Gen One- Chapter Thirty One

I stopped stirring and glanced over to my left, sighing and laughing in exasperation for what felt like the millionth time.

     "Flower, would you please stop sneaking bits of the hotdogs buns? We're not going to have any left if you keep eating them all." I warned.

     "I can't help it," she smiled as she defiantly popped another little swipe into her mouth, "I'm hungry."

     "We have plenty of other snacks, you know."

     "Yeah, but I don't want those. I want to eat the hotdog buns." she teased.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I had been trying for five minutes to get Sunflower to control herself, and it clearly wasn't going to happen. Our buns were simply going to have to look like they had been pecked apart by birds.

After adding a few more spices to my bowl of macaroni and cheese, I set it on the stove to cook. However, I barely turned the burner on when I was mildly interrupted.

     "It's almost seven." Sunset, who sat at the island counter, pointed out.

     "Yes, and?" I responded in slight confusion.

     "I don't think she's going to show up."

     "She's not here yet because I told her to come at seven. Why are you expecting her to be here already?"

     "Because she's hoping she won't show up." Sunflower answered for her in amusement.

     "I still cannot believe you did go ahead and invite her in the first place." Sunset sighed, resting her cheek in her palm.

     "Purity? Why?" I wondered.

     "Meadow," Sunset started seriously, "You just asked me why I would be confused that you invited Purity to our sleepover. Purity. You have to know how weird you sound right now."

     "I don't know why you're confused that Meadow has been acting weird again," Sunflower chimed in once more, "She's been acting weird ever since that mysterious disappearance of hers, after all."

I kept my mouth shut at that statement. Sunset and Sunflower were getting better at letting me off the hook when the topic came up, which was unfortunately frequently, and I wasn't in the mood to spur on the conversation about my time in hiding by taking Sunflower's bait. However, this moment wasn't one of the moments where my friends would let the matter slide. I buried my frustration when I heard Sunset get off the stool and when she slid into my vision as she stood next to me, staring directly at my face. I knew she and Sunflower were just as quietly frustrated with me and my silence as I was with them and their constant pestering.

     "I will repeat myself until I turn blue in the face. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you about why Eden and I were gone for those two weeks. It's a secret that has to remain between us," I said with a shrug, "And, to be honest, I wish you would give me a break about it."
     "You used your one-time, super-ultra-best friend favor on all of us to get us to forgive you for scaring us to death by disappearing for two weeks and then refusing to give us an answer as to why, but that does not mean you're free of us at least trying to get that answer as to why." Sunset challenged.
     "But all that's going to do is drive us crazy. I'm going to get fed up with the unending questions, and you're going to get fed up asking questions and getting no answers. Seriously, nothing good is going to come out of it, because I can't give you my reasons for my disappearance."

Sunflower gave me a look.

     "But you told Allium." she reminded me.
     "I only told him the barest essentials, and look at how he's been since. I know he's putting on a good act, but I also know neither of you are blind to how he's been stressing out. He's admitted that he wishes I hadn't broke down and revealed what I did. You two don't want to be in his position. Trust me." I pleaded.
     "Are you two going to be alright? It was bizarre enough having you and him start dating. If things fell apart..." Sunflower wondered sympathetically.
     "We're working on it. Talking and stuff. Allium and I just want things to go back to normal, because we both want to forget about what happened. That can't happen if everyone keeps prodding me, and him by extension, into saying what I don't want to say."

I flinched when Sunset unexpectedly poked me gently on the forehead.

     "You say you want normal, but you still invited Purity to our sleepover." she repeated teasingly, brightening her tone to ease the tension.
     "I really think everything will be fine. She was actually a little agreeable on that trip to Wonder Light. I think we made some sort of friendly connection getting stuck up on the mountain together too." I encouraged.
     "You're being naive again, Meadow." Sunflower teased as well.
     "No," I chuckled, "More like stupidly optimistic, I suppose."

