Robynne sighed as she exited her room. “That was exhausting.”

Kara looked up from some cupcakes she was frosting. “How did it go?” Holy cow, she had a lot of different colors of frosting, all portioned out in individual bowls. She really was going all out.

“He’s coming,” Robynne said as she flumped her entire upper body onto the table. “But it was a chore to convince him I wasn’t really mad at him.”

Kara nodded. “That makes sense. Given what you said earlier anyway. Why wouldn’t he think you were mad at him? Especially if he’s bad with women. Plus, I doubt talking over a small chat window in a game would be the easiest way to work something like tha…” Kara trailed off as she noticed Robynne eyeing her cupcakes. Kara sighed, “You can take one cupcake if you help me frost the rest of these. I swear, you’re becoming as bad as Vivz.”

Robynne chuckled and stood up. “She makes a compelling case for a junk-food-only diet.” Robynne fished a knife out of the utensil drawer and got to spreading frosting on the tops of the plain cupcakes.

“She does not make a compelling case. She’s just far too self-amused that she’s getting away with it currently, and you’re just eating your feelings instead of healthily working out your various troubles. Whenever this is all over and you don’t have supermetabolism to rely on, you’ll balloon up to 200 pounds due to poor eating habits. Vivian will get to 250 for sure. I will use both of you as cautionary tales to my kids on why they need to eat their vegetables.” Kara sighed and frosted another cupcake. “Okay. Sorry. Rant over. Back to business. How did you convince Connor to come?”

Robynne shifted uncomfortably. “Wait, you think I’m eating unhealthily because I’m not dealing with my situation well?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so harsh… but yes. You eating junk food and locking yourself in your room isn’t a healthy way to deal with all of this.”

“It’s just how I deal with stress.”

“I’m sorry Robynne, but as your friend, I can’t let that go. This isn’t you dealing with stress. This is you self-medicating. I don’t fault you for doing it; heaven knows you need some form of outlet, and all this is forcing you to be more social than you want to be. You need to recharge your battery. But we both know that you’re doing it more than you should, and you’re doing it to avoid things you shouldn’t, like the situation with your uncle. It’s moved past healthy fun and into unhealthy avoidance.”

“I…” That stung. Robynne wanted to defend herself, to argue… but the words wouldn’t come out. She had been avoiding thinking about her uncle. She had been avoiding thinking about her future. Her life. She had been retreating to a digital world because she didn’t want to deal with the one that she actually lived in.

Kara groaned and put her knife down. “I’m sorry, Robynne. I didn’t mean for all that to come out. I just… I’m worried about you is all. I’m being a bit more indelicate than I should be. I’ve just been thinking about all this and… well… I sort of just spit out all my thoughts at once. That wasn’t fair of me to put that all on your plate all of the sudden. Especially when you’re trying to do right by this Connor kid and really putting yourself out there. Maybe… maybe we just go back to talking about Connor?”

Though she didn’t feel like a cupcake as much as before, Robynne continued to help Kara frost them. It was easy to dismiss Kara sometimes, but the young woman was far more observant than even Robynne had realized. She also clearly had been thinking quite deeply about Robynne’s situation. And Robynne could feel the sincerity radiating off of her. This was what a good friend should do, right? Call you on your fouls when you need it?

Robynne started spreading some yellow frosting on top of a bald cupcake. “Yeah, Connor. That’s… that’s a good idea. Well, um… I just did what you all said I should do and blamed the situation and not him. Hopefully he believed me.”

Kara placed two cupcakes into a plastic container. That girl had frosted two before Robynne had finished even one? “Yes, that’s a potential issue.” Kara gave a relieved smile, seemingly happy to move on from her earlier criticism. “I don’t have a ton of personal experience, but some of my brothers’ friends were like that. They just don’t believe in any good news and blame themselves for everything.”

“Well, I hope he figures it out. Between the Spirit Guard, cheer infiltration, actually trying to do well in my classes, and—oh yeah—having some semblance of a social life, I’m at my limit. I’m not qualified to take on a psych patient.”

