90. Why Cookies Matter, Part 2
208 4 13
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

"Something smells fishy," I announced to Rosa once both the examiner and Mother Lily had left.

Rosa sniffed herself. "Is it me?" she whispered, pretending to be horrified.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm being serious."

No, but really. Something was up, and they weren't telling me. The way Mother Lily hadn't offered me some explanation as soon as the examiner went, and the way my mom seemed extra quiet after the entire interview... It was all too fishy. They were hiding something from me, and it had to do with the incident. I was sure of it.

I explained all this to Rosa as I wiped down the tables and she lounged around on the counter, snacking on some dried seaweed she'd bought from Plantar.

"Why don't you ask your mom?" she suggested once I was finished. "That would be the most straightforward way to get your answers."

"You're not wrong, but..." I bit the insides of my cheek. "Trust me, that's way easier said than done."

She raised an eyebrow, chewing on another length of seaweed. "Because?"

I hemmed for a few moments, unsure of what to say. Mom and I really didn't talk about the past a lot, especially about the entire incident. I mean, it wasn't like we could change what had happened already, and it wasn't a good memory for either of us, and I guess we sort of, well, didn't talk about it.

It wasn't that we avoided the topic or anything, but we just... avoided the topic. Kind of. Was there anything to be said about a past incident anyways? We talked about dad, and we talked about Mom's blindness. Wasn't that enough?

I ruffled my own hair in frustration. "I don't know, it's weird. I don't think either of us ever, like, tried not to talk about it, but we just never did. It might be because I feel like that would be bringing up a painful memory for her, and I don't even remember much about it, so there's not much I can really say? Besides, dad died in the accident and all, so..." I trailed off, not sure what to say.

"If neither of you ever brought it up, this would be the best time to bring it up, wouldn't it be?"

"...Probably." But could I really? I wasn't sure I had the guts to.

Still, my mind wandered back to the hesitation-- had I also felt a bit of apprehension? I wasn't sure if I was making that up now-- I'd felt in that instance magic had come up during that interview. Why would they hide anything from me about the incident? And what did it have to do with magic?

Probably noticing how perplexed I was feeling, Rosa sighed, climbing off the stool and heading to where I was, slumped over by the table. She came and sat by me, her bit of seaweed still hanging in between her teeth as she sympathetically patted my arm. "I feel ya, Filian. It do be hard like that, don't it. There, there. Want me to ask my mother?"

I smiled wryly. "You'll probably botch up the entire question and get Mother Lily mad at you. Thanks, though." Then I paused thoughtfully. "Hm, or I could ask Mother Lily myself."

Still with that sympathetic look on her face, Rosa nodded and withdrew her hand. "Tell me if there's anything I can do, alright?"

"You can start by not wiping your oily hands on my apron," I replied dryly.

"Gasp! You caught me!" she cried dramatically, and I had to laugh. Throwing my rag at her face when she began heaving overexaggerated sobs, I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and went back to the kitchen.

Rosa followed behind me, my rag now in her hands. "But I'm serious, Fi. I know I'm bad at, I don't know, subtlety--"

"Oh, so you knew?"

"--but I'll help you however I can." She frowned. "Did you just insult me in front of my face?"

I turned around and flashed her a smile. "No?"

In return, she narrowed her eyes at me. "Suspicious," she hissed, the same time the door swung upon and Paul came in.

"S-suspicious?" Paul echoed to himself quietly, his face scrunching up in confusion.

I laughed. Aww, Paul. Always walking in during the strangest situations possible. Shoving Rosa to the side, I greeted him with a gentle smile. "It's nothing. Just Rosa introducing herself to the world."

"What!"

"You know," I shrugged, "as per usual."

Paul only clutched his shoulder bag tighter and wordlessly nodded, which said a lot about how much Paul had gotten used to us by now. Good for him! He needed some more nerve in him to deal with this chaotic world.

Seeing how he was here, though, it probably meant that we were opening pretty soon. I looked at Rosa again, who had sat down by the counter again and was grumbling under her breath about not being appreciated enough and but I'm the heroine, you know, whatever that had to do with this situation. "So. Are you going back to the Academy?"

"No, I'm going to go home for the night," she sighed. "You know what they say-- when your head's a mess, move that mess outside."

"Umm, no. Nobody, nobody says that, Rosa." I frowned. "I don't even know what that means."

"Better a rowdy enclosure than a rowdy heart? Duh?" Rosa made a gesture with her hand like she was saying, how could you not know something this obvious? But not a part of that was obvious! That sounded like a saying itself!

I threw up my hand. "And what does that mean?!"

She stood up. "Physical cahoots! Takes your mind off! Inner cahoots!"

"Physical cahoots?! Inner cahoots?!? What??!?"

"It means rest your head with some chaos! So like, if you're thinking too much, go somewhere where you don't have to think so much!"

"Well, why didn't you explain it like that the first time!"

"I did!"

"No, you said better a rowdy place than a rowdy mind!"

"No, I said 'better a rowdy enclosure than a rowdy--'"

"Enough!" roared a new voice behind me.

I winced, then slowly turned around. Oops, that sounded like...

Cook loomed over me with his hefty arms crossed, glaring down at us. "We're opening in five!"

Translation: stop playing around and get ready for work.

"Yes, sir," I said meekly, and scampered away to my station obediently. My eyes darted towards Rosa, though, and I made a shooing motion with both hands. Rosa harrumphed and headed out the front door.

"See you later!" she yelled as the doors swung shut, and I glanced at Cook cautiously. He grunted, like he was resigned to Rosa being Rosa, and turned back to the kitchen area.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I quickly began preparing the counter for opening, too. Now that my hands were busy, I had to admit, Rosa (and all her pandemonium) was right-- being physically busy did get my mind off problems.

What was that saying again? Something about messes??


"When your head's a mess, move that mess outside," Rosa repeated to herself, then pursed her lips. That was how the saying went, and she did need to take a break from planning, but... maybe her house was too much of a mess.

"Take this!" shrieked Roly from the kitchen, to which Ruth responded with a squeal as she scrambled out.

Out back in the yard, Ryan was flailing about with his wooden stick, yelling out 'hya!' and 'hoy!' now and then. His voice cracked ever third 'hwa!'.

Meanwhile on the other side of the small yard, "Stop! No! Don't cross this line!" Poly was saying, her voice a full whine. Becca seemed to very determined to annoy poor Poly when all Poly wanted to do was play house by herself.

And where was Mother Lily? She'd seen her leave the restaurant with her shawl on her shoulders, and she was pretty sure Mother Lily wouldn't have gone anywhere else. Upstairs, maybe..? Even though it was dinnertime already! 

Rosa checked her backpack. How much ammo1cookies had she saved from the school cafeteria for this night in again? Ten? She grimaced. It wasn't going to be enough. And she just might be getting a headache for a completely different reason now.

"Is this truly wise?" she asked nobody in particular, then shook her head. No, they said the best ideas came from your surroundings. And what house would be more chaotic than this one?

With that thought in mind, she stomped one foot from the middle of their tiny living room (which was actually a part of their kitchen and vice versa, but anyways), and held up one cookie. She took a deep, deep breath, and yelled. "WHO WANTS A COOKIEE!!!!!!!!"

...and may the records show, everyone wanted a cookie. Yes, even Mother Lily, who poked her head out from upstairs and came down for a piece of cookie herself.


A/N: Random fun fact: if not for this author's note, this chapter would've been exactly 1500 words long. :D

13