(no subject)
There had never been a shortage of magazines on the bookshelf when Serena checked it. Real books, even good ones, cropped up, too, but magazines had been plentiful from the start. It was kind of silly, she guessed, reading up on fashions she couldn't follow and people she hadn't seen in ages, but somehow all the spun fantasy of things like Vogue and Vanity Fair seemed like a way of keeping an eye on home without having to look too closely.
Serena hadn't expected that she would miss her mother all the more after seeing her again, but even suspecting it would all come to an end quickly, she just hadn't been ready for the return home and she hadn't been ready to leave. It was better to try and pretend it away, since there really weren't any other options. Instead, she had gathered an armful of magazines and commandeered a table in the rec room for an afternoon of reading.
She had figured it would take her mind off missing home. What she had counted on was just how right she'd be about that. Paging through a recent issue of Hello! proved more than a little unsettling, and each successive magazine only made things stranger still. Scattered through the pages of Gente, Voici and Brunte, she turned up again and again, playing to the paparazzi with a coy sort of Oh, if you must expression. None of it made sense. It was all behavior she'd freely given up years ago.
If there was an explanation in these magazines, she'd missed it entirely. While part of her wanted to hold onto them, puzzle over what had happened to change her yet again, Serena was fairly certain she was better off, for the moment, not knowing. Returning a copy of OK! to the pile, Serena leaned back in her chair, looking at them for a long moment. She wouldn't let it worry her. What happened at home stayed there. This was a different life.
Darting a glance to the side, she leaned forward and picked it up again. "What were we thinking?" she murmured, shaking her head, then laid it down again. This was getting her nowhere.
Serena hadn't expected that she would miss her mother all the more after seeing her again, but even suspecting it would all come to an end quickly, she just hadn't been ready for the return home and she hadn't been ready to leave. It was better to try and pretend it away, since there really weren't any other options. Instead, she had gathered an armful of magazines and commandeered a table in the rec room for an afternoon of reading.
She had figured it would take her mind off missing home. What she had counted on was just how right she'd be about that. Paging through a recent issue of Hello! proved more than a little unsettling, and each successive magazine only made things stranger still. Scattered through the pages of Gente, Voici and Brunte, she turned up again and again, playing to the paparazzi with a coy sort of Oh, if you must expression. None of it made sense. It was all behavior she'd freely given up years ago.
If there was an explanation in these magazines, she'd missed it entirely. While part of her wanted to hold onto them, puzzle over what had happened to change her yet again, Serena was fairly certain she was better off, for the moment, not knowing. Returning a copy of OK! to the pile, Serena leaned back in her chair, looking at them for a long moment. She wouldn't let it worry her. What happened at home stayed there. This was a different life.
Darting a glance to the side, she leaned forward and picked it up again. "What were we thinking?" she murmured, shaking her head, then laid it down again. This was getting her nowhere.