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Spring • 6 • 3 Well, figures

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The air was clear and fresh due to yesterday's rain, but it had lost its biting chill, and it was quite nice to be outside.

The rain and sleet had also eaten away most of the snow, but a few stubborn patches remained under trees and other sheltered places, frozen rock solid. While the sky was a tad overcast, diminishing the sun’s bright shine, the weather indicated no signs of getting worse. Josie was on her way to Brigspeel, driving her bike at a more leisurely pace this time - which didn't stop her damned hair from escaping her ponytail, as it always did after about a minute. The onyx strands were just too sleek for any scrunchie to get a good grip on them. She pulled up the hood of her parka with one hand and tried to brush the annoying wisps out of her face.

Nan had called ahead to the store via the landline and ordered a selection of wares along with a generous amount of food for Glubsch. The girl wondered if she would be able to transport everything on her bike, even with her trusted backpack and the pannier rack bags. She hoped dearly that she wouldn't have to go a second time. She had better things to do at home.

A few unyielding snow hills still speckled the awakening landscape, resisting their fate and clinging to their place, but everywhere Josie looked, she could already see new leaves and greens sprouting. Of course, her beloved snowdrops were all around, too, waving their bells at their crocus neighbours. She found them on about every front lawn as she entered the town proper, and they even dotted the small strips of grass separating the roads from the boardwalks. A few passers-by waved at Josie as she rounded the town square, and she smiled and greeted them back. When she reached Mrs. Wolfe's store, the spot where she used to put her bike was already taken. Five other ones already stood there in a loose row, and Josie sighed. She had a strong suspicion to whom at least three of the bikes belonged to, because the various sparkly hues of pink, purple, and violet were a very strong indicator. The other two were unfamiliar to her, but the colour scheme and build suggested they were boys' bikes. Nonetheless, Josie decided to enter; she didn't want to dawdle here and waste time - not when at home much more exciting things were waiting for her.

The familiar perfume of baked goods and a fresh brew of coffee greeted her, along with the friendly chime of the doorbell. As usual, the store was packed because many inhabitants of Brigspeel used to convene here on Saturday mornings. Josie knew very well that they didn’t just come for their weekend purchases, but also to gather for rounds of amiable gossip. They stood around the store in small groups and greeted her as she passed by - and to her, the whole scene had an odd, small-towny ritualistic feel. This was way too much attention for the girl's taste, but it couldn't be helped now. When Josie passed the sweets section, she saw her worries confirmed, all three of the Stefnies were browsing and looked up as she tried to slip by.

“Oh, it's the Messy Missy,” Lany huffed while her friends took their posts at her back.

“You here to steal some more, or do you have actual money this time?” the pretty girl said with contempt, a malicious glint in her eyes.

Josie bit her tongue and ignored the three girls, instead pressing on towards the counter, where Mrs. Wolfe just finished off with another customer. The three didn't follow her there, they tended to confine their “interactions” with Josie to places outside the watchful gaze of adults. They knew well enough how to keep up good appearances. It also wasn't until much later that Lany's words sank in, and their actual meaning registered with her.

“Good morning, Josie!” the shopkeeper welcomed her with a smile. The choice of the day's floral pattern on her apron was a rather gaudy pattern of small yellow blossoms on a blue background.

“I already packed most of the items your Nan ordered, but I haven't got around to the cat food yet. Store's packed, you see…” The woman absent-mindedly put away some items cluttering the counter, but soon looked back to Josie.

“It's fine, Mrs. Wolfe,” Josie mumbled. “Don't worry, I can get it myself.”

“Nonsense,” the woman shook her head. “With the amount your Nan ordered, you just let me call some help. You're here with your bike, aren't you?” Without waiting for an answer, she craned her neck a bit and looked around the store.

“Danny,” she called. “Come here for a moment, would you?”

A moment later, the boy rounded the corner from behind a row of shelves and headed towards them. A sheepish, sly smile played around his mouth as he greeted Josie. For some reason, he seemed to avoid meeting her eyes.

“Hey, Josie,” Danny muttered, then looked at Mrs. Wolfe. “You need something, Grandma?”

