I returned home with a cheerful skip in my steps. I quietly sang to myself while I hung up my backpack and plopped down on the living room couch. I turned the TV on, and the news came on.

“How was school, honey?” My mom asked from the kitchen.

“It was okay.” I replied in a sweet tone.

“It sounds like you enjoyed it.” she chuckled.

“It was better than I thought it was gonna be.” I cheerfully replied.

“That’s very good to hear. I’m proud of you, sugar. Do you want to go back tomorrow?”

“Yes!” I replied with no hesitation.

“Hm~ I’m guessing something good happened?”

“I guess you could say that.” I blushed, “Oh! And thank you so much for my lunch. It was delicious!”

“That’s lovely to hear. I’m glad you liked it!”

I felt at peace finally being home and resting on the couch. I twisted my hair, watching the ceiling fan spin and thinking of Victor’s beautiful eyes and smile. I replayed the memory over and over in my mind, softly blushing to myself, remembering him lifting my chin and saying, “They’re not red, they’re pink!”

“He’s such a dork.” I said softly to myself.

“Who is?” I didn’t notice my Mom standing beside the couch, watching the news with me.

“I- um… well… no one~” I shamefully replied.

“You met a boy, didn’t you?” she smirked.

“Well, I- not like that! He’s just a friend!” I tried to hide my flusteredness.

Just then, breaking news interrupted us, “After three weeks missing, authorities have found a lost girl in the forests of Brightwood.”

“Could it be her?” suspense coursed through my blood, “But it’s been way longer than three weeks.”

“A five-year-old girl is finally reunited with her family. Here’s what eyewitnesses have to say.” She continued.

My hope shattered as she said this, “Why?” I bit my cheek to try to stop myself from crying.

“Thank you, Kim.” The reporter started, “I’m here, at the scene with Officer Rivera. Officer Rivera, how did you find this little girl?”

“We were packing up our supplies for the day when I felt the sudden urge to take one more look for the girl. I grabbed my flashlight and went down that path down there, and sure enough, the girl was walking without a care in the world. I tell you, she wasn’t crying, she wasn’t injured, she looked well-fed and looked like she had plenty to drink. I’m still shocked at how she could survive in a forest like this. I tell you, it gets down to ten degrees Fahrenheit by night, and we wear warm thermal jackets, and I still get cold! This girl was wearing nothing but her pajamas and was carrying her favorite teddy bear, Honey. It’s a miracle that she survived and that we found her.”

“What was the first thing you said to the girl?” The reporter questioned.

“The first thing said to her was, ‘How are you feeling, sweetheart? Your parents are looking for you.’” The officer adjusted his belt, “She was super happy to see me and hugged me and said something about a pretty lady taking care of her and helping her find her way to the officers. We asked her for a description of the lady but with no success. I searched around the area for the pretty lady but found no one. Was this her imaginary friend, or could it be an angel, or perhaps someone else was really out there? I couldn’t tell you, Tod.”

At this point, I muted the TV, “Well, good for her!” I choked on my tears and stomped to my bedroom.

“Honey, it’s okay.” My Mom tried to coax me back.

“J-just leave me alone for a little!” I sobbed.

I slammed and locked my door. I threw myself under my blankets, “Why can’t they find her? That’s all I want! Is that too much to ask for?”

I scrolled through old pictures on my phone. One in particular caught my eye. It was Vallory and me smiling together on one of our walks to school. Perhaps it wasn’t anything special to anyone else, but to me, it made me calm down. I stared into her lovely green eyes and admired her beautiful dirty blonde hair. I remembered her gentle laugh and how cute it was when she got grumpy. Tears fell onto my phone screen, making it bug out and swipe away the image.

“It’s just not fair!” I shouted into my pillow, “Please come back, Val! I need you!” My mind raced and the memory hit me again,

“This isn’t you, Ivy. Let’s get you cleaned up.” I remembered.

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I remember the teacher was an awful woman. She joked about my eyes too. She joked to the point where I was in tears. Why would a grown woman be so cruel to a little girl? It always confused me.

Val was the only one who thought my eyes were pretty, just like Victor. “Your eyes are unique, and you shouldn’t hide them!” her voice echoed in my mind.

“I know, Val,” I softly let out between sobs, “but everyone treats me like garbage when they see them.”

“That’s not true; a lot of people like them. You only focus on the ones who put you down. You have to stop, or you’re going to let them win.”

“I just wish I was normal, especially without you!” I waited for a response, “Val, are you there?” there was no answer

I sighed, picked up my phone, and opened Snapchat. I looked at my sad face and saw I ruined my eyeliner, “I have to stop wearing makeup.” I mumbled grumpily. I looked into my eyes, “Maybe they are pink… I always thought of them as red. Interesting~.”

I ran my fingers across the new cracks in my phone screen, “Should I even go back tomorrow?” I asked myself, looking at the dried blood under my fingernails, “I know it’s gonna be worse tomorrow. I shouldn’t have scritched up her face, and I shoulda at least washed my hands after.”

