Rising Shards

“Hey, 09?” Penteldtam called over. “You wanna get changed and get over here for a photo op for your new pops?”

“Sure, one second! Or a few minutes, rather!” 09 said.

09 waved to us then ran inside.

“I guess I better go get changed and join them.” Oka said flatly.

“Now I’m confused,” Kalei said. “So you don’t want to be in the Kilander stuff, but when 09 goes without you, now you do?”

“Shut up.” Oka said.

Oka slouched as she walked off, which was concerning. I could tell she was upset about something, but I wasn’t sure what.

“This party is super awkward, not gonna lie,” Kalei said as I walked with her to the hot tub. “I really hope all our teachers here weren’t watching us swim. Plus, now Oka’s getting all mad.”

The hot tub was as fancy as anything else the Kilanders had at this house. I wasn’t a big hot tub fangirl, but I had been frozen enough by my three minutes outside the pool to want to practically jump in. Kalei basically did jump in, splashing hot water over the edges.

“I wonder if she feels like she’s being replaced,” I said as I eased into the tub. “Like an older sibling thing, almost.”

“I dunno,” Kalei said. “Remember when we met 09 last week? She burst out singing about getting a younger sister and how much she wanted that.”

”That is true,” I said.

”All I’m saying is that Oka is an enigma.” Kalei said. ”You can’t predict her or understand what she’s feeling, so why bother?”

”What does that mean?” I asked.

”It means I’m just gonna stay in this hot tub and hope nobody stares at us.”

I didn’t feel right relaxing in the tub while Oka was upset. Kalei could tell by my fidgeting.

“You gonna go check on them?” Kalei asked.

“Huh?” I asked.

“Make sure Oka doesn’t do anything stupid,” Kalei said. “They’ve both been gone for a bit.”

“You think that’d be a good idea?”

Kalei shrugged. “I think she could use the backup, then I can have the tub to myself.”

“Alright, yeah,” I said. “Have fun and don’t eat any more, or you’ll get even more bloated.”

I grabbed my towel and headed back into the house. I assumed Oka would still be by the changing rooms. As soon as I entered the spa area, I heard Oka shouting.

“Just let me go!” Oka said. “I just want to change already.”

They were standing in front of a small garden area that was another entryway to the spa. There were enough big tropical looking plants that I was able to hide behind one to listen in, waiting for the right moment in case things got ugly.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” 09 said.

I felt a little sneaky with my spot behind the big plant. And a lot bad for eavesdropping on them.

“Let’s just hash this out,” 09 said. “Because if we don’t, it’s just going to brew and get worse.”

Oka sighed. “Can’t we just let it brew a bit longer before I have to deal with it?”

“I’d rather not,” 09 said.

Oka sighed again.

”Fine,” Oka said. “I’m jealous of you, happy?”

“For what?” 09 asked. “Being the new hotness for the Kilanders?”

“No, it’s not that,” Oka said. ”I don’t think I was ever the new ’hotness’ for them, whatever that means.”

“Because it doesn’t really matter you know,” 09 said. “You’re not getting the attention taken off of you.”

“It’s not that!” Oka yelled.

“Then just tell me why you’re so mad at me.” 09 said.

Oka crossed her arms.

“I’m jealous because you saved her when I couldn’t.”

I never considered Oka would be upset that 09 helped me where she wasn’t able to when Ovie attacked.

“Oh,” 09 said.

“Yeah, I know it’s stupid but…” Oka said.

“Aw, Oka,” 09 said. “If it makes you feel better, I only intervened after the fight had really ended. Zeta saved herself there. She didn’t need either of us.”

“Still,” Oka said. “I guess I got worried today too, that you were gonna replace me for her. I know I’m being stupid, but…you’re more interesting than me, you’re…”

She trailed off and sniffled. I couldn’t see very well from my vantage point, but I knew Oka’s cry sniffle just hearing it. I didn’t know if it’d be better to intervene now, keep listening, or just leave.

“I don’t know either of you too well, but haven’t you been friends for a while now?” 09 asked.

“Best friends,” Oka said.

“So this is less about me and more…” 09 said. “I don’t want this to come off as rude, so forgive me if it does. But this feels like it’s coming from your own insecurities.”

Oka sniffed again. “Maybe.”

“Oka, Zeta’s not going to replace you.” 09 said. “If you’re this worried about it, you should talk it out with her. And preferably soon since the Kilanders are waiting for us for that photo shoot.”

“Y-yeah,” Oka said.