Kara rolled her eyes and grinned at Robynne. “Oh, but I think we both know you will.”

Robynne blinked. “What?”

“If he reaches out for help, you’re totally going to help him. Even if you aren’t qualified. It’s what you do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Robynne grumbled.

Kara raised an eyebrow and smirked. “What do you mean, ‘what’s that supposed to mean?’ You know exactly what that is supposed to mean. You tried to fight Polygal with nothing but your bare fists. You stalled for time for Day LaMode. You sacrificed your entire life to join the Spirit Guard. You accepted a mission to infiltrat Cammy’s cheer operation despite being horribly underprepared, and are even making time to get Angela a social life again. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you trying to sneak her into SFEERS. You might be able to fool Noriko but you’re not sneaking that by me and Vivs.”

That last comment caught Robynne slightly off-guard. Though it was obvious in retrospect that her roommates might talk about her from the privacy of their own room, Robynne had never really given the idea too much thought.

“Point is,” Kara continued, “you can’t help but help. Maybe that’s the real reason you’re always hiding in your room. You’re worried you might rescue someone else.”

Robynne looked back down at her cupcakes and got back to frosting. “Just… someone has to do something, I guess. You’d have done the same.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I wasn’t asked to give up my entire life like you were. We’ll never know what we would have done on the road we couldn’t have taken. Point is, judging from past experience, you’re going to try to help this Connor guy out. It’s in your nature. It’s your most admirable trait. I was a little too cutting with you before, so let me just pay you that compliment.” Kara smiled her genuine, motherly smile that could melt the coldest of icebergs.

Robynne didn’t know what it was like to have a mother. She had always seen kids growing up and wondered what it had been like to have that positive female influence in her life. Uncle Taylor was awesome but… well, having Kara talking like this… it made her feel like maybe this was what having a mother might have been like. Reproving her when she stepped out of line, nurturing her better habits… would something like this—talking in the kitchen and frosting cupcakes together—have been normal had her mother been around?

Kara squinted. “Robynne? What’s wrong?”

Robynne willed her tears back. When had those formed? Stupid Kara. So donuted observant. This was all her fault. This was why Robynne played games alone. To avoid thinking about things like this. “Kara… I…” Robynne didn’t know what to say, but she didn’t want to tug on this thread. This was too close, too near to where her real insecurities lay. The ones she didn’t like to admit to even herself. So she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind that she thought Kara might buy: “Kara, you’re right… I… I’ve been avoiding some things. Things I shouldn’t. I don’t get… me.”

“You don’t get… you?” Kara’s eyes were focused completely on Robynne. Kara had a way about her that let a person know that when they talked, she was fully listening. But that also meant she might be able to see through Robynne’s lies. “What do you mean?”

“I…. I don’t know. I just…” She had to deflect. She didn’t want to talk about her parents. She never liked talking about them… no, she couldn’t let herself think about it. That would cause only more tears. “On one hand, yes. You’re right. I’ve been trying to get Angela a place where she can be social again. I… kind of thought no one would notice that but, yes, I just feel bad for her and thought this could help. And yes, you’re right, I’ll probably somehow be stuck trying to help NightKnight out because… because I get his way of thinking… but these things… they’re just… they feel like the exceptions to the rule. I feel like I’m not a very good friend most of the time.”

“Not a good friend? Where is this coming from?”

Was Kara buying this was what Robynne really was near to tear about? Robynne hoped so, because this was also true, just not as raw as… the other thing. “I… my uncle has clearly been trying to get in contact with me. Texting me more. And I… avoid it as much as I can. But it’s not just him. Stacy and even Lilly clearly have opened up to me and I just… I’m not good about being interested in their lives like they are mine. Cory and Eli clearly want to hang out more but I’d rather stay in my room because things get awkward when I’m around them because something inevitably comes up that makes me feel weird. Either Dale will show up or I’ll catch Cory accidentally eying my chest or Eli with a guilty look.

