A Dreary Saturday Icebreaker

The House

It was late September. The two trees in the yard which towered over the roof were washed in vibrant reds and yellows, which contrasted with the gray sky. The grass had already turned a lame brown, the air dry, and a chilly wind began to patrol the emptying streets. That’s how it was in the North Midwest; it was a sample station for extremes, and although it held the prestige of being severely cold during winter, many overlooked it's scorching hot summers.

The yard in front of the house was covered in fallen leaves. It sat on the end of the block, with the backyard facing an open park with a tiny pond just behind a cluster of trees. It was the plainest yard on the block. Their neighbors had blooming gardens during the spring and summer, which was now turning into a lifeless tangled mass. Others still had landscaped their lawn to emphasize their lifestyles, and what they (wanted) to represent. The members of The House had no interest in representing their identity. Only once did Persephone suggest that they pave their lawn so that they didn’t have to mow it in the summer. It was denied however because nobody was willing to pay for it. So aside from the two trees in the front, and the sparse forest which blocked the view of the park in the back, there was nothing that decorated the exterior of their home.

The house itself was a two-story home, with dark olive green siding and a white two-car garage on the left. There were just two vehicles the garage, one belonged to Mai, and the other belonged to Sarah, although she allowed Jessica to use it. From the front of the house, there was a wide window in the living room, a small window for the bathroom which was the on the right side of the living room next to the hallway on the main floor that accommodated the four main bedrooms. There were two windows alongside to the bathroom window, one was for Aara’s room which was the first and only room on the right), and Persephone’s room which was on the end. There was also two window wells, offering small openings to the basement, but weren’t used. On the upper floor there were two windows, and the upper level didn’t extend over the garage. These windows belonged to the same room, which had been converted into a twin bedroom.

In the back there was a long forgotten stone patio, which surveyed the slight decline that led to the forest and pond (and the playground beyond the trees). Another set of windows were on the back of the house; one from the kitchen, one from Mai’s room, and another from Sarah’s. The study, which was the upstairs room that faced the back, had a single window as well. There was also a window well in the back which looked into the den (where Dren lived), directly underneath Sarah's window.

The house on the outside looked quite old. The owner was an old woman who had retired to her summer home in Florida, and had since used the house (very loosely) as additional source of income. The suburbs were where she had raised her four children, who had all moved out of the house, and she had used them as her first tenants. Then, it was one of her older granddaughters, who first asked if Mai could live there for rent. That was a few years ago. The woman agreed amused at how her house had evolved over the many years she had spent in it. And eventually that granddaughter moved out with her mother (the daughter of the owner), and from there the other residents came. Persephone, who was a friend of Mai, left the foster home she was living in, and moved there after graduating. And somehow after that, it had become what it is today. 

The interior of the house had been more recently renovated by the mother (the youngest daughter of the owner) and her granddaughter. Upon entering the house, there was a sizable entryway, fitted with an open closest that was neatly organized to accommodate coats and jackets for visitors, and tenants alike. The carpet of the living room, which was a dark navy blue, had a section cut out that was more coarse and stretched out the length of the tiled entryway for removing shoes. The carpet itself was elevated from the floor a couple of inches and was soft and frayed, like a mop head. There was a couch, and a few chairs which were a dark red-brown color that contrasted with the carpet, and stood out against the beige, peach colored walls.

Instantly to the left was the kitchen through a tiny archway. The chairs in the living room were positioned across the open window, where the couch lay horizontally opposite of the windowed wall. A flat screen, HD TV sat across from it, to prevent glare from dimming the screen, and between the couch and the TV was a low-lying, glass plated coffee table. Looking straight ahead from the entrance, near the corner of the windowed wall was a door which led to the main floor bathroom. And not far from the end of the couch was the entrance to the hallway which housed the four main bedrooms. The bathroom had a shower and a tub, and of course a toilet, with tiled flooring, and adjustable lighting. Just above the marble sink was a gigantic glass cabinet that housed an enormous amount of product.

