeste. Esme acted outside of us. You can pretend like she didn't. But by doing that, you have to accept responsibility for what she did, and what she does. What she did was wrong, and she doesn't feel any remorse. Sophie frowned. You can continue to accept Esme as part of you because it feels safer. Four seems safer than three, I know. But it's not safer. She's endangering our relationships with everyone in this house, and if Rose doesn’t flat-out attack you, she'll try to convince Ms. Frost to kick you out. And if Esme keeps acting like this, eventually Ms. Frost will listen to her daughter. So ask yourself if being four would really make you safer.

The four-in-one stood there, stunned. Sophie turned and walked out of the room. It was a beginning, she had to remind herself. A beginning, not an end.