“Even you… you make so much food for me and I just… I don’t reciprocate. It’s like, how can I be so good at the big things like fighting monsters, but so bad at the little things that everyone else seems to understand? I’d much rather fight Day LaMode again than sit down in this room when you and Vivian are talking… it doesn’t make sense. Why am I willing to risk death in battle but not minor awkward social situations with people I consider my friends or family?”

Kara sighed and gave Robynne a hug. It was… more comforting than Robynne anticipated. She normally didn’t like Kara’s out-of-nowhere hugs but for some reason… for some reason it was welcome this time. Was this like how it would have been if her mother hadn’t died—no… why did that thought had to keep coming up?

Kara held the embrace for a few seconds before finally pulling back. “I don’t know why you’re so good with big things but not small things, Robynne. I won’t tell you I know. That would be disingenuous. How on earth could I claim to know you better than yourself?”

Robynne sighed, hoping it sounded more resigned than relieved. It seemed Kara had bought this was why she had been brought to near tears. Definitely only near tears. Not actual crying. Robynne didn’t like actual crying. “Yeah, I guess… I guess I sort of figured that… I don’t know.”

“This subject,” Kara continued, ‘is something Vivian and I have talked about before.”

“Wait, you have?”

Kara nodded and went back to her cupcakes. “Of course. It is a curious contradiction about yourself. But it’s a contradiction I’ve seen in a lot of boys. And given the lengths you’ve gone to, I’d say you more than most. You can be a veritable cornucopia of contradictions at times.”

“You think?”

Kara nodded. Another cupcake was done in a quick moment and the icing was perfectly even. Part of Robynne wondered if Kara was some sort of baking ninja; certainly Noriko would be proud of how quickly and precisely the bluenette worked. “Well, it’s hardly a study, but my brothers are very self-sacrificing too, but sometimes struggle with the smaller parts of a relationship. They never did the best job at paying attention to me.

“Being the youngest in a big family and being the only girl… well my brothers didn’t relate to me very well. They’d often be a bit more aloof with me, clearly unsure how to relate to someone that didn’t want to wrestle with them. I think that’s one of the reasons I loved baking so much; the best way to get my brothers to pay attention to me was to bring them treats. Everybody always loves treats.”

Robynne chuckled, finally finishing another cupcake. “No argument there.” Why couldn’t she get the frosting as even as Kara? “That’s… remarkably self-reflective of you.”

Kara laughed, “Vivian’s been my best friend for a few years. Sort of hard to not delve far too deep into your own psyche if you’ve been around her long enough.”

Robynne nodded, thinking of the litany of self-introspective conversations that happened around the ball of energy that was Vivian. “Tell me about it.”

“She has a way of just worming herself into your psyche, huh?”

“How on earth have you survived mentally, knowing her for years?”

Kara shrugged and put a lid on another box of cupcakes. Holy sugar, she had three boxes already and looked like she planned at least one more. “She’s like a drug: you build up a tolerance to her after a while. Soon she becomes just the background noise of your life.”

“There is nothing background about her noise. I still don’t get how something so small can have a voice that carries like that.”

Taking Robynne’s cupcake and giving it a quick touch up, Kara chuckled. “That’s one of her big contradictions. But you were the subject of conversation. I don’t know why you’re better on the big things than the small things. Likely the reason for that is a knotted mess of childhood issues related to genetic predispositions, how you were raised, whatever issues you faced in school, maybe a little bit of the fact that you didn’t have a positive female influence in your life after your grandmother passed, and—oh yeah—the insane Greek-tragedy-mixed-with-an-anime-subplot that has been your life for the past few months. Or maybe everything I just said is armchair psychologist nonsense. The thing about it, Robynne, is that why you’re like this doesn’t actually matter all that much.”

“You think?”

“I know. Knowledge is super overrated.”

Robynne snorted, “I think the entire college would disagree with you on that.”