The macaroni and the hotdogs cooked quickly. I gave Sunset and Sunflower the task of taking all the food to the living room while I did a quick clean-up. Keeping the place up to par was one of Eden's usual requirements when I knocked him out of the house and over to Blaze's place when I wanted me and my friends to have our house to ourselves for a night. The knock on the door came as I placed what dishes I could into the dishwasher. Knowing neither Sunset nor Sunflower would be eager to answer, I hurriedly made my way over. To tell the truth, I had been rather expectant that Purity would indeed not show up despite that she had said she would come. Part of me anticipated it being Allium wanting to crash the sleepover or Amaranth who wanted to escape Blaze and Eden's antics who stood outside. But, no, Purity was the one who was there when I swung the door open.

     "Hey," I greeted as warmly as I could, "Come on in."

The expression on Purity's face was hard to read, and I was surprised at how nervous I got and how fast my heart began to beat. I did question myself, just like Sunset did, as to why I had thought to ever extended an invitation to Purity. Even having her in my house for mere seconds was making me crazy paranoid. She glanced around, and I thought that she surely had to be judging everything. That I would see one of those smug looks appear on her face.

     "I've never been in your house before."

My mind ran blank at her statement. It didn't sound like she was talking to me. It was more like she was saying her thoughts out loud, and she sounded almost stunned.

     "It's cozy. It has a warm feeling to it." Purity quickly added.
     "Thanks." I smiled, feeling a bit better.

Perhaps my intuition wasn't the off after all. Purity was being incredibly well-mannered for all of the fifteen seconds she had been inside. However, I did have to recollect that she had been nice for a good long while at her sleepover too, and look how well that had ended up.

I went to tell Purity where she could put her things and where the bathroom was if she needed it, but a hurried shuffling sound interrupted me. Button bounded into the entryway as she had to investigate every opening and closing of the door. I worried that Purity would be annoyed with her or shove her away when Button sniffed furiously at her, but I was surprised again when Purity merely pet her on the head.

     "Your dog?" she questioned.
     "Yes, this is Button. Eden got her for me as a present on my eleventh birthday." I explained.
     "That's pretty lucky. Few kids rarely get the pet they want for a present."
     "Eden is good at spoiling me. As long as I behave, he'll cave to almost anything that I want."

Purity nodded, and I dared to get my hopes up after Purity continued petting Button as if Button wasn't slobbering all over her leg with the friendly licking she was doing at Purity's knee. True, Purity really wasn't looking me in the eye when she spoke and her words were short, but there wasn't much if any animosity surrounding her like there normally was.

Although, the lack of animosity didn't last long. Button stopped licking Purity to let her walk freely again, and I showed Purity into the living room. The conversation Sunset and Sunflower were having quieted in volume before they quickly wrapped it up. The three gave each other sideways glances, and all seemed to be reluctant about the situation.

     "Alright, we're all going to play nice," I instructed firmly before any of them could say anything, "You three knew who else would be here, and since you all showed up I'm going to assume you already made peace about it. Any fighting and I will seriously make you stand in the corner."

Sunset and Sunflower shifted uncomfortably, and Purity was doing her best to give off an unfazed look. There was silence until Sunset sighed once more.

     "Hey, Purity." she greeted as nicely as she could, despite that her voice sounded strained in doing so.

Sunflower nodded to Purity as her way of greeting, and Purity's response was a tiny nod as well. I tried not to be annoyed as that was probably the best I could hope for with them.

I showed Purity where to put her things before I went ahead and started the movie as soon as possible. Watching the sequel to Sunset's current favorite romance movie was the main reason for the sleepover, and I figured it would be the best thing to give everyone a distraction so talking could be avoided until the other three warmed up to each other a bit more. Thankfully, the plan pretty much worked. Sunset was instantly drawn into the movie. She was too enraptured with with it to pay attention to anything but it. Sunflower relaxed as well, and I was able to provoke tiny sentences between her and Purity when the time was right. I was able to get a few words in with her myself.

Things got better after the movie, even if not everything was perfect.

     "What kind of movies do you want to act in?" Sunflower asked Purity when the credits began to roll.
     "None of them." Purity replied.
     "What? But I thought you wanted to be the whole actress-singer combo."
     "I stopped caring about being in show business a long time ago. It was my mom who wanted that for me more than me wanting it anyway." she admitted.
     "I find that hard to believe. All I've ever heard is that you want to be famous."
     "When was the last time you even ever talked to me?" Purity pointed out.
     "When you were bullying me and telling me how ugly my gray was." Sunflower retorted sharply.

