Gen Three- Chapter Twenty One

A smile rotated my lips even as I rolled my eyes. In the middle of a phone call with Ephemeral, I had to applaud the girl's stubbornness.

     "Seriously, Dia, you have to come to August's party! We had so much fun last year, remember?"

     "It was a lot of fun, Ephie, but-"

     "And it's going to be even better now. Because we were so well behaved and respectful of the rules, his parents are going to let it be bigger and full of a bunch of other stuff they didn't allow last time!"

     "I-"

     "Oh, are you talking to Dia?" another familiar voice joined the conversation, "Hi, Dia!"

     "Hi, Ethie." I laughed as I imagined her leaning against her sister to get near the phone.

     "Is Ephie bullying you again into coming to the party?"

     "Of course. She's been doing nothing else for the past few weeks even though I told her it's too much of a bother for me and Gilly."

     "The party does fall on that long weekend though, you know." Ethereal pointed out.

     "And that's the only reason I considered it for a moment. My answer is still no."

     "But you could see us again, and Ember, Flurry, and Acer too!" Ephemeral kept trying.

     "It's barely been a week since we were down there in Tinseltown!" I reminded her in amusement.

Those two girls were seriously something else. I think after we revealed to them back during middle school that we would be staying for an extra year they believed we would remain in Tinseltown forever. Honestly, a few of us began to think the same. It took until Halloween of that year with no house plans agreed upon for grandpa, mom, and dad to sit us all down and have a big discussion about our wishes. Ember started off the split by saying she had no intentions of returning to our hometown. She and Tamarix had already found a nice apartment for them and Flurry. Within several weeks, they were there. The rest of us weren't so certain. Some, like grandpa and dad, couldn't be convinced to want to stay. Some, like Gilly and Merlot, stomped their foots about leaving. It was the rest of our scattered family who made our choice for us. With all of them returning to Berrybrook, we decided we simply couldn't stay away no matter how much we also loved our new home. The house plans were confirmed, the building was constructed, and we were moved in by the time the next school year started. The majority of every summer since then though was spent in the land of movie stars. It was the first week of mine and Gilly's final year of high school, and we'd returned from visiting Tinseltown a mere three days before classes started.

     "Just think about it okay?" Ephemeral continued to attempt to convince me.

     "I'll think about being tired flying to the other side of the country, spending an afternoon being exhausted at a party, and probably dying on the long flight back I'd immediately have to make, but, sure, I'll think about it." I teased.

     "You're the best, Dia," Ethereal joked back.

     "I know. Talk to you guys later."

     "Bye!" the Chalcedony twins chimed in unison.

I stepped inside as I ended the call. Even though it'd been years since our return, something about the place felt unfamiliar and fresh. It was most likely because grandpa had consulted an architect this time around for the design. He and grandma had gotten opinions from one for the previous house, but they'd largely gone with their own plans. The result had been a nice house, but once that was also all over the place and random. The current one clearly had a trained eye putting things into place. There was hardly as much space, yet we all had plenty of room. Blaze and grandpa shared the lone bedroom on the first floor, and mom and dad had surprisingly put themselves down in the basement. I mean, it was a nice basement though. I think they just wanted a lot more privacy than they'd had before in the old house where their room was right next to us kids and they had to share a bathroom with us.

I turned left to head up the stairs after moving through the entryway. Gilly and I continued to share a room, which had been a decision of our own choosing. The adults had presented the option of the two of us finally having separate spaces of our own. However, we didn't want to be separated. Gilly and I had never had a problem with it. Until high school. That problem popped up again right as I opened the door. My sister and Confetti were there on her bed in their underwear doing what they were going to do. A loud sigh instantly escaped my lips.

     "Seriously, you two, how many times do I have to say it? Finish up before I come back." I reprimanded, setting my bag in its spot by the door before entering and closing the door.

Gilly and Confetti were only mildly startled by my appearance. This kind of thing had obviously happened far too many times before for my liking. We'd all long since stopped being embarrassed.

     "That was our plan, but you said you weren't going to be home until 5:30." Gilly pouted, slowly untangling herself from her girlfriend.
     "It is 5:30. It's 5:34 to be exact." I told her.
     "I guess we spent a lot longer taking down your paintings than we realized, Gil." Confetti shrugged as she sat up.

The majorly bare walls revealed it was a 'switch' day. When Gilly had a store of new paintings completed, she would take down the old ones to put her most recent creations up instead. The process took a while considering she did it for the whole house.