Kara shook her head firmly, her eyes set with a determination of a woman that would not be knocked off her point. “They can disagree with me all they want. I’m right on this. Obviously you need a certain level of expertise and knowledge to perform tasks. But once that minimum is hit, the knowledge basically doesn’t matter. Think about it. Everyone knows the key to maintaining weight is a healthy diet but they gorge on fast food anyway. Everyone knows the key to financial success is to spend less than they make but they put everything on credit anyway. Everyone knows the key to a healthy relationship is spending time together but they stare at their phones anyway. Everyone knows they should exercise to stay fit but they sit on their couches anyway.

“So knowing why you are better on big things than small things? Maybe if you spend a lot of time in therapy you might be able to work that out… but will that knowledge change your behavior?”

Robynne stopped frosting for a moment and considered. “I… hadn’t thought of it like that… maybe, but…”

“But probably not?”

“But probably not.” Robynne agreed, and deflated like a balloon. “Wow. That became super depressing super fast.”

With a shrug, Kara went back to her confectionary decorating. “Doesn’t have to be. I find stuff like this super motivating.”

“You do?”

“Sure! It makes me realize I don’t need to know why I do things. So I stop worrying about how I got somewhere and instead focus on how to get where I want to go. It’s like dropping weight off my back to not worry about the past. I just need to do the things that improve my situation. The ‘why’s tend to sort themselves out. I’ve found that focusing on the solution rather than the problem tends to lead to more solutions. And I know you agree with me.”

“I do?”

“Of course you do. You say the same things all the time when you’re playing your game. You verbally demean people who complain about things like game balance instead of focusing on how to win. This is just that, but in real life.”

“Huh. Hadn’t thought of it like that.” Robynne knew she was mostly right. Not completely, but mostly. In the back of her mind, Robynne knew she personally did need to sort out a few “why”s if she was going to move forward… but she didn’t want to think of that right now. “So what do you think I should do?”

Kara shrugged and frosted the last cupcake. “You want to improve your friendship with Lilly and Stacy? Accept their invitations to do things on occasion, even if it’s incredibly girly. You turn down enough kind offers people will stop extending them. People don’t like feeling rejected. Besides, could help you figure out the kind of woman you want to be.

“Want to solve your touching issues? Guess what, gotta get at least a little used to letting people touch you. Maybe even sit on a couch and watch something with Vivian and not push her away when she gets cuddly. You won’t solve your touching issues inside the defenses of your room behind the shield of your computer screen.

“Want to feel less guilty over mooching off my generous cooking? Offer to help me cook once in a while. I love cooking and baking. You think I won’t love to share my art with someone? I would love—I repeat, love—to teach you how to cook.” Kara smirked and put the last cupcake in a container. “Besides, eventually you’ll need to learn to cook for yourself.”

Robynne frowned, “What are you talking about? I can cook for myself. I’ve done it for years. My uncle didn’t make everything.”

“Dear,” Kara gave Robynne a flat look, “you do not know how to cook. I’ve seen your so-called cooking efforts when I’m not here. You just follow the instructions on the back of a box. Saying you know how to cook is like someone who puts together furniture from Nordic Direct claiming they’re a carpenter.”

“Ouch.”

“I’m serious, you should learn to cook regardless of the fact that you feel guilty about mooching.”

Robynne rolled her eyes. “Why? Because I’m a girl now?”

Kara rolled her eyes right back, “Oh right, because cooking is such a feminine skill. Even though the head chef in practically every cooking show is a dude. Seriously, think about it: Kitchen Timer, Hot Bakes, Into the Fire… all of them are headed up by guys. No, you need to learn to cook because you’re an adult who prides herself on self-sufficiency. Besides, someday you might work out your intimacy issues, and you think your partner, male or female, wouldn’t love a home cooked meal on occasion? Nothing says ‘I love you’ like food!”

Robynne stared at Kara for a long moment before sighing. “You’ve been preparing that speech for a while, haven’t you?”

Kara beamed and stacked up her plastic containers of sugary joy. “Not that exact speech, but something like it, yeah.”