I cleared my throat loudly and gave them both a look of warning. Sunflower frowned, but quieted. Purity hid behind her mask of uncaring.

     "What do you want to do?" I asked Purity to push the tension away again.
     "I've been helping my dad a lot with him helping companies and businesses build up their websites and reputations. It's got me wanting to open my own business, or at least take on a managing role. I'm particularly interested in the area of environmental conservation."
     "So, how would you turn that into a business?" Sunflower wondered.
     "I'd like to open some sort of flower or gardening shop that emphasizes and sells environmentally friendly products." Purity continued.

I noticed her voice was getting quieter as if she was embarrassed.

     "That's kind of funny, because I remember how adamant you were about not helping Meadow, Frost, and I at the elementary garden." Sunset pointed out teasingly.
     "People change." Purity mumbled, definitely embarrassed.
     "You know, you should talk to Sap." I encouraged to help her out.
     "Sap Spring?"
     "Yeah. His father runs more businesses than any other person I've heard of. I swear that half of Berrybrook is owned by him. Sap has always wanted to keep on that legacy. I know they're both disappointed that Bud and Pistachio aren't interested in doing the same, so I think if you went to Sap he'd be so happy to share what he knows that he could probably get his father to open his resources up to you if you really are serious about starting your own shop. I could even put in a good word to you to Mr. Spring, if you want. The poor guy is so ridiculously hopeful that Sap and I could work out if we gave it another go that he still treats me as if I'm already his daughter-in-law, even though I've told him dozens of times that Sap and I are strictly friends." I explained in a laugh.
     "I...I'd like that." she mumbled again.

Purity shifted uncomfortably again, and I realized I hadn't helped her all that well at not being embarrassed. A quick one to recover though, she smartly got the attention off herself.

     "I'm going to assume that after all these years you've thought of at least one idea of what you want to do besides being a mom. So, what do you want to do? Where to do you want to go to school?" Purity reciprocated the question.
     "Oh boy, you're bringing up the second-most topic that Meadow hates." Sunflower said.
     "Meadow is surprisingly wishy-washy about her future. She hasn't even looked into anywhere else besides Twilight University." Sunset added on.
     "That elite school in Twilight City? Why would that be a bad thing?" Purity questioned.
     "No, that's Twilight North University. They're both in Twilight City, but Twilight University is the crummy one that has such low standards that the only reason they turn anyone away is because they reach the amount of students they can accept. It's basically first-come, first-serve with them."
     "Why does Miss Genius want to go there then?" Purity wondered.
     "Because that's where Al is going to go. If it wasn't for that, Am told us that Meadow apparently doesn't care about a college education. She doesn't want to go at all, but Eden's made her at least start applying to one place."
     "I'll be taking some classes at that culinary school as well." I said softly.
     "Oh yes, she'll be taking an hour cooking class once or twice a week too. She's really aiming high, this one."
     "You're not making it any better by ragging on her about it all the time." Sunflower reprimanded gently.
     "What else am I supposed to do? Her lack of motivation is worrying, and she's only gotten worse since her vanishing stunt."
     "Why were you gone for those two weeks?" Purity asked with great curiosity.
     "We're playing video games now." I announced.

I stood up and went over to the television to set up the console before anyone could protest. Sunset shrugged and told Purity that her guess was as good as theirs.

The topic was dropped again when the game started and the competitive spirits came out. We began playing on teams, but we soon found we all had a better time playing in an every-woman-for-herself style. I was frequently on top of the scoreboard. What I was truly shocked about how I had such a hard time staying there. Sunset provided a bit of competition, but it was Purity who was the real challenger. There were times, more than I wanted to admit, that the only reason I managed to get ahead of her was because I knew all the secrets of them game to swipe those extra power-ups. That she could get such a close score without needing them was a scary thing indeed.

Blessedly, playing videos games was what broke down Sunset, Sunflower, and Purity's shells. They weren't suddenly best friends, not by any means. However, they stopped taking digs into each other and spoke on decent terms. It was a miracle to me.