     "Diaaa..." Gilly whined after a moment.

I assumed it was because I sat myself down at my computer to do my homework.

     "What?"
     "Can't you go away for just a little while longer?"
     "No. You two missed your opportunity of having the whole house to yourselves. I have both our high school homework and some branch homework to do tonight, so I can't waste time waiting for you to have sex for the third time this week. Just go use Blaze's bed or something. He says he doesn't care, and no one else should be home for a while still."
     "It's too weird to do it there..."
     "Not my problem."
     "It's not my fault I got all the sex loving genes and you got none of them. You don't understand." my sister continued to try to persuade me.

I ignored her. Gilly huffed, but Confetti laughed before kissing her on the cheek and taking her hand.

     "C'mon, let's just go ahead and get dressed so we can put up the new paintings. We'll have alone time at my place tomorrow."
     "Fine." Gilly accepted miserably as if she was a child being denied a cookie.

Blessedly, she left without any more complaints. Gilly remained something of an awful whiner still despite her constant adult-oriented actions. My sister and her girlfriend were so overt with that aspect of their relationship that it'd been a thing to joke about even with my parents. I doubt mom and dad would be willing to take it so lightheartedly if Confetti were a boy as then there would be the risk of pregnancy, but since Confetti wasn't a boy the two had basically gotten a thumbs up of full support. What was another frequent joke- that Gilly had indeed sucked all the desires for sex out of me in the womb. She was ready to go at the drop of a hat. Me...even after watching different kind of porn for hours on end I hadn't felt the slightest hint of desire. Grandpa supposed I could be like him where I didn't feel a craving for someone unless I was incredibly close to them as a person first, but it could just be that I truly wouldn't ever want such things. Whether I did or not didn't bother me at all. Getting married remained a goal for the distant future, but having to deal with feelings of wanting intimacy merely seemed like a giant burden if Gilly's actions were anything to go off of.

The only thing I wanted to strive for at the moment was school. There were my normal classes, of course, but there were also my college classes to handle. In order to attract more people back to Berrybrook when many left for good after the hurricane, the city had talked with Twilight North to open a branch of the school down here. It had been something that had been a long time coming, and it offered me a chance to get a head start on some basic courses. The plan was for me to finish high school here, complete the preparatory degree at the Twilight North branch that would keep me in Berrybrook another two years, and then head back to Tinseltown to take the renowned medical track degree Zenith Peak offered at their college. I was guaranteed a one year spot there given that I was a previous student of their school system. If my grades and behavior remained good, I would be given a proper studentship spot. Ethereal and Ephemeral were eagerly counting down the days until we would all be going to the same school again.

Around six was when everyone else started filing back home. Grandpa was the first. Having gotten bored in his retirement, dad had given him a small part-time position at the bookstore. There was an event going on there tonight, which was where everyone else was. I had way too much homework to do, Gilly had come home after school for obvious reasons, and grandpa had just gotten over a cold so he'd been too tired to stay the whole time.

     "Come in." he beckoned when I knocked on his door.

I paused as I always did when I reached his work corner of the room. In that space grandpa had made a shrine to grandma. The electronic frame on his desk cycled through an unending supply of various pictures of them taken throughout the years. On the shelf sat grandma's old teddy bear, some of the coal Blaze had bought grandpa, a rainbow light grandma had gotten that same Christmas. A great ache spread across my chest at the thought of how long it had been now since she died. I could hardly remember her, and I despaired over the fact that I'd never gotten to meet her when she'd been healthy and happy.

     "Is there anything in particular you want to do for dinner tonight? Gilly is requesting Chinese again, but I'm tired of the stuff."
     "Me too," grandpa chuckled, "I'll whip some carbornara up, how about that? It shouldn't take too long."
     "That sounds good. I can help you."
     "No, I'll be fine. I know you have a lot of schoolwork to do, and you had a student council meeting today, didn't you?" grandpa smiled.
     "I mean, yeah, but-"
     "You go on and do what you need to do, Miss President. Let me worry about the food." he teased lovingly.
     "Okay." I grinned, kissing him on the cheek.

In the end, I only got a tiny bit more homework done before dinner. Gilly and Confetti had moved their painting hanging upstairs, so that started off the distractions. Then the scent of cheesy pasta wafted upstairs. I was lost. My sister, her girlfriend, and I rushed downstairs to assist in the making of some garlic twists, and before we knew it we were chomping down on one fine, delicious meal.