With a shake of her head, Robynne smiled and took a stack of the containers. “You are going to be a good mother.”

“Please,” Kara scoffed, “I’m going to be an incredible mother. I already have it all planned out. But you’re deflecting. Thanks for being willing to carry a stack.”

“It’s no big deal.”

The pair exited their dorm and started the march up to campus proper. “So what are you bringing for food to share?”

Robynne sighed and rolled the shoulder her satchel bag was on. “I, uh… I’m just bringing a two-liter of Pep MD soda… not going to lie, kinda feels lame now that you’re bringing all this… so, like, were you serious about teaching me to cook?”

“When am I not serious about cooking? Of course I was serious.”

Robynne grimaced. It was a good idea. Uncle Taylor had not done a good job in this regard. Both Robynne and her uncle were fine around a grill, but actual cooking… they couldn’t do much more than a simple casserole. “I might have to take you up on that.”

“A great idea… for after this next week of insanity.”

“Yeah.” Robynne hid her face behind the stack of tupperware she carried. Even with that shield, she could feel Kara’s eyes studying her.

“Maybe we should focus on tonight though. Lots of issues.”

“Yeah. Good idea.”

“Obviously, for you the goal is to scan Dale, Eddie, and Connor. Preferably separated so you can get a feel for all three.”

Robynne nodded. “I think it might be a good idea to see if I can get them together too. Maybe their auras will react oddly to one another.”

“Why would they react oddly to one another?”

Robynne shrugged. “Magnets act weird around other magnets. Maybe bigger auras do too?”

Kara squinted. “I suppose they might. Though, I mean, I’ve never noticed your and Angela’s auras reacting to one another. Then again, maybe I’m just not sensitive enough to notice and it’s hard for you to sense your own aura mixing with hers?”

“Could be. It’s why I want to see.”

“Okay, that’s the situation with the boys. What about Stacy?”

“What about Stacy? Stacy’s a social butterfly. She’d make friends in Hell itself.”

“Of course she’ll be fine. What I’m asking about is our practice for girl talk.”

Robynne winced. “We doing this right now?”

“No, we’re waiting until after you have to talk to her. Of course we’re doing it now! When else would we do it?”

“I was hopin’ that, ‘never,’ might be an acceptable option.”

“It’s not. So, Stacy will likely be waiting outside away from the entrance to wait for us or Vivian to walk in. When she sees you she’ll likely compliment you in some way. What are you supposed to do?”

Robynne closed her eyes, trying to remember the lessons in girl-talk Kara had given her. “Thank her. But deflect the compliment back onto her, especially if it’s something she worked hard on. I should look for obvious things like makeup or hair.”

“Good. But we both know you haven’t been keeping good track of that, so maybe her t-shirt. Knowing her, she likely went out and bought a nerd shirt for this.”

“You think?”

“I’d bet one of my cupcakes on it.”

“Wait, so if you’re wrong I get a cupcake? What do you get if you’re right?”

“Smug satisfaction,” Kara said with a playful twinkle in her eye.

“I see… well I won’t turn down that bet. I, frankly, love bets where I risk nothing.”

“Good. Only a fool turns down a free win.” Her playful tone disappeared, “Back to business though: Dale. You’re going to have to deal with him. I’m not letting you avoid this tonight.”

“Fiiiiine,” Robynne groaned, “I’ll… try to use Stacy to help me figure out how to introduce him to Lilly.”

“Or you could just do it yourself.”

“I think we’ve seen that I can’t.”

“I would argue that we’ve seen that you won’t.” Kara let her words hang in the air for a bit before continuing, “C’mon Robynne. You were a guy. You know how much it sucks to be left hanging by a girl.”

“Kara, I really don’t. I only ever tried to date one girl and she said, ‘yes,’ so I’m kind of in the dark here.”

“Oh.” Kara’s lips drew into a line. “I need to do a better job remembering how limited your relationship experience is. Well, take my word for it. I’ve seen my brothers go through it. It’s not fun. Dale likely feels like you keep nibbling around his fishing line. Cut bait and let him loose.”

