Chris and the girl went to the kitchen about ten minutes ago. To take the chicken out of the oven, the blandest lie of today. He was nervous as well during that time, there was no excuse left for his friend. The moment he comes back, there will be no more hesitation. They would know who exactly was that girl.

- Sorry for the wait, we needed to arrange some things there as well.

And speaking of the devil, there they come. Exiting the kitchen's door, Chris was in the front while the girl followed behind. He tried to add some information for them not to be suspicious, but it was too late for that already.

David and Max wouldn't let any attempts of escaping happen anymore. As they waited for the two to sit down back on the couch, and when they did, that would be the signal to start talking.

- Don't worry, it was just a couple of minutes.

- Yeah, but tell us, man, why is your cousin here?

That girl was his cousin, they wouldn't believe any of that again. She was something else and they for sure would get him to confess it, even if it means playing along with the cousin idea just to see that mask fall from their faces and reveal of truth behind their relationship.

But, contrary to their expectations, the boy wasn't shaken at all by their provocations, rather, he did a carefree smile like he was enjoying the whole thing.

- Sure, I would be glad to tell, but why not hear from the person itself?

It was weird for him to be this calm. Something was up. The girl didn't talk at all before and now he was asking for her to do so?

- What you say, hey, cousin?

Even his attitude changed. Those minutes the both of them were inside the kitchen, what truly happened there? The two could feel a bit of regret of letting them go easily like that, but no matter now. If the girl was the one talking, it would make it easier for them to notice any suspicion between her and Chris.

That was what they thought, but...

- Oh, right. But first of all, I'm so sorry about before.

The girl apologized as she bowed her head to them. It was such a beautiful voice, making it so good to hear it as it echoes inside their heads. It was so clear and pleasant that it could be almost compared to a professional singer.

- I'm still not very good with your language, so I didn't understand very well what you were talking and couldn't join in the conversation. - She said to them.

- ...What?

- ...Huh?

It left them stunned. From the way she talked, there was no mistake she could talk without any problems, so the girl saying she couldn't understand surprised them.

- Oopsie, sorry! I didn't introduce myself yet.

Seen their surprised faces, the girl giggled from her mistake and cleared her throat before continuing.

- My name is Midna and it's a pleasure to meet you. I will be here for a while because of family matters, but please take care of me!

Reaching the end of her introduction, the girl, Midna, smiled towards the two boys, leaving them both speechless. Every word she said sounded so natural and fluid that they could still hear it perfectly even after she finished speaking.

And to make matters worse for them, Midna didn't even have any sort of malice or discomfort on her face, making them believe all that she said was true. They were prepared to see through any sort of lies Chris would make, but with Midna, each word she said shattered their solid determination like it was glass.

- Hmm? Is something wrong with you two?

The shock was so great that the only thing they could do was stare at her in disbelieve and didn't speak any word at all. When they realized what they were doing, their faces became red from embarrassment.

- N-n-no! Nothing at all!

- Ahem. Sorry, that was rude of me.

Excuses to hide their shame, but the situation wasn't good for them. All of their momentum was lost because of her and now the conversation is in their favor. Since it came to this, their only option was to play along and see where this would go.

- So...Midna, may I take that you came from another country?

Remembering what she said before, David thought it would be the best to assure if she had lived outside the US.

- Yeah, I'm from a small village in Europe and came here to study under a family member, so I'm what you call country bumpkin.

So Chris had a cousin that lives in Europe? There was none that came to mind but it's not like they knew everything about his friend nor his family, so it was not a place to accuse her of lying without any evidence.

- And what exactly are you going to study here?

There must be a motive behind her studies. If they found it, then it would serve as a base for any suspicion that would occur. Still, maybe be because he was a bit too much curious, Max leaned his body forward the most that he could to listen to the girl's answer.

- Oh, the whole idea came from my dad. One day, he barged into my room and said: "If you don't learn how to live in other places, you will never grow up to be a human!" and sent me here without listening to my answer.

Changing her voice to be a rough tone, Midna mimics what her father had told her.

- After some time, I managed to find my aunt's house and now here I am!

She laughs when she finished speaking. So that was her story, they thought. There wasn't anything that they could think of inconsistent nor suspicious. Just a countryside girl that was going to study overseas. But, one thing that still didn't make sense for them.

- Midna, earlier you said that you couldn't understand english very well, right? - David asked to make sure he heard it right.

- ...Yeah, that would be correct, why? - She answered a bit wary of him.

- Nothing, but...

If that was the case, then one thing came to his mind. She talking normally would be a result of some sort of education she had before coming, but if that was the case, then...

- Why did you ask what a cousin was?

They both heard it very well, everybody in the room at the time did. The girl said clear and there were no mistakes. If she had that much skill on the tongue and talked so perfectly, then why would she ask what a cousin was? Obviously, her father would say that she had an aunt and a cousin here, and yet she asked Chris for the meaning of that word.

- Oh, that was because he couldn't stop shouting.

Without being shaken at all, Midna pointed her finger at Max while staying completely calm.

- Huh? Me? - Doubtful, Max pointed to himself.

- Yeah, you were so loud that I couldn't understand a thing you said. - Remembering the way he talked before, Midna blocked her ears to stress how hard it was to listen to him. - You were so loud that it made me think if this was your first time meeting a girl.

- I'm really sorry about my friend, but that is just who he is. - David replayed regretfully.

- David, shut up! - Max quickly said to his friend.

Altho it was true. Maybe he was too shaken to find a girl in his friend's house and couldn't control himself over it. Yes, maybe he did talk a bit louder than he should. Yes, maybe he needed to think better of the situation before doing unnecessary reactions. Yes, he regretted so much, but now there was nothing he could do.

His first impression was ruined and only he was to be blamed for it. Max wanted to bury his face in the ground to hide from the world until his shame passed and only to be remembered after many years later.

- Don't worry, I can understand the feeling.

When he thought there was no more hope, a light shine down upon him. Lifting his head, he saw Midna smiling at him.

- I passed to something similar very recently, to be honest. - She said to him after seen his sorry state - ...At that time I couldn't control myself and just did what I wanted, and when I realized the mistakes I made, I wanted so bad to just reset everything and start all over again.

With a nostalgic face, she was remembering something that he could never know, but one thing was certain about it: at that moment, she was more beautiful than before.

- But then someone came and accepted me for whom I was, and I managed to get up on my feet again. So don't worry, I will not harbor any ill feelings for what you did before.

He wanted to forget everything he did but the girl in front of him just said she didn't mind any of it. Most of them would just be wary of him at this point after all he said, but Midna way is the first one that told him that.

-If you want to, why not just forget we meet before and take this as the first time we meet? What do you say?

On top of that, she would also allow him to try again. If that meant that all of his previous behavior would be forgotten and he could have another chance of showing how he truly is, there was no way that he would let that opportunity pass.

- Sounds great! - Clearing his throat, he fixed his posture and said - I'm Max Copperfield, it's my pleasure to meet you!

Now it was made right without any of feelings of anger towards his friends or anything that would ruin this time, he could feel it. And seen Max happy as he introduced himself, maybe he would also take this opportunity to the same.

- And I'm called David McRoy, glad to meet you.

At this point, they were thinking it didn't matter anymore who really the girl was nor her relationship with Chris. She wasn't a bad or anything like it. Rather, there was a feeling of regret in their hearts for only wanting to find any sort of suspicion in their minds. From now on, they wouldn't think of those matters anymore. It would be just a nice conversation without any second intentions.

But, there was one thing that they didn't realize.

In the middle of all this, there was a single person grinning as he watched his plan unfolding right in front of his eyes.