“Yes, dear. You can finish stocking the shelves later. Josie has to take a good amount of things with her, could you please help her get the rest of her order and take it out to her bike?”

“Sure,” he nodded, retrieved a shopping basket, and motioned to Josie. “What do you need?”

The girl nodded and went ahead towards the animal feed.

While they walked over, Danny eyed her sideways.

“Uhm, Josie. I wanted to thank you for the picture. It's - I mean, uhm…” he scratched his head.

“It's fine, Danny. Think nothing of it.” Josie said and looked at him plainly.

“No, you didn't have to do that. I really appreciate it - and I really like it. It's amazing.”

Josie smiled. She was glad to have made him happy, but didn't say anything else. She didn't know what to say.

“Uhm, can I ask you…” the boy started but looked to his feet.

When he continued to stare at the floor, Josie decided to move things along.

“Yes, Danny?”

“I, well, I really wanna know where you got the ideas? How do you know all that? Did you copy them from comics? I mean, there's got to be tons of stuff from shows and movies, and even games! I thought you only read books, you know, the boring kind with no pictures. Caleb and I tried to figure it out, but we just…” he blurted out and Josie had to chuckle.

While she stacked cans and kibble packs into the shopping basket the boy had put on the floor, she answered him. “No, Danny, I didn't copy it. I just like to draw and paint - and I have a lot of time to do it. But you're right, everything in that picture is from either games, shows, or movies. From my favourites, actually. But most is stuff I read about in my books, though. And yeah, the boring books with no pictures.” Josie explained and watched his eyes grow big.

“But, there's monsters and aliens…” he trailed off and seemed to be at a bit of a loss.

“Well, figures…” a new voice said, and Lany stepped into view. The other Stefnies followed her but didn't say anything. “She's strange, alright. Of course she likes strange stuff,” the girl stated, condescension in her voice and showing on her face. “You making sure she doesn't take anything that doesn't belong to her, Danny? Elly would just love to help you, you know?”

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The boy frowned and looked puzzled.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“She already tried to steal from you once,” Elly spoke up and moved closer to Danny.

“So, it was you then.”

The Stefnies turned around, and the five of them watched as Caleb rounded the corner of a shelf. Josie wondered briefly where he might have come from, but then remembered the boys' bikes outside.

“You ratted her out to Old Grumbly,” Caleb elaborated with a dark look on his face.

Josie wasn't quite sure about what was happening - but was vaguely glad that Caleb's anger looked to be directed at someone else.

“Caleb!” Lany gasped, her voice much softer and sweeter. “I would never, you know me - we're just trying to look out for you!”

Josie, still clueless about what was going on, studied the group's faces.

“What's going on here?” she enquired, but no one looked at her.

“Didn't you wonder, Josie?” Caleb asked. “There are only students in the group chat. So how could Mr. Groveny have known, unless someone told him?”

“Well, figures,” Josie spat, echoing Lany's earlier comment. It was stuck in her head - as new words or phrases often were, but this was a rather unfortunate circumstance for them to do so. Josie didn’t want Lany’s words. Unsure of what else to say, Josie just picked up the basket and turned on her heel. While she walked away, she could hear the group argue further.

“Caleb, I swear, we didn't do any - “

“No, Lany, I don't believe you. Did you know that all three of us got called to Grumbly? We got detention! So thank you very much…”

Leaving the others and their heated conversation behind, Josie plonked the basket onto the counter, startling nice Mrs. Wolfe, who then turned around to face her.

“Where's Danny, Dear? I thought he'd help you,” the woman said with a slight frown.

“Never mind, Mrs. Wolfe. I'm all done now, would you please ring me up? I really have to go,” Josie urged her on.

“No need, Dear, your Nan told me to put everything on Veilwood's tab. Let me just see what you got there…”

A moment later, everything was packed, and Josie hurried towards the exit with a mumbled thanks.

“Josie!” one of the boys called after her, but she didn't stop. She heard them close on her heel.

Outside, the furious girl began to just cram everything on her bike, but Danny and Caleb had already reached her.