“That’s backwards, Kara. The fisherman is the one who cuts bait and lets the fish loose.”

“Don’t focus on my bad metaphors,” Kara giggled. “You know what I mean.”

“I do. I promise I’ll make it happen tonight… but I’m going to try to use Stacy to do it first. She’ll do it better than me.”

Kara nodded, seemingly okay with it now that she had a promise. “Good. Now what about that GalleyGirl… uh… Girl. She’s the cosplayer, right?”

“What about her?”

“She’ll be in costume, yes?”

Where was Kara going with this? “Probably…”

Kara glanced over, with some confusion in her face. “Didn’t you say she is trying to get you to join in copslaying with her?”

“Yeah?”

“So… won’t she disappointed you aren’t showing up in costume?”

Suddenly, Kara’s concern made sense. Kara wasn’t a true nerd. She was nerd-adjacent. Here was an area where, for once, Robynne understood a woman better than Kara did. “Costumes are a big what-to-do. She’s been trying to get me to join in. She doesn’t actually expect me to be dressed up in a costume. Especially because I’ve been point blank swatting that idea back to half court.”

“And that doesn’t hurt her feelings?”

“I don’t think so,” Robynne admitted. “I mean, she’s pretty overly persistent. I think she’s used to people balking at her… intensity.”

“Oh good.” Kara exhaled with relief. “I don’t really know how this cosplaying worked.”

“Yeah, she’s… something else.”

“And here I thought that was just how all cosplayers were.”

“Nope. She’s her own breed of cult-ish about it. I’ll just treat her the way you’ve trained me to do with all other girls. Accept a compliment, deflect attention back to her. Knowing her costumes, I’ll try to pick out some detail she probably put a lot of work into that no one would notice.”

Kara grinned. “You think you’ll know what she’s dressing up as?”

“Doubtful,” Robynne admitted. “She’s into obscure anime that I’ve never even heard of. But detail work is detail work. I’m sure I can spot something. And if I can spot it, heaven knows you can spot it.”

“That’s a good point.” Kara relaxed a little. “And I’m glad to see our lessons are paying off.”

“I still think it’s stupid,” Robynne admitted. “All the rules and rituals.”

“Oh, it’s the same with boys,” Kara protested. “It’s just that you’re used to all the rules and rituals. Instead of compliments boys insult one another and if you hate each other you don’t say anything at all. If you were born a girl, you wouldn’t even have to think about this. Frankly I don’t think about any of this. It’s natural to me. It’s just that dealing with your unique situation has required me to figure out just how it works. It’s like explaining a joke: if you have to think about it doesn’t work.”

“Fair enough.” Robynne was just glad Kara hadn’t asked how she was going to deal with NightKnight. That, she was definitely avoiding thinking about. She figured she’d have to change the topic to avoid it. “So, you seriously thinking about baking as a side business?”

Kara grinned, shaking her plastic boxes a little. “I’d love for it to be a full business. I know it sounds a little arrogant but I really do think my cooking is something people would pay for.”

Robynne smirked and shook her head. “It’s not arrogant at all. You have taste buds. You know your food is amazing. I think people should pay too… just, you know, not me. I really like this arrangement where I get to eat for free when you’re feeling generous.”

Kara laughed. “Honestly, I’d love to own a bakery of my own… no, strike that. Bakeries are back-breaking work. I’d like to have a sweet shop of my own. Don’t have to wake up at four in the morning that way.”

“Four in the… are you serious?”

Kara nodded, a haunted look in her eyes. “I worked at a bakery one summer to get experience.” She shivered. “The city is so quiet that early. And so dark… and I was just always so tired.”

“I’ll bet… so how does a sweet shop work?”

“Well, you sell something sweet and simple. Probably a mix of cookies and brownies. You keep your menu super limited but rotate through your menu items regularly, about once a month, I figure.”

“Rotate through?”

