Taylor Watched Kait from across the counter as she made her breakfast. He never thought he had much finesse when it came to making cereal, but Kait made him look like a master.

She accidentally slammed her bowl on the counter, then looked at him with an expression that begged for forgiveness.

He averted his eyes in response.

She poured in the cereal, clumsily spilling some of it on the counter in the process. When she pulled the milk out of the fridge, she gave the bottle a disapproving look but shrugged and sat at the table. She tried to open it but unscrewed the cap the wrong way, putting more and more effort into the task, without considering she might need to push it the other direction.

“Lefty loosey righty tighty,” Taylor said suddenly.

“What?” Kait responded with confusion.

“You need to turn it left to get the cap off.”

Kait looked at him with a mystified look, “left? What’s that supposed to mean? Do I...” She attempted to pull the lid off by tugging it to the left, to no avail.

“I mean counter-clockwise.”

“Counter-clockwise? What does that mean?”

“Like the opposite of the way a clock moves.”

She flicked her gaze between the digital stove clock and his face. “How does one of those have to do with a lid?”

Taylor shook his head with an exasperated smile, then said defeatedly, “Just...gimmie’ the bottle.”

She handed him the jug of milk, and he unscrewed it with a flick of his fingers then gave it back to her. Kait stared at the open carton, then sighed unamusedly. “Well, now I just feel...dumb. I’m getting used to that, though!”

She poured the milk as carefully and slowly as she could, making sure not to spill any, then placed the jug next to her bowl.

For a moment, she acted as if she were holding a spoon. She wasn’t. She began shuffling through drawers, searching for the silverware, even checking inside the stove for them. Her arms drooped down in defeat, and She turned to Taylor with a pleading expression. “Where are the spoons?”

He pointed, “The drawer that’s long, next to the stove.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

She sat down in front of her bowl, then studied the carton of milk, “What is this made of?”

“Plastic.”

“Oh, that stuff.”

“That stuff? What’s with the disappointed reaction!”

“Its just so common to see. I had never seen it before I woke up.”

“I guess we do have a lot of things made of plastic, don’t we?”

Their conversation paused, but Kait eventually broke the silence. “Thanks for putting up with me. I know I’m a hassle…”

“No, that’s fine. You’re a whole lot better than my sister. She’s way too stubborn. If she doesn’t know something, she’ll just suffer in silence, and recently…”

“Recently…?”

“Recently…”

“Recently…?”

Taylor only briefly smiled with amusement. “Recently, one of her friends died...so she stopped trying to talk with anyone. Her friends keep finding me at school for updates too...” He looked up. “Anyway, I don’t know what to do because she’s too stubborn to ask for any emotional help, you know?”

“Veiara was just like that. I wonder if…” Kait sighed, then shrugged with a strained expression, “Nevermind.”

“Oh? Who’s that?”

“No one.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re someone.”

Kait rolled her eyes. “They’re dead.”

“O-oh, right...s-so, why are you up so early?”

Kait didn’t like Taylor’s frequent prying questions but wouldn’t make the conversation awkward over it. “The person paying for me to live at your house asked me to clean their house for money.”

“That’s nice.” Taylor narrowed his eyes in confusion. “But why aren’t you just living there?”

“I think they said it wouldn’t be good for his reputation.”

“Is that person a boy?”

“Yeah.”

“Figures,” he grumbled.

“Speaking of which, I understand houses and food are bought with ‘money’ or ‘dollars’, but what’s different between the two?”

Quickly gulping down his remaining cereal, Taylor looked at the clock. “Let’s just say they are the same thing, for now. I need to go to school. Do you need anything before I leave, Kait?” He quickly stood up from his chair and started to walk into another room.

“I just need to know how I find…” she took out a piece of paper crammed in her pocket. “378 Tuskstrait avenue.”

“Could you ask my sister? I’m running low on time,” he said, the front door still in Kait’s sight.

“But she’s asleep, isn’t she?” She started after him.

“I’m sure you’ll have a hell of a time convincing her to help, but I only have a few minutes to catch the bus.” He finished his preparations to leave.

“No doubt I’ll have a hell of a time...” she grumbled.

“I’ll make it up to you later, but for now, I gotta dash.”

Kait tried to be patient with Hailey, but she was on a schedule and didn’t feel like waiting for Hailey to ‘get up’ if that meant Hailey would ‘fall down’ for a third time immediately afterward. Kait searched through the house, then chuckled when she found a lighter in a drawer. She ran up the stairs, smiling with it in her hand, then opened Hailey’s door, only to be met with an, “I’ll be up soon, Kait, just gimme a moment,” from beneath a fortress of blankets and pillows.

