A New Family

Chapter 8: Julia

"Are you okay?" Three opened her eyes, taken by surprise by the question she was asked. The voice was definitely not familiar to her, but given how she was feeling chances were she wouldn't even know. But then again, it probably was just another nuisance that wanted to know about her scar and was trying to approach her.

Three turned her glance towards what seemed to be an inkling girl, standing in front of her. She was slightly taller than her, her blue hair in a wavy hairstyle, a quite popular one. Her yellow eyes made a nice contrast with it. Three had to admit, she was pretty nice-looking. Well, better than most people she had seen on her way there for sure. She was wearing a beanie, and a black, Tony Kensa sweater. Clothes from the Tony Kensa brand were known to be the most expensive on the market, so her wearing that sweater made Three think that she probably had quite a bit of money to spend on gear to put on. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." Three was quick to answer while watching her, trying to cut off the conversation as soon as possible. But the girl didn't look too easy to convince. She sat beside Three, and started looking at the horizon, her hands gripping on one another. Three frowned, uncomfortable. What was happening, and what did that inkling want from her? She was just a stranger...a weird one for sure.

"U-uh...do I know you?" She asked, reluctantly.

"Oh, yeah, sorry for coming off as weird. No, as a matter of fact, you do not know me, and I do not know you either. But you were here, sitting all alone by yourself, and you looked upset. I really don't like seeing others upset!" She exclaimed, joyfully.

"What a weird inkling. Just what I needed after this shit of a day..." Three though to herself, annoyed.

"So anyway, why the long face?" The stranger continued, making eye contact with her once again.

"Why do you care? Jeez, I hate people like you. Just get back to your business and i'll do the same." Three crossed her arms and looked in the opposite direction. She expected her to leave after that, offended. But she didn't. The inkling did not move by an inch. Jessica stayed in silence for a good minute or two, hoping that she would have just gotten tired of waiting. But she gained quite the opposite reaction.

"So, are you ready to talk? I can wait, really." the stranger eventually broke the silence, leaving Three even more baffled than before. Her voice was very calm, and reassuring, despite Three's insults. Jessica groaned and turned back to the stranger.

"If I tell you what's wrong, will you leave me  alone?" She finally said, impatient. The other inkling nodded, smiling. Something in her made Three feel...at peace. Which was weird. Everything about that inkling was weird. So much weird.

"Give me a name, first." She said. Heck no, she would have not talked about her private life to a person she didn't even know the name of.

"How rude of me!" The stranger said, facepalming. "Didn't even have the decency to introduce myself. Very impolite, I know, sorry. My name's Julia." She replied, shaking Three's hand against her will. Jessica let go of the grasp and coughed, awkwardly.

"...Alright. How do I put this to you now." She now had to keep the promise. It was the only way to make that nuisance of a girl go away, after all.

Three sighed.

"Have you ever had...a job?" She asked, her voice turning much less threatening than before all of a sudden.

"Well, if we consider Grizzco a job, I guess so."

"Well my job was something similar to Grizzco, but...more serious we could say."

Julia looked at her, and she seemed to be listening very carefully to every word Three was saying. It was odd for a stranger to care so much, but by that point Three just had nothing to lose, so she didn't even think about it.