I started debating if it’d be possible for me to crawl run to stay out of sight so they didn’t find out I was listening in.

“You can right now,” 09 said. “Because Zeta’s standing behind that big potted plant there.”

”Huh?” Oka said.

“Alright, you say you’re just like us but that’s some incredible mind reading or see-through vision power or whatever.” I said, peeking out.

“Maybe those are my Cani powers,” 09 said. “But no, your tail was sticking out.”

“Oh, huh,” I said, looking down to my traitorous tail. “And er, sorry for listening in.”

“I’ll leave you guys to talk this out.” 09 said. “See you at the photo shoot in a minute, Oka!”

Oka nodded. I’d seen her sad before, but she looked so miserable I wanted to just immediately hug her until she felt better. Impulsively I did reach out to hug her, but she was wiping her eyes with her forearms so I kind of just awkwardly held my arms out for a second, then slowly started to put them down.

“No wait, I could use it,” Oka said.

It hadn’t occurred to me we were both still in swimsuits until I had my arms wrapped around her. It made the hug feel a lot closer with my hands on the skin of her back, my head against her shoulder. I tried to hide that my hands were shaking after I let go of the hug, but I couldn’t as easily hide how warm my face was. At least Oka looked similarly flushed by it.

“Were you that jealous of her?” I asked.

“…Kinda, maybe,” Oka said.

“09’s cool, and I’m grateful to her for sure for the Ovie stuff, but she’s her own person. You’re still you.”

“I know,” Oka said.

“But I get it,” I said. “I’m always worried I’m going to ruin our friendship.”

“That makes sense, though,” Oka said. “After Jeans, it’d make sense for you to be worried about going through another thing like that. I don’t have that excuse.”

“You were raised in an awful school that probably brought you a lot of self doubt and stuff.” I said. “I’d say that’s a pretty good excuse.”

Oka pondered that for a second.

“And I’m serious Oka, I would never want to replace you, ever. You’re my favorite person. And that’s from a list that has Raina Starlight on it.”

“Aw,” Oka said softly.

“No matter what, you’re still you, and as long as you’re you, I want to be…near you. Friends with... Hang on, I have something here. Is there a rhyme I can add into this to make it work?”

“I get it, don’t worry,” Oka smiled. “I shouldn’t need you to tell me that to make it true, though. Sorry I ruined the pool party for you.”

“You didn’t ruin it for me,” I said. “I got a garbage bag of free clothes out of this, and some are Magenta Haze, which are so expensive I’ve never been able to even consider owning them before.”

Oka giggled.

“You really keep me sane, you know?” Oka said.

“Huh?”

“Like, my last year has been so wild and unpredictable. A year ago, I would have never guessed I’d be out of Tesata. And now I’m in this family. On paper it’s like a fairy tale…but I feel like the real fairy tale part was meeting you.”

“What? How come?” I said.

“Think about it!” Oka said. “We met at a dance, you changed my life instantly, you make me so happy. It’s total fairy tale. Except it’s real.”

I smiled back at Oka. Even when she was sad, even if we were talking about serious stuff, I still liked being with her.

“Also, good choice on the swimsuit by the way,” Oka said. “It looks really good on you. I mean, wait. Not that I’m. Staring or anything. I just think that it looks good!”

Oka’s face got redder, and she looked like she regretted saying any of that out loud. But I was too busy trying to not let my bathumping heart make me noticeably anxious about her blurting that out to me.

“Th-thanks,” I said. “Yours looks good too! I like the skirt part.”

“To be honest, I was a bit afraid of it before I started swimming,” Oka said. “At Tesata, they always warned us about the vents in pools pulling in frills and stuff, so we’d get stuck at the bottom and drown. Or we’d get our guts sucked out by them. I mean, that is something that can happen I think but they really drilled the fear part in.”

“That was me with escalators!” I said. “I watched this stupid show where the baby got stuck in an escalator and it scarred me for life! But that wasn’t the same as your horrendous school, though.”

Oka giggled. “No no, I’m just happy you get it!”

“Crap, that reminds me I have a tail now,” I said, looking to confirm it was still there. “I’m glad I didn’t think of that earlier or I’d be freaking out about it getting near the vents.”

“Hey, Oka?” 09 called over. “They’re getting a bit antsy, you wanna wrap it up?”

“Yeah, one second!” Oka said. “Hey wait, were you listening in on all that?”

“…maybe.” 09 said, standing in the same spot I was hiding earlier.