Gen One- Chapter Four

I smiled as I placed the last red triangle piece into place. Me not paying attention had caused me to mess up my build once already. This time I had gone for a simpler design that was difficult to knock over accidentally. I felt as if I shouldn't be having so much fun with a toy that was designed for children much younger than me, but I couldn't help but to thoroughly enjoy the almost obnoxiously bright colors of the blocks. Putting them together in all sorts of shapes was addicting. I could have sat there all day doing nothing but building.

     "What do you think, Fluff? It's not as tall as the other one, but I think it looks better." I asked my bear.

Fluff had quickly become my trusted critic over the past three weeks. His silence spoke volumes.

     "Yeah, I really like it too." I agreed with him.

And at that, I knocked my build over. Destroying what I had created was as fun as building. I bent over to pick up the blocks that had dropped to the floor, but I was interrupted by a call that rang throughout the house.

     "Meadow!"

It was Eden, of course. He was upset with me again like he always seemed to be lately.

I was growing quite accustomed to his "angry face." It was what he was wearing when I reluctantly stood up and headed into the kitchen. He looked more irritable than normal.

     "I'm getting really sick of repeating myself," he began with a stiff voice, "I don't understand why taking care of your dishes is so difficult for you. The dishwasher is ten feet away. Is it that hard to understand that it, and not the counter, is where your dirty plate belongs?"

     "I forgot." I mumbled.

     "How could you forget when the thing you were supposed to be doing was right in front of you? Besides, it's been hours since breakfast. Are you really telling me it didn't once cross your mind that you had a task left undone?"

     "You told me to go do my school work."

     "Like you're doing that either? I'm not deaf, Meadow. I could hear the sound of the blocks and not the keys of the keyboard."

     "I was taking a break."

     "I hope you are aware that children attending normal school don't get to take breaks every five minutes like you seem to have a habit of doing."

     "I wouldn't do it if I was attending normal school." I mumbled even quieter.

     "Well, you're never going to get there at this rate. As soon as I turn my head you stop working."

Eden then paused to study me.

     "And why are you still in your nightgown? It's past ten. You should have changed a long time ago."

     "But it's not like I'm going anywhere," I countered, "If I have to be inside, can't I at least wear what I want?"

     "No. You're acting lazy enough. The last thing you need is something that encourages you to be even lazier."

     "Then I'll go ahead and do all my work right away." I pleaded.

     "Don't think giving me that pouty face is going to work. You are going to put your plate in the dishwasher. You are going to get changed. Then you are going to get on the computer and finish your assignment so I can give you the one you were supposed to have done yesterday."

I didn't say anything. I was far too frustrated. Living with Eden had sounded like it would be absolutely perfect, but the reality was that it was barely any fun at all. Eden was either cooped up in his office or down here lecturing me about every silly little thing he didn't approve of.

     "Did you hear me, Meadow?" Eden said sternly as he folded his arms.

     "My name's not Meadow." I muttered.

     "Yes, it is."

     "I'm Ethereal."

     "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but she doesn't even exist. The only records that reference you being a person are the ones belonging to Meadow. The lone way Ethereal can exist is if this whole mess we're in is taken care of."

     "Then take care of it." I said bitterly.

     "You know my job was getting you out of where you were. I'm not involved in anything else."

     "Well, get the ones who are involved to work faster."

     "They're doing what they can as fast as they can. Now don't say another word or you'll be more ungrateful than what you're already being." Eden spat.

I narrowed my eyes, but I didn't say anything.

     "Good," Eden continued in his disapproving tone, "Do your dishes. Get changed. Do your work. If you stop fighting what you need to do then maybe you'll actually get to go out and play today."

