The light bulb hanging from her ceiling gave a harsh white lite, making it uncomfortable to read the textbook. But the sunlight didn't reach her window, so there was no choice but to turn on the light, even in the middle of the day.

Renata turned to lie on her stomach, shielding herself from the glare of the bulb, and accidentally knocked the brown paper bag from the jewellery store off her side table.

With a sigh, she put her book down and got off the bed to retrieve the bag, finding it stuck behind the table and out of her reach.

She shouldn't have put it on the table; indeed, she should give it to Millie days ago. But it had been so awkward between Renata and her. She wanted to ask what her problem was, but since the person was always avoiding her, what could she do? Renata finally succeeded in grabbing the bag when the door swung open. It was another awkward situation as her butt was in the air when whoever that was opened the door.

Renata quickly stood up and turned around to see it was Millie; she was still avoiding her as Millie glanced away. Renata pushed the table to its original position and laid down on her stomach again to continue studying. She thought that if this was what Millie wanted, she would honour it. It wasn't like Renata did anything wrong to her, or that she owed Millie anything.

She put on her Sennheiser PXC 450 and listened to her iPod Touch. Her eyes might have seemed to read the sentences, but her brain bounced those sentences out. Renata had probably read the same page for the past hour, but nothing entered her head. Her mind was occupied by her conversation with Wilson yesterday. He was adamant about telling James about Meghan. He was determined to reveal the truth about Meghan-Lyle no matter what opinions she uttered. Well, at least he agreed to do it after the exam. She heard from Wilson that they had been dating for almost half a year. It wasn't that long, and maybe James wouldn't hurt that badly when he knew. Even if his heart wasn't, it should have wounded his pride (?); he was a guy, after all.

All these doubtful thoughts were agitating her. If only she had someone(Millie) listening to her suspicion, sharing their opinions on this would help calm her mind. James was like her older brother she never had; it irate her to know what Meghan did to him. But was her suspicion correct? What if her deduction was wrong? She didn't have any actual proof, after all. What if James hated her? What if James and Wilson become enemies because of her? She rolled around like a rolling pin in frustration. She grabbed her BlackBerry and started texting.

Renata : o(>< o)

Wilson : Yes?

Renata : What if James hates me?

(TT﹏TT~)

Renata : What if you two become enemies because of me?

\(!!˚☐˚)/

<(oAo)>

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Wilson : Renata, can you please not think about this again? You better put your mind to the upcoming test.

Renata :

ε＝ε＝ε＝ε＝ε＝┌┤￣￣(00)￣￣├┘

Wilson : Is that your nose? Your nose has big holes.

Renata :

(/+o=o)/~┻━┻

Wilson : Seriously, don't mind it too much. Everything will be fine, including James. Don't forget to put some ointment on.

Talking to Wilson somehow put her off the edge and reminded her of when he touched her calves. Renata always blushed when she remembered it. It didn't make her heart beat so fast, but close enough. He never touched her anywhere else besides her arms or shoulders. She grabbed the ointment tube from her shelf; she forgot to apply it this morning.

Millie came closer to her when she was about to apply the ointment. "Can I help?" Renata handed over the ointment tube to her.

Renata was lying face down and waiting for what she was going to say to her. The only thing that had made a sound so far was the tree branches knocking on their windows. Millie's fingers traced each welt carefully as if they would bleed when she put too much pressure on them. "It never bleeds," Renata told her.

"What?"

"My skin, it never broke. So they never bleed. Your finger didn't do anything to the welts; you need to apply the ointment with more power. Like this." Renata grabbed her index finger and guided it with her own hand.

"I'm sorry."

"That's alright. My skin will absorb the ointment either way."

"That's not what I meant. I'm sorry for shutting you out."

"Oh..." Renata paused briefly before replying, "Why did you do that?"

After Millie had finished helping her, she closed the ointment tube again before returning it to Renata. "I was.... I was so shocked. I knew you are from a well-off family, but it never occurred to me you are 'that' rich. I am a nobody. I thought I was not worthy enough to be your friend. " She was so close to tearing up, Renata gaped her mouth open.

Renata hugged her and patted her back. "I'm not mad or anything. I was just wondering why you suddenly avoided me. And as long as you are not fake-friending me, I will like you as my friend. My friendship is not measured by how thick your wallet is. In fact, if I am so keen on anybody's wallet, nobody could be my friend here. "

Millie chuckled but soon frowned again, "No, I'm different from anybody else here. I am here because of a scholarship I got from being a violist champion during my junior high."

"That was awesome!!!" Renata clasped and shook Millie's shoulder. "I would love to have interesting skills like you. Gosh, I would have made my father cry a river if I could play any instrument. I'm that talentless..... So, no more dodging, OK?"

As they reconciled, they told each other about what happened during their silence season. The date with Lyle, the Meghan-Lyle, the James-Wilson, Renata spared none of her stories for Millie's ears.

"That dagnabit wench, I hate Meghan. Did you know how much shit I've been through because of her? " Renata was on a roll; she complained so much to Millie. "People asked me to pay for things for them, to give them something. And Meghan was the worst of all. Can you believe she asked me for a bag or two, 50-75% discount? Like she thought if she knew me, my money was hers too. What a loser entitled ass-wipe."

Millie was having a blast laughing at her, about her. "Meghan is like that; she loves to parade in designer items. Your suspicion might have a point; I would have thought so too. However, I doubt if Lyle and Meghan are dating behind James' back, they are probably just fucking around. Lyle never stays with the same girl for long, but he won't reject if someone offers her pussy to him. As for Meghan, I think she willingly spreads her legs for anyone who can give her branded items. "

Talking about 'give', reminded Renata of Millie's anklet, "I bought this for you when I was at Mystick Village. Try it on, I'm wearing it too now." She gave the anklet bag to her.

Millie took the pretty square case and opened it. For a moment, she was just blinking, "What was supposed to be in this? It's empty." Millie said as she faced Renata in confusion.

"What? There should be an anklet inside I bought for you, like this mine here, yours is sea green, mine is pink amethyst. " Renata showed her the pink anklet she wore. Renata grabbed the bag and checked it. As Millie said, the anklet case was empty. She was sure she still had it last week. The last time she looked at it was last Wednesday (?), maybe.

"Was there anyone entered our room when I wasn't around?" Renata asked her; she had a feeling someone was stealing her stuff, just like the old times when she was in that all-girls boarding school.