The kitchen was very basic, yet effective. The fridge and freezer were pushed against the far wall adjacent to the backyard facing window. Underneath the window and up to the side of the fridge was the black counter-top, equipped with a sink, microwave, and stovetop and oven. An uncommon feature of the kitchen was the wooden door on the right side wall, that led to Mai’s room. A circular table stood in the middle of the room, with booth seating that hugged the corner of the wall as a means of sustaining many guests without the clutter of chairs. Unlike most houses, there was an extension of the kitchen dedicated as the stairwell that went both up and down. The indoor entry to the garage was on this left wall (next to the oven) and was in fact on lower ground than the actual kitchen, which had artificial wood floors.

The basement had three distinct rooms aside from the main room. Instantly going down the carpeted stairs, (of a similar color to the living room), and immediately to the left (facing the back wall of the house) there was a pantry for storing food. It was a thin room that was lined with shelves. The room adjacent to it was the laundry room, with a drier and a washer. The third room was the den, which had since been converted into a bedroom. The basement area also had a TV in the main room, and was the designated game room (though due to the cold of the lower layer, most gaming occurs upstairs, and the downstairs TV has instead become regulated to those who want to watch something that the vast majority of the others, don't want to see).

The upstairs was comprised of three rooms. There was the study, which after ascending the stairs was to the left (again facing the backyard). Across the hall from the study was the twin room facing the front (and between and inside the twin rooms was in fact the upstairs bathroom). The twin room was also equipped with a sliding wall, that could split them apart. At the end of the hall was the attic access.

This summed up the anatomy of the house.

Unusual Congregation

It was Saturday, and a cold rain was falling. The house creaked, and rumbled softly as the furnace roared within the depths of house. A chilled wind battered against the sides of the house, whistling past the curtained windows. The front door opened, and there emerged Jessica, who folded her umbrella, shaking the water off before hanging it up. Her cheeks were red from the cold and she shivered as she discarded her jacket and welcomed the heat unto her body. Removing her boots, she stepped into the quiet house. The living room was unoccupied, and a nearly inaudible sound could be heard from the end of the hallway, indicating that Persephone was home and listening to music. She turned to the kitchen, which was also empty; the sink still had breakfast dishes in it, indicating that Mai was not home yet. She retreated upstairs, to her own room. Climbing the stairs, she took the first door on her right entering the twin bedroom, surprised to find it empty as well. It was rare for Enja to be out in such weather, especially without a ride—of course the girl somehow had her own contacts (despite being a foreign-exchange student). ‘She must be at the library or something.’ She thought with a small smile. It had become a habit of hers to identify who was in the house, as it brought easiness to her. Being cold, she fell onto her bed, still wearing her sweater, and taking the cold off her face and placing it onto her pillow. Aara was probably alone in her room. Nothing was on TV, and she had no reason to go downstairs.

Jessica avoided the basement if she could. The upstairs was her domain, though she didn’t mind sharing it with Enja, but she felt separated from the four who lived below her, and even more from the man who had be given the basement as his domain. It wasn’t that she was boy-shy; she had encountered a number of boys in her travels. But she didn’t want to think about them, or anything from her past for that matter. It was a tough ordeal thinking of the past. She dwelled on her thoughts for a moment. She didn’t know why she didn’t want to encounter Dren, if that was the reason behind her subconscious evasiveness. There was something about him that her peculiar senses had identified. He was different from the average person. But then again, she didn’t know anything about normal boys. In the terms of her own people, she felt that Dren was somehow cursed. She felt unsure of bringing it up with anyone (except for Enja), because she was worried that saying so would cause problems since Mai was very insistent in bringing him here. But Jessica also knew she didn’t know him very well.  So how could she possibly think of him as cursed? Still, it remained in the back of her mind.

She sighed and sat up. Time was slowly passing, and the gray day was wearing down on her. School on Monday would not be very pleasant she predicted. There was plenty that could go wrong. She decided to wait in till dinner, and on most Saturdays something would happen after.

Elsewhere, Aara was considering whether or not she should go outside of not. She had wrestled with the thought ever since she had woken up. At dawn, Mai had gotten up and left to go to work in till four. Then a few hours later, Jessica had left, and then Enja vanished. She could tell by occasionally popping her head out of the door and seeing their shoes on the mat disappear. At the present time, Jessica must have just gotten back, and had parked her car in the street as she didn't hear the sound of the garage door opening. Because of this, she wondered if Jessica was going to leave again. Sarah had come out only a few times this day, but she never left the actual house, and it wasn’t in till the afternoon that Persephone emerged from her room at the blare of music and took her daily afternoon shower. It was a gray and boring day. The only person she did not know of was Dren who probably was sulking in his room, if he hadn’t gone off with Mai to work. Aara had a very secret game she played by herself.

