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P2 - Chapter Eighteen

October 28th, 2020:

I have been going to school for the past couple of days, and I managed to catch up on all my missing homework with the help of Qibli and my friends. Even though I couldn't stop thinking of Mother, Morrowseer has been calling me much more often to check in on me. Now, he had to work harder than ever to pay for Mom's hospital bills and our house bills. The only reason why I was staying with Qibli was because Thorn and Qibli didn't want me to feel lonely in my house by myself while my mother was in the hospital recovering.

I was grateful for it–I really was.

"So, my place?" Kinkajou asked as we all walked out of the school. Winter was texting someone on his phone while Qibli was busy trying to provoke him. "Moon's never been."

"I actually haven't," I agreed thoughtfully. "Huh. I've only ever been to Turtle's house and Qibli's house. Never yours or Winter's."

"Thankfully," Winter grumbled. "Because wherever you go, Qibli goes, and Qibli's annoying."

"Annoyingly lovable?" Qibli interjected hopefully.

"No," Winter said flatly. "Just annoying."

"You two should just get married at this point," Kinkajou said with a playful eye roll as she linked arms with Turtle. The beaming sun beat down on all of us, and it was unusually warm for October. "It's adorable. Qibli expresses his undying love for Winter and Winter acts like he doesn't feel the same way."

"I don't," Winter snapped, lifting his gaze from his phone to glare up at Kinkajou.

"Right," Kinkajou said skeptically. "Anyway, I was thinking after we finished our homework, maybe we could head out to the skating rink that was just built half an hour away. I thought it'd be fun to try it out."

"Even though I know how to, I could never see myself skating," Turtle said as we walked across a crosswalk.

"I could," I said happily. "You could totally be, like, an ice-skating worldwide champion. Wouldn't that be cool?"

Turtle shrugged, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his hoodie. "I mean, I guess. But skating isn't really in my favor."

"I think we should try it," Winter suddenly said, which surprised all of us. "It could be fun."

"You actually want to do something fun?" Qibli asked, astonished. "What happened to the cold, hostile Winter we all know and love?"

"He's in hibernation," Kinkajou piped up. "But Winter's actually pretty good at skating. I went skating with him a few years back, and he didn't fall once!"

"Dignified people don't simply fall," Winter said gruffly.

"Well, he fell once, but that was my fault," Kinkajou said, and Winter sent her a weary glare.

"Kinkajou..." Winter warned.

"But then it got really awkward," Kinkajou continued, not catching the warning Winter gave her. "Because I accidentally slipped and fell into him, and then we were just staring at each other, and then we kissed. Although, we promised not to tell anyone what happened or else Winter claimed he would kill me." She paused as my jaw dropped and Turtle raised a skeptical eyebrow. She turned to Winter. "Oh, no! I'm sorry! I totally forgot!"

He growled in annoyance as he closed his eyes.

"This was before I realized I liked you," Kinkajou quickly said to Turtle. "Before we got together."

"It's fine," Turtle said off-handedly. He seemed more amused than mad, trying not to laugh.

"You guys kissed?" Qibli exploded. "Woah, Winter, I didn't know you were in love with Kinkajou."