“We didn't know,” Caleb said.

“It's all my fault,” Danny grumbled.

Josie shook her head but didn't say anything. Again, she didn't know what to say. She only knew that talking was dangerous now - tears were close, and she would be damned if she'd let the Stefnies see her cry. They were standing at the shop's entrance, looking out of the door's inserted window panel.

“Here, let me help you,” Caleb said and picked up the last shopping bag.

Josie had already stowed the contents of the others into her pannier bags and her backpack.

“No, I don't need help,” she replied through clenched teeth and tried to take the bag from Caleb. He avoided her and stuffed it into his bike rack with a swift motion.

“I'm sorry, but I can't come with you. I still gotta help out today,” Danny apologized and motioned back to the store. “Gotta repay Grandma for the cat food.”

“It's alright,” Caleb waved him off. “I'll go with her. Call you later if we're still on for movie night.”

Josie had no other choice but to get on her bike and let Caleb tag along. He had her things, after all. Her anger at the Stefnies didn't keep her from wondering what Caleb wanted. Again, he had involved himself, and she still didn't know why. Brigspeel - being the sleepy little town it was - allowed Caleb to ride beside her on the road, because there were no cars about. They travelled in silence and soon reached the outskirts of town. Caleb waved to her. With a frown, she glanced over to him.

“Where are we going?” he called, and Josie frowned.

“To my house,” she motioned towards the woods. “Don't you know?”

“You live outside of town? No, I didn't know that,” he answered and waved again.

“See over there? That's my home,” but Josie couldn't make out the exact one he meant.

It didn't matter, though, all the houses in that part of town were opulent homes; the new and modern buildings were surrounded by perfect lawns and manicured gardens while expensive-looking cars parked in the clean, paved driveways.

Great, she thought, and wondered how he would react to the comparatively chaotic and ancient Veilwood. They reached the intersection, passed Josie's bus stop, and moved onto the dirt road. Josie didn't dare look at Caleb. When they arrived at the overgrown driveway to Veilwood's grounds, she stopped and got down from her bike.

“Thank you, Caleb. I can take it from here,” Josie tried to brush him off, a queasy feeling in her stomach. All of a sudden, she was very aware and conscious of the differences in their backgrounds. Caleb wasn't so easily persuaded, though.

“Come on, we're almost there, aren't we? Now I might as well take you the rest of the way,” he dismissed her feeble attempt to get rid of him.

He dismounted his bike, too, and pushed it alongside her. They passed under the overhanging branches of trees and bushes, which formed a kind of natural archway. When they reached the open grounds and Veilwood House came into view, Caleb gasped. Josie feared he might look down on her home and say unkind things - but when she glanced at the boy sideways, she saw nothing but open curiosity on his face.

“This? This is where you live?” he asked, his mouth agape.

“Yes…? Why…?”

Caleb looked around and seemed to try to take everything in. “I didn't expect - this…” he trailed off.

Josie's heart sank. Now came the moment, now he'd say something mean.

“It's awesome!” Caleb called out and surprised her with a laugh.

A bit taken aback, she mustered him. His face was honest, his sterling grey eyes wide open with wonder, and he grinned. Maybe she had misjudged him.

“Is that one of these old school conservatories? I've seen them in movies! And there's no fence around the garden! What's - woah! You have a lake in your garden?“

“It's not a lake, it's a large pond, Caleb,” Josie chuckled.

“Yeah, whatever - it's a lake, alright. Hey, can I come in? Please? The house looks so great, I'd love to - oh, my god, I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to - I mean, I don't want to intrude…”

The boy’s blurt turned into stammering so suddenly that Josie had to laugh herself. She studied him again, thought for a moment, and shrugged her shoulders.

“Can you wait here, please? I'll ask my Nan if it's alright for you to come in.”

He nodded, flashed her a sheepish grin and shuffled his feet, turning his blushed face towards the ground. Josie gathered her bags and went inside through the backdoor, to tell a very surprised and slightly amused Nan about her visitor.

After a brief instruction about ground rules, Caleb was allowed in.

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