It was almost eleven o'clock in the morning when the boy finally decided to awake. After doing some stretches to warm up, he went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and didn't even bother switching from his pajamas and was going down for breakfast.
His mother already told the school he would be away for a week because of his shoulder recovery, which gave the boy seven more days of "vacations" to enjoy. It was a good thing for him, more time to relax about everything that happened yesterday.
Outside of that, this morning was exactly like any other he had in his house, except, however, for a tiny little detail inside his house.
(...Why is she following me?)
Looking at his back, Chris saw the new member of this house right there in a very close distance. Just like him, she was wearing a pink pajama set that covered the whole body, since it was still a bit cold from the snow storm. And since he got up, the girl didn't leave the boy's side.
The moment he opened his room's door to go to the bathroom, Chris had a jump scare when he saw she was there waiting for him. When he was brushing his teeth, she opened the door to see him. Even when he closed the door, the boy could feel her gaze from the keyhole while he washed his face.
She wasn't doing anything directly to him but being watched this close would put anyone in a discomfort.
(Guess she is just curious after all.)
Contrary to him, she never experienced how it was to live in a house nor what people do inside one. Thinking like that, Chris couldn't be mad at her.
With a small smile on his face, he said to her:
-Good morning.
It was just a normal greeting people would do at the start of the day, but the girl was a bit surprised by him saying that. She got out of the way as if she was blocking the path for someone, but there was no one behind her.
Looking at the sides, there was also nobody else, only the boy and herself in the hallway. In doubt, she pointed to herself like the wanted to confirm he was talking with her, and the boy nods a bit confused with his head to answer her.
A bit worried that she didn't understand what he said, Chris tried again.
-Good morning?
Realizing he was really talking to her, the girl smiled and responded to him.
-Morning, Chris!
Seen her a bit more animated, Chris proceed to walk down the stairs followed by the happy girl and they went to the kitchen where his mother would be waiting for them to eat breakfast together before starting the day.
[][][][][]
"Sweetie, there was a problem at the hospital and I needed to go there urgently. I don't know when or if I will be back today, so I'm leaving money in case you need lunch and dinner later. The breakfast inside for the both of you. Love you, mom."
And so was written in the paper Chris found on the fridge.
His mother would go to work after lunch and they would meet again at dinner's time, but rarely there were sometimes she would be called before her work time and wouldn't come back until after midnight or the day after. Normally, Chris could be fine alone, but now there was another one.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
That said one was looking around the kitchen, searching every corner of it curiously to find something interesting. Right now, the girl was touching one of the cabinets to see how it worked but she ended up with its door on her hand by mistake.
Still, the girl didn't notice what she did and was happy just to get the cabinet opened and, for the boy's misfortune, her excitement was so big that she wanted to test it out again in others furniture.
(...Yeah, this settles it.)
Quickly coming to her, Chris grabbed her wrist before she touched another cabinet. Lookin at her confused face as if she asked "What is wrong?", he said clearly:
-No.
Gently, he put her hand away from the cabinet, placed the door away, and escorted her to a seat at the table. After making sure the gloomy girl had sat down, Chris was going to grab their breakfast when he turned around to look at her.
-If you want to touch something, don't use all your strength, ok?
Just like a parent, he scolded the girl to make sure she understood him.
-Yeah, yeah, I got it now. You can count on me!
Seen the girl doing a thumbs up for him made Chris a bit worried if she had really understood, but he accepted it and proceed to pick up the breakfast.
[][][][][]
At first glance, it wasn't anything out of extraordinary. One plate of pancakes for them to heat in the microwave, a jar of orange juice and a bottle of maple syrup. But then, as they were taken out, was when he knew how wrong he was.
A plate of fried eggs with sausages, another one of toasts with different contents, one of doughnuts, waffles, more jars of different juices, and so on. Before the boy knew, the table was full of food like they were celebrating Thanksgiving.
At the end of the fridge, there was a note for him written by the culprit.
"I didn't know what would she like, but since it is her first day in the house, why not have a feast to start the day and find out? Love, mom."
A simple and short message for him to understand the reasons for this unnecessary act, but while the boy couldn't be mad at her, there was one problem in his mind:
(...Just how you expect us to eat all of this food?)
Sighing, Chris took his seat while still a bit shocked by how much his mother did for breakfast. Still, the food was looking quite tasty and it wouldn't change the fact it was already made.
Picking up a doughnut, he was about to have a bite on it, when-
-Say "Ahh".
The girl stole the food from his hand and wanted to feed him again.
-...Seriously?
She nods at him.
-I appreciate the intentions, but...I can handle breakfast, so thank you, really.
He tried his best to refuse her help. Even with a broken shoulder, Chris still could pick things up with his other arm, altho it was a bit weird when he wanted to drink while he was still chewing the food. Still, it was too much embarrassing to have someone else to feed you at his age.
But, things weren't so easy with the girl.
-You know, you should really read things more carefully.
-...Huh?
To his astonishment, the girl responded like he had signed a shady deal with her. She pointed to the first note he read on the fridge's door. Getting up from his seat, he went there and saw that was a tiny arrow pointing to the paper's back.
Flipping the paper over, the answers to all his doubts were written right there.
"P.S. I was really worried in leaving you alone with your injury, but the girl was the sweetest of things to offer herself to look out for you! So, please let her help you with whatever she can! I trust you two will be fine!"
(Mom, just what were you thinking!)
She just gave the girl an excuse to use. Not only for this situation but everything else she wanted to help him. It was one of the worst situations he for him to refuse the girl's assistance.
-Hey, I know what is written here, but there is no need to force yourself to-
-"If he tries to refuse you, just say mother will talk with him afterward, ok?"...or so...mother...said to me.
...
It's over. The boy was defeated before he even got a chance to fight back. Like a loser, Chris returned to his seat and did the only thing he could now.
-...Ahh.