“Yes, I’m sure you’ll be up in no time,” she said with enthusiasm.

“Thanks for the faith in me...” Hailey still sounded tired.

Kait raised the lighter dramatically to chest height, then flicked it on, “Now get up, you lazy kid!” The flame magically leaped from the lighter onto Hailey, then seemed to meld into her.

Suddenly, Hailey jumped out from underneath her sheets and lunged at Kait. “Who are you calling a kid!? You’re at most four years older than me!” She said playfully. She tried to pin Kait down by the wrists, succeeding in knocking her down with a leap. However, she soon learned Kait was far stronger than her as Kait dropped the unlit lighter, easily propelled them to their feet at the same time, then grabbed Hailey by the waist and chucked her back onto her bed.

For a moment, Hailey laid still. Then she began laughing loudly, and Kait followed. She started choking out words in between laughs, “Only-only a moment ago I-I was dreaming, and now-” she rolled on her bed, hysterical, “Now I’m pouncing on you like a hungry cat after its morning stretches!” She laughed for another minute before calming, then sat up. “So, what did you need again?” She asked.

“I need help finding an address.”

“You can just look it up on the internet. Oh, do you know how to use that?”

“I’m not sure, don’t I need a ‘phone’ or something? Not to mention I’m not exactly literate in tarranian.”

“I get it. Just give me a moment to find mine...” Hailey struggled to find her phone in the cluttered, messy room but eventually remembered it was in one of her jean pockets. “Here it is…So can you tell me the address?”

Kait unpocketed the piece of paper clumsily, causing her jeans to fall a little, revealing just how loose-fitting they were. She readjusted them. “I really need to buy some of my own clothes...” She opened the paper and read it aloud, “378 Tuskstrait avenue.”

Hailey tapped a few times then turned the phone to face Kait. “This the place?”

Kait stared at the phone’s map, “What am I looking at?”

“A map of our neighborhood.”

“Oh, understood...so, that line is the path I need to take to get there?” Kait pointed to an orange line on the map.

“Yeah, I’ll help you get there since it isn’t that long a walk. Besides, I don’t think I could go back to sleep. Just give me some time to get dressed.”

Kait picked up the lighter and left.

Kait cleaned her cereal mess as she waited. Once she finished, Hailey walked down the stairs in a heavy coat and jeans. The spell was starting to lose its effect, but she would probably stay energized for a while. “Are you ready?” she said.

Kait strapped on a lofty backpack. “Yeah.”

Hailey looked Kait down, noticing she wasn’t very warmly dressed. “So...you are aware its twenty degrees out, right?” Winter could get frigid in Plantarra since they lived near the benthic sea.

“What do triangles have to do with anything?”

Hailey rolled her eyes, “I mean, it’s cold. You know what, right?”

“Yep, I know.”

Hailey finished walking down the stairs, then opened the front door, which was right in front of them, revealing gently falling snow. Cold air blasted Hailey from the door, so she quickly closed it. “Let’s get you a coat.”

“Oh, I don’t need to since I can just cast a spell to stay warm.”

Hailey shook her head. “If I’m going to walk outside, I can’t be seen walking around with a tee-shirted hypothermaniac. You’re going to wear a coat whether you like it or not.” She walked back upstairs.

“But those things feel so weird. What are they even made out of?” Kait rubbed her hands on her arms as if she were cold.

“Fine, I’ll just give you one of my ugly sweaters.”

“Ugly? I mean, I’m not too picky, but at least give me something that looks nice.”

Hailey let out an exasperated sigh, “No…It’s like, a joke...it’s not actually ugly, it’s just... whatever, you’ll see.” She opened her bedroom door and lazily threw something down the stairs, and walked back down. The sweater on the floor seemed handmade with crochet, striped with blue and pink zig-zags.

Kait picked it off of the stairs, “Oh, this looks cute! Like one of the shirts my uncle would have made...but it’s got a lot of vibrant colors. He didn’t have any material that looked like this.”

Hailey shrugged, “My grandma made it a few years ago. She’s not making any more, so don’t break it.”

Kait dropped her backpack and threw the sweater over her head, and straightened it neat. She hugged herself, soaking in the texture. “How does it look?” she said excitedly.

“Looks fine,” Hailey said dismissively.

Kait waited for Hailey to open the door, but she didn’t. Hailey gripped the freezing doorknob, shaking a little. “Are you alright, Hailey?” Kait said, worried.

“Yeah.” She didn’t move her hand.

“Are you sure?” Kait apprehensively asked.

“Yeah, sure...just a moment.” She then walked up the stairs and came back down with sunglasses on. “Let’s go.”