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Language Specialists Wing

September 8th X288

Florian Lilly Cobblestone was fourteen. She still had short black hair and sported rectangular glasses, a brown hoodie, and denim shorts.

Her demeanor was confident, and her intuition was genuine as she added years of understanding to her ability.

She leaped out of the high school bus, heading to pick up her sister, Hope Cobblestone, from her tutors.

Hope was seven years old. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail, and she wore a white T-shirt paired with a yellow skirt. Most importantly, she had a whiteboard strapped around her shoulders at all times.

Hope’s seashell dove spirit was nesting on the top of her head. It looked almost like a hat or an accessory.

Hope had an easy time learning sign language basics, thanks to Florian and their parents’ consistency. However, solving one problem led to another. Ordinary school teachers had difficulty understanding Hope when she used sign language in school. She had to rely on her whiteboard most of the time. Thus, the after-school tutors. Hope had to pay extra attention during her lessons, which required her to hear new words, learn their spelling, and memorize the hand sign counterpart. Any seven-year-old would find these additional steps challenging.

This was the new normal for Florian. She attended the last hour of Hope’s lessons to review what she’d learned. That way, Florian could encourage using Hope’s new words at home.

It was an average day for Florian. She arrived at the tutoring lab and waited in the lobby to be called in to review the day’s lesson.

She was browsing on her phone when she heard a young girl’s voice.

“Hello, is Hope Cobblestone still here?”

A short girl at the front desk seemed around the same age as Hope. She was blonde with twin ponytails, a pink dress, a flashy purse, a golden locket, and a long frilly skirt.

“I’m her sister, and I’m here to pick her up,” the short girl said.

-POP-

Florian stood up, making sure she had heard correctly. No way. Who the hell does she think she is? She’s impersonating me.

The blonde brat turned her nose up at the lady at the front desk.

Florian calmed down for a moment. The front desk lady wouldn’t let this kid in.

-POP-

“Sit down, and we will call your name when Hope is ready.”

They let her in anyway?! It struck Florian’s nerves.

The girl strutted in with a smirk.

Florian was ready to teach this identity theft kid a lesson when she noticed bubbles drifted aimlessly around the girl. They hovered around the entire waiting room. When Florian swatted a few out of her face, they wouldn’t pop. In fact, they went right through her hand.

Behind the blonde brat was a small white dog with brown spots. It was a Jack Russell Terrier but had a strange stream of bubbles as a tail, which waved erratically.

The bubbles were coming out of the butt of the spirit animal. Florian was disgusted that the butt bubbles were in her face and she could do nothing to get rid of them.

The brat found a seat in the middle of the room.

Florian cleaned her glasses and approached the girl pretending to be her. Florian grabbed the chair and loomed over the blonde brat.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Hello, I am Florian Lilly Cobblestone. Do you have any pets?”

“Pets? What are you talking about? Who are you?” the blonde brat asked.

Florian towered over the girl. “Don’t you get it? I am the only sister of Hope Cobblestone. Who are you?”

The girl was flustered, but only for a moment. “I see, so you have uncovered my clever plan. You are correct; I am not Hope’s sister.”

“Who are you? Where are your parents?”

“Fine, I’ll talk. My name is Blythe. I wanted to surprise Hope. Please don’t call my parents.”

Blythe’s spirit animal was also cowering. The bubble-tailed dog spirit whimpered softly.

“So you are friends with Hope?”

“Yeah, I wanted to play with Hope after school, but she wrote that she had after-school tutoring. I followed her here a few days ago but couldn’t stay for long. After a few preparations, I decided to surprise her today.”

Florian took a deep breath and sighed. This girl had gone through some effort to see Hope. She must have really wanted to be friends with her.

“Blythe, was it? You can stay. Just never impersonate anyone again.”

“Okay. I promise.” Blythe smirked.

-POP-

One of the bubbles popped in Florian’s face.

Florian was called to come back to review the lesson. Blythe was about to be left alone in the waiting room.

Florian turned around and called to Blythe, “You can come too. Just sit quietly and wait until we are done.”

Blythe hopped up and followed Florian, her bubble-tailed dog not far behind.

Florian and Hope waved to each other joyously. When Hope noticed Blythe, she jumped out of her seat and hugged her.

Florian was happy to know Hope had no trouble making friends. She was also relieved that this impersonator actually was telling some truth.

“All right, let me and Hope finish the review, and we can hang out for a while, okay.”

They reviewed the lesson, and Blythe watched, sometimes imitating the hand signs.

“Is Blythe a good friend?” Florian used sign language so Blythe couldn’t understand them.

“Yes, she is an okay friend,” Hope signed.

“Okay? She is not a good friend?” Florian signed.

“She likes to say things.” Hope signed a peculiar sign Florian didn’t quite understand. Hope shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Florian didn’t recognize the new gesture. “What was that?” Florian mimicked the gesture.

“She likes to exaggerate,” the tutor said out loud.

Florian signed to the tutor to stop speaking out loud. Luckily Blythe had no idea they were hand signing about her.

After the meeting, the three girls decided to walk to the nearest restaurant.

Hope paraded around with Blythe, window shopping and sightseeing. Hope even used her whiteboard to teach Blythe a few sign language gestures.

“Blythe, what time do you have to be home? Do you want me to call your parents and let them know you are hanging out with us?”

Blythe’s bubble dog spirit wagged its tail in excitement. Its bubbles floated toward Hope and Florian.

“I can stay with you two for as long as I want. Even sleepovers. My parents already know, and they said all clear!”

-POP-

All of the bubbles popped around Hope, who was happy Blythe might be able to hang out longer. However, Florian knew this was a complete lie. The bubbles around Florian didn’t burst; they accumulated around her head.

“Where do you live? We can take you home after dinner, okay?”

“I live a few blocks down. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go!”

More bubbles dispersed from the tail of the bubble dog spirit. They drifted around Florian’s head.

Florian tried to swat them away, but her attempts were meaningless since they were part of a spirit.

In confusion, Florian noticed another spirit from the corner of her eye. She turned around fully, and it disappeared.

Florian thought it was strange but ignored it and went on her way.

“Florian, do you have a boyfriend?” Blythe asked.

“What!? Where did that come from?”

“Well, do you