Eden left in a huff. I could barely wait until he was out of the room to stomp my foot and stick my tongue out at him. He was so annoying! He wasn't trying to see things from my side of the situation at all! I wasn't used to doing stuff. I had never washed a single dish before. I had never taken out the trash. Changing my clothes was hardly an issue because all I had had was multiple copies of the same dress. I only switched them out when they got dirty. Then there was the fact that besides Eden's, Mr. Blue's, and Mrs. Yellow's visits nothing in my life was scheduled. I did what I want when I wanted. I had absolutely no obligations or responsibilities. Now Eden was forcing me to be so routine and orderly. Adding in the fact that I still didn't know how to tell time, it was a tall order he was asking. He hadn't even give me a period to transition into it all. That second day it was "Do this", "Do that", "Hurry up", "Get this done", and "Don't stop." I could barely recall ever sitting in the same place for more than half an hour before. How could he expect me to suddenly sit still and work for hours on end without having any problems? That he kept being so forceful about it didn't help any. All it did was make me not want to work even more.

With a frown, I placed the plate inside the dishwasher. Anything thing that bothered me was how he said Ethereal didn't exist. How could he say that? She was right there in front of him! What did it matter if that name was on any official papers? That didn't change me. Besides, I had learned how to respond to "Meadow" two weeks ago. Eden had promised he would call me Ethereal if I did that. However, stupid "Meadow" was what I remained.

I unwillingly made my way upstairs to throw on the first shirt and skirt I could find. It didn't matter to me whether they matched or went together or whatever. I really didn't care much about fashion like most everyone around me did. Eden had told me all the clothes that had been bought were cute, so that was all I needed to know. After changing, I stopped to stare at Eden's door before I went back downstairs. It was shut tight again. I couldn't understand why he was keeping himself constantly locked up. It felt like I was spending less time with him than I had back when I was with The Company, and what time we did spend together truly was him telling me off. I slowly made my way back downstairs to slump in my seat at my desk. A reluctant poke of the mouse woke the computer back up, and I restarted my work. It wasn't that I didn't like learning. To see how many things there were to discover about the world was amazing, if not a bit overwhelming, and I was actually desperate to catch up to where I was supposed to be. The trouble merely was that I didn't know how to sit still for long yet.

Several minutes passed as I was finally doing my work dutifully. Perhaps Eden would keep his word this time and let me go outside and play if I did this assignment and the other one. The early summer weather was so nice, and me being green meant my skin didn't get hurt as easily as it did when it was white. The itch of all the freedom was hard to ignore. Something else that was hard to ignore- the bright flash of red that appeared in the corner of my eye. I turned my head just fast enough to catch the top of a head of red hair that could only belong to one person duck beneath the nearby window. I stared at the spot with an eyebrow raised until Amaranth cautiously peeked up once again. He smiled sheepishly but widely when he saw that he had been spotted.

I all but leapt up from my seat to go to the back door to see what he wanted. I couldn't help but to laugh as he grumbled and frowned as he disentangled himself from the bushes as he moved to meet me. Amaranth got a goofy smile on his face though when he heard my laughter. I think he was a bit embarrassed.

     "You weren't supposed to have noticed me so quickly." he jokingly reprimanded.

     "My bad. I'll make sure to ignore you next time."

     "Good," he nodded, "Then there'll actually be a point for me getting all these scratches on my arms."

     "You could have just came up to the door."

     "Pfft. What are you on about?" Amaranth rolled his eyes.

I laughed again. I always did so easily; even at the things the others said weren't funny. It was my constant giggles that seemed to amuse them. Amaranth simply gave me another smile, brushed the leaves off of his clothes, and looked at me a bit more seriously.

     "So, I know you always say 'No' when I ask you, but surely today you can come play with the rest of us, right?"

My shoulders slumped in disappointment. Amaranth and Sunset were over nearly everyday asking if I could come out to play. I rarely ever could because Eden had an unending amount of work for me to do. Amaranth frowned again when he saw the look on my face.

     "I want to, but I can't. I'm working on an assignment at the moment, which Eden tells me I have to get done."

     "What exactly are you working on?" Amaranth asked almost desperately.

     "It's...something simple." I hesitated.

There was no way I was going to tell him my "assignment" was a computer game meant to teach three or four-year-olds how to start reading. I wasn't having a lot of luck on the whole literacy front. Eden told me I was expecting too much too soon, but I still felt as if I should be able to read and write more than a few words by now.

     "I'm almost done with it, but Eden says I have another one waiting for me once I finish. There's probably another after that one as well." I continued.