She played match-maker between the girls and this single boy over the summer and now into the fall making up her own scenarios and fantastic situations that would probably never occur. The strongest idea of course was that Mai had brought him there as her boyfriend, which there was no evidence of, yet. The love life of the girls seemed entirely absent (which she found utter surprising) and she once thought they were all robots (which is ironic considering her own profile). Regardless, Aara had an imagination of her own. She spent most of her time online chatting with those few friends she kept a correspondence with back home. This would be the first time she would experience the Midwest winter, and she was very excited for the snow but had no idea how to prepare...

These were the actual thoughts that passed through her mind on the weekends, where all her work was finished, and nothing remained for her to do but lounge around and wait for something to happen.She had a hard time articulating with her roommates at times. The closest girl to her age was Jessica and Persephone who were both Seventeen. And admittedly, she actually didn’t know Dren’s age, or anyone else's in the house. She never asked. She shared her secret love stories with her friends through online chat, but to make sure that nobody accidentally happened upon them, she renamed the characters and altered the settings slightly.

To sum up this boring late September day, racked with a cold bitter rain: Nothing important was happening. Uncharacteristic of the girls who were oftentimes loud and filled with jovial excitement; it was the midterm blues that loomed in the distance.

A sound broke the silence. Persephone’s door opened and her presence was marked with the melodic beat of Asian music that rushed out of her room. On light feet the girl passed Aara’s door and was making her way towards the kitchen, and as Aara predicted towards the basement to confront Dren. Ever since autumn started, Persephone had made it her goal to lure Dren out of the basement and upstairs to join them (the girls) in festivities. Naturally being curious, Aara opened her door slightly and noticed that indeed, the girl was descending into the basement. Never in favor of discord, Aara stayed upstairs, and hung about in the kitchen, straining her ears to listen for what was going to happen.

Then, a sudden clamor erupted from the basement in the form of extremely heavy, rhythmic bass. No voices could be heard, yet clearly this was all a part of Persephone's plan. From upstairs, Jessica appeared, who had also been stricken with incurable boredom, and was wondering what was going on. The two girls exchanged brief glances. They were both unsure if they should go down and take a look or if they should wait for them to come upstairs, though considering that the entrancing din had lasted for well over a minute, it didn't seem likely that anyone was going to surface.

After a while, their gnawing curiosity could not be ignored and they came downstairs. ‘Like moths to the flame.’ Thought the perpetrator of the scheme. Dressed in a thin, stripped black and pink hoodie and pink sweat Capri’s was Seph in the center of an open space. Dren was off to the side with his arms crossed. The girl was dancing, a particular dance (known as the Melbourne Shuffle). Aara and Jessica watched—the song had just changed. It began slowly at first, but then the bass began to pick up. She would cross her legs, and then once the bass climaxed she would seemingly slide across the floor, swaying her arms up and down with each footfall matching the insanely fast pulse of the music. Friction seemed to vanish for a moment as she glided across the carpet as if it were ice. When the song subsided she retreated to a corner and Dren took his place in the center of the floor.

He was dressed in a steely speckled hooded sweatshirt with baggy white khakis. He began with a move of his hands in a wave-like pattern. Then as the bass picked up he began to shift his legs in a similar fashion as Seph did before. Occasionally he would throw a kick as he spun around on a single focal point on the bottom of his foot. The song got even faster, and it was almost inhuman how he placed his foot and pivoted it in a swiping motion. Not only was friction absent for him as well he was like a tornado, with great emphasis on the ebb and flow of the song. This exchanged continued. The bystanders were impressed. They had always known (by the thumping of the floorboards) that Seph was a somewhat of a dancer, but to think that Dren and Seph had similar styles was surprising. Not only that, they were both good at it.