     "Well, I think it'd be adorable." Confetti pressed forward with the entertaining conversation that passed the evening even more pleasantly.
     "You really want to be one of those kind of people?" Gilly answered teasingly.
     "Mirage and Tappy are madly in love. You can't deny it. They deserve to have their own special day."
     "I am not throwing a wedding because you want your cat to marry ours." I joined in with a big grin.
     "You don't have to throw the wedding. I'll do all the work. You just have to come to it." Confetti spoke determinedly.
     "I think it's a cute idea." grandpa agreed.
     "Thank you, Mr. Vivid." Confetti gave a lighthearted huff towards Gilly and me.
     "Grandpa, don't encourage her." Gilly chided merrily.

Grandpa, having taken a huge forkful of pasta, just shrugged and gave a silly smile that was extra silly because of his full mouth. We all laughed.

Confetti ended up staying the night, which was typical. My regular homework went faster being able to do it with the other two, and I was able to complete what remained by foregoing watching the movie with everyone else once the rest of the family returned home. Such a thing was frustrating, but it would be worth it in the end. Skipping the movie also allowed me to go to bed early. With how giggly and chatty Gilly and Confetti could be, falling asleep before them was pretty much the one way to get a good night's sleep. And so, morning came. Us older ones walked along with Merlot until he went his separate way towards the junior high. A lot had changed with the school system since the hurricane. Our overburdened district had finally been split into two different ones. That meant a whole new junior high and high school had been built closer to the newest elementary.

     "I guess we'd better just get going. They're really late today." Gilly supposed.

Our morning routine consisted of us waiting at the edge of the park for two of our friends so we could all walk together. Something must have gone differently on their end today though. Neither had shown up yet, and neither answered his phone.

     "I guess we must." I nodded, catching up after I glanced back again.

I should have glanced back one more time. Timber and Rain wouldn't have had to desperately run quite as far then.

     "Wait! Wait! We're coming!" Rain called to us right before we reached the intersection.

He and Timber sped over. Both panted heavily.

     "Impressive speed." Confetti remarked.
     "You two should join the track team." Gilly joked.
     "Yeah, yeah..." Timber could only manage that though his heavy breathing.

I patted them both on the shoulders supportively as they regained control of their lungs.

     "Does your mad sprinting have anything to do with why you weren't answering our texts?" I wondered.
     "Yeah. You can blame it on this guy here," Rain ribbed with a smirk towards Timber, "He's the one who was late first, so I was made late too waiting for him."
     "What can I say? That marathon of Dark Adaptation playing last night was too good to pass up, and it's been hard enough to wake up since I got that new memory foam pillow." Timber shrugged.
     "I understand the struggle." I grinned.

The reason Timber had bought that new pillow was because I'd gotten the same one for myself recently. He'd tried it and been instantly hooked.

With a bit of fast walking on everyone's part, we made it to the school with acceptable time to spare. Gilly and Confetti went off their own way while Apple and Ray filled in their spots. The five of us hung out in the courtyard in the middle of the senior classrooms area of the building.

     "For me, it'd have to be West Coriander, Tideville, and Mountain Heights." Apple revealed her choices.

The school gave seniors three absence passes for a day off from classes in order to visit potential colleges. The forms had to be filled out and submitted a whole month before the desired date, so it was something one couldn't dally with. Rain had mentioned his intended locations. Now we were going around all stating our plans.

     "Not Twilight North?" Timber wondered.
     "You guys keep suggesting it, but I think since so many people here mention wanting to go that you forget how difficult it is to actually be accepted," Apple pouted, "It's elite for a reason. Maybe I could get in if I gave it my all this year, but even then it'd be a long shot. Dia's the only one of us who'd be guaranteed a spot. She's already attending the branch here. Rain, you'd have a good chance. Maybe you too, Timber. The rest of us, there's little hope."

Ray laughed.

     "Yeah, my parents kept prodding me to look into their enrollment. They even paid for me to take the standardized testing again. My scores went up, but I still remain pitifully below the school's base requirements. I don't know how any of you do it." she said before looking at Rain, Timber, and me, but mostly at me.
     "I think I just got lucky figuring out what I wanted to do when I was really little. It made putting together a clear plan easy, so I've known for a long time the steps I'd had to take and the work I'd have to put in." I replied.
     "You are pretty lucky," Apple spoke longingly and dramatically, "I still have no idea what I want to do."
     "You like ice skating. Why not be an instructor or something similar?" Timber offered.
     "There's still no proper rink nearby though. I could never stand making such a commute for years on end."
     "Why not be the one to open up a rink then? West Coriander has a good business program from what I hear. You could take classes there to get the information you'd need, and Uncle Sap and dad would love to give you help too, I'm sure." I suggested.
     "I'd still need money to make it all happen," Apple mused with interest but also defeat, "Do you know how many loans I'd have to take out? Who would give that much money to a fresh out of college twenty something with no actual experience on running a big place like that?"
     "It was an idea. I'm sure there's someway to make it happen if it really does interest you."
     "I'll keep it in mind at least."