“Well yeah,” Kara said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I mean, okay, you have to have one or two items you always have available. Probably chocolate chip cookies and a normal brownie. But if you only ever serve the same stuff, people eventually stop coming because there isn’t enough variety. You could solve that by having an enormous menu, but then you can never prep ahead of time. My solution would be to maybe only offer six to eight items but other than the chocolate chip and regular brownie the others would be unique each month. That way, no matter what, there is always an excuse for the customer to come back and see what is new.”

The more she talked, the more cheerful her voice got. Robynne had seen Kara get excited before, but never with such… purpose. It was clear she had put a lot of thought into this. “The other reason it’s good is you can make them in huge batches. I mean, like, gallons of dough at a time. And easily teach the recipes each month to the people working there. It’s harder to ruin big batches than smaller batches. More room for error.”

“I’m certainly not going to argue with that math.”

Kara smirked at that. “Of course that is what gets your attention.”

“Cookies and margins of error? What’s not to love?” Robynne blinked and then chuckled to herself, immediately hating herself for the joke that entered her mind.

“What?” Kara asked.

“Ugh… just lamenting that Vivian has clearly infected my brain.”

“Let me guess,” Kara said wickedly, “‘margarine of error’?”

Robynne blinked. “How did you kno… this is bad. Vivian has clearly infected us both.”

Kara shrugged, “I’ve been hanging with her since high school. You have no idea the bad puns I’ve had to hold back on for fear of her thinking she’s won.”

“I see… is there any hope for me then, or am I doomed?”

“Doomed, I’m afraid. Once she gets in there’s no fixing it. You’ll be stuck coming up with terrible puns forever.”

“Dastardly!”

“Dastardly, indeed!” Kara giggled in agreement. “Regardless, it’s all a pipe dream for now. It takes a mountain of start up cash to set up a place like that. The equipment is the biggest expense, but the location is a problem too. I’d want to be near a college or high school. Somewhere I could get young people who are eager to impulse purchase gourmet cookies. And rent on that place would be expensive. Plus it needs to be themed well.”

“Themed?”

“Of course. A good theme is a must. Plus, I need to have a way to pump the smell of the building outside. Make it hard to resist coming in, right?”

“Wow, you just might be evil.”

Kara giggled, but ignored Robynne’s jest. “Ideally I’d like to be next to another type of store that people come by often. Maybe a salon or something like that.”

Robynne smilted, looking at the boxes of cupcakes she held in her hand. “Why cookies and brownies and not cupcakes?”

“Cupcakes require more skill. Cookies are more sturdy so if you have to frost them then even someone who isn’t as good with frosting can’t really ruin them. I can’t be there twenty-four/seven so I have to make sure to consider the employees too. Keep it as simple as possible.”

Robynne whistled. “I have to say Kara, you’ve really got this planned out.”

“Thanks,” Kara said, beaming. “But, for any of that to be possible… I don’t know. I’ll need a lot of money. I’m thinking of taking business classes too.”

“What about nursing? That’s your current major.”

Even if she hadn’t been able to feel Kara’s aura shrink a little, Robynne could have read the tension in Kara’s body at that question. Her friend’s casual shrug was an obvious lie of nonchalance. “We’re still freshmen. It wouldn’t be a big deal to change if I needed to.”

Now this was an interesting development. “I thought you really wanted to heal people.”

Kara’s head bobbed side to side, like she was trying to weigh her thoughts in her head. “I don’t know. I mean, I obviously like to help people but… I don’t know… I’ve been thinking a lot about my future and… nurses don’t get to choose their schedules. And once I started having kids… that’s not an easy career to have. If I did this baking idea… I could still be a stay-at-home mom and run this side business.”

Robynne nodded nervously. This was something she had never thought about. Relationships in general were something Robynne rarely considered, but even less so as a woman. She had never thought about being a stay-at-home anything, let alone a stay-at-home mother. But Kara… of course she would think ahead this far. Kara was wiser than almost anyone she had ever met. She’d carefully think about all this.

“Wow. That’s uh… yeah. That’s a… whole thing I guess.”

