While sitting at the dining table, after having had a nice homemade breakfast served by a slightly blushing Violet wearing an apron—very lovely stuff—I briefed her on my pns for the rest of our day. It was mainly shopping for sleeping underwear and some clothes, but I took care of adding other activities I thought she’d be more at home.

  “Sure, we can do that,” Violet said as she washed the dishes.

  “Just like that? No resistance?” I asked, finding weird how she was acting so calm.

  “I had figured you would say something like that, so I had time to ready myself,” she said, now shifting her body a bit.

  “I see. You are starting to know me very well in a very short amount of time, aren’t you?” I said giving her a smile she wasn’t able to see.

  She turned around, holding a dripping pte, and looked at me. She seemed half embarrassed, half happy.

  “Y-you think so?”

  She sounded very excited.

  “If you are starting to predict what I’m going to do or say, then yes.”

  She turned back to the sink, trying to hide a wide smile.

  What’s with the cute reaction?

  I considered making a joke, but I kinda didn’t want to interrupt her self-satisfied state. I’d just let Violet have her moment for now. Besides, seeing her acting like that was plenty amusing already.

  …She sure is pretty…

  Her dad greeting us as he walked inside snapped me out of admiring his daughter and I instinctively got up to greet him.

  “Rex Abby. You can act like you’re at home.”

  Little did he know this wasn’t all that dissimir to how I had to act at home.

  His jovial smile did get across, and I sat down a bit less rigidly.

  “Did you just wake up now?” she asked him, putting a pte of food in front of him.

  “Yeah. Daddy worked till te after all.”

  Her eyebrow twitch, and there were no more traces of the sweet expression she wore a minute ago.

  “Didn’t I tell you not to overdo it?” she spoke irritated.

  “You did,” he said apologetically. “And before you start grinding me; because I worked so much tonight, I’ll be able to take it easy the next couple of days.”

  “So why not leave some work for the other days instead of doing it all in a single go?” she asked, crossing her arms.

  “Look who’s talking. And Violet, tell me something; Is it better that I work a lot every day or that I work a heck of a lot in one to have more time to rest in the remainder?”

  “…You say that, but you still work at least ten hours regardless.”

  “And six of those is at home, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

  “Sorry to interrupt but, are my parents paying you all right Mr. Stan?”

  I asked that before thinking and now had both sets of eyes on me. Not that they were dirty poor, mind you, but they clearly weren’t people of very means. It sounded weird to me the idea of him working so much, and yet them not having much in terms of luxuries. For example, Violet didn’t have an AC in her room, even though it got super-hot in there. Were we to have shared the bed the previous month, we would have been boiled alive. Embarrassing stuff notwithstanding.

  They were looking at me surprised. For a moment, I feared I would have to apologise. That was until he gave me a warm smile I wasn’t used to getting after screwing up.

  “Oh, don’t worry about that kind of thing. It’s true, we aren’t rich, but we also don’t go wanting for anything. Besides, for the past ten years, your parents have allowed me to work mostly at home so I could take care of her.”

  He was looking at Violet when he finished talking. I didn’t know him, but I confess, I was already starting to like him a lot. He was completely different from the majority of the adults I knew. I could even feel envy surfacing.

  “I see… Sorry that I asked.”

  “It’s all right, Abby. It’s nice to see someone your age and family showing that they know money doesn’t grow on trees.”

  Yes, but it still didn’t sound fair at all to me. Couldn’t my parents pay him a bit more? Was there something not allowing that? Besides my mum, that is. If the way she treats me and dad is of any indication, she’d be paid to let her employees have the privilege to work for her if mum had her way.

  There you have your answer.

  For as long as it’s mum running things, Stan would get paid the same until he either started working somewhere else, or retired.

  While eating, he turned on the TV. I got a bit confused when he switched the channel from the news to the morning cartoons.

  “You watch that?” I asked again without thinking.

  “Yup. Way better than the depressing news.”

  “Erm… I’ll go change in the meantime,” Violet informed me, her voice betraying a certain level of embarrassment.

  I sat there, with her father, talking about simple stuff like school and all that and then about me and her.

  “It’s really nice to have you here. I’ve never seen my daughter in such a good mood. In fact, it might feel a bit lonely being just the two of us again. You two were having a bst yesterday, weren’t you? I could hear you upstairs.”

  He did? What exactly did he hear? He couldn’t possibly have heard us talk about our bodies, right? And that joke I did by calling Violet a naughty girl? And her telling me to put on clothes in the morning? Did he…

  Hold on Abby! That can all be chucked up to girl’s talk. Why are you acting so suspicious?

