“Hello… my name’s Aria.” I answered meekly, my hands are fidgeting. Shit, not again.

“Hi! Aria, my name’s Irene, I want to become friends with you, is that ok? It’s ok right? We’re friends now right?” Irene explodes in excitement and barrages me with words, as she jumps and hugs me. Shit kid, don’t hug me now, your so wet.

“My, nice to meet you Aria, please get along with my daughter.” Ms. Jennifer said, while hiding her mouth, as she giggles.

“Oh no, Irene! Wait! Slow down” Ahh thank god, Ollie came to rescue me. If this is an anime show, I might have smokes rising out from my head.

“You’re kid stills hyper as hell. Well, name’s Gabrielle, and get along well with my kid.”

“Sorry about that, Aria, she’s just really energetic.” Ollie explained to me. Wait is this girl really a child? Her speech is much more refined and as if I am talking to a noble. Wait, what if she’s a noble? No, I’ll just ask her, if I can.

“Nice to meet you, Aria, wow you’re so cute.” Is it just me or a lot of them keeps calling me cute or pretty? Like I know mom’s a beauty, but how much did I inherit her features? I wasn’t able to see my own face, because we have no mirror in the house. The river! That’s it I can look at myself from the river.

But first I have to take care of this. “Hahaha, thank you, Ollie, uhmm… you’re cute as well!” There I said it, seriously why am I so nervous?

Eh? Her face has turned beet red, she’s blushing and she quickly breaks eye contact with me, is this what you called a glass cannon? I am surprised, I never expected that she’ll be shy about it. I mean it’s true that she’s cute, maybe cuter. Nice! I think we’ll get along just fine. So what should I say now?

Ah! Fuck I don’t know what to say anymore. Think Aria, there must be something else I can say. While I was thinking of what to say, Irene the happy go lucky kid hugs me again, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“What about me? Aria, am I cute?” She keeps on nagging me, while asking in a cheerful voice. What am I gonna do with her? My introvert ass can’t handle this ball of energy. Yet it’s strange, I don’t hate it, this feeling, it’s strange.

“Irene, you’re very cute! Ahh!” You happy now. I also hug her now and she likes it, as she tighten the hug even more and her face has turned into a sloppy mess, her smiles widen even more.. “Ollie! She called me cute as well, you heard it right?” I’m 100% sure she heard you. “Yeah, I heard it, *uhmm Aria, do you want to play with us?” She asked shyly now, a while ago, she speaks like a well-behaved child. Now she’s getting all shy at me? I’m not a bad girl, Ollie
.

“Yeah, let’s play together, come on Aria!” Irene let go of the hug, pulled my hand and started running towards the river. “You two! Wait for me!” Ollie jogged towards us as well.

Meanwhile our mothers, went back to scrubbing, except for Ollie’s mom, she didn’t really stopped at what she was doing. 

When Ollie, caught up with us, the three of us jumped into the river. The water was cool to the touch, as it is not too cold and not too hot, just normal, it felt refreshing, compared back then, when mom used to wiped me with a wet cloth, it even beat the sensation of the shower I used in my past life. Sure, I can adjust the temperature of the water, but nothing beats nature after all. The water’s a bit deep for a child like me, reaching above my chest, the river was calm, so no need to worry about being washed away.

“Look Aria, you can see your face when you look at the river, it’s cool right?” Irene exclaim in excitement, as she looks as well to see her reflection.

“Yeah, I wonder how it works.” Ollie chime in, while she gaze upon her reflection in the water.

I look at the water and saw my own reflection. Like the darkness itself, my jet black hair that reaches my shoulders, dance freely with the air, eyes that glows like a sapphire, my eyes widen in surprise, my mouth curled to a smile, My skin has an healthy complexion, tanned skin that blends with the forest.

Holy smokes! I think I inherit a lot of my mother’s gift, except how my eyes look, as I inherit the sharp looks from father.

*Splashing sfx

“Ahh! Wha-“ I returned back to reality, when a splash of water hits my face. I jerked my head to look at where it come froms. There the culprit lies, her body bends to 30° degrees, her arms in a throwing position, her knees are in a crouch position, she stares at me her eyebrows are relaxed, her mouth curls into a smile. It was Irene.

“Not fair Irene.” I says in playful tone, a smirk can be seen on my face, I gave her a wink, before I dip my hands in the water, I ready my body for a throwing stance, while I stare and smirk at her.

*Splash

“Uwahh!” She is surprise and stares at me with her eyes widen, her eyebrows twitch, her mouth left agape. Uh oh is she angry at me?

“You sneeky girl! I won’t let you get away this.” She screams her eyebrows squinted, her mouth curls into a grin and she ready herself, as well to splash water at me. That’s right, I didn’t splashed the water at Irene. It was Ollie, who takes the full hit.

Irene, laughs out loud, and drop her arms and knees, while she holds her stomach.

So this is what it feels like to have friends. It’s not a bad feeling. Disguise in the water, a single tear flows through my cheeks, while I look at them. I tensed my muscle and jump at the two of them, hugging both of them at the same time, the two of them were surprised, their eyes widen in surprise, then the two of them, hugged me back.

Thank you, Irene and Ollie.