My phone suddenly beeped, and that was the warning that classes were beginning soon. Off we all scattered to continue our education. The morning progressed normally, and then some news arrived from my sister and Auburn when Timber and I bumped into them at our lockers before our last period before lunch.

     "That new kid has finally showed up." Gilly revealed.
     "Oh, that Arbor guy the teachers have been saving a seat for in his classes? I'd heard Mr. Shea say he wouldn't be here until Monday." Timber pondered.
     "He got here early." Gilly shrugged.
     "What's he like?" I asked.

Gilly and Auburn gave each other a look, and their hesitation to say anything threw me off.

     "Basically...imagine the most obvious stereotype of a bad boy who's been kicked out of all the previous schools he's been to. Basically that," Auburn explained, "There is a rumor going around that he is actually here because all the other high schools back where he used to live didn't want him."
     "That bad, huh?" Timber answered.
     "Who can say how true that is without talking to him, but it's believable. Arbor gave Ms. Beach such lip when she reprimanded him for blatantly using his phone in class. I think the principal has even already had to call him into his office. The guy is also littered in tattoos. Pretty much everything save his neck and face is covered in them."
     "I didn't think you could get tattoos before your turned eighteen, much less get that many." I said.
     "Some states will allow it as long as the parents give permission and are there for the procedure. Arbor's parents must be very open." Auburn guessed.
     "Well, tattoos don't have to mean anything about a person's character. I wouldn't judge him on that, but his behavior does make it sound like he is troublesome." Timber added.
     "Dia, tell us how he is after your next class, huh? He should be there with you, Apple, and Rain, right? Maybe he'll chill out after getting lectured." Gilly requested.
     "I'm not getting involved in gossip, Gil." I replied, switching my math books out for my literature ones.

Needless to say though, I couldn't help but to be incredibly curious about our new classmate. The seat in front of me being left empty to save a spot for him peaked my curiosity higher and higher each day. Part of that had to do with me having gone through a similar experience as Arbor in regards to transferring during a year that had begun. I wanted to let him know I could sympathize with how hard it was.

     "Do you think he's brown? Or green? Or brown and green?" Apple wondered after we settled into our seats.
     "Dunno. With a name like Arbor Thicket, it could go either way. Doesn't really matter though."
     "I know, but it's a little interesting just to guess. These school days can drag on for so long. We have to find whatever ways we can to keep ourselves entertained."
     "Like hiding an alarm clock in Confetti's locker that you schedule to go off every ten minutes?" I raised a brow.
     "That was hilarious, especially since Confetti ended up going home sick before the teachers found out which locker the noise was coming from." Apple laughed.
     "As long as the detention was worth it." I had to laugh too.
     "Totally was."

Mr. Sunrise walked into the classroom seconds before the bell rang. Our new classmates walked in behind him.

     "All brown." Apple whispered to me.
     "I can see that." I whispered back, rolling my eyes.
     "Good morning, everyone. I hope you all had fine Wednesday evenings," Mr. Sunrise spoke, "I'd like to introduce you to your newest classmate starting today. Why don't you go ahead and say something about yourself?"
     "Hi, I'm Arbor Thicket. I moved here with my parents from Evergleam out in North Brush. I hate Home Ec, I like most sports, and, no, we did not move here because I got kicked out of all the other schools. My mom's job got transferred." Arbor rattled off with a bored, detached tone that was also somehow condescending.

Murmurs naturally scattered throughout the room.

     "Uh, thank you, Arbor. Your seat is that one right there in front of Dianthus."

Arbor took his seat. I tried to give him a smile, but he didn't glance in my direction in the slightest. Just plomped his butt down, leaned back, and lazily ignored the other sets of eyes staring his way. Apple and I gave each other a glance of our own. Then Mr. Sunrise announced that he accidentally left his class notes in another room, so the volume level in our class rose with chatter as he hurried off to retrieve them. Arbor spoke to no one, and no one gathered up the courage to speak to him. Until I caught him deepening a scratch in the wood of his desk with the tip of his mechanical pencil.

