"What now?" Steven asked as he fingered the paper slip with the phone number left on the table by Aramaleo.

  "Steven, I don’t think you should-" Mika started, but Steven shook his head, indicating that her worries were unfounded.

  "I am not pnning on using it. There are no simple solutions for my problems." He sighed as both Silva and Mika sent him looks of sympathy. "But it’s probably for the best if you take the number, Mika. I mean, I don’t think we should just throw it away. It can take us to what we can assume is someone powerful."

  Without saying anything more, Mika pocketed the number, ignoring Steven’s longing look that followed after it. It was now or never. Silva had to tell about the previous meeting in the pyground.

  "Actually, I met him earlier today." On the bright side, her friends switched their focus from the suspicious phone number. The downside - now it was sharply concentrated on her. "Um, I was looking for a pce to waste some time before you were ready. And there is that one abandoned pyground nearby... No one goes there... I wanted to clear my head and… That Ara-, Arma-, whatever was already there."

  "Aramamelo,” Steven tried to correct her. “Or was it Aramamaleo? Definitely something with ‘Aram in front’.”

  “It was Aramaleo. So, what did he do there?” Mika probed.

  “That’s the thing. When he said he did not manage to meet one person with the ability, I think he meant me. But he only knew the pce, and then he made a call. I managed to listen in to some of the conversations, but from what I did hear, it seems that what he told us was true. Whoever directs him should have limitations to what they can do.”

  "Or this could be another facet of your ability..." Mika pondered. "But it’s true that he did not know how we looked. As always, we don’t really know anything about anything." She finally sighed. "And it is not like we can do anything drastic. We still have our own lives. It’s not like we can spend all our time together… Though that would be nice..." Silva received a look full of regret directed her way.

  "Thank you, Mika, but I am more worried about you two."

  "Huh?" Mika's expression turned to a puzzled one.

  “You slipped.” Steven pointed out, and this time, Silva was the one who turned puzzled. As for Mika, she suddenly paled and then blushed. Steven only shook his head while Silva was still lost.

  “Did-did I say something wrong?” Silva could not figure it out.

  "No! No! Let's return to our talk about Armaleo! That is... Armamaleo, I mean Aramaleo!” Mika panicked.

  This was not the first time this happened, and Silva found it kind of cute. Usually, Mika kept a very proper appearance and manners. But sometimes, she got lost in her own world and grew very animated after returning from it.

  Fortunately for Mika, Steven was not in the mood to tease her further for the day as he fell back in his chair before returning to the previous topic.

  “So, in conclusion - there is nothing we can do. Again. Maaaaaannnn, this sucks! Oh! Maybe we could try to dial that number and see what happens. No need to actually ask for anything, right?”

  At this point, Mika had returned to her usual self and sent him a criticising look.

  “I thought we agreed that we are not doing that?” Steven only shrugged, and Mika continued. “Indeed, we can’t do anything about them. But no matter how it pains me, we will have to improve ourselves.”

  “So you’ll start exercising?” Steven’s mouth was agape as Mika nodded, confirming her words and looking like she had swallowed a lemon.

  “And I’ll speak to my dad about the car as soon as possible. That trip would still be mostly for your sake, though.” It still annoyed Mika, but then she remembered something. “Oh, we could exercise together, right?” She brightened up while addressing Silva. “Go to a gym or something, right?”

  “Uh, well, I am not sure I can afford that.” Silva blushed. The truth was that even hanging around after school was taking a toll on her wallet. She gnced at the nonchant Steven. She wondered how he, with his family situation, could afford it. “I was thinking about jogging before school and trying some exercises you can do at home.” Silva did not mention that she had no confidence in her body. To go to a public pce to exercise was beyond her. Even more so if Mika would accompany her.

  Right after Silva had finished putting out her excuses, she saw her friend visibly wilt. “But, I guess we could do some workout at your pce?” Silva tried to cheer up the girl.

  It did work. Mika’s mood seemed to turn right around, and she fshed an excited smile.

  At this point, Steven decided to start gagging, wiping Mika’s smile out of her face and causing her to gre at him.

  “What?”

  “You know what.” Steven returned the gre. “But I guess we are about to be done here, but I still have one thing I wanted to talk about.” Seeing that he got the attention, he rubbed his hands together in glee.

  “Why not talk about retionships.” Steven was practically vibrating in excitement now. “Let’s start with you, Silva. Do you have someone you are into?”

  “Um, what?” Silva was left stunned by the question. “No?” The switch of topics was too jarring for her, and she failed to follow along.

