Cecile is a Dandelion. That’s why we call her Lio. It was Ciel who gave her that name. When she and I arrived at the Conservatory, Teri and Ciel had already been here for a year. We introduced ourselves and I’m sure he heard both of our names, but the first time he needed to use Cecile’s, he said Dandelion instead. I don’t know how he came up with it, perhaps it’s because it was summertime. He said he must have misheard, but mishearing “Cecile”, as “Dandelion” is just stupid. Ciel kept calling her Dandelion though, and then eventually Lio. Teri and I soon did as well. I don’t think Ciel has ever spoken Lio’s real name. In his reasoning, it’s because “Dandelion just sounds better”. But I could tell it was because her name sounds so similar to his own. And he hates saying his name. Ciel was a liar in that way, and I’ve been told that liars are evil. But if that is the case, then I know that at least one of those isn’t true.

Ciel lied to me before he left. It was a familiar night, just like any other. The four of us were in our room getting ready for bed. Teri was laying on her bunk reading something, and I was playing a board game with Ciel. Lio wasn’t there because it was her turn to do the laundry. Late at night has always been the best time to use the laundry room, because everyone else washes their clothes during the day. We figured that out long ago. The only downside to it is that it can get quite cold at night, especially during the winter months.

I never lost to Ciel at any game we played. But whenever I played against Teri I could never win. The strange thing, though, is that Ciel almost always won when playing her.

But that night was no different than usual, I had the upper hand against Ciel. A few more turns and the game would be over. Then Lio would return, we’d shut the lights and go to sleep. That is, that’s what would have happened on any other night. However, when the footsteps approached our door, Lio did not burst inside. Instead, the sounds stopped right outside the room. Then, a knock. Ciel and I looked at Teri, but she looked back at us. Her eyes spelled out the same puzzled reaction that we had. She quietly slid of her bed and pressed her ear against the door. After a short silence, she opened the door. Sebastian was standing on the other side.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.” He said.

“Don’t worry you aren’t, we were just getting ready for bed.” Teri replied.

“That’s good to hear. Anyways, I was wondering if you had some time, Ciel, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Three pairs of eyes looked to Ciel.

“Of course. What is it?” He asked. Sebastian responded, hesitantly.

“Actually, it might take a while, so, why don’t we head outside? The breeze is quite comfortable this time of year.”

Ciel looked to Teri, who stared blankly back at him. I did the same when he looked at me. Then he stood up and brushed himself off.

“Alright, sounds good. I’m following you then.” He said.

Sebastian smiled, then turned towards the hallway.

“By the way,” He asked. “I don’t see Cecile here, where has she gone?”

“Laundry.” Teri answered, as she stepped away from the door to let Ciel by. He looked back into our room one last time.

“We can finish when I get back.” He told me. “I’m about to win.”

Instinctively, I immediately looked back down at the board. I didn’t look back up again before the door clicked shut. If only I’d known that would be the last time I’d see him.

When I did raise my gaze, my eyes met Teri’s, who was standing in the middle of the room pondering what had just happened. I must have looked like I wanted an explanation because she shrugged, so as to say she didn’t know either. She returned to her reading and I went back to studying the game board. It was quiet for a while, but Teri began tossing and turning, more and more noticeably. I thought I was imagining it at first, but with every page she flipped, it became louder, and more frantic. Without much warning, Teri stood up and said she was going to check on Lio, because she seemed to be taking longer than usual. I watched her exit the room before mindlessly staring at the clock next to the door. When my scattered thoughts collected themselves, I noticed that Lio had only been gone for ten minutes - not even close to the amount of time she normally takes to finish the laundry.

Left all alone, I continued to review the state of Ciel’s and my game. And I saw something that had eluded me the whole time; a well-hidden sequence of moves, taking advantage of my weaknesses, and entirely unstoppable.

I walked to the desk and wiped the condensation off the window. My nose pressed against the glass as I leaned over the table to look outside. Neither Ciel nor Sebastian could be seen. Only the distant silhouette of the mountains, cutting a rough line that divided the ground and sky.

I fell into the chair. My reflection in the window stared back at me, blinking every time I did. As my thoughts began to drift once again, I heard three different sounds. The clock that ticked behind me, usually too faint to notice, was the loudest of them all. Beneath that, the laundry machine, softly whirling downstairs. And the softest sound, a conversation. Perhaps there was one more. Or perhaps it was only in my dreams. A cry; Ciel’s cry. But Ciel doesn’t cry.

There was a blanket over my shoulders when the sunlight awoke me the next morning. Under my hand was a note. It read: “Sorry, looks like you win this one after all.” His name was written at the bottom. Teri and Lio were already gone, and I was the last one up again. Ciel was gone too; he was always the first to wake, but even so, every morning, he would wait for me. That was the first time he didn’t. And after that night, he never did again.

