I had never been to an aquarium, so I wasn’t certain what to expect. The reception desk I had anticipated, along with the demure woman, settled behind it, providing entrance to paying customers. All standard fare for any kind of attraction like this. What I hadn’t expected upon being granted access to the aquarium was the branching glass tunnels awaiting us. They stretched off as far as the eye could see, with fish congregating on all sides. Green and right lights covered the railings, in what I figured was an early celebration of Christmas, illuminated the paths for visitors.

Stretching my arms high above my head, all my joints cracking in protest, I let out a yawn. I hadn’t slept the best last night, but Ethan said we’d only stay for a few hours, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Speaking of Ethan, he had begun down the tunnel on the left, and I had been happy to follow until someone snatched my wrist and pulled me backward. I nearly bumped heads with Nora, who had met the same unfortunate fate as I had. She yanked her hand out of Rika’s hold, and I followed suit in a much gentler manner. Before I could ask her what she was doing, Ethan beat me to it.

“What are you guys up to?”

Everyone had come to a stop now, and he gave me a quizzical look, but I could only shrug my shoulders prior to noticing Amelia grinning. Then, everything made sense. It seemed Rika wanted to put their agreement into action as soon as possible.

“Sorry, but Nora wanted to pet the starfish right away,” Rika explained. “You know how she is. Can’t take no for an answer.”

“I sure as hell didn’t say–”

Rika clamped a hand over the other girl’s mouth. This didn’t deter Nora from trying to get her point across, flailing around like a fish out of water. An apt comparison considering our current location. When all that failed, she stood perfectly still and clenched her jaw. Rika sharply inhaled, quickly hiding her slip-up with a smile that was a little too big for her face.

Suddenly, I was very glad nobody had come in after us. This was the kind of thing that got people kicked out of places.

Ethan took it all in stride, obviously confused, but used enough to their antics that he didn’t bother asking for an explanation. “We were planning on visiting that at the end, but if you really can’t wait, we can always meet up later.”

Rika let go of Nora, whispering a warning in her ear, and then replied to him. “I promise we’ll be as quick as possible.”

“Alright, see you later.” My best friend nodded in my direction. “And you’re going with them?”

“I really want to pet an urchin.”

My delivery was so deadpan, he couldn’t help but snort. “Text me when you’re done. And make sure to keep them out of trouble.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Hey!”

I didn’t know how Rika could sound so offended. It wasn’t like he was wrong in saying it. She was already causing problems, and we had been inside for less than five minutes.

They carried on, Chloe remaining hesitant until Rika assured her we'd join up again soon. The moment they disappeared from our sight, we were dragged along to the tunnel on the left by Rika. She kept a particularly tight grip on Nora, and I couldn’t say I envied her. Especially not when she pinned her against the glass like a scene out of a low-budget rom-com. Except this didn’t look romantic or funny; it was uncomfortable.

“You bit me!”

“And I’d do it again. What was that all about?”

“The promise we made to Amelia. Or did you forget already?”

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Her sneer was answer enough. “I didn’t forget. I had no idea you were going to do it right away. And besides, didn’t you promise her she’d be alone with him? Chloe’s still there.”

Rika allowed her arms to drop by her side, crossing them under her chest and averting her gaze. She took a moment to observe a zebra shark coasting through a bed of coral. Although it wasn’t like I had any clue about what type of shark she was watching. I simply read that off the plaque to my left to avoid being involved in whatever this awkward confrontation was. “It’s fine. This will give them a better chance to spend time with Ethan than if we’re all together. I’ll text Chloe later and have her come by us, and then we’ll do the same with Amelia.”

Nora pushed off the glass with a huff, moving away from her. “You’re a real piece of work.”

Letting a huff of her own, Rika couldn’t help but grin. “I could say the exact same thing about you. Now, we might as well try to enjoy ourselves.”

That was fine with me. Actually, that was more than fine with me. I had no interest in rehashing whatever this was all about. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that her promise wasn’t fair to them. They were sweet girls but giving up their chances at hanging out with Ethan was a little too much. It didn’t sit right with me, which I guess proved Sara correct. I never did seem to learn my lesson.

“Are you sure this is ok with you?”

“What?” Rika asked.

“Helping Chloe and Amelia out. I can make sure you get to spend some time with Ethan too.”

Tracing a finger on the glass, she cooed at the school of fish she had mesmerized into following her before answering. “Why would I want that?”

“Because you like him.”

Rika chuckled. “Not sure where you got that idea from, but I don’t.”

She was joking, right?

“But you forced me to go to the mall with you and help pick out a present for him.”

“I know this might be a weird concept for you, but you can buy your friends presents on their birthday without wanting anything more. Just like how you bought him a video game, and I didn’t assume you wanted to be anything more than friends with him.”

Ok, that was fair. I mean she literally had only asked for my help searching for a birthday present for him; it also wasn’t as though she had given him any of the cookies she made either. All of the assumptions about her having a crush on him were my own misunderstanding. Then again, Rika had been pretty weird about giving him the gift, refusing to write her name on it. Had she been embarrassed about it? Ethan always mentioned how shy Rika was, not that I ever had the pleasure of seeing that side of her. But that wasn’t quite true. She was much more reserved when she wasn’t around Chloe, Nora, or me like during our literacy class.

This was getting me nowhere. I shot a glance at Nora, then leaned forward to practically whisper in Rika’s ear. “Ethan’s present. You, me. Let’s talk later.”

She shoved at my chest, forcing me to backpedal a step. “That’s fine but use your words. No need to go full caveman on me.”

“Hey, I didn’t mind listening to your weird obsession about Ethan’s love life”–Nora tapping at the glass startled a panfish into darting away–“but it’s kind of weird to sit here while you whisper sweet nothings in her ear.”

I brought my full attention back to her, waving off her concern. “It’s nothing like that. But what about you, Nora? Want me to make sure–”

“Drop dead. You’d be the last person I’d ever go to for advice about a crush.”

Alright, well that refusal was about as subtle as unleashing a raging bull into a china shop. Her poor attitude wouldn’t deter me forever, but I’d back off for now. I knew how prickly around the edges she could be when she was embarrassed, and I wasn’t about to bear the brunt of her wrath alone.

“Your call. Don’t say I never offered you anything.”

“Yeah, a bunch of worthless crap,” she said.

“You should take him up on his offer. What’s the harm in getting closer to Ethan?” A dangerous glint appeared in Rika’s eyes. “Unless maybe… nah, that’s none of my business.”

“Damn straight it isn’t. The two of you can go eat shit.”

“And with that pleasant imagery, I think I’m going to those tanks with the starfish and sea urchins now.”

“Wait for us!”

Rika shouted at me like I had walked miles ahead of her instead of a few measly meters. Heaving a sigh, I slowed my pace to allow her to catch up. Nora plodded along after us, uttering choice words that were less than flattering any time we pointed out any of the marine animals to one another. It reminded me of the time at the board game store when Rika kept comparing me to the monsters she saw in Monster Inventory, the difference being Nora was much harsher; however, she did make certain to insult me and Rika equally, which was about the only thing I could appreciate during her hurtful rants.

Hopefully, Ethan’s group was a little less dysfunctional than we were at the moment.