Connect

22: The Same Space

"Mom," I said as I ate my lunch, which was a hard boiled egg sandwich. "Miku and the other girls are meeting up at the mall in a few hours."

"And you want to go," my mother finished. I nodded.

"And there's the slight possibility that a plan for a sleepover might arise from this little meetup," I said.

"Well, I don't mind," she answered. "No boys, right?"

"Obviously not!" I said, my face heating up.

"Not even Len?"

"Of course not! It's a girls-only thing."

My mom giggled. "Of course it is. A girls-only thing, where boys are discussed."

"Mom, you know it's not like that!"

"I'm teasing!" She swatted my shoulder. "Anyway, back to what you were saying. I'm letting you go to the mall."

"Thank you," I smiled. She grinned.

"You remind me so much of myself," she said.

"Well, I look just like you," I said.

"No, I mean, more than just looks," she stared at me, her lips pressed into a thin smile as her eyes scanned me up and down. "You act like me."

"Well..." I shifted uneasily, getting out of my seat and taking my empty plate over to the sink. "You're my mom, aren't you?"

"I am," she said.

"There you go," I said. "Obviously, I'd be like you."

"But you're like your father, too, you know?" She stood up and brought her plate over. "You're cute, like him."

"Y-You're the cute one!" I said. "How is dad cute?"

"He's very cute," she smiled slyly.

My face flushed and I hurriedly washed the dishes. The sponge I was using was blue, a very pretty, dark blue. I don't even know why my mind kept making the connection to Kaito.

"I'll have a breadstick."

We were sitting in the food court, Neru, Miku, Teto, Oliver, Piko and I. It was fairly quiet. Teto was drumming her fingers against the table and I handed a breadstick from a bag to her. She munched on it and Miku and I exchanged glances. Oliver was looking at a video game he had just bought. I think it's pretty obvious what Neru was doing.

"I wish Len came," Oliver mumbled.

"Where is he, anyway?" I asked just as my my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my pocket.

"With Rin," he answered.

"I still can't believe Rin's dating Kaito," Teto mused as she chewed on her breadstick. "I'm so sorry for you, Gumi."

"You probably didn't take it the way Gakupo took Luka's rejection," Piko said. He was sitting next to Oliver, examining his friend's game box.

"Luka's single, though," Neru said.

"But she's also got an unhealthy obsession with Kaito," Piko said.

"But Kaito's dating Rin," Miku said.

"This is making my head hurt," I said, looking at my phone.

1 new message.

Naoki: hey. How are you?

"Is it him?" Miku looked at my screen. "The spammer?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Are you going to reply? I want to see!" She sounded excited.