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

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

"I am not planning 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 is a number of, what we can only assume, someone powerful."

Without saying anything more Mika pocketed the number ignoring Steven’s longing look that followed after it. It was now or never for Silva to mention the previous meeting in the playground.

"Actually I met him earlier today." At least now her friend attention was not on the suspect phone number, the downside being that it was sharply concentrated on her. "Um, I was looking for a place to waste some time before you were here, and there is that one abandoned playground 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 that he did not manage to meet one person with the ability I think he meant me. But he only knew the place, then he made a call, I managed to listen to some of the conversations, but from what I did, it seems that what he told us was true. Whoever directs him should have limitations to what he or she 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." She finally sighed. "And it is not like we can do anything drastic, we still have our 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 it was Silva who's turn to be puzzled. As for Mika, she suddenly paled, 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 that this had 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 got very animated after returning from it.

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

“So, in conclusion, there is nothing we can do, again. Maaaaaan, 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 sent him a criticizing look.

“I thought we agreed that we are not doing that?” Steven only shrugged and Mika continued. “It’s true that we can’t do anything about them, but, no matter how it pains me, we still can improve ourselves.”

“So you’ll start exercising?” Steven’s mouth was agape as Mika painfully nodded her head confirming it.

“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 Silva, right? 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 glanced at the nonchalant Steven and for a moment wondered how he, with his families situation, could afford it. “I was thinking about jogging before school and try some exercises that you can do at home.” Silva did not mention that she had no confidence in her body to go to a public place to do her training. Even more, if Mika would accompany her.

Right after Silva had finished saying her excuses she saw her friend visibly wilt. “But, I guess we could do some workout at your place?” Silva tried to cheer her friend up. It did work, as Mika’s mood seemed to turn right around and she flashed an excited smile in her direction.

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

“What?”

“You know what.” Steven returned the glare. “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 gave his question, and to Silva, it looked like he barely could hold in his glee.

“Why not talk about relationships.” Steven was practically rubbing his hands now. “Let’s start with you, Silva. Do you have someone you are into?”

“Um, what?” Silva was left stunned by the question. “No?”

“There must be someone, I mean, you are seventeen, you must have a crush or two!” Steven calmly spoke. “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 whilst sending a pleading look to Mika who was unusually quiet considering that she was the one who reigned in Steven. To her disappointment, Mika seemed to be struggling with something and seemed to be out of it. Which allowed Steven to maintain his pace.

“I see, 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 avoid speaking about it, it makes me feel lonely.” Steven played friendship card.

Silva started to waver. It was true that they were friends. But it was too embarrassing! She felt herself blush as she opened her mouth to give the answer, but was stopped by Mika slamming her hands down the table.

“No!” Mika exclaimed frightening Silva. “I am not... Don't let him fool you!”

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

A moment later 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 later that they finally headed home. Steven excused himself as he had other plans. Silva had the task of cooking for tonight, so she and Mika followed Steven’s suit.

At least the last 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, they still changed her mood for the better.

Mika was walking beside her, with her head down. She seemed to be deep in thoughts. Silva did not mind the silence. It was comfortable, she had wanted to practice her ability a bit, but that could wait.

After they had walked for a while Silva noticed that Mika was sending frequent glances 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 delay.

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

"No, its nothing," Mika mumbled. However, she still did not change her behaviour. They were almost at Silva’s place 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? It was not that she had anything 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 more chipper, but after just a moment she started to frown again. It seemed that 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.

It seemed that Mika underwent an internal struggle, today the girl had shown a wide myriad of expressions to Silva, and even now she managed to get a glimpse of few new. 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 until they had arrived at the doorsteps of Silva’s home Mika stayed quiet. Even then Mika did not seem to take notice of their arrival as she kept spacing out.

Silva lacked any words to say and she did not want to ask Mika to come in. Her room was a mess, not to mention its size and she still had to make dinner for her father, so in the end, she decided part ways here.

“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 she finally sighed.

“See you tomorrow.” Mika 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 who walking away hiding her face in palms. “Can’t tell, huh?” Silva wondered what kind of circumstances would call for such an answer.

Silva followed with her eyes a bit more after Mika before she finally closed the doors and headed 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 places where she could feel comfortable. Now that she did it felt strange to move around the apartment. She looked at her reflection in window glass. She could see herself perfectly well. Silva had heard the description of what it felt like, from her friends, to see her go invisible in front of their eyes, but she just couldn't imagine it.

Silva put a finger on her lips as she examined herself. She did was not happy with what she saw. Pale skin and lips, a bit sunken eyes from the lack of sleep she suffered lately and she was too thin. She had heard many girls complain 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. Mika usually did not dress in a revealing way, but back at her house, that morning she had seen quite a lot of bare skin, the nightgown had not left much for the imagination.

Silva once more checked her reflection and sighed. It was not that she wanted too much, just a bit more curves here and there. At least the planned exercise would tone her body, or so she hoped.

As it was getting late 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 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 to see what the other side could like in her.

In her mind, the relationship 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 had no money. She would never date just because it was normal or expected.

It was not that she was rigid, but the had not been a person she could imagine herself being with for a prolonged time. Another reason she found Mika and Steven so precious to 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. It was cold in the mornings and she was sure that 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 additional jacket, that would hopefully keep the cold out.

Silva continued her preparations until she heard key jingling and a person entering the apartment. She made sure that she was out of the eyes and returned to normalcy and only then headed 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 an answer. After a few minutes, after Silva had prepared the table her father followed her.

The dinner was uneventful, with her father, as usual, complaining about work. Only this time there was a new guy. Silva listened absent-mindedly as she was still in her own world. Besides jogging, she should also plan to improve her flexibility. At last, she decided against asking Steven, who was the only person she knew that had any inkling of sports. He would undoubtedly tease her, and the internet was invented just for occasions like these.

After the dinner, she started to do her homework, that had started to pile 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 later she finally finished what was most urgent and started to get ready for sleep. It was already getting late, and if she planned to run in the morning she had to go to sleep soon. Especially because of her problems of actually falling asleep. Remembering that she had not told her father yet about her morning plans she went to his room to do so and on her way back she received a new message from Mika.

She had gotten permission to use her father car next week, which marked a precise date for their trip. The truth was, that Silva was quite happy that they had gotten Mika to agree, as 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 had wanted to use her ability as much as possible and for the last couple of hours she had not.

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

As she finally falling asleep she still thought back to the hectic day and hoped that nothing bad will happen. One thing Steven had been right about, it was kind of sad that she had no romantic experience in her age, but there was still time. She was sure that the special someone was out there, even for her.