     "This is ridiculous! You shouldn't be doing schoolwork. It's Saturday!" Amaranth complained.

     "I know that. Eden apparently doesn't."

     "I had no idea your brother was such a slave driver. All you're ever doing when I come over is studying."

My response was a shrug. It was too hard to admit that a good part of the reason why I was always working when the others wanted to play was because I slacked off so much. Letting Amaranth believe Eden was strict was easier. Silence passed between Amaranth and I until he folded his arms, tapped his foot in frustration, and huffed loudly.

     "It's not fair. You shouldn't be cooped up like this." he mumbled.

     "I'm not particularly fond of it, no."

     "Hmm..."

     "Thinking of something?" I asked.

Amaranth had a habit of making that noise when he was coming up with an idea.

     "Maybe," Amaranth said cheekily, "I did indeed just think of something, but I don't know if you're brave enough."

     "What is it?" I asked curiously.

     "What is Eden up to now?"

     "He's in his office working. Like always."

     "Do you think he'll come out soon?"

     "Uh, I wouldn't think so? He normally stays in there for hours at a time."

     "Perfect." Amaranth smiled widely.

     "Why?"

That already wide smile grew even wider.

     "Eden will get mad if you play when he thinks you should be working. However, if he doesn't know you played then you can't get in trouble."

     "So...."

I was mildly lost. It was still really hard to tell what people intended when they spoke. I could tell Amaranth had expected me to get what he meant by the look in his eye, but that was as much as I could figure out.

     "Let's go down to the beach for a little bit. It's right down the street. We can put our feet in the water or make a sandcastle or something. Have some fun. Then we can come back, and Eden will be none the wiser." Amaranth suggested brightly.

     "Oh, um, I don't know. He's already pretty annoyed with me."

     "What's he going to do? Ground you? He's already trapping you inside. What's the difference?"

I mulled the idea over. I really didn't want to make Eden more upset, but going to the beach sounded like such a great idea. I hadn't left the yard in days. If I could just get out for a little bit, perhaps then I could work without having so much difficulty concentrating.

     "Only a quick visit there." I agreed.

     "Great!" Amaranth said excitedly.

He took my hand and and eagerly led me away- another habit of his.

I loved going to the beach. I had never known the touch of the sand or the slight sting of the salt water. The cry of the seagulls and the rush of the ocean wind thrilled me in a way I couldn't explain. Every time the vast body of water came into view it was if I was seeing the world for the first time again and again.

     "Thinking about it, we shouldn't get wet or play in the sand. It would be too obvious you had left the house if you come home with wet feet or sand all over you." Amaranth noted as we reached our destination.

     "Let's go sit on the dock then." I suggested.

     "Great idea."

So we went to the side of the beach where a long dock was set out over the water. Even with it being Saturday and the weather being so nice, there was no one else around. Amaranth and I were able to sit and enjoy ourselves without distraction.

      "What's your favorite part about the beach?" he asked me.

     "I think," I began as I gently swung my feet back and forth, "I like the horizon. To be able to see the ocean just going and going for what seems like forever is incredible. The world being so open and vast is the best."

     "Really? I guess I'm the opposite then. I like being surrounded by stuff. You put me in a thick forest with no end in sight where I can climb all over everything and I'd be right at home."

     "That sounds horrible." I cringed.

     "Are you claustrophobic?"

     "Am I what?"

     "Claustrophobic. It means you get scared when you're in small spaces."

     "I don't know? I don't think it's quite that. Even if the space is small, if I know I could get out I would be fine. If the space was big but I had no way of escaping- that's what scares me."

     "So you're afraid of being trapped, not of being surrounded."

     "I suppose that's it."

     "Hmm..." Amaranth hummed softly as he thought my fear over.

I swung my legs faster due to nerves. Despite that I had grown to trust Amaranth, Allium, Frost, Sunset, and Sunflower, I still often felt on edge around them. I never knew if I was saying something weird.

     "What's your favorite thing about the beach?" I reciprocated the question to Amaranth.

     "My favorite thing?"

I mirrored him when he bent forward to stare at himself in the waves.