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Another visitor arrived the day before yesterday. His name is Stark. He’s the same age as me and Lio, but he looks like he’s much younger. For two days, I’ve only heard him speak a handful of times. That’s not to say he isn’t polite though. Whenever he says anything, he uses the utmost curtesy. It’s almost kind of annoying; he acts more like Sebastian, or Alfred, rather than any of our previous guests. But that’s not what Teri thinks, she said he’s more similar to me than anyone else. Supposedly, the two of us are both “waiting for the right thing to set us off”.

We slept in the one of the guest rooms the past nights, because that’s what we’re supposed to do when we are assigned to take care of a visitor. The rooms are larger than ours, but there are no beds. Instead, there’s a closet filled with enough sleeping bags to cover the entire floor. It’s also where we go to get our camping things. In all honesty, the guest rooms are really more like storage rooms. But there are still tables and chairs, as well as windows, so it still feels like a proper place to sleep.

The wind wakes me up this morning. Stark is the only one left in the room. He sits at a desk, motionless.

“Hey.” I say, while still half in my sleeping bag. He is startled for a moment.

“Hello, did you sleep well?” He asks.

“As well as it can get, I guess. Where are the others?”

“They’re outside, flying kites.”

“You didn’t want to go with them?” I ask.

“It didn’t feel right to leave you here alone.”

“That’s nice of you, but if you were concerned, you could have just left a note. Or you could have gotten one of them to stay instead. Although Lio probably wouldn’t now that I think about it. I’m sure Teri would have no problem though.”

Stark doesn’t say anything in response, but he does smile, then he stands from his seat.

I hurriedly roll up my bag and set it to the side of the room. It’s rather surprising that Teri didn’t offer to stay behind instead. I would have preferred if she did as well. She’s used to waiting for me after all, and I wouldn’t feel so embarrassed if it was her.

We find the others without much trouble; their kites are easy to spot after all, two bright shapes on a cloudy sky. Last nights rain has left the grass damp, and the ground sinks beneath my every step. Teri and Lio stand in the distance. So small are their figures and so large is the wind, it almost feels like their kites will pick them right off the ground.

I yell out to the girls, but under the roar of the wind, even I can only barely hear my own voice. Teri, however, does not need to hear us to know we are coming. She turns and waves, then begins to draw her line back in.

“Look who’s finally up.” She greets me. I look down and scratch the back of my neck.

“You really should have let me stay, Stark. I hope you weren’t too bored back there.” Teri says.

Stark only smiles. It’s the kind of smile that says he’s just pretending he heard what Teri said. I’m not surprised he didn’t though. In this weather, I am probably the only one who could here something like that clearly.

“Anyways, Klaus slept so long that it’s almost time for lunch. I’ll head back a make us something to eat.” Teri says, before leaving on the trek back to the building.

I find a spot away from the rest and hold my kite high above my head. It flutters as it beats in the wind. When I release it, the strings in my hand are almost pulled from my grasp. The homemade red diamond slowly rises as I let the strings fly. Before I even notice, my neck has bent all the way back. But Lio’s is still much higher than mine.

A third kite enters my view from below and I look down to my left. Stark is standing next to me.

“You ever done this before?” I ask, as he matches my level.

“Once, with my dad.” He says.

“That’s nice. You two do things together often?”

“Of course. Isn’t that what father and son are supposed to do?” Stark says.

“I guess so. But I’ve never met either of my parents so I wouldn’t really know.” My voice gets quieter as I speak. Either that or the wind got louder.

“Did you say something.” Stark asks, yelling over the noise.

“Nothing important.” I respond.

The morning gusts ring through my ears, and I follow the unhurried movements of the clouds. There’s a book in the library that says rain floats back up into the sky after it falls, and when that happens, they become clouds. I wonder if that means yesterdays showers are the parents of today’s white sky. All our visitors have parents. It’s something I can’t relate to. But I don’t mind, I’ve found a family without them.

Lio’s kite begins to descend. It falls beneath mine as well as Stark’s, and then ends up in her hands. She holds it against her chest and begins running towards our direction.

“Do you mind if I join you guys?” Lio asks.

I thought the question was for Stark, so I didn’t say anything at first. But he doesn’t say anything either, so she was probably actually asking me. By the time I realize it, though, it’s already been too long for a reply to not sound awkward.

The breeze dies down for a moment and Stark’s kite begins to waver. He gets it back on track when the wind picks up.

“That one almost got you there huh.” Lio says.

I don’t notice what he says in response, or even if he said anything at all. The cut in the wind might not have been a problem for him, but it was for me, and my kite is spiraling out of my control. Lio yells, instructing me how to save it.

“Pull it in! Pull it in-”

“No one asked for your help.”

Stark interrupts her abruptly.

The kite I worked so hard to make draws one final loop before crashing headfirst into the ground. I can feel the frame snap. Teri’s words immediately come to mind, but one broken kite isn’t enough to set me off.

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A slight scent of glue lingers at the bottom of the room. Next to the crack of opened window, my repaired frame lies on a table, drying.

I lay on top of my sleeping bag reading the book that I read to learn how to make a kite. Dusk has already set in, and the air seeping in from outside brings with it a biting chill. It’s familiar to us, though probably not for Stark.