It turned out to be Button who caused the last problem of the night. Riled up by our fighting spirits, she grew too energetic. I should have noticed she was bounding about too much and let her out, yet I was so hungry that I dug into my food noticing only it. I got a rude wake up to how badly my dog needed to be given more space to run around when Button suddenly dashed around the coffee table, half leapt into Purity's arms, and cause her to tumble her bowl of macaroni and cheese all over her. It thankfully wasn't hot, but the thick mess of cheese sauce and sticky noodles splashed across Purity's shining white clothes was a real issue.

     "Button!" I reprimanded her, and she turned sheepish, "Ugh, Flower, can you let her out in the back? Purity, here, I'll lend you some of my stuff. If we get your things in the wash right away, they shouldn't stain."

I brought Purity upstairs while both Sunset and Sunflower took Button outside to give her her needed run. I gave Purity total choice from my sleepwear, took her dirty things that she slipped past the door to put in the washer, and returned once she changed. Purity was studying herself in the mirror.

     "You really do have a lot of white things." she noted.
     "It's my favorite color, and I like to wear what I like." I shrugged.

Purity glanced at me from the mirror before revealing a secret.

     "This is my first time wearing something that isn't white."
     "Really? You've never worn something with color before?"

She nodded.

     "Why?"
     "I kinda have to wear white, you know."
     "No, you don't," I challenged, "You don't have to wear white any more than I have to wear green. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot."

Purity brushed her hair behind her shoulders and glanced down.

     "Why did you invite me over here tonight?"
     "Because I wanted to." I answered with slight hesitation at the unanticipated question.
     "But why did you want to?"
     "I...just did," I shrugged again before moving next to her, "Why did you agree to come?"

Purity looked away and said nothing.

With Button having gotten her exercise, she took up a comfy spot on the couch while the four of us moved to my study area. Sunset, despite her vehement disapproval of her dad's ghost stories when we were younger, was now amusingly too happy to tell one whenever the opportunity presented itself. Her vast story of new stories to tell was impressive as well. Some had us rolling around in laughter and others had Sunflower curling up in my lap from fright. Purity seemed to spook easily, which was interesting. We spent an hour hearing Sunset's stories, making up our own, and then I finally went ahead and explained what happened to me at that sleepover in the loft as well as the "dream" I had. Sunflower and Purity sort of believed me. Sunset, not so much.

We all messed around after all. The kitchen was raided after the macaroni and cheese and hotdogs were gone, and Sunflower chased Sunset around the house threatening to tickle her, which Sunset hated. We brought up a dating site on my computer and discussed which boys were thought were acceptable, mostly for Sunset's sake because of her never ending complaining that she hadn't had a boyfriend yet. My favorite point of that evening was seeing Purity play with Button though. Even my dog messing up her clothes hadn't put her off my furry companion. Purity would pet Button whenever she came by and the rest of us were around, but when she thought no one was looking she would get right down on the floor and totally spoil Button with pets, belly scratches, hugs, and kisses. She almost caught me watching her once because I let out a little laugh. I knew I hadn't been wrong. Purity did have a good heart. She just needed the right circumstances to let it show.

It was nearly one in the morning when it was decided that we should finally go to bed. I watched Purity out of the corner of my eye when we set up our sleeping bags. She dawdled on unrolling hers, and I could see why when she did go ahead and stretch it out. The thing was half pink. She watched Sunset and Sunflower like a hawk to see if they would say anything. They didn't. The two were too concerned debating some video they had watched to even care. The only gaze Purity caught was mine, and I gave her an encouraging smile. Growing embarrassed again, she hurriedly slipped into her sleeping bag without saying a word. I got into mine, and as soon as Sunset and Sunflower calmed down we all drifted off into dreamland.

I woke up around eight, but I couldn't be bothered to get up until half an hour later. The others had more trouble than me. None of them even stirred until nine. The three of them most likely would have slept longer had the smell of a fresh breakfast not lured them from their rest. Eden had had a hard time shaking off his newly found laziness that he gained during our two week "vacation". It was much harder for him to get up, so me filling the house with delicious smells was one thing he couldn't resist. I was glad the same tactic worked on my friends and Purity, for I didn't like being the only one up. They sluggishly plopped themselves down at the table, and only properly came back to consciousness when they started eating.