     "I like seeing my reflection in the water. It looks so strange." he laughed.

     "If you like it so much, maybe you should get a bit closer." I teased as I jokingly gave him a light push on the shoulder.

     "Only if you go first!" Amaranth teased back as he responded with a soft shove of his own.

I had to respond back to that. Unfortunately, our playing got too eager. Amaranth and I kept pushing, and the next thing I knew was that my stomach flew into my throat as I dropped that two feet from the dock into the water. My mind whirled, but I easily broke the surface as I worked out what happened. I opened my eyes just in time to be hit with a large splash due to Amaranth dropping himself into the water as well.

     "Are you alright?" he immediately asked me with concern the instant he surfaced.

     "Yeah, I'm fine," I said before giving him a quizzical look, "Why did you jump in? Now you're all wet too."

     "I wasn't sure if you knew how to swim."

     "Of course I know how to swim." I pouted indignantly.

     "Sorry. You just don't seem to know mu...never mind." he said with a shake of his head.

I didn't bother addressing that. It was those dangerous waters I knew better than to swim in.

     "Your reflection looks really funny now that you're in the water. You're all wavy!"

I went back to teasing him instead.

     "I could say the same thing!" he laughed as he splashed me, "You look like a noodle!"

Amaranth started swimming after me, and that caused me to head straight for shore. My smile faded away when I hit the shallow water.

     "Now what am I going to do? How am I supposed to hide that I got wet?" I frowned as I tried to wring out my clothes.

I sputtered and coughed when Amaranth suddenly splashed me with more water.

     "Hey!"

     "It's fine! You said Eden wouldn't come out for a long time, right? We're already soaking, so we can play for a bit before letting the sun dry us off. He'll never know." Amaranth explained merrily as he kicked more water my way.

     "Ease up, Vivid!"

My intention had been for the words to come out more confidently, but I was giggling too much for that to happen. I dug my hands down into the waves to send a surging spray towards Amaranth in retaliation. I didn't understand why, but I always became so competitive when the two of us played together. It was probably because he was so insistent on going after me so unceasingly like he had been that time we played tag.

We kept up our antics for several minutes until I purposely ran away to lead Amaranth out of the water. Eden had been good about sticking to his room for hours after he made an appearance, but there remained a part of me that was scared that he would come out soon again. I wanted to dry off and get back home in case that did happen. Amaranth had promised we wouldn't be out too long after all. Thankfully, the swimming and splashing had tired him out a bit. We sat down on the lounge chairs to rest. The warm wood of the chairs and the bright rays of the sun did the trick when it came to making us evidence free. Amaranth then suggested we search for shells, but we had barely stood up when he unexpectedly grabbed my hand and yanked on it so hard that it hurt. He made me run along with him towards the wall on the southern side of the beach.

     "What is up with you? What are we doing?" I asked furiously as he jumped up onto the wall like a cat.

     "We have to hide!" he whispered furiously.

I looked like a fool as I desperately tried to scale the wall with Amaranth's help.

     "Why can't we just walk around-"

     "There's no time." Amaranth whispered again.

He gave my arms one good last tug. I was somehow able to lift myself up and over without causing any lasting harm to my person.

I gently rubbed at my knees, which had taken most of the beating. Then I joined Amaranth in peaking over the wall.

     "So, who exactly are we hiding from?" I asked.

I expected to see Eden or Blaze.

     "It's Windy." Amaranth pointed out.

     "Sunflower's sister?"

     "Richly is here too. I didn't even see him laying on the ground there."

     "Who is he?"

     "That's Cocoa's older brother."

     "And who is she?"

     "Oh, Cocoa Sweet. She's a girl who is in the same grade as us, and she plays with us from time to time."

     "Okay. I don't understand why we're hiding though. Those two don't know you snuck me out."

     "Yeah, but the less people, and the less people who we know, that see us, the better. We should take our leave from here now."

     "I guess."

I rolled my eyes. For the first time, it wasn't me who was being the overly-paranoid one.

I assumed Amaranth would lead us back to my house, but he took us in the opposite direction.

     "Shouldn't we be heading back now?"

