School was over. Yiyi wanted nothing more than escaping as far away as possible, unable to shake off the fear that someone had seen her in the library. It wasn't just that she was terrified about the beating she would be getting, but even more that she didn't want to be seen as someone who didn't like Gara. Because she did. She wasn't a citizen, and she might not love Gara with the intensity of a citizen, but she did like him a lot. She was nervous until she arrived outside the gate, and then felt her courage returning.
There were two roads home. The shorter was one that went through the residential block, a seventeen minute walk along a narrow two lane street that was extremely safe even though it was deafeningly quiet and wormed alongside houses of varying sizes and decorations. The longer went down the wider six lane main road, through the market, before ending at the entrance to the residential block closest to Yiyi's home, and was a thirty two minute walk. The longer wasn't as safe, but was a lot more colourful and noisy.
'Let's go through the market,' Celia declared.
Yiyi was flustered as she nodded. The reason was an equal mix of hesitation and excitement. She had never walked the longer road alone, and even with You, it was a very small number of times. Thinking about You, she was suddenly reminded that You wasn't walking home with her. He was with Min. They were probably holding hands as he walked her home, they probably stopped along the way for some cake and tea, probably bought each other something to commemorate the start of their relationship, were probably giddy from happiness and laughing stupidly, and probably slowed as they neared her home, thinking about how to say bye, probably even thinking about kissing.
Yiyi didn't notice her falling expression as she delved deeper into the possibilities. And only reacted when she felt Sara grabbing her hand. As she looked at Sara's smile, she felt the tears gathered in her eyes. She smiled back at Sara as she wiped away the tears. She then nodded more vigorously at Celia, and led the way.
They were walking on the sidewalk, far from the traffic. There were quite a lot of people walking along the road owing to the market's proximity. As they neared the market, they could feel the charged atmosphere. Yiyi's hesitation was long gone, replaced entirely by excitement. Sara was a reflection of Yiyi. Celia was excited too, but wasn't showing it. Celia didn't want to merely enjoy the sights the market offered, but was checking the stores for the goods on sale.
'Checking for where we'll get supplies,' Celia offered as explanation when her two friends looked at her questioningly.
Yiyi looked at Sara. Sara shrugged in reply. And Yiyi felt her hand still in Sara's, and blushed, but didn't free her hand.
They walked through the market at the same pace, without slowing down or hastening. Outside the market, Yiyi sighed in relief. Sara smiled at her comfortingly.
'How old are you?' Celia asked, sounding almost contemptuous.
'What do you mean?' Yiyi asked, confusedly.
'You're scared of the market. How old are you?'
Yiyi wanted to say in defence that it wasn't very different from her first time. But knowing Celia wouldn't accept that, she remained silent. It was a five minute walk to the gate to the residential block, and another seven minutes to her home.
Yiyi introduced her family along the way. There were her parents and her brothers. Her father was a contractor employed by the city's police department for maintaining the traffic signals in the southern sector. Her mother ran a bakery in the residential block, where her father too worked on his off days. Her elder brother was in college, studying to become a civil servant. Her younger brother was in kindergarten, and was glued to their mother the rest of the time. Her younger brother would clearly inherit the bakery. As for her, she wasn't yet clear about her future. Her mantra was that there was always time.
Sara agreed. Celia remained silent, but it wasn't a silence of disapproval. Rather, it was a silence of having no opinion at all. Yiyi felt that there was something strange about Celia's silence, but she wasn't able to understand immediately, and before she could dwell they reached home.
'Alright, we have to be careful,' Yiyi said, her tone suddenly strong. 'My parents, and You's parents, know of my feelings. And I think they approved of them. Since You isn't one to keep secrets, he would surely tell his parents about Min. And since the parents are all the best of friends, his parents would have told my parents as well. So, they might be a little worried about me. I think. I don't know how they'll react. But, let's be strong.'
Yiyi punched her fists into the air, in an effort to gather strength. Sara applauded cheerfully. Celia nodded appreciatively. Emboldened by her friends' support, Yiyi bravely walked in.