There was another reason I needed to get everyone up as well. Sunset and Sunflower actually had somewhere they needed to be. One of their classes required that they complete six hours of community service. They had chosen to be volunteers at an event where special needs children could come to play games. It would get all their hours out of the way at once, and the event actually looked like it would be a lot of fun. I had been planning on volunteering alongside them, but the whole running and hiding thing had caused me to miss the deadline for sign-ups. I had the day to myself instead.

Sunset and Sunflower were gone less than a hour later. That left me, Purity, and Button, and Button was out in the backyard sniffing around. Growing nervous now that I was with Purity on my own, I busied myself cleaning up so there was less necessity for conversation. I was wiping down the corner when something poked me in the arm. Turning my head, I discovered Purity gently pressing a wrapped gift box against me.

     "Here." she said too nonchalantly for her to actually be indifferent.
     "W-what's this?" I questioned in great confusion, too surprised to do anything other than look at what was being shown to me.

Purity grabbed my arm to lift my hand and placed the gift in my grasp that way.

     "It's a present, you goof." she shook her head.
     "Why are you giving me a present?"
     "It's a birthday present."
     "Um, my birthday is in late July."
     "I know."

My mouth hung slightly open as I still couldn't make any sense out of the situation. I wondered if I was dreaming.

     "I'm repaying the favor."

Purity paused as she gave me a strange look.

     "Don't think I don't know what you did. You bought those pink earrings for me, but gave them to my dad and told him to tell me that they were from him instead. Am I wrong?"

I inhaled sharply and bit the inside of my lip. She wasn't.

     "I knew it," Purity continued with a shake of her head, "As soon as I saw that the earrings were pink, I knew they were from you. You're the only one who knows my favorite color. You're the only one who has ever asked. Not even my dad has..."

She shook her head more vigorously. When she stopped, she stared directly at me with a much more determined expression. I worried what that meant, and it took all of two seconds for me to understand why.

     "The reason I accepted your invitation is because I want to know more. I let you get off the hook too easily in Wonder Light. Something is going on with you. I mean, you practically admitted it yourself. This recent disappearance of yours has something to do with what you said about you not having a lot of freedom, and I want to know what the connection is."
     "I believe I warned you that you wouldn't be doing yourself any favors by trying to coax the information out." I reminded her.
     "I don't care." Purity retorted stubbornly.
     "Purity, if I won't tell my best friends about what's going on, why on earth would I tell you?"
     "Because, for some reason, you want me to know more than you want them to know. You believe there's some sort of connection between us, and you feel like I can understand the truth far better than they ever could." Purity said so confidently it scared me.

She was scaring me with that confidence so much that I couldn't look her in the eye anymore. Doing so felt as if it would allow her to see into my mind. She was already hitting the mark about why I wanted to tell her the truth. Her ability to read me seemed as if it would uncover everything if I gave her even just the smallest of glances.

Purity folded her arms and stared harder.

     "Well?" she asked expectantly.
     "We're a lot more alike than you think. Particularly in one way. That's all of the answer I can give to you right now." I caved as much as possible.

I heard a car drive by the house and a dog barking in the distance during the long pause of silence that followed. Purity clearly wanted more, and she seemed willing at first to wait until I cracked. She must have realized that that wouldn't be happening this day though because she caved herself several seconds later.

     "I hope you like your present, Meadow," she began with light disappointment, "Like your friends, I have to take off soon too. My mom and I have plans. I'll go change into my own clothes, and I'll be on my way."

She turned on her heel and left before I could say another word. In a way, I was severely disappointed as well. It was weird that I felt like I could trust Purity with the truth, but that was how I felt. Perhaps if she kept acting how she was acting, she might find that she would break down my walls no matter how hard I tried to keep them up. A few minutes later, she was back downstairs gathering her things and preparing to leave. She was heading towards the door when I had to stop her.

     "Hey." I called.

Purity jolted to a halt and glanced back over her shoulder.

     "You know, you haven't called me Envy in a while."
     "Like I said, people change." Purity mumbled.

She bolted out the door and into her car before I could blink, but I didn't mind. In fact, I found as I watched her pull out of the driveway that I was actually smiling.