     "We will in just a minute. We have to end our outing with a treat. It's a Vivid tradition."

     "If you say so." I said uncertainly.

And I was well within my right to be uncertain. Amaranth's "minute" turned out to be almost twenty minutes. That's how long it took us to find the ice cream truck. I had see it driving about the neighborhood before, but I had never bought anything from it.

     "I don't have any money." I told Amaranth.

     "That's alright. I do."

He pulled out a few dollar bills from his pocket. They were wrinkled and still a bit wet, but there was plenty there for the both of us. Amaranth ordered a rainbow popsicle. I got the same thing because I had no idea what any of the other choices were. I had very nearly made the mistake of saying so, but I remembered to keep my mouth shut in time. I was then just as glad that us eating our treat kept Amaranth quiet for a minute. He could talk for as long as he could run. It made it difficult for me to think of excuses or to know how to change the topic when he brought up something I was clueless about.

     "Let's go to the children's center next!" Amaranth suggested enthusiastically when he finished his popsicle.

I gave him a look, which caused him to stare at me curiously.

     "Am, I have to get home. You're not the one who is risking getting in trouble." I reminded him a bit impatiently.

     "Right. Sorry again. I forgot. I get too carried away sometimes." he apologized.

     "No worries."

We started walking through a park. Amaranth said it was a "shortcut." It had definitely sunk into him that we had pushed our time limit a little too far. The two of us walked briskly. Our search for the ice cream truck had almost taken us to the city portion of Berrybrook. I went over my homework assignment in my head as we followed the path. I was going to have to complete it in record time in order to convince Eden I had been working on it the whole time.

     "Meadow!"

However, my silent practicing soon became useless. I knew before I even turned around that Eden was there. When I saw Blaze as well, I knew the both of them had been looking for us for sure. Eden was running towards Amaranth and me.

     "Should we run for it?" Amaranth joked wryly.

     "Even Eden isn't that slow." I responded likewise.

Amaranth chuckled.

I expected a few reactions from Eden. Him scooping me up and hugging me tightly was not one of them. I suspected I would still have to face his anger soon enough, but I eagerly latched onto him. It was the first time he had hugged me in nearly a month. I would take anything I could get. His heart was racing crazy fast. It had to be from a combination of worry and the running. Guilt seeped into my chest.

I wish I could have hugged Eden forever, but he hurriedly place me back down on the ground. His eyes instantly narrowed, and his angry expression returned to his face. Only, this time around, it was a lot worse than normal. He looked like an entirely different person. I cringed as he began his harsh lecture.

     "Why on earth are you out here? You are supposed to be at home studying!" he nearly yelled.

     "I wanted to go outside." I mumbled my pitiful excuse.

     "You didn't deserve to go outside! You refuse to do any of your work! If you were at a normal school you'd be failing every subject miserably! Why should you get to go out to play if you're already wasting your days away ignoring your responsibilities because you seem capable of only doing what you want?!"

I fiddled my fingers behind my back nervously. I wanted to explain to Eden how doing what I wanted was indeed all I knew how to do due to my isolation, but even if that argument would have done any good I couldn't say anything about it with Blaze and Amaranth there. I ignored them as much as possible. Just knowing they were right there to witness Eden's temper at me was embarrassing enough. Amaranth had just found out the real reason behind why I was forced to study so much too.

I fidgeted with my fervor when Eden glared down at me. He had been upset with me before, but knowing I had made him truly furious was an emotion I didn't like bearing.

     "It seems you only care about yourself as well! Did you think for a second how I would feel when I came downstairs to find you missing?! Did you not think I wouldn't freak out?! Anything could have happened to you!"

     "There's no one dangerous around." I mumbled weakly.

     "Don't!" Eden stopped me, "I don't want to hear anything close to an excuse! I don't want you to even think of any!"

I had no choice to stare down at the ground. Looking at Eden was too much. I could actually see how there were so many things he wanted to yell at me going through his head that he was keeping silent because we were in public. Goodness knows how much I would hear once we got home. I was very slightly relieved when Blaze taking his turn took the attention off me.