  I could remember some dreams I had and the guilt I felt for it, to answer my own question.

  Stan caught on my discomfort, easily visible judging by how hot I felt my face being, and very awkwardly moved along the conversation.

  He passed the remote and asked me to tell his daughter he was going fishing with a buddy and his son.

  A buddy and his son? Hmm…

  It was a bit of a stretch, but not all that much, so I asked him to give my regards to Paul.

  He stared at me, in utter surprise, and asked how I knew that.

  It was simple enough, really.

  “I go fishing with him from time to time. There really aren’t that many people that fish in this town, an at this time of the year, he joins his old man for them to spend some time together, so it wasn’t a hard guess.”

  “I see… Ok, I will. Bye, Violet. Until another time, Abby.”

  I hadn’t noticed her standing by the doorframe to the corridor. She was just standing there, looking weird.

  “Is everything ok?”

  “Y-yeah. I’m fine.”

  She didn’t sound nor looked fine to me, so I got up to her.

  “Yeah, no. Your face is like an open book. What is it?”

  “I’m just… I’m surprised you are friends with a boy.”

  Is she jealous?

  I could understand why. I did talk like she was the only friend I got, so hearing me talk about him certainly was a bit of a shock to her. That, and perhaps she was jumping to conclusions about him and me.

  “Yeah, I’m friends with Paul since I was a toddler, but we really are just friends. He’s got a girlfriend and all.”

  “…I see…”

  Yup, she was jealous. That made me feel weird on the inside. Not in a bad way though? It also worried me a little. Would she be like that were we to come across someone I used to know?

  She never had friends before, never got to learn about sharing them, and apparently, she was the jealous type and a bit possessive, so I was going to try and prevent future hassles.

  I grabbed her face, so she wouldn’t avert her gaze, and began my preaching.

  “All right, miss Violet, listen up. True, I have other friends—or rather, acquaintances, and that’s still an overstatement. I lost count of how many I had before you came along, but I don’t talk with any of them other than Paul, and even talking with him is a rarity nowadays. There is also no way I’ll stop being your friend and hang out with you if I made a new one. Not even if I get a boyfriend, so don’t go getting jealous on me, ok?”

  She blushed and gave me a nod with a little smile that got twisted as she tried to hide it. It made me want to give her a hug. The question was, would she let me?

  I released her head and pced myself in front of her, my arms open invitingly. To my surprise, after just a second of hesitation, she stepped into them. Her arms were still hanging by her side though.

  “Feeling better?” I asked as I gave her little taps on the back.

  “Yeah… Sorry for acting stupid,” she said, finally putting her arms around me. That felt better.

  “I got a hug from you, so it’s fine. Just don’t go thinking I’ll forgive you every time by you doing this,” I teased.

  She asked, a bit rhetorically, if I really liked hugs. Well, they are comforting and help build strong bonds, right? And in retrospect, I didn’t get any after my sister went to university six years ago. She was the only person in my family who did that kind of thing.

  I spared that st part about my sister and how long I’ve been without this kind of skinship and asked if she wasn’t of the same opinion as me.

  “I still find them a bit nerve wracking.”

  That sounded like progress to me, if nothing else.

  “A bit, huh? Should I stop it now?”

  “…Yes please.”

  Why the pause?

  I let her go and looked at her face. She still had the same expression from before she hugged me.

  “Should we go?” she asked. Shopping, that is, she added nervously.

  “Yeah, lets. I want to see you buy something super sexy.”

  “What!? Why?”

  “See it as an investment for when you get a boyfriend.”

  “As if I could get one!”

  “Then, buy it for me!”

  “If you want some, buy it yourself!”

  “But I still don’t know your size.”

  “Wait, I’m still the one wearing it!? No way!”

  “Pfft ah-haha! What if I buy the same for me?”

  “…No!”

  “Again with the pause?” I spoke unintentionally.

  “What? What pause?”

  The trip to the mall was a long one, even if we took the bus. I swear, Violet lived so far away from everything else in town, it was no surprise she didn’t go out that often. A person like her? It simply wasn’t worth the hassle.

  Anyway, when we got there, I learned more about her.

  “Erm, aren’t we going in there?” she asked, pointing at the supermarket on the ground floor.

  “Is there where you buy your underwear?”

  She nodded, feeling embarrassed by it. I had a guess that was most likely a hundred percent correct it was at the supermarket where she got all of her clothes. If we were going to a pce like that, didn’t she think we’d have gone to other pces closer to her house? It’s not like I had the time to be goofing around like this.