  “There must be someone. I mean, you are seventeen. You must have a crush or two!” Steven excimed, not believing her at all. “Okay, how about this! I’ll tell you mine, and you then tell me yours.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  "There is no one!" Silva almost shouted while pleadingly looking at Mika, who was unusually quiet.

  Usually, it was her friend who kept Steven in check. But to Silva’s disappointment, Mika seemed to be struggling with something inwardly and didn’t stop the ridiculous conversation.

  Which allowed Steven to maintain his pace.

  “I see.” He nodded, pretending to understand. “It is hard to speak about that, but don’t worry! It does not have to be a current crush or anything. A past one will do. It would be sad if you had none at all, and I am just curious, as you never speak about it. We are friends, but you and Mika always avoid the topic. It… It makes me feel lonely.” Steven pyed a friendship card while pretending to be sad.

  Silva started to waver. It was true that they were friends. But it was too embarrassing! She felt the blush on her face. She opened her mouth to give the answer…

  But Mika suddenly smmed her hands on the table, startling everyone in the cafe. “No!” She almost yelled. “I am not... Don't let him fool you!” Her voice was trembling.

  “Eh, but you wanted to know too!” Steven defended himself. “Besides, the next one to speak would be you.”

  A moment ter, Silva witnessed a well-aimed jab hit Steven’s ribs, but instead of him reacting, it was Mika who let out a stream of curses aimed at him as she nursed her hurt hand.

  –

  It was an hour ter that they finally headed home. Steven excused himself as he had other pns. Silva had the task of cooking for tonight, so she and Mika followed Steven’s suit.

  At least the st hour had been somewhat light-hearted, with Steven trying to lighten up the mood. Silva was grateful for it. Even if his jokes were embarrassing and sometimes inappropriate.

  Mika was walking beside her with her head down. She seemed to be deep in thought. Silva did not mind the silence. It was comfortable.

  After they had walked for a while, Silva noticed that Mika was frequently gncing her way. Figuring that Mika wanted to say or ask something uncomfortable, she waited for her friend to speak.

  But after five more minutes of silence, Silva could not endure the constant fidgeting and ever-increasing amount of peeks taken at her face.

  “What is it?” Silva feared what Mika would bring up for her to hesitate so much.

  “What is what?” Mika returned the question with a dey.

  “Um, you have been looking at me like you had something to ask. What is it?”

  "No, it's nothing," Mika mumbled. However, she still did not change her behaviour. They were almost at Silva’s pce before she finally spoke. "So, how is it in the end? Do you have someone you like?" Mika quickly asked.

  “That question again?” Silva looked at her friend, trying to figure out why she had asked it. Was there a reason for both of her friends to be so hung up on it? She had nothing to offer on that front, so she shook her head and decided to give a firm answer. “No, I don’t!”

  “Really?” Mika suddenly seemed a lot chipper, but after just a moment, she started to frown again. It seemed she had more to say.

  “So, how about you? Do you?” Silva decided to return the question. It seemed only fair that her friend also got to suffer.

  Mika underwent an internal struggle. Today, her friend showed a wide myriad of expressions. Even now, Silva managed to get a glimpse of a few new ones.

  The answer, however, was not satisfying. “I can’t tell.” Mika sadly conveyed. “Not yet.”

  “What does that mean?” Silva naturally wanted to know. But her friend remained silent, mulling over something in her head.

  Even the arrival at Silva’s pce did not wake up Mika. Her friend kept spacing out.

  Silva hesitated, unsure of what to say. She only knew that Mika couldn’t come in. Her room was a mess, not to mention its small size. She still had to make dinner for her father. In the end, she decided to part ways there.

  “Here we are. See you tomorrow!” Silva waved as she went up the front steps.

  “Ah, Silva!” Mika started, but when Silva turned around to see what she had to say, her friend seemed to be frozen.

  Until Mika finally sighed. “See you tomorrow.” She gave her an energetic wave with both hands, making her hair slip in front of her face. She immediately tried to fix them and gave Silva an embarrassed smile.

  Silva returned the smile, and when she was closing the doors, she looked at the back of her friend.

  Mika was heading away, hiding her face in her palms.

  “Can’t tell, huh?” Silva wondered what kind of circumstances would call for such an answer.

  Silva followed her friend with her eyes for a bit longer - until Mika vanished behind a corner. Only then did she finally close the doors and head upstairs.

  There was still dinner to make, and she had to try to figure out how she could improve and train her ability. “For now, I should try to keep it always active,” she decided.

