Next Time

Heather's POV:

DONG DONG DONG

Yeah yeah, I’m up…

Ugh….. why does that bell have to ring on weekends? Jeez….

Dragging myself out of bed’s always a pain…

I got up and lazily changed into some casual clothes and off to breakfast I go.

I walked into the cafeteria and scanned the room for people I know. It turns out I’m one of the early ones today, as only the early birds and Abigail were lined up.

Seeing as to how my other friends weren’t here yet, I headed over to Abigail.

“Hey.”

She didn’t respond.

“Um, hello?”

She just stood there, looking into the distance.

Now that I look closer, her lips were moving, she’s probably mumbling to herself again but it’s still too early for me to hear it.

I waved my hand in front of her face.

“Huh?”

“You there?”

“Ah, yeah, sorry. What’s up?”

“Can I barge on in?”

“That wouldn’t be very nice for those at the back now would it?”

I looked back at the start of the line, which has now grown tenfold by the time I got her attention.

“Oh no….”

A feeling of dread swelled up within me.

“Haha, I was just joking. Feel free to do so.”

“Oh thank God….. You’re a life saver.”

Waiting that long for breakfast would have sucked.

She tapped her sword twice.

She’s really attached to that thing, huh. At least, she’s been bringing it with her everywhere. Even when she's away from it you'd catch her looking at it every now and then, like a puppy staring at her old home.

“We’re almost out of flour, so we’ll have to go shopping today.”

“Sure sure….. Wanna go at one?”

“Fine with me.”

The line finally got moving. Apparently they had some staff issues over at the front.

We soon made it to the lunch lady. I took my usual two pancakes and a muffin while she had her whatever.

“Thanks again for the money.”

“I already told you, I don’t mind.”

“Well yeah, but it’s a lot of money to me. So thank you.”

That counts as a lot?

“It’s fine, but money really isn’t a problem.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Huh?”

“If money isn’t that much of a problem and you’re that good at magic, couldn’t you have gone to a school that specialized in it for high school as well?”

Ah……. I kind of walked into that one, huh. What do I say….

I ruffled my bed ridden hair. How does it always end up looking like a sheep whenever I wake up?

“I just wanted to try out a new environment, I guess... New people and everything.”

“.....Alright then.”

She probably wanted to ask for more details.

Well, it’s understandable, why does some rich girl come to some run down school like this one?

“Moving on.... Got anything you want to make this time?”

“Me?”

“Yeah~ Like, something you'd like to eat rather than what I would like. ”

“Hmm…”

I guess there’s a lot of options to choose from, huh.

“I’ll have to think about it.”

She picked up her tray and left. Wait, she was done that quick? I looked down on mine. I’ve only eaten a single pancake.

Almost right when she left, one of my friends, Amy, came to fill her place.

She held a hand to her mouth and asked.

“That girl’s Abigail, right?”

“What about her?”

“Um, it's just that, she’s kind of weird, no?”

“Weird?”

“Like, I’d hear her talk to herself from time to time… or how she brings that sword basically everywhere. It’s like she’s constantly on guard.”

“I get the second part, but does she really talk to herself that often?”

“She does!”

A few others joined us.

“Hey, you know Abigail, right?”

Amy asked the others.

“Yeah?”

“You know how she kind of like, talks to herself all the time, right?”

“Sort of? I thought she just had an imaginary friend.”

“An imaginary friend? What is she, five?”

“Yeah, it’s weird. Kinda creepy, actually.”

A fourth person chimed in.

“Ah! And the other day, I saw her laughing with these dolls in the kitchen!”

“Haha, that’s an upgrade from imaginary friends that's for sure.”

“What’s creepy about that? Were they voodoo dolls or something?”

“Maybe? I didn’t really hear what she said clearly. It was really scary though.”

“Watch her curse you for saying that.”

"Oh no! She'll skin me alive and take my organs!"

“Haha, what is she, some witch from the mountains?”

My blood turned cold.

“There she is.”

“The witch!”

“Huh?”

“Don’t go playing innocent, the entire school knows!”

“What!?”

“Yeah, and they know about your plan too!”

“Was this why you studied magic?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Liar!”

“Kick her out!”

“Yeah!!”

I shook my head.

No, Heather. Stop. Calm down. They’re not talking about you. Besides, it’s just a joke.

It still nicks me the wrong way with how they talk about her though.

I know it’s school, and everyone gossips about everyone, but this is my friend they’re talking about.

What should I do?

Do I leave? No, I can’t keep running from everything.

Should I tell them off? But that could go either way. They could respect my opinion and move on or we get into some argument. The worst case scenario is that they start talking behind both our backs.

“Could be, you never know with this kind of thing.”

“What do you think, Heather? She was just with you not too long ago, no?”

Ah, all eyes are on me now.

What do I do….

Sweat starts dripping down my back.

