Rising Shards

I was having a ton of fun wandering the mall with Oka, but I was also still very full of pizza and very excited about the rest of the night, so we ended up waiting outside the mall’s movie theater for Stella and Dr. Diast to finish with their movie.

“So after this, you finally get to visit the apartment,” I said.

“Uh huh,” Oka said.

“How are you feeling about that?” I asked. “Because I’m…kinda scared?”

“I’m excited!” Oka said. “Why are you scared?”

“Just…general me worrying, I guess.” I said.

“We’ll have fun, don’t worry,” Oka winked at me.

I had an awkward moment when people started to leave the showing Stella and Dr. Diast were at when I mistook another couple for them. I made it close enough to wave before I realized, then spun around mid-motion like a total dweeb. Oka, to her credit, did not make fun of me for this.

“God, that sucked.” Dr. Diast said when the two found us.

“That bad?” I asked.

“It was very stupid,” Stella said. “Let’s wait to talk about it until we’re in the car.”

“Oh, I got so much I wanna say though,” Dr. Diast said. “And I drove here separately!”

“I don’t want to ruin anyone’s time if they’re looking forward to it!” Stella said. “It’s a family rule to not loudly talk about the big plot details of a movie right out of the theater.”

“Fine, fine,” Dr. Diast said. She strummed her fingertips on the tub of popcorn she carried. “Spoiler-free review: don’t see this movie. It was so, so poorly put together on so many levels. I wanted to physically rebel against what I was seeing.”

“I cannot believe you made that fart sound with your hands at that quiet part!” Stella said. “How old are you, twelve?”

“You laughed super hard at it, don’t lie.” Diast said.

“Yeah, but! Evy,” Stella said. She contorted her face trying not to laugh, but it just made her laugh harder. “It was super funny. Probably the best part of the movie.”

Diast stretched. “Alright, I’m gonna head back,” She said. “Drive safe, alright? It is kinda snowy out.”

Stella made a slight “Mrrgh” sound after Diast hugged her.

“Are you actually getting sad that we have to drive home in separate cars?” Dr. Diast asked.

“Kinda, yeah,” Stella pouted.

“It’ll just be a few minutes, babe.” Diast said.

“I know…”

“Wow.” Oka said after Diast finally left.

“You guys are real lovey dovey.” I said.

“Shut it,” Stella said. “How’s the date so far?”

“Fantastic!” Oka said, giving two thumbs up. “A lot better than the movie you saw, apparently.”

“Stella, look.” I said, showing off my necklace. “Oka’s idea, we each got one!”

As Oka held hers up as well, my big sister leaned down slightly (she’s only about as tall as me so she didn’t have to lean far) to closely inspect our new necklaces. “That is so precious,” She said. “Now let’s get home, cuz I already miss my girlf—” She froze mid-sentence.

“What was that last bit?” I teased.

“We’re not putting a label on it yet.” Stella said.

“Uh huh.” I said. “Sounds like you were about to say ‘girlfriend.’”

“That’s what I heard too.” Oka said.

“You two are a collective menace.” Stella said, despite the smile she tried to force back forming slightly at the edges of her lips.

The last time I was taking Oka to my home outside of school, it was the apartment in Litus Empirica. I felt a bit bittersweet that that was likely the only time she’d visit the place that I knew as home for most of my life, but I hoped she’d like the new apartment as much as she liked the old one. I vividly remembered her innocent wide-eyed expressions and eagerness as we drove over that time. This time, we were seated in Stella’s car again, but so much had changed. While Oka wasn’t as jittery on the drive over this time (I think the pizza was settling in for her), we got to hold hands as we each kinda sleepily watched the sights pass us by as we left the big city for the suburbs once more. Oka took a sudden deep breath. With our hands still clasped together, couldn’t do her ‘I have something on my mind that I have to say’ hands pressed together gesture, but I still sensed that intent from her.

“Not to be too serious,” Oka said. “But I’m really glad we got to have this dinner.”

“Oh yeah, I’m glad you had a good time!” Stella said.

“I’m not sure if Zeta told you all the details,” Oka said. “But about that question about what problems we overcame, the whole Clover thing? Well, a few steps back. I’ve been having some anxiety issues lately after the Fang Moon Web trip. I kept thinking about.” She turned to me, as if she were asking permission to talk about this. I caressed the hand I held, hoping that would convey whatever approval she needed. “I was really scared Zeta was going to break up with me.”

“She said you were going through a lot, but she didn’t say that.” Stella said. “I know what it’s like to worry like that, and Zeta does too if you need someone to talk to.”

“Oh yeah, we had a great talk.” Oka said. “Zeta and me talking that out really helped me out. I just. I dunno where I’m going with this.”

“Maybe some support from your girlfriend’s favorite big sister about what you were worried about?” Stella asked.

“Maybe.” Oka said.

“If me saying this helps at all, as Zeta’s big sister…don’t worry about her breaking up with you. This girl’s head over heels for you. The amount of time she spent talking about you before you dated…she’d even turn conversations about Raina Starlight into ones about you.”

“Awww,” Oka said.

Hearing that from Stella, as well as a few other quick anecdotes about times I gushed about Oka to her, mostly cute but one really embarrassing one thrown in because she’s my big sister after all, seemed to get Oka back to an excited energy level again. This was obvious when we got to the apartment, as she practically dashed out of the car.

“Careful on the ice there,” Stella warned as Oka nearly slipped on the icy sidewalk.

“Frick, that’s a cute house.” Oka said after she regained her balance. She put her hands on her hips and whistled at the house in front of her.

“It’s actually the one to the left,” Stella said, saying what I didn’t have the heart to.