“Hey,” Lio says to him. “If it’s too cold in here, I can close the window.”

Stark sits on the floor playing a game with Teri, the same one that Ciel and I last played.

“It’s fine.” He says.

“You sure? You’re shivering.”

Lio is given no response; Stark is too focused on his game. She gets up and shuts the window anyways, before returning to her spot sprawled on the ground, drawing something in her book.

Drawing was something that Lio has always had a knack for, but not something she did often. But then I ruined her flower book. After that, it’s been a picture a day. And over time, she’s gotten crazy good at it.

A drawing she once gave me is one of my prized possessions. For an entire week, Lio was sketching something, but her back was always turned to me, and whenever anyone walked by her, she would cover up her work. I asked her what she was drawing, but she refused to show me. It was rather strange because usually she was eager to show us her sketches, even if we didn’t ask. She’d even draw something specifically for each of our visitors. Soon enough, though, Lio finished the drawing and started to work on something new. A few days later, when both Ciel and Teri were out of the room, she approached me with her sketchbook, then anxiously handed one of its pages to me; a colourless drawing of golden plains, and shining white windmills.

Lio’s pencil makes a final mark on her picture and softly blows off all the dust. She treads lightly towards Stark and Teri.

“Hey, I drew something for you.” She says.

Stark does not immediately say anything in return. I imagine he is stunned by the quality of Lio’s work. But as I reach the end of my page, an awfully long time seems to have passed. Before I look over, Lio speaks again.

“Is there something wrong with it?” She asks, nervously.

Stark has curled himself up, staring at the floor. He quietly mumbles something to himself. I am probably the only one who can hear what is muttering.

“Oh, I see it now. I missed a line here.” Says Lio.

“Stop it.”

He utters again, only slightly louder this time.

“Stop it”

He says once more. Then again. And again.

“I’m sorry I’ll fix it real quickly.” Lio says.

Stark suddenly shoots upright. The game pieces scatter into the air, and he swats the drawing straight out of Lio’s hand.

“Stop being so nice to me! Can you even shut up for just once? I never asked for your pity.”

My shock is shared by Lio, but hers turns to a sob. She falls to her knees, drenching the picture that has fallen in front of her. Teri, seemingly unsurprised, kneels next to her, placing a hand on her back.

Stark covers his face in his sleeve as he runs out of the room. My book hits the floor and I’m out the doorway.

There are three places I can think of that he could run to. If he’s feeling regretful, he will go outside. If he wants to leave, he will head to the basement. And if he wants someone to talk to, he’ll run to the roof.

The hall is empty on the left, and right as well. I start down one direction, but turn the other way after not ten steps. In my moment of indecision, a door clicks shut somewhere in the building, silently echoing throughout the halls. I immediately recognize the sound; the door to the roof.

Racks of drying clothes flutter in the evening wind. White dresses appear orange in the light of the setting sun. Among it all, I find the boy cooped up under the dancing shadows. His face is planted firmly in his knees.

Slowly approaching from behind, I do not speak, only making enough noise to let him know I am here.

“Go away.” He says, his voice muffled.

I remain quiet.

“I just want to be alone right now.” He says.

“I you wanted to be alone, you wouldn’t have gone somewhere it would be easy to find you.”

I take a seat on the tiled ground next to him.

“How did you know where I would go?” he asks.

“When we were younger, this was where Cecile would always hide when she was sad.”

Stark raises his head into the sunsets final glow. He wipes the tears from his eyes.

“Did she come here when she was mad at you?” He asks.

“Sometimes. But usually she was mad at our brother. Although I’m not going to pretend like I never made her angry as well before.”

Night falls in a thoughtful silence. With the winking of the sun, the stars come out from the light. The stars that contain the answers.

“I had a sister before.” He says. “her name was Penny.”

Stark takes a deep breath, then sighs, relieved.

“My mom and dad try to pretend like she doesn’t exist, but I know she does. They always talk about her when they think I can’t hear them.”

He pauses, then continues.

“I wish I could have met her.”

Tears begin to escape his eyes. He tries to hide his sobbing, like how Lio used to.

The two of us sleep on the roof for the night, but I stay awake staring into the stars. A lurking feeling of unease.

An orange sky and the bright horizon awake me the next day. Stark is not beside me anymore, rather Teri and Lio. I ask them where he has gone, and they tell me that he left with Alfred. Teri has an expression of worry and asks if I’m okay. I assure her that I am just fine. Then she tells me that it’s the evening already.

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I carry the laundry down the hall and to the bottom floor. A journey I’ve become so familiar making. The night shines outdoors and the entire building is asleep upstairs. It makes me feel so alone; alone, but not lonely.

Without much of a thought, I find myself back in the main hall with an empty basket in my hands. Starting up the first stair, I sense something staring at me from behind. There’s nothing there when I turn around. Just the moonlight on the ground through the glass walls. The large room dwarfs my presence, but in turn, the vast darkness of the dusky sky makes it seem so insignificant.

Tonight is a familiar night. A single thought weighs my mind, more heavily than ever before. I wonder how much longer it will be until I can be free again.