Think… think!

I don’t really want to agree with them but telling them off could end badly as well.

I half closed my eyes.

“You know……. she probably just doesn’t have anyone else to talk to…. She seemed fine when I talked to her… Ah….. It’s far too early for me to think right now though… I just want to have breakfast…”

I somewhat slurred, pretending to be sleepy.

People tend to let their imaginations run wild given limited information. I hope this sets them down to reality, at least a bit.

“Yeah, alright…”

It definitely wasn’t the answer they wanted to hear, that’s for sure. But seriously, if they’re curious about her, shouldn’t they just go and talk to her?

“So anyways…”

I cleaned my plate as they moved onto a different topic.

The conversation somehow dragged from fashion to arguing over what kind of pizza was the best and then to whatever else came to mind.

It was fun as usual, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bug me that they just act as if nothing happened. But I’m the only one who knows Abigail here, so I’m the only one who would be concerned.

After I’ve gone back to my room and wore off my drowsiness completely. I got to thinking.

Abigail does have a few of her quirky moments, though. Like how she taps her sword, or like this morning where she was zoning out.

There was also that time she stomped the ground over a bug.

That moment always struck me as odd, since she said that the bug was being annoying. But how?

Was it buzzing too loud? The people around us were way louder.

Did it crawl on her? Maybe, but she just has to pat her leg or shake it a bunch, right?

Hah……… whatever, I’m probably just looking too deep into it.

Still, if she’s talking to herself, or dolls if what Amy and the others say is true, then is she lonely?

She does sit alone all the time after all, so I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch. Maybe I should get to know her more?

Yeah, that’s it!

If she’s being “weird” out of loneliness, I just have to get closer to her!

That way, she won’t have people talking behind her back, and she has someone to hang out with! Win win!

Abigail’s POV:

What do I want to make?

Personally, I’d just go with something simple and easy, that way I don’t have to spend as much ingredients and time. So maybe I could try just making some bread?

But then would she want that? Probably not, huh.

Maybe we could do buns and add whatever we want between them. But is that too simple?

Hmmmm….

You know, I never really considered what’s my favourite food.

I had to save up to come here after all, so I just bought whatever was the cheapest.

“Al, what’s your favourite food?”

“Oh no you don't.”

Dang, he caught on right away.

“Um, This is just for reference?”

“No way. You’re just going to make Heather whatever I answer. She’s asking for your favourite, not mine.”

“Fine…..”

“It wouldn’t help anyways, I just wanted some good meat back then, doesn’t matter the dish.”

“And now?”

“I’d eat whatever they serve here and lick the plate if it means I can taste again. Hell, I'll even lick the floor.”

“A bit more detail than I asked for but alright.”

Hmmm…. Maybe I’ll try cooking instead of baking? I guess it’s something I’m kind of curious about, so I guess that counts as what I want?

Or maybe I could do both, like make some buns and cook up the ingredients for a sandwich.

Yeah….. Maybe I’ll give it a shot.

I knocked on Heather’s door.

“Coming….. Huh? Isn’t this a bit early?”

“I was thinking of making sandwiches, so I thought maybe we could just skip lunch and have that instead.”

“Oh, okay. Fine by me.”

“Sorry about this…”

“Eh, I didn’t have anything I wanted to do anyways. Let’s go!”

“So what’s your favourite colour?”

“Do you have any clothes other than the white shirt and black pants?”

“Got any reccomendations for books?”

“Do you do anything besides read and cook?”

"So what was your hometown like?"

During the entire shopping trip Heather bombarded me with questions.

Well, I can answer all of them except that last one, so it’s fine, but I don’t think she’s this talkative.

We’re back to the kitchen now, at least.

“Oh hey, what are these?”

She picked up one the dolls I had lined at the table.

Ah… I forgot to put them away this morning.

Eh, barely anybody would come here so I'm glad only one person saw them.

“Dolls.”

“Huh…. you made these?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing special though.”

“Hey! Don’t say that about my friends!”

I tapped Al twice.

“Rude.”

“They’re cute!”

“Thanks.”

“See, now that’s a lass with a good eye.”

Whatever.

I grabbed the ingredients and started making the buns.

“So what you putting for the insides?”

“You picked the ingredients, didn’t you?”

“Oh, right.”

I stared at her.

“You’ve been acting weird since the shopping trip, are you alright?”

She blinked at me for a second and responded.

“Weird how?”

“You’ve been throwing questions at me non-stop for a while now.”

She looked away.

“H-have I?”

“Looking away is kind of the first sign that you’re guilty of something, you know.”

She sighed.

“Yeah… I have. It’s just that you looked lonely so I thought I should be a better friend.”

That’s it?

“I mean, it’s not exactly the end of the world if I’m alone. It’s fine to just leave it as is.”