     "And I'm sure most of this is your fault. This wouldn't be the first time you've lured one of your friends away at an inappropriate moment." Blaze reprimanded Amaranth.

I longingly wished Blaze's attitude could rub off on my "brother." He didn't seem angry at all, and it was as if he was only saying what he was saying because he had to.

     "Who cares if she slacks off a bit? Meadow doesn't like being trapped. How is she supposed to get anything done if she's scared because Eden keeps her locked up all the time?" Amaranth challenged.

     "What nonsense are you going on about? He's hardly chaining her up in the basement." Blaze rolled his eyes.

     "Now, listen!"

Amaranth stamped his foot much like I had done earlier in the day. He, and I, were in for a shock when Blaze quickly lunged for Amaranth and scooped him up under his arm like he weighed nothing at all.

     "Violence is never the answer. The poor ground is innocent in all of this. I'm gonna have to keep you two separated until you calm down."

     "Let me go, old man!" Amaranth squirmed.

     "I'll be taking this delinquent home now." Blaze announced merrily to Eden, ignoring his nephew.

Eden responded with a nonchalant shrug. Blaze really did take Amaranth away with him being under his arm like that.

My walk home with Eden was the complete opposite from their noisy departure. Eden wouldn't speak another word to me. He just gave me this really nasty glare and began walking away. Though he said nothing about me having to follow, what else was I supposed to do? I kept as much distance between us as I felt comfortable keeping. Eden didn't glance back once. My mind both spun furiously and was blank from guilt and sadness. I wanted to run up to Eden and make everything right. We had never been mad at each other for more than a few minutes at a time before. However, I understood there was no point in me trying to get him to forgive me. As I hesitantly stared at his back, the fact that Eden was quickly becoming a stranger resonated clearly.

The tension only got worse when we entered the house. I expected Eden to reprimand me again. He didn't. I received another nasty glare, he lead me over to my computer, and he pointed at it. I sheepishly slid into the chair to do my assignment. Eden never moved an inch while I finished it. My cheeks burned harshly when I had to restart it because Eden made me so nervous that I failed the first time around. I couldn't concentrate with his angry face reflecting on the screen. All I could think of was how much I wanted to cry.

I sat very still when he bent over to bring up the next assignment when I miraculously passed the first one on that second attempt. It was then when he finally said something.

     "I have to go do my own work your forced me to stop. Let me know when you're done with this. I swear if you try to slack off again that I'll have you work straight until dinner."

I nodded timidly. Eden left.

Thoughts of slacking off or playing never entered my mind. I was so guilty that I was frightened of even looking away from the screen a little bit. The new game I was playing was much harder than the other, which was why I hadn't finished it the day before. I hadn't been able to ask Eden for help either. I definitely wasn't going to ask now. Though the words on the screen continued to be almost absolute gibberish to me, I kept on trying again no matter how many times I failed. I wondered if staring at the screen intensely was bad for my eyes, but I realized the reason why my sight suddenly became blurry was because the tears had come.

I hated how I couldn't figure out a stupid game meant for babies. I hated how I had made Eden worry. I hated that I couldn't seem to do anything right. I hated how everything had changed. I almost wished Eden and I had hidden out in that little house forever if this was how things were going to be. Everything was overwhelming, and I didn't know what to do. All I could do was struggle to see my assignment through my tears and finish it in order to not make things worse.

I cleaned up my face and took many deeps breaths before I even thought about attempting to go see Eden. My steps were heavy and slow as I made my way up the stairs. I stood outside the door for nearly a minute building up the courage to open it. What I hoped for the most was that Eden had calmed down some, but with me being able to hear the furious typing he was doing on his keyboard there was slim chance of that. I hesitantly turned the knob and took a few steps inside his office.

     "Eden? I'm don-"

     "Knock before you come in." he interrupted shortly.

Yup. He was still really mad.

     "Sorry." I mumbled.

     "You're done?"

     "Yeah."

     "Then go back downstairs and wait at your desk. I'll be there in a minute to bring up your next assignment. It's an actual worksheet this time. It'll keep you busy for a while. When you finish you can have lunch."

