Chapter Text
98…99…100. The room is plain, a simple office inside of the makeshift infirmary of the manor. A girl is sitting there, counting the tiles of the floor, her hair falling before her eyes in messy strands.
"Hey, you’re listening ?" Cody’s voice cut through the silence of the room like a knife into butter, the sound surprising Jesse, who had to keep herself from jumping in her seat. She should have payed attention, now Cody seemed annoyed.
"Sorry, I just- nevermind."
Cody sighed, taking another look at Jesse’s file spread across the table. "Jesse Cassandra Millers. Age 17. Been a proxy for a month."
His gaze bore into Jesse’s skull, like trying to figure out what she was thinking. He seemed to give up as he read out loud the last sentences of the file. "Special notes : difficult relationship with food since death, low self esteem and difficult to contain." He stopped, rubbing his nose bridge. "Aren’t you one hell of a trouble maker, uh ?"
Jesse looked down at the floor, trying to ignore the burning sensation of her cheeks as Cody spoke again, not letting her speak or defend herself.
"How has that first month been for you, hm ? People say you do the job and don’t complain, though I do not care and am just obligated to ask that question."
"….fine I guess. I don’t have anything special to report."
Cody stayed silent for a few seconds, but then turned in his chair with a vague movement of his arm in the air.
"Alright then, you’re free to go. Oh but before, Jesse ? You might want to brush that nest on your head." he snickered, not leaving her any room to answer. What an asshole. But again, Cody wasn’t known for being nice.
Jesse walked out of the office, not speaking up to him. It would only bring her more problems, and it was not something she wanted to deal with. Not now at least. And to think people portrayed the mansion as a paradise where everybody loved newcomers and had fun all year round… They couldn’t be more mistaken.
While she walked down the corridor leading to her room, Jesse was picking at her already pretty destroyed nails. Her mind was wandering far away, wondering just how she managed to get in such a mess, though the answer was pretty obvious. She wanted friends. A family. But look where that got her, uh. It didn’t worked out so well.
The young proxy collapsed into her bed, the tiredness that she had been repressing for a good week washing over her. She hadn’t even ate in a good day, but felt too weak to walk into the kitchen in that state. It’ll have to wait, the call of the emptiness of a full night worth of sleep waiting for her with open arms.