     "Hey, you shouldn't do that." I reprimanded him lightly.
     "Who are you to tell me what I should and shouldn't do?" Arbor instantly fought back, yet he maintained that same detached tone instead of actually sounding bothered.
     "Dia's just the student council president." Apple answered for me defensively.
     "And who are you? Her lapdog?"
     "Better watch out who you anger, new guy," Ruta, sitting on Arbor's left, jumped in, "Dia's a Vivid, and Apple's a Yonder."
     "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Arbor scoffed.
     "You've heard of Eden and Ethereal Yonder, yeah?"
     "I've more than passed the basic history classes." Arbor answered sarcastically.
     "Apple is Eden's granddaughter, and Dia is Ethereal's granddaughter. Their families are pretty much famous royalty in this city."
     "Ruta, you're ridiculous," Apple said with a light smile, "Just because everyone knows who we are doesn't mean we get special perks. Trust me, if people thought of me as royalty, I'd be throwing parades everyday."
     "You certainly strut around everyday as if you're in a parade." I teased.
     "Oh, shut up." Apple laughed, pushing my shoulder.

Conversation ceased when Mr. Sunrise returned. He got class started up right away to make up for lost time, and things went pretty normal from there on. It was more difficult to see the board with Arbor blocking my way, but I'd long since gotten used to being in the back of the room. Arbor didn't cause any further problems either. In fact, he sat there taking notes and being attentive like any other determined student. It answered my question as to why he was in the upper level literature class. The upper level literature class that many loathed to take for the very reason Mr. Sunrise put into motion during the second half of the period- the large project that we would start now and only complete right before Christmas break. Done in pairs, Apple was faced with disappointment when I declined working with her. I had someone else in mind, so she paired up with a friend named Willow instead.

     "Hey, Arbor?" I rushed to find him at his locker after the class ended.
     "What?"
     "I was wondering...do you want to be my partner for the project?"
     "Sure," he answered in that same neutral, detached tone he was so fond of, "Just as long as you pull your weight."

It really made it difficult to determine if he was actually trying to be insulting or not. Perhaps he was simply making a joke.

     "Of course. I'm the top student in our grade," I chose to reply back lightheartedly, "Just make sure you pull yours as well. Mr. Sunrise has yet to ever give out a 100% on this project to anyone. I want to be the first."
     "Hmm," Arbor gave the noncommittal noise, "Anyway, your name is Dianthus or something?"
     "Yeah, Dianthus Vivid. Everyone calls me Dia though. Do you have a nickname you like?"
     "Just Arbor."
     "Well, Arbor, when did you want to meet to discuss which three books we're to analyze? I'm free after school both tonight and tomorrow."
     "I have to help my parents finish unpacking tonight. Tomorrow right after school is fine."
     "Great. Did you want to come to my place? We always have a bunch of snacks."
     "How noisy is it there?"
     "Noisy? Mmm, there's almost always a few people around since we have a lot of people at our house, so it varies."
     "I can't work with noise distracting me. It's just me and my parents, so I'd rather do it at my place."
     "That's fine."

I gave him another smile, and I shouldn't have bothered due to the response of absolutely nothing I received back. Timber thankfully walked around the corner to notice us and come over to break the moment of awkwardness, but what happened next didn't make the situation any better.

     "Hey, Timber." I greeted my friend.
     "Hey." he grinned, and his smile was reassuring.
     "Arbor, this is one of my friends, Timber Mountain. Timber, this is Arbor Thicket, the new student in our grade." I introduced them.
     "Nice to meet you." Timber offered his hand.

Arbor, however, didn't take it. The new guy gave him a hard stare, narrowed his eyes, and spoke with proper emotion for the first time.

     "I don't like you." he revealed irritably.
     "Uh..." Timber spoke, too horribly confused at the moment to be insulted, "...Pardon?"
     "I don't like you. Your face bothers me, and I don't trust you one bit. If you're friends with him, Dia, you shouldn't be."
     "Excuse me?" I spoke incredulously, folding my arms, "Don't you dare insult Timber or tell me not to be friends with him. What's wrong with you?"
     "A lot, apparently, given how others like to talk," Arbor shrugged, the anger fading back into his indifference, "But whatever. I'm going to go get something to eat. I'll see you after school tomorrow, Dia."
     "It's Dianthus."

Arbor was already walking away. He couldn't disappear around the corner fast enough for me, and I suppose my expression was something unpleasant due to how Timber took one look at me and laughed.

