Chapter-2, The favourite kid.

Some children grown up surrounded by love, affection and care. Elara was quick to realise that she was not one of them. She was loved, but not in the way that her parents cared for her. Being the eldest, she was suppose to act with maturity beyond her age. She never understood why? 

The Hughes residence was always brighter with the laughter of their youngest, Lily. When Lily was around, laughter followed her like that warm sunlight illuminating every cornor of the room effortlessly. Their parent's voices softened automatically when they spoke to her. Their smile widened with endless patience. 

"Elara don't run in the hallway." 

"Lily, darling, be careful. Did you hurt yourself?"

The difference was minute, but Elara always noticed. How their voice changes with Lily, but for her, they were always strict. 

Lily Hughes was the younger one, more delicate, charming, and beautiful. She was adored by everyone. People greets her with love, teachers praises her, even a stranger can be drawed by her full smile. 

And Elara was simply there, not disliked, but overlooked by them, and pitied by others.  

"You should learn to behave, see your sister," their mother would often say. "She is so gentle and sweet." 

Elara was never a mannerless child, but she would simply not understand what she had done wrong. She would nod quietly to her parents, even when they scold her. They were just a year apart, but difference on how they were treated was high. 

She never wanted to be a burden for them, and she had already learned from her grandmother that love wasn't something she could ask for. 

There was only one person who never made her feel invisible. 

It was her grandmother. 

"Come here, my star," she would always say, opening her arms each time Elara walked into her room. 

Elara loved those meeting the most. The old woman's room smelled of lavender, warm tea, sunlight spilling across the carpet, and stories filling the quiet atmosphere. 

"You see that star in the sky?" Her grandmother whispered pointing outside. "The brightest stars are the ones that shine quietly, just like you." 

Elara would smile shyly hearing her grandmother. 

"Do you really think so?" She would ask. 

"I know that." 

Her grandmother would brushed her hairs gently into braids humming a soft melodious tune that made the world feel safe. 

"You don’t need to compete with anyone, Elara.The right person will see your heart." 

She believed her grandmother, she thought someone would really see her heart. 

Charlie Brown entered her life not long after. 

The boy from the hill. The one who called her fairy. The very one, whom she ended up giving her fireflies and her heart too.

They begun meeting away from the noises of Hughes household. Charlie was so different, he speaks little, but listened carefully. Charlie was different from Lily's lively world, and a gentle escape for Elara. 

"Why you are quiet today?" He told her once. 

"So are you." 

".... But I like when you talk." 

Elara's cheeks warmed it on their own. 

His name. Charlie Brown! It carried weight even as a child. His family was known everywhere, infamous for their wealth, prestige and influence. Everything about him was special and perfect. Except those eyes. 

They seems so lonely and distant. 

"Do your parents not come often with you?" She asked one afternoon of their meeting. 

He shook his head in negative. "They are busy," he said. 

"Oh." 

"Does it bother you being alone?" He said looking at her carefully. 

Elara hesitated for a moment, but then smiled faintly before replying him. 

"Not when I am with you." 

Warmness spread on his cheeks, and his expression changed. That day, he smiled longer than usual. He felt his existence matter for the first time.

But happiness never stayed longer for Elara. One evening, she ran inside excitedly, hoping to tell her grandmother about Charlie. 

That day, the house was quiet than unusual. 

Too quiet. 

She found her parents in the hallway, their voices were mere voice. It felt eerie silence. 

"..the doctor said it was sudden... a heart failure." 

Elara's heartbeat slowed. She already knew from her inside that something was off. The warmth felt like fading. Elara walked inside her grandmother's room, pushing the door gently. Everything was there. The lavender smell.The quiet afternoon. The warm tea, but the person which mattered the most is lost. The bed was already empty. 

"Elara?" Her mother called softly. 

She didn't responded, standing there like a ghost. She didn't move nor cried. She just stood there, staring at the place where the only person who truly loved her had been. 

The world felt colder and quieter after that. When the night arrived, Elara went to the hill alone. Charlie was already there waiting for him. 

"You are too late," he said softly waiting patiently for her. 

She sat beside him, without speaking. He noticed immediately; she looked dull today. 

"Did something happen?" He asked. 

Elara stared ahead, her voice barely a whisper. 

"My grandmother... she is gone." 

Charlie didn't know what to say, to make her feel good. He was never good at expressing so he gently tucked her hand into his. 

"I am here," He said quietly. Those gentle warm hands made her felt emotions. She cried for the first time, pouring her heart out. 

Days passed. The house got brighter again, but only for Lily and, for her it was worse. 

Guest came, their voices filled with concern, but it mostly directed toward the younger child. 

"Poor Lily, she must be so confused, her grandmother couldn't spent much time with her. She is so young to lose her grandmother," they said. 

"Take care of her." 

"Elara help your sister." 

Elara noticed all this, only nodding at them. No one hold her, after the loss of her grandmother. She was hardly managing those tears, but nobody saw them except him. 

After that day, everything started changing their own. Elara being already introverted, stop talking to anyone, only nodding at their parents and they never care. They shifted all their attention to Lily, like she was their only daughter. The elder child suffered the most. 

Some days later, the Hughes family attended a high-profile charity event hosted by the Brown's. Their grand estate glistered with lights, music spreading in their gardens. The guests moved through the halls dressed elegantly, laughter echoed across the rooms. 

Charlie stood near the balcony alone, looking uncomfortable in the formal crowd. 

Elara spotted him immediately. A lone soul between the crowd of people. 

She started walking toward him, but Lily reached him firstly. 

"Oh! You are Charlie right?" Lily smiled brightly. 

Charlie got surprised by that warm smile. Elara slowed down. For the first time, she saw them standing together and, something inside her shifted. She was too naive to understand that emotion, but may be her mature self might know it better what it was. 

A feeling of possessiveness or jealousy. 

Later that night, the lights flickered around that massive Chandelier hung in the middle of the hall. A strange smell filled the air. 

Smoke! 

Like something was burning! 

Someone in the crowd screamed," Fire! Fire." Panic erupted instantly and a havoc created automatically. 

People started rushing towards the exit as the flames began spreading through the curtains near the ballroom. The fire spread fast in a second, consuming everything, the decorations, the walls, it started crawling and spreading it entirely. 

"Elara!" Someone shouted, but she wasn't listening to anyone because across the room, Charlie was still inside. 

The flames started growing closer and stronger. The last thing she was the fire enclosing around him, and little Charlie trapped in the middle of it.