  Usually, she did not use her ability at home as it was one of the pces where she could feel comfortable.

  Now that she did, it felt strange to move around the apartment. She looked at her reflection in the window gss. Silva could see herself perfectly well. She had heard the description of what it felt like to experience looking at her from her friends.

  They had described how she went invisible in front of their eyes, but she just couldn't imagine it. Her powers just didn’t work on her.

  Silva put a finger on her lips as she examined herself. She was not happy with what she saw.

  Pale skin and lips, a bit sunken eyes from the ck of sleep she suffered tely. And she was too thin. She had heard many girls compin about their excess weight and how they wished to be thinner, but Silva did not share the same opinion.

  Her frail figure was not to her liking, and she could not help but compare it with Mika's much more sensual body. Her friend usually did not dress in a revealing way, but back at Mika’s…

  That morning, Silva had seen quite a lot of bare skin. Mika’s nightgown had not left much for the imagination.

  Silva once more checked her reflection and sighed. Did she want too much? All she needed was more of a curve here and there. At least the pnned exercise would tone her body, or so she hoped.

  As it was getting te, she returned to the process of making dinner. “I should start with something simple.” Silva pondered as she decided on a morning jog.

  It would also do her much good to get used to running while her ability was active. When she had run away from the Refuge, it had taken some toll to keep it active, not much, but the effort was there.

  In the end, her mood returned to the sombre tone of earlier. Only this time, the reason for her low mood was the earlier talk about romantic interests.

  It had inadvertently made her feel inadequate. Silva had a hard time seeing what the other side could like in her.

  In her mind, the retionship was a two-way bond, and she felt that she had nothing to give. She was a rather boring person with no real interests or hobbies. She was not attractive, and her family was poor. She didn’t want to date just because it was normal or expected for someone her age.

  It was not that she was without urges - Silva certainly had them. But she had not met a person she could imagine herself being with for a prolonged time.

  Another reason she found Mika and Steven so precious. They just clicked with her. “Or maybe I just have yet to fall in love…” Silva supposed.

  When she finally finished the dinner, she started to get ready everything necessary for the next morning.

  Mornings were cold at this time of the year, and she was sure she had sweatpants somewhere in the closet. But the search turned out to be futile.

  In the end, her PE clothes would have to do with the addition of a jacket. The combination would hopefully keep the cold out.

  Silva continued her preparations until she heard a key jingling and a person entering the apartment. She made sure that she was out of the eyes and returned to her normal state. Only then did she head to the kitchen.

  “You are a bit early, but the dinner is ready,” Silva remarked as she passed the corridor.

  "Great! I am hungry as a wolf." Came back with an answer.

  A few minutes after Silva had prepared the table, her father followed her.

  The dinner was uneventful, with her father, as usual, compining about work. Only this time, there was a new guy.

  Silva listened absent-mindedly. She was still pondering her ck of love life and pns for the future.

  Besides jogging, she also pnned to improve her flexibility. It shouldn’t be too hard. She decided against asking Steven for help.

  While her friend was the sporty type, he would undoubtedly tease her. Besides, the internet was invented just for occasions like these.

  After dinner, she started to do her homework, which had started to pile up due to her procrastinating for the past few weeks. There were also tests she had to get ready for. "Really, if the world actually goes to shit, at least there is a silver lining in that I won't have to torture myself with chemistry." Silva stretched before returning to work.

  An hour ter, she finally finished what was most urgent and started to get ready for sleep. It was already getting te, and if she pnned to run in the morning.

  Silva had to go to sleep soon - especially because of her problems with actually falling asleep.

  Remembering that she had not told her father yet about her morning pns, she went to his room to do so, and on her way back, she received a new message from Mika.

  Silva’s friend had gotten permission to use her father's car next week. Which meant they now had a date for their trip.

  The truth was that Silva was quite happy they had gotten Mika to agree. She wanted to get out of the city, if only for an afternoon. The air was different in the mountains - not that Silva had many chances to enjoy it.

  After typing the answer and getting ready for the bed, Silva stopped right before getting into it.

  At some point, she had forgotten that she wanted to use her ability as much as possible and for the st couple of hours, she had not.

  Before falling asleep, Silva tried various methods to keep her ability active through the night. She was not sure if they would work, but it would become clear in the morning.

  As she finally fell asleep, she thought back to the hectic day and hoped nothing bad would happen.

  One thing Steven had been right about. It was kind of sad she had no romantic experience at her age, but there was still time. There had to be someone special out there for her.