Kara cringed. “Sorry, that got heavy fast. I don’t know. I guess… I guess since Eli and I started dating more formally I’ve been thinking about this stuff.”

That caught Robynne’s attention. “You two are already talking about marriage?”

Kara rolled her eyes. “Of course not. We’ve barely known each other for a month.”

“And yet you’re already thinking about your future with him?”

Kara shook her head. “No. I’m thinking about my future. You can’t start thinking that far ahead this early in a relationship. That’s putting way too much weight on a bridge that hasn’t even been built yet.”

Robynne shrugged, pushing down a blush. “Yeah. I thought so… I just thought… I don’t know. I’ve never… you know.”

Kara smiled her warm, motherly smile. “I know. You’ve never had a serious relationship before. Moreover, neither did your father figure. Relationships would’ve been an odd topic for you before all…” Kara eyed a random pair of students who walked past the pair, “… all this.”

Both of them waited for the ther students to be out of earshot before continuing. “Can I ask you an uncomfortable question, Robynne?”

“What questions are comfortable?”

Kara smiled, but in a nervous way. “What’s the deal with your uncle? Why didn’t he ever get married?”

Robynne took a deep breath and sighed. “I wish I knew, Kara. I mean… I asked him a few times but he didn’t like talking about it. He went on dates here and there but never anything serious. I think… I think he didn’t want to let me know it, but I think part of it was that he always felt weird coming into the relationship with a kid already.”

“Divorced people with kids get married all the time.”

“I know… but I think that’s the issue. I’m not his son, I’m his nephew… er… well…”

“Don’t dwell on that,” Kara cautioned.

“Right… anyway. I just think it added an extra layer and… well… he can be like me at times.”

“Intimacy issues?”

“Oh… I uh… I don’t know about any of that. I just mean… we… we’re both kind of private. Content maybe is the better word. It’s… you get comfortable living your way; it becomes hard to share your life, you know?”

“I suppose…”

“Plus, well, he started taking care of me when he was, like, twenty-two. Living with me and Grammy… I don’t know… I think he felt weird about dating too with his mother there for years. And now, I think, he feels weird bringing a woman into his mother’s home.”

Kara shook her head. “Did you ever ask him?” She gave Robynne a look that made her uncomfortable. “Nope. Of course not. Actually talking through things? Not for Robynne.”

“In retrospect… we maybe internalized too many things.”

“You think?”

“We… it’s not like we knew what we were doing. Both of us were flying blind. We didn’t know how to be good at being a family… when… when Grammy died, I don’t know… we lost something.” Robynne sighed, thinking back to her Grammy. Stern but sweet. She missed her. Donut it. She had to fight these tears. What was wrong with her? She normally was better at pushing these feelings down. Why could Kara pull these things out like weeds?

“I’m sorry. I…” Kara backpedaled, looking mortified. “I… I didn’t mean to imply your uncle was bad at parenting. I was just… I guess I was being insensitive. Being the youngest girl of seven, well, my family is basically the opposite of yours. I find it fascinating. I should have thought about it more. I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories.”

Robynne did her best to try and blink away her tears. “It’s fine,” she lied. “I need to be thinking about this anyway. This stuff… it… well… it’s bound to come up when I see my uncle.” There it was again. That pit in her stomach that was tying itself in knots. Her uncle would be here soon. Soon there wouldn’t be any more secrets… soon… he’d either believe her or wouldn’t.

Would accept her or reject her.

“Roby! Kare!” Robynne had never been more happy to hear Stacy’s voice. Another stay of execution. Another distraction to avoid thinking that dark thought. That dark thought she knew was wrong, foolish, and hyperbolic. Yet, despite the fact she knew it wasn’t so… it wouldn’t go away. It gnawed at her soul and pushed her to, for just one more moment in a month-long sequence of just-one-more-moments, delay a little longer.

Thank you very much to this chapter’s producers Amanda Dragonfly, Darkangel562, and Short Fuse! This wouldn’t get done without you!