I Promise You'll Get Better

Nine

The Octopod hadn't taken too much damage in the storm, thankfully; the shell was dented and scratched here and there, but nothing Tweak couldn't fix up in a few days. She and Dashi were avoiding each other, only speaking if they absolutely had to. Dashi was relieved that there were no more threats like the one Tweak had given her before the storm: she wasn't sure how much she could take at the moment.

The next week was mainly spent in her bedroom with either Shellington or Koshi and the cousins. Koshi was still a little shocked after the storm, and was quite happy to accept Peso's advice of 'take it easy' and curl up with a good book for hours every day. Often, she and Delilah would read the book together, stretched out in a corner of the bedroom and chatting excitedly in undertones. If Dashi's camera wasn't destroyed, she would've been taking photos of them for days.

One sunny evening, Shellington had joined Dashi in her room. The cousins had disappeared with Koshi to plan something. Neither Shellington nor Dashi had any idea what they were planning, but Shellington was sure he had caught the word 'Tweak'.

"You miss Tweak, don't you?" Shellington said. Dashi had found one of her many photo albums and they were flicking through it together. The page was open at a photo of Dashi and Tweak chilling in the Game Pod together; Dashi was looking at it rather wistfully.

"I guess I do," she said, her voice cracking. "What she said to me was really hurtful. But maybe she was just angry at the time. I lashed out at her big time and she attacked me back. I... I never knew how far she could go. We both really upset each other."

Shellington heard the pain in her voice. He pulled her closer. They both looked over at the camera wreckage, which was sitting mournfully on Dashi's bedside table. Dashi touched the lens, tracing the spider-web-like cracks. Her reflection in the lens was split into many pieces. Shellington thought he could see the ghost of how Dashi was really feeling: confused, messed up, shattered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he said softly. The photo album was still on Dashi's lap. She turned over the page and sighed as another photo of her and Tweak—this time having hot chocolates and sharing a plate of fish biscuits in the HQ—came up, their faces alight with laughter.

"Yeah," Dashi said, snapping the album shut. Shellington reached out to pull her towards him again, but she faced the window instead, head in hands. "I've never lost anyone so close to me, Shel. Yes, I had close friends at school, and yes, we argued a lot, but we always made up. But Tweak's different. When we first met, we both thought we weren't going to get along, because we were almost polar opposites. But we found stuff in common, stories to share, hobbies that we loved to talk about, our passions and skills and loves and fears. We bonded over those, and I knew I had found my true best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend," Shellington teased. Despite herself, Dashi smiled.

"Well, it's different now," she said, looking over her shoulder briefly and blowing him a kiss. Then her face darkened and she turned away. "Tweak and I hardly ever argued, like you and I hardly ever argue. But the cone snail attack changed our lives. You and Tweak worked so hard for me, even when I was in a bad, bad mood... you organised for my cousins to visit, you took care of me, and you know I can never be grateful enough.

"But when Tweak accidentally blew up my camera, I got so angry with her. It felt like part of me had been blown up as well. I trusted her, and she threw that trust to the wind."

Dashi's tone was bitter. But then her anger faded away. "I want to forgive her, I want to sort things out... but I get too scared. She's angry with me, I guess I'm still a little bit angry with her. What do we do? She scared me in the HQ. I'm even more susceptible to breaking down now, and she knows that. I don't want things to go too far. I want to make up with her."