     "Don't make that kind of face on my account. It's fine." he reassured.
     "How could he say something like that? He's never even met you before."
     "Arbor's probably just jealous."
     "Jealous?"
     "Yeah. You're super beautiful. I'm sure he was feeling pretty lucky, and then, boom, I walk over. Another Solid brown guy already incredibly close to you."
     "We don't have anything romantic together though. Never will, no matter how much people like to joke about it."
     "He doesn't know that though," Timber shrugged in amusement, "Why are you seeing him after school tomorrow, by the way?"
     "I asked if he wanted to be my partner for Mr. Sunrise's hell project. I'm regretting it now. Everyone else was paired up before we left class, and no one is going to want to switch with me."
     "Sorry to hear that. How about I buy you some chocolate milk to make up for it?"
     "Ooo, the expensive milk. You're so generous." I teased.
     "I try." Timber grinned again.

I bought Timber strawberry milk as a trade-off. It was a common joke of ours. Him buying me brown milk and me buying him pink milk. Lunch went fine, and I did tell my sister what I'd experienced first-hand from meeting the student without bothering with all the rumors swirling around. School was normal for the most part after that. Arbor and I did have one more class together, but that seating chart had us too far apart to engage in any kind of conversation. I would give him a second chance tomorrow. However, at that point I didn't want to bother with him.

     "You stop it."
     "No, you stop it."

Gilly and Timber joked around like kids as we took the scenic route we always took home. They walked ahead joking and lovingly pushing the other around. Apple and I hung back out of the line of fire. Our cheerful chatting suddenly halted when Timber abruptly got really into the playing. A little too into at first it seemed. He hurriedly covered Gilly's eyes and wrapped his other arm around her so she had no choice but to quickly shuffle along with him towards the back of the buildings nearby.

     "Okay, that's too much, Timby." Gilly whined, huffing when he let her go but wouldn't uncover her eyes.
     "Sorry, I'm just trying to have you avoid seeing it." Timber replied.

His voice and expression were far too serious.

     "What's wrong?" Apple asked.
     "It's...It's another Autumn and November situation..." he spoke softly, glancing at me.

He nodded towards the tree my sister and he had been about to pass. Gilly froze instantly, and it took Apple too long to remember what he was talking about. However, I took small steps until I saw the carnage. Another dead cat. Another murdered cat. Three long rusty nails hammered into its neck bound it to the tree. Even merely hearing what had been done to the poor animal caused Gilly to cry. Apple took her into the nearby cafe while Timber and I did the smart thing this time. We called the police and made a report. Dad's words haunted the back of my mind. Someone going around killing animals was never a good thing. What frightened me more seeing the dead cat was the thought that the same person had been behind it. We had no idea who killed Autumn and November, and with seemingly no witnesses, no cameras in the back of the buildings, and no other evidence we wouldn't find out who committed the crime this time either.

Gilly had stopped crying by the time we got home, but he red, puffy eyes couldn't be hidden. She snuggled with mom and dad for a bit, too upset to visit Confetti as planned, before reluctantly joining me to do homework. I cuddled up with dad when we watched a show after dinner both for his sake and for me to be sure I was fine. Dad naturally feared the shock would hit me later on like it had last time, and I honestly had no clue if I was in shock again. I hadn't known this other cat. There was no real sense of loss other than feeling sad that an animal had been hurt. The worry of some messed up person being out there wasn't enough to scare me to tears either. Still, it was always nice to spend some time hanging out with dad as if I was a little kid once more. I eventually went my own way and ended up in the study room with Gilly. The room was supposed to be a guest bedroom. It acted as one when we did have people over, but it otherwise served as a place for me to study my medical stuff and Gilly to do her artwork. Merlot hated coming inside as my skeleton model freaked him out. I guess that's what I got for playing one too many pranks on him with it. The last time I hid it in his closet he ended up crying.

I thought of that afternoon of his sniffling and me getting lectured, so it took me a moment to realize the sniffles were real. Gilly tried to work on her design, yet tears dripped down her cheeks.

     "Gil, it'll be alright." I comforted, moving over to give her a hug.
     "The poor cat..." she sobbed.
     "I know, I know," I petted her hair, "Trust me. They'll find the person soon."
     "You know, I don't think Confetti wanting to throw a wedding for Mirage and Tappy is such a bad idea anymore." she spoke softly as she nodded against my chest.
     "I'm sure Mirage would even let you be her maid of honor."

Gilly laughed and wiped at her tears. She nodded again.