I got up from my bed after my pity party and ran to the bathroom to wash my hands. As the warm water washed away the surprising amount of blood under my nails I mumbled, “Wow, I really am a demon, geez!” I lathered my hands with the soap to ensure I did not catch any disease that girl had, “I-I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just trying to protect myself.” I whimpered.”

As I was washing up I listened to the TV from the bathroom, “And now, let’s see how the little girl and her family are doing. Back to you, Tod.”

“Thanks again, Kim. We’re now with the reunited family. Now, Mom, what was your reaction to this news?”

“I was overjoyed. I drove as fast as I could to the scene to finally meet my daughter again and gave her hugs like none tomorrow. I promised myself never to let her go outside unsupervised again.”

“And how does this make you feel?” The reporter asked.

“Happy!” The little girl replied joyfully, which made me choke on my selfishness.

“We heard you were led to officers by a woman, do you mind describing her for the folks at home?”

“She was pretty.”

“Okay, and what else?” the reporter tried to coax an answer.

“She looked like an angel.”

“Oh yeah? And what do angels look like?”

“They have blonde hair and wear white and gold and have pretty green eyes.”

“Say what-now!?” I dropped my brush in surprise, “Could that be… No! It couldn’t be, could it.”

I thought of Vallory’s appearance, “Well, she does have blonde hair and green eyes but that’s so vague, it could be anyone.” I mumbled. I thought about it for a few minutes and started to grow a nervous feeling in my stomach, “I’ll just take a bath, and maybe that’ll clear my mind.”

I drew a nice warm bath with lots of bubbles and stepped in. My muscles relaxed as soon as they touched the water, “Happy thoughts, Ivy, happy thoughts~” I sighed lowering the rest of my petite body underneath the bubbles. I lathered my hair with soap and let my thoughts go, “I wish I could feel like this forever!” I let out pleasurefully, “Nothing’s better than a warm bath after a stressful day!” I chuckled and let out a big stretch.

Suddenly, the door to the bathroom opened. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it was Victor, “What the freak?!” I screamed as he opened the door.

He blushed bright pink, and his eyes dilated in fright, “I-I’m sorry! Your mom said I could use the bathroom!”

“What are you doing here?!” I covered myself even though I was already covered with bubbles.

“You dropped your wallet when you ran away, and I tried to give it to you, but I couldn’t find you!”

“Don’t just stand there and have a conversation with me! Close the door!” I said while splashing soapy water in his direction.

After he closed the door, I sat in the bathtub in shock, “This day can’t get any worse, can it?” I sat in the bathtub for a few more minutes before rinsing and drying myself. I brushed my hair and tried to make myself look as pretty as possible before stepping out of the bathroom. I stepped out into the living room wearing a damp t-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts, not my best outfit choice for talking to a boy I really liked.

I saw my Mom and Victor were chatting together and sharing a couple of laughs. My eyes sparkled, seeing them getting along. I never had a boy over, especially under these circumstances, “Hello!” I greeted him with a cute smile.

His face was still red from earlier, and he greeted me with a charming smile of his own, “Sorry to come over unannounced. I thought it was important to give this back to you.” He handed me my wallet.

“Thank you! And, um… Don’t worry about it.” I nervously giggled, “It could’ve been worse. I could’ve been showering~.” I said while biting my cheek, hoping he wouldn’t think of me as a total pervert.

His eyes went wide again, “Uhm, yeah… That would have been a little more awkward.”

“What are you saying right now?” I bit my cheek harder, tasting little drops of blood that rolled down my tongue.

Suddenly, a thought came to my head, “Oh, Victor, I remember you said you liked forests and you’re new in town. How would you like me to show you around some of them perhaps after school tomorrow? Would that work out for you?”

His eyes grew wide with excitement as I mentioned this, “That would be great! Thank you for inviting me.”

“If you two do that tomorrow, please be careful and don’t separate from each other.” My Mom interrupted.

“Of course!” I agreed, “We’ll be fine. Vallory and I went for hikes all the time.”

“Well, I should really get going before it gets too late. I’ll see you tomorrow Ivy. And it was a pleasure to meet you, Ivy’s Mom.” he smirked.

We said goodbye but before he walked out the door he asked, “Oh, yeah! Ivy, can I get your number just in case something comes up before tomorrow?”

“Of course.” I happily agreed, and we exchanged numbers as I tried to keep my cool.

As soon as he closed the door and I heard his car drive off, I couldn’t help but let out my giggles. I blushed intensely thinking about him asking for my number, “He must really like me.” I fantasized.

“So, is that the boy you were talking about earlier.”

“Maybe~” I playfully replied.

I let out a big yawn and stretched my arms behind my back, “Welp, I think I’m gonna go to sleep. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

“Alright, dear. I love you, sleep well.”

“I love you too!” I shouted while I skipped to my room and slipped under my blankets.

I tried to sleep, but my legs couldn’t stop swinging under the sheets. I couldn’t stop thinking about how handsome he was and how I got his phone number.

“Oh, Val, you’d be so proud of me if you were here.” I said with happy tears running down my cheeks, “You always wanted me to talk to boys but I never had the courage, but now look at me!” I looked at her picture and stroked her hair through my screen, “I hope this doesn’t make me a weirdo.” I giggled while drifting off to sleep, being at peace with myself again.