  “We can go there, but since it’s our first time shopping together, I thought we could get something a bit nicer for you,” I told her.

  She stared at me, lost in thought.

  “You mean… we are going to one of the brand-named stores?”

  “It wouldn’t hurt to simply take a look inside, would it?”

  She was intrigued, but she was also very conflicted about it. I think it was mostly her embarrassment and fear of looking out of pce.

  “Erm… N-n-n… erm… o-ok…”

  Gee, even when giving her answer she can’t make up her mind.

  When we went inside the store I had in mind, I was afraid Violet would end up having a meltdown. Surprisingly though, Violet now seemed to be mostly enjoying herself. While we walked around the isles, I noticed her stealing gnces at some of the risqué models and me, probably thinking I’d tell her to buy or try them on. I’d wave my eyebrows like a cartoon who saw a sexy dy whenever Violet did that, causing her to stifle an embarrassed ugh.

  I wasn’t actually pnning in making her buy any of them. Or even making her try them on. Mostly because we would attract too much attention in the store because of her.

  “Abbigail? What are you doing here?”

  That voice, severe and commanding, made my blood freeze. I turned around and, sure enough, it was mum. And once again, there was no greeting from her.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be working on an assignment? Why are you shopping lingerie?”

  “Hello mum. We are just taking a break,” I said, my voice coming weak and rough.

  “A break? And you went shopping? Here, of all pces? I just hope you made good progress, missy. I hear about your grades going down, you can say goodbye to your allowance for good. And who is this girl?”

  “I’m Violet, and… sorry… we are here because of me.”

  I looked at Violet. Her face was stiff in a way I didn’t believe to be humanly possible. How did she even speak was a mystery to me.

  “Hmm? Because of… Hold on… I’ve seen your face before.”

  “Yes ma’am. I sometimes wait your table in my workpce. The Le Perrot?”

  Violet knew my mum all along? And she never spoke a word about it? Why?

  “Oh, yes. You are that waitress. And you are a cssmate of my daughter?”

  “She’s my friend!” I intervened.

  I didn’t care why she didn’t tell me, she probably had her reasons, but the way mum referred to Violet so disdainfully made me angry enough to restore some of my spirit.

  “Ok, friend… Regardless, are you doing the assignment with my daughter?”

  “Y-yes.”

  “I see. I hope she isn’t being too much of a nuisance. Or that you’re holding her back.”

  “N-no! Not at all. She… she is smarter than me so, I’d say I’m the one being the nuisance.”

  “Well, well. You’re not that good at your job, but at least you are modest.”

  That was mum at her nicest. If she wasn’t talking with someone she deemed important, a compliment—if she did offer you one—was always coming with a jab. Violet didn’t seem to pay attention to that though. Truth be told, she was so stiff, perhaps it just wasn’t showing.

  “So, how close are you from finishing it? I was told it was due next week, so I’m hoping you’ve made good progress.”

  “We did! It will be ready by then,” I spoke, not wanting to put Violet in an even tougher spot than what she already was.

  “I’m talking to your… friend.”

  “About that…” Violet staggered. Was she going to break?

  “Yes?”

  “Could… could Abby stay at my pce tonight too?” she spoke, trying to sound calm. “I’ll be working the whole week, so we won’t have much time to meet and work on it.”

  Mum looked at us, one at the time. I was once again feeling my blood run cold under her gaze. Peeking at Violet, she looked like a statue.

  “You could learn a bit from this girl’s attitude. Sure, if it means it gets done.”

  “Thanks mum.”

  “Now hurry up with… whatever it is that you are doing here and get to it.”

  She went away without so much as a goodbye. I dreaded the possibility of her discovering the truth. And I dreaded to face Violet too.

  This is it… it was good while it sted.

  I was sure it was the end of our friendship. She had been exposed to my mum and how I was treated. Like many others, she now saw I wasn’t worth the trouble of having as a friend.

  However…

  “Are you ok?” she asked with a voice that sounded almost angelical.

  “I’m sorry Violet… I guess you don’t want to be friends with me after this, right?”

  She didn’t answer, leading me to believe she agreed with me, but once again, I was taken by surprise with a very tight hug.

  “To cheer me up?” I asked, my chest aflutter and holding back tears.

  “…Hmm…”

  I felt like crying, but it was already awkward enough that we were hugging in the section with the spiciest types of lingerie.

  “I, erm… we… friends.”

  She said a bit more than that, but those words were the only I could understand and hear over our beating hearts. At least for now, it seemed like I made a friend for life.