Sweets & Traditions

Vala

I don’t know why this kid is always so dirty, but it makes me angry to see the others pick on him just because of it. I had been planning to go up to him and try to be friends, but I was having so much fun with the others that I usually lost track of time, and recess was always over by the time I remembered to look for Siv.

My mom is a dancer. She works at the national theater in the Big City and is always busy because of that. Sometimes, I feel a little lonely—being home alone all the time—but my mangas keep me company. I also love spending a lot of time by the River, searching for the Big Frog. Every spring, the villagers from both sides gather for the Spring Ritual. It's one of the rare occasions when people from opposite sides mingle a bit. Of course, it's purely for tradition. While the adults are off doing their own thing, the children run around freely, turning over every rock and even jumping into the river, convinced they’ve seen the legendary animal. I usually search for it even outside of the ritual, secretly hoping that one day, I’ll be the heroine finding it.

The first time I got close to Siv was when we girls were picking flowers in the kindergarten's enormous garden. I wandered away from the others—following a tiny toad—and saw him sitting in the grass, yanking out weeds violently. The idea of walking up to him and putting the flowers from my hands into the holes in his T-shirt came to me out of nowhere—like I was guided by something bigger than myself. Fate, maybe. Mom always says that it's good to listen to our intuitions—whatever that might mean. So, I filled all of his holes with my beautiful flowers.

The following days, I often caught him staring at me while I played with my friends. I wanted to play with him too, but I didn’t know how to explain to the other girls that I wanted to be friends with a boy—especially one from the Left Side.

Since my family was from the Right Side, we didn’t care much about keeping our distance from people on the other side. But my mom always told me to respect the Left Side’s ways and only befriend someone from there if they were the ones making the first move. I never understood why it mattered who took the first step, if it eventually will result in them becoming friends, but I tried to follow the rule. Mom was a very smart woman—at least, that’s what Grandpa always said. Whenever he visited our house, he would always start with, “Hello there, my smart little daughter and her soon-to-be smarter kiddo!” Then he’d scoop me up and twirl me in the air until I burst out laughing.

In the end, I was the one who made the first move with Siv. But I wasn’t going to do anything else unless he reached out to me after the flower accident.

It wasn’t Siv who approached me after all, but his friend Theo, who had been absent at the time when I've first went up to Siv. It happened during an art activity. I was coloring with full attention when he calmly walked up to me and knelt down beside me.

“Can I borrow a yellow pencil? I need it for my character’s sword to make it look golden.” his eyes flicked to my drawing, and continued: "Whoa, you’re drawing Elias from Bakugo! Do you like manga?”

“Yes! I have all the best ones in the world. My mom brings them from the Big City since she works there.”

“Bahahah, you should see my collection! I bet you don’t have as many as I do.”

That’s when he promised to bring me manga I had never even heard of. And that’s how the three of us became friends.

***

That night, before my sixth birthday, I was lying in bed, flipping through the pages of my manga when mom burst into my room.

“Hey, Vala! I was thinking—you should invite your friends over for your birthday tomorrow afternoon. You could watch something together or play games. I won’t be here because of work, but I’d love for you to have company. And when I get home, I’d honestly love to meet them. They sound like such lovely boys.”

She smiled while gathering the dirty mugs scattered around my room.

It would be nice to hang out with my friends outside of kindergarten. I’d love to show them my manga collection, but I wasn’t sure if they’d want to come.

“Do you think they’d want to come?” I asked shyly.

Mom gently ran her remaining fingers over my head while balancing the mugs with the others. 

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sure they’d love to spend time with you—especially on such a special day. And what’s the worst that could happen? They say no?”

She was right. The worst that could happen was that they wouldn’t come.

The next morning at kindergarten, during recess, I asked the boys. They were excited and immediately started planning a Bakugo marathon with sweets and pizza. There was something strange in Siv’s eyes, but I thought it was just the excitement.

How wrong I was.

That afternoon, after we were dismissed, I ran home and told the boys to come over around 5 p.m. so I could have everything ready for their arrival. I sprinted the whole way, practically crashing through the door of the local candy shop, where one of mom's friends worked. 

“Vala! What a surprise. Happy birthday! Pick anything you want today—it’s on me.” She winked.

I wanted to thank her, but I was too out of breath. I just knelt at the entrance for long minutes, looking like I had been chased by a bear.

Once I caught my breath, I jumped up and hugged her. “Thank you, Aunty! Thank you!”

I loaded up on sweets, but when I checked the clock above the counter and saw it was already 4:30, I bolted out of the store. “Thanks, Aunty! I’ll come by tomorrow, but I really need to go now!”

Back home, I hurriedly set up the living room—cushions on the floor, colorful bowls filled with sweets, my favorite manga and toys arranged neatly. I even made lemonade. Everything was ready. Any minute now, the boys would arrive.

Then, the doorbell rang.

I rushed to open it, my cheeks flushed with excitement. But when I swung the door open, only Theo was there. He looked at me with a sad expression and shook his head.

I knew what he was trying to tell me without words.

Siv wasn’t coming. He couldn’t. Because now, he was the chief’s son. Now, he was bound by the Left Side’s rules.

And because of that, we couldn’t be friends anymore.

Siv

“Would you like to come over after kindergarten today? My mom said you totally should! It would be fun to celebrate my birthday. We can watch anything and eat sweets. Do you wanna come? I have all these new manga, and my Aunty is giving me free candy for sure!”

She barely took a breath while saying all that.

A knot formed in my stomach.

I wanted to go. But didn’t she know the rules of the Left Side? Didn’t she remember that now, I was Gideon’s son? That I had to follow the rules strictly? That I had to set an example?

As I walked home, I took my time, dreading what I had to do, slowly putting one foot after the other. Still, it seemed too fast when I saw my new, huge house with three floors—quite unnecessary, if you ask me—and the massive swimming pool on its right side.

Taking the last steps toward the front door, I imagined Father’s face when I asked him.

Would he even consider making an exception for me? What if he ended up regretting taking us in? What if he left my Mother... because of me?

When I got home, I went straight to his office and knocked.

“Come in, whoever you might be!”

I gripped the doorknob and stepped inside.

I already knew.

I wouldn’t ask him.

I had to stop being friends with Vala. I had to make my Father proud. I had to keep my Mother safe.

Father looked at me. “Oh, Siv! How was your day at kindergarten? Were you a good boy? Now, come here. Let me show you something interesting, dear son.”

And just like that, my decision was made.