Riley’s house sat in the middle of a pristine cul-de-sac filled with an even more pristine community. Each house was appropriately spread out and their front yards were their pride and joy. There were neat rows of flower beds or grand décor set up on the lawns. Riley’s house was fairly bare, the grass was freshly cut, and Riley’s mother had a modest bed of flowers near the front door. Each house consisted of a rigidly traditional family. Every mother was a housewife, and every father went to work at the crack of dawn. Kids went to school, had lessons with music tutors, math tutors, language tutors, the more tutors the better. Lily felt weird being here by herself, without tagging alongside Riley after school. Riley loved to share the neighborhood gossip as if it were a play. She sang of her mother’s flowers and acted like a monkey, parodying the craning necks of the other housewives that surveyed the gardening competition. It was her way of making light of what she deep down hated. Whenever Lily came over, her mother would have to be too busy entertaining guests and her father was never there, she would listen to Riley playing made up tunes on her violin. Lily would clumsily make up lyrics and they would giggle as the song came falling apart.

Now, Lily felt intimidated by the house looming over her. In the evening sky, it looked dark and cold. Lily couldn’t see any lights through the windows. Lily waited for a wave of nerves to pass before walking up the driveway and to the front door. She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. Then there was silence. It felt like the air around the house suddenly sucked itself in, disturbed by this outsider. Lily shuffled on her feet, getting nervous again. Would anyone answer? Should she ring again? No, it was a large house, it would take a while to get to the front door. Should she leave? What if she was halfway down the driveway and the door opened? She’d be mortified to have to walk back up the driveway in awkward silence. When should she leave? She’d wait five minutes- but what if they were watching her on a camera and were creeped out by her just standing there-

“Excuse me?” a voice called out, annoyed.

Lily snapped her head up, staring into the eyes of Riley’s mother. Her mother held onto the door, only half her body outside. She sniffed and looked down at Lily who couldn’t speak.

“Did you need something?” Riley’s mother asked.

“O-oh, uhm. I’m Lily-

“Yes. I know.” she replied curtly.

“Uhm, is Riley home?” Lily asked. Her voice started trembling and she could feel her face reddening. She squeezed her jacket hard, she had to keep it together long enough to ask about Riley.

“She is but she’s busy right now.” Riley’s mother said, shifting uncomfortably.

“Oh...” Lily trailed off, wracking her head for some kind of question, “Do- do you know when she’ll come back to school? It’s just everyone is worried about her.”

“She’ll come back soon.” her mother said quickly. She seemed distracted, glancing back into the house. “Was that all?”

“U-uhm, did you...go anywhere during the summer?” Lily asked.

“No, we didn’t go anywhere over the summer, Riley has been a bit sick-

“Nani shitenno?!” a gruff voice yelled within the house. Riley’s mother flinched and her cold expression changed to a tired look. Her mother’s green eyes seemed grey in that moment, but then she turned around, saying something Lily didn’t understand.

“I- I was just- er, we were just worried about Riley...” Lily said. When Riley’s mother turned back, she peered down at Lily. Lily thought she looked just like Riley, except older and with green eyes. She wondered if Riley’s mother was as cheery as Riley when she was a kid. Lily was afraid Riley would become like her mother when she grew up: perfect but scary.

“I’m sure Riley will be at school when she’s ready.” Riley’s mother said quietly. “You should head home, it’s getting dark.”

Before Lily could say anything, Riley’s mother closed the door and she was left standing in coming darkness. Lily trudged down the driveway. She felt like she didn’t get anywhere from coming here. Riley had been stuck in her house all summer. Was she studying all that time by herself? Lily couldn’t fathom Riley being that diligent in her studies. Sure, she had a busy schedule during every summer, but the early afternoons were hers to skip around the neighborhood with whoever she pleased. Did she get really sick and was bedridden all summer? Without that dream, Lily could only imagine how suffocated Riley would have been. The more Lily thought about it the more questions plagued her mind. She turned back towards the house, staring at the second story windows. Riley’s room was the window on the far left. The curtains were drawn, and it looked dark.

Except the curtain wasn’t drawn, at least not all the way. It quickly fluttered shut, the slit of darkness Lily had mistaken for just the darkness of a room disappeared. Was that Riley looking from her window? Then why did Lily feel scared by it? Lily felt cold from the approaching night and began to hurry home.