Besides, I have someone who can’t leave me alone already, I don’t want two.

“It’s not! My friends have been joking around about you, calling you a witch and stuff!”

“I mean…. That’s definitely just a joke, you know.”

In the first place, a witch is just a woman who uses magic, no? What’s that different from any of us in this school?

“You can’t just think that! Stuff like this start as jokes and move on to rumors! And then those rumors result in harassment and before you know it everyone avoids you like the plague.”

She said that so seriously…. That’s definitely a massive stretch. Looks like someone’s been reading a bit too many high school dramas.

“You’re looking too deep into it. Besides, all they see is someone sitting alone, is it really that interesting?”

“Well, for one, you bring that sword everywhere you go.”

She started ticking them off one by one in her hand.

Ah…. I guess that’s a bit weird.

“There’s also how you zone out sometimes like this morning….”

And that.

“And how you have conversations with yourself at times….”

“Wait, you heard me?”

“You aren’t exactly silent, lass.”

“Yeah, you do it a lot after runs, huh.”

“Oh…. then I can get why they’d be curious.”

I’ll have to be more careful.

“Exactly. Someone even mentioned that they saw you talking to dolls.”

They even saw that? I really can’t let my guard down, huh.

“What is that even about anyways?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why were you talking to dolls? Why did you make them in the first place?”

Ah, that. Well, this question was bound to pop up when someone sees them so I had my excuse lined up.

“Those are just a sort of memento from my hometown. They remind me of the people who taught me how to make them.”

“…I see. That goes to the sword too, I assume? It’s one of the fruits of your labour, after all. And the talking to yourself?”

“Um….. I was just thinking about classes and mumbling to myself about what to do about them.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

And that was that.

I got the buns ready and started preparing the beef I bought.

I don’t really know how to make roast beef, or any meat whatsoever, so I hope just adding some sauce and putting it on the stove is good enough.

It is called roast beef after all.

Back to Heather’s POV:

I sat at the table staring at the dolls.

Liar.

That was the first thought that came to my mind when she gave me her response.

Given her reluctance to answer much about her hometown, I doubt she had many fond memories that she would keep mementos of, especially dolls.

And sometimes, I can clearly hear her talking to someone through the wall. They weren’t exactly thick after all. Is she really that diligent a student?

I’ve never seen anyone enter her room other than her, so did she hide someone in her room?

Wait no, think realistically. She probably took a doll and was playing with it in her room. But why does she keep the dolls here?

….whatever, it’s probably not in my place to judge if she decides to play with dolls or not.

She should be careful though. Anyone else would probably make fun of her for it.

I looked at her.

She’s a liar, but so what? That just makes two of us.

Even if she lied to me, it’s probably my fault for prodding her.

Still, it kind of hurts, knowing your friend doesn’t trust you.

Smoke starts coming out from the pan she’s holding.

“Um, you okay!?”

“Ah... um.... The beef might get a bit burnt.”

“That looks like it’s going to be more than a bit!”

I came over immediately.

“Need help?”

“You know how to cook?”

“Just a bit. You still have some beef?”

“Yeah, I only used a small chunk in case I messed up like now.”

“Alright, thanks.”

Time to put those cooking lessons with mama to good use.

Abigail took the buns out of the furnace right when I was done the roast beef.

“And done!”

“Thanks, just put it here.”

She laid out the buns and I shoved the beef between them.

She added some lettuce and tomatoes and plated them.

“Careful, they’re hot.”

“Yes yes.”

I took a small bite.

She wasn’t lying, these were definitely really hot.

As for taste? Eh, it’s alright. Would have been better if the beef was marinated. The buns were made by Abigail so of course those taste great.

But I think I cooked that beef pretty well.

“Thanks a lot, by the way.”

“It’s nothing.”

"It's my first time cooking meat so I'm sorry for burning it..."

She turned slightly pink as she looked down at her plate.

I guess she really didn't have much money to spare, huh.

“It’s fine, let’s do this again next time. I'll even teach you!”

“Yeah, thank you...”

I sat in my room, thinking.

Today, I saw my friends make fun of my other friend, and that same friend lied straight to my face.

Haha, I really don’t have an eye for people, huh. Then again, I can’t expect myself to agree with every word they speak, nor should I expect them to tell me everything.

Still, it kind of hurts, knowing your friend doesn’t trust you.

I say that when I can't even trust my own friends to not turn on me. What a hypocrite, huh.

I really am the worst.

Maybe it’s best to just be alone, maybe Abigail was onto something.....

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah I’m looking way too deep into this.

I shook my head in the pillow.

Whatever, I should just look forward to the future.

“Next time, huh…..”

I really hope there is a next time.

Author's note: Sorry I’m late. I got addicted to video games for a bit until I deleted a few and got back on track. Thank you so very much for reading. Chapter was also a bit longer than usual as well.