“See? This is exercise.” Seph explained, turning her colored eyes to Aara and Jessica who smiled. “That’s a stretch.” Jessica said tauntingly, and from that point on awkwardness followed with a deafening silence. “This young man is a treasure chest.” Seph eventually said placing a hand on his thin shoulder and he nodded to himself, his expression was still and unreadable. “This young lady is a lay-about.” He commented quietly placing a hand on her shoulder. “That makes two of us. When was the last time you did anything productive?” The pink haired girl retorted. “Probably the last time you did a chore around here.” He came back quickly. “If only Enja were here, she’d have something to say.” Jessica laughed, the queen of quips would have more than just something to say. But both Jessica and Aara wondered how Persephone could be so open with Dren, who was a master recluse? The two girls could only wonder. “All you have to do is open him up, and find out what’s inside.” Seph prodded him in the side. “You’re so persistent.” The young man responded, trying his best to feign annoyance.

“You know I’m Mai’s best friend, I’ll figure you out eventually.” She warned. “Best friend, hmm…” He trailed off thoughtfully, finally cracking a devious smile. “Hey! What’s with that?” She gave him a swift jab to the side. “Well, well, aren't you quite the flirt?” A weighted voice emerged from the darkness. The stout visage of Enja appeared between Aara and Jessica, with a look of amusement perched on her face. Dren met her gaze briefly. Through her glasses the girl inspected the scene. Seph was never one to take anything seriously, especially around the critical Enja. “Yep, I figure I might as well get ahead while I can.” She said slapping Dren on the side as if he were an item she had just bought at the store. “Please, don’t waste your time on me.” He replied, halfheartedly. “Mai’s got you taken already?” Seph asked slyly, and Enja scoffed. “As if, I don’t think anyone here can open  up Pandora’s box.” Seph quieted for a moment. Aara, sensing danger, retreated a ways, and Jessica came forward placing her arms around Enja from behind. “Please don’t say such things about our mistress.” She said in a pleading, innocent voice. “It’s best not to talk about something you don’t know anything about.” Dren suggested, finding his eyes looking in the general direction of Aara who was slowly making her way towards the stairs. “I don’t want you to get embarrassed later.” He added with a smile, and Enja’s smile slowly disappeared. Jessica dug her chin into Enja’s shoulder to distract her. “Hey baby I know you want my attention...but I’m not that upset.” Enja replied turning to Jessica’s ear and biting it on lightly. “Now who’s being flirtatious?” Seph sullenly remarked. “Don’t be jealous of our forbidden love.” Enja lightly defended.

“I wish I could get to know you better, but icebreakers were never my strong suit.” Dren commented after a while, and Jessica, who was empowered at the presence of Enja looked up at him with a brave smile. “It’s because you spend all the time in the basement.” She said. “It’s because he’s being polite.” A new voice wafted into the crowd, and everyone drew back as Mai, still wearing her coat stated with one of her trademark smiles perched on her face. “Oh it’s the boss.” Enja stated, not sounding all that enthusiastic. “Did you hear my rude comment about you?” She asked and Mai’s brow furrowed. “No, thank goodness. I was unaware there was a secret meeting going on.” Her eyes focused on Seph who was standing the closest to Dren. “Hey, they came down on their own accord, and it’s not like Sarah’s here.” She stated. “Yeah, I just got here.” Sarah said coming up with a tired expression on her face. “You woke me up.” She added crossing her arms. “Sorry.” Dren apologized. “You ought to be, you know a girl needs her beauty sleep.” Sarah, who was not one to shy away from him (as she disregarded almost everyone equally), replied, turning around to go upstairs. “I’m hungry. Make some food Mai, before I order a pizza.” Mai’s shoulders sagged as she turned away from the crowd. “A pizza sounds good, why don’t we? I too tired and too cold to make my own food.” She trudged after Sarah, and Aara followed like a wraith. “Come on angel, before they order a weird pizza.” Enja commanded, and like conjoined twins, she and Jessica departed for the upper levels of the house. “Come on Dren. Jess has a point, you’re too reclusive.” Seph said and he nodded slowly. “Just give me some time.” He said quietly, following after her upstairs. It was the first time everyone (however brief) had been in the basement at one time since Dren’s coming.

Next time on Dry...

"“Come on Daska, show that bitch!”

“No, no, you can’t mess with the trademark of the series! Stacia is going to kill him!”

“There’s no getting past that Stacia style.”

“There’s no hope for you.”

“Shut up! Shut up! I know, I know.”"

Everyone has fun.