Page 44 of Withered

She bends down and says, “Hello, dear. What can I get you?”

Aria peers at me with her big blue eyes. I give her a tiny little nod, and she grins back.

She turns to Granny and says, “Strawberry.”

Aria is like the little sister I never had. In only a few short days of knowing her, I’ve come to realize we’re more alike than I would have known.

Granny smiles at her, then looks at me. “Usual?”

I nod. “Yes.”

As she wanders off, we find a place to sit. There is a bench that is a little higher, so I help Aria first and slide next to her.

Granny comes after a few minutes with two cones in her hand. She hands the strawberry one to Aria, the cone being a little too big for her. My mind drifts back to when Jake said my hands were tiny. I shake his thoughts away.

My usual is the ultimate chocolate chip cookie dough. I loveit. Apart from my litchi drink, which I can take at any time, this is the only thing I can eat at any time, anywhere.

Aria is happily licking her ice cream—well, her face, her stuffed toy long forgotten.

“Were you in Jakey’s room yesterday?” Aria asks suddenly.

I freeze on the spot, my tongue hanging in the air, as I'm in the middle of licking.

My cheeks flush as if I were caught, and I am. “What are you talking about?”

“I heard your laugh,” she says, looking lost in thought as I try to keep my expression the same. “I must’ve been dreaming,” she says again before I can react. “Your laugh is nice.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, then panic. If Aria heard me, there is a high chance Esme heard me too.Oh no. I’m so screwed.

I’m so deep in my thoughts that I’m not sure when I finished my cone. Aria is almost done and is now licking her face. I burst out laughing and grab some tissues to wipe her face. We walk back to Granny to pay, then return home, holding her tiny hand.

At nine years old, Aria is quite energetic. She doesn’t get tired easily; that’s what I understand.

Aria rushes into the living room as soon as I open the door to my house.

“So, what do you want to play?” I follow her.

She comes to a halt on the couch and turns to face me. “We will watch TV.”

It’s ideal for me because I don’t have the energy to play.

I grab the remote and ask, “What do you want to watch?” I remember the last time she watched Discovery.

“Anything,” she says, taking a seat on the couch.

“Have you watchedFrozen?” I ask her.

She brings her brows together and shakes her head.

“Okay. We’re watchingFrozenthen.” I murmur as I turn on the movie and sit next to her.

She moves in closer and puts her arms around me just as the movie begins. My face breaks into a smile, and I wrap one arm over her as well. I think I’ve found my‘Anna’.

Watching a movie with Aria is way more fun than I thought it would be. She keeps asking me to build a snowman with her, and when I decline, only because there was no snow, she gets all teary-eyed. I'm about to drop her off when it's getting late, but Esme beat me to it when I was locking the door.

Family night with Mom and Dad was wonderful. It’s great when we’re all together. We put a barbecue in the garden and had dinner under the stars. The night is all about us catching up and having fun.

Mom and Dad keep telling me to loosen up, have fun, and party like teenagers. Why are people asking me to relax? And why are parents this way? They tell us to stay home if we party a lot, and they want us to go out if we stay home.

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