     "Kay." I whispered.

I went to move, but my feet remained where they were. I was too taken in by what I was seeing. I felt as if I honestly couldn't recognize the person in front of me. It had been so long since I had seen Eden smile. I quickly became frustrated and sad all at once. It was true I was making friends. My world was constantly expanding. However, Eden was the only one who knew everything about me. He was the only one I could believe in with absolutely surety. He remained the center of my life, but it appeared he had forgotten that. I needed him as much as I had needed him before, but he kept on pulling away.

I tried to stop the tears, but there was nothing I could do. I would have rushed out of the room had I not felt unsteady on my feet. My emotions were sweeping me away.

     "Meadow, I told you to-" Eden began when he noticed that I was still there.

He shifted in his seat, and his rapid silence was no doubt because of me standing there crying like a big baby. I nodded and went to leave again, but my body just wouldn't cooperate.

     "Hey, come here." Eden called to me with his voice being much more gentle.

I shook my head, not knowing why I did.

     "Meadow." Eden called again.

I just rubbed at my eyes. Eden shifted out of his seat. He knelt on the ground, opened his arms to me, and spoke to me again with an even kinder voice.

     "Ethereal, come here. Please?"

I looked up. Eden was giving me an encouraging smile, which made me want to cry more. Finally. There was the Eden I knew. There was the lone person I wanted to comfort me. I crossed the few feet between us in a flash.

Eden gathered me up easily in his arms. I clung on tight and smelled Eden's familiar scent. Blessedly, it didn't take long until my crying stopped. Eden's hold was all I needed to feel calm. And he held me for a good long while. Neither of us said anything for at least a minute. Thoughts of apologizing properly started coming to my mind, but Eden did go ahead and speak before I could open my mouth.

     "I'm sorry. I've been treating you pretty coldly over these past weeks, haven't I?" he realized.

     "You don't play with me. You don't talk to me. You just lecture." I sniffled.

     "Yeah, that's true I suppose." Eden sighed heavily.

     "You said I don't exist." I added.

It was silent once more.

     "That was a really hurtful thing for me to have said. I won't make that mistake again."

     "Good."

     "To tell you the truth," Eden began after another heavy sigh, "I haven't been calling you 'Meadow' because you've done something wrong, but because you haven't stopped being 'Ethereal' to me. I have to pause every single time and force myself to remember to say the right name so I don't screw this all up."

     "Geez, Eden. That's fine then. You could have just told me that from the start."

     "I see that now. I...just...well, there's a few things I've kept from you on purpose because I am afraid you'll get mad. That's why I've been keeping my distance."

     "What do you mean?"

Eden glanced away.

     "You know, the plan was never for you to have taken the injection that turned you green. That was our last resort backup plan. I was actually supposed to have done more than get you out. I was supposed to have gotten the evidence we could have used to expose The Company right away. But, because I'm such an uncoordinated klutz, they noticed my actions far too soon. I either had to get you or get the evidence- and it's obvious what I went for. However, now The Company has tightened up what was already an impossible to hack system. My friends were struggling before to get anything on them. I made it so much worse. We might never get what we need. Instead of you getting to be you, you might have to live as this person you don't want to be for an incredibly long time because I can't tell my left foot from my right."

I rested my head against his shoulder as I thought what he said over.

     "I'll be alright if I have to stay Meadow," I admitted as I fiddled with the back of Eden's shirt, "I've already said that you've given me everything that I didn't know I wanted, didn't I? All I do want is for you to stay Eden. As long as we can be like we were, then I'll be happy."

Eden held me so tight I had a bit of trouble breathing.

     "Thank you," he said, and then he laughed, "You still have to do your worksheet though."

I sighed loudly like he had, which made him laugh once more.

     "I'll do it. Will you help me?"

     "Of course."

     "Good." I repeated merrily.

I gave him one last good squeeze, and I added a kiss on his forehead for good measure. He reciprocated both. I giggled. As Eden put me down to walk downstairs with me, I thought about how quickly our feelings had changed. If I had known bawling my eyes out would have fixed everything, I would have done it so much sooner.

It was something to keep in mind for the future.