"Think Collin is okay?" Maggie asked, walking around the living room.
Cyan chuckled. "You really do care about him, huh?"
Maggie grumbled. "How can I not? The guy clearly has few screws loose!"
Cy leaned her head against her left hand and sighed, picking up her coffee with the other hand. "Maggie, remember the highway thing Ame told us about?"
Maggie gulped. "Oh, right. Forgot about that. But that lady also said that everyone with it is different, so how can we know it's because of it."
"Good point, but I'm sure doctors and such have established patterns for it."
The two girls jumped as the doorbell rang.
"Think that's Collin?"
Cyan shook her head. "Would they really be gone for only a day?"
Maggie walked over to the door and opened it. She smiled at the kid smiling back at her.
"Ray!"
She looked around. "Where is your mom?"
"Boo!" Ms. Jaune yelled, jumping out of a bush.
"Ahhh!" Maggie yelled, stumbling back.
Cyan giggled. "I didn't know you have a son."
"He lives with his dad most of the time. We adopted him together."
Cyan raised her eyebrows. "You're divorced?"
"I met his dad around the time he found him. Art brought him to my restaurant since it was snowing at the time to get him warm and fed."
"There was a fire. Dad saved me when I was a kid."
Did that mean Isa was his stepmother?
"And I'm glad that he did."
"Why don't we settle in to eat?" Maggie asked. "I'm sure that you're both cold."
Ms. Jaune got a paper bag out of her terminal. "Sounds great."
Maggie took the bag and set the contents on the table.
"Maggie told me that you were caring for a mentally handicapped boy, where is he?" Isa asked.
Cyan sighed. "Maggie..."
"What?" Maggie shrugged. "He is. No use denying that."
"Ame never specifically said that, though."
"Does that boy not want to eat dinner?" Ms. Jaune asked.
"He's with his godmom right now," Cyan replied.
"Even if he wasn't, he might not feel up to eating," Maggie added.
"What's a godmom?" Ray asked.
"I'm not sure..." Cyan replied. "But, from the way Amethyst spoke about it, I think that it's a kind of guardian."
Ray's eyes widened. "Amethyst? I knew an Amethyst! My real dad had a friend called that."
"What happened to him?" Maggie asked.
Ray lowered his head. "H-he and Mom died in a fire. Since then, I never saw my dad's friend again. She was sort of like my dad's guardian."
Maggie rubbed her chin. "I wonder if it's the same person..."
"Is the boy you're caring for a Key Keeper too?" he asked.
"Huh?" she asked.
Ms. Jaune covered his mouth.
Cyan furrowed her eyebrows. A Key Keeper? Wait, could that be why he reacted the way he did?
Maggie said, "Anyway, the rugrat isn't here."
"Maggie, I told you to stop calling him that. He isn't a baby."
"Well, he sure can act like one."
Cyan shook her head.
Ms. Jaune tilted her head. "Say, how did you two become friends again?"
"Hmm," Cyan said.
Maggie smiled. "Flashback time?"
"Flashback time!"
***Maggie***
"Mags, ready for your first day of sixth grade?" Papa asked. On his back was my baby brother, playing on Papa's phone.
"Not really?" the girl said, looking down at the ground. "Heard that middle schoolers are mean."
"I'm sure that you'll be fine. You're a funny girl, I'm sure that you'll make friends."
Maggie smiled at her dad. "Thanks."
"Bye, Sisi!" her brother said, waving at her.
"Bye, rugrat! Try not to give Dad too much trouble now."
He pressed his chin on Dad's head. "If I don't, can you help me buy my new card?"
Maggie sighed. Her brother sure loved his cards.
"Sure."
"Wait, I think that's a bad idea. One shouldn't give things to kids to get them to behave," Maggie's dad said.
Maggie tilted her head. But their mom always gave them stuff.
"I agree!" a blue-eyed girl said, walking up to them.
Maggie narrowed her eyes at the girl. Why was she inserting herself into their conversation?
"They might insist on the reward out of habit. Or at least, that's what my mama says."
That at least made sense.
"How old is that cutie that just left?"
"Six. He was sad yesterday that he's too young for kindergarten."
Cyan giggled. "That's cute. Wish I had a little brother or sister."
"What is your name, anyway?" Maggie asked.
"Cyan. What about you?"
Maggie smiled. "Maggie."
"Is it your first day, too?"
"Yeah. New school and everything."
"Would you like to walk to class together if it's close?"
"Sure."
As they were about to walk into the building, Cyan yelped.
Maggie kept her from falling to the ground.
"Are you okay?"
"It's roasted Thorn Berries. Tastes like a mix of chocolate and coffee."
Maggie rubbed her shoulder. "Did you want to go to the nurse?"
"I can wash my shirt in the bathroom."
"You need to check on that burn. You need a shirt, too, don't you?"
"I'm fine. It cooled down a bit anyway since I got it. Now, if I'd dropped it first thing since I bought it, I would be screaming my lungs out.
Maggie laughed. "That would be bad." She pulled a shirt out of her bag. "Here, borrow this!"
"Aww, a bear! How cute!"
Maggie blushed. "I-It's an old shirt from elementary!"
Cyan laughed. "Well, we are barely entering middle school, so that's obvious."
Maggie huffed. "Know it all."
"Thanks for letting me borrow this. It really is cute."
"We should get going. I don't want to be late."
***
Isa giggled. "That's a cute story."
Just how did she meet Ray's dad?
"I wouldn't say we were friends overnight though. It took time," Cyan said.
"Yeah," Maggie added, "getting along with the know it all wasn't easy."
"Getting along with the grouchy girl wasn't easy for me either."
The girls glared at each other.
Isa sighed. "Girls..."
Ray hung his head. "Wish I had a friend like that..."
"You have no friends?" Maggie asked.
Ray shook his head. "No, I don't. It's hard to make friends as a homeschooled kid."
Isa said, "He will be going to a normal school next year."
Ray smiled. "Hope I meet someone like you two!"
Isa rubbed her son's back. "I'm sure you will. It just might take a little time."
"Your mom is right," Maggie said.
Ray smiled slightly. "Yeah!"
Maggie laughed. The kid reminded her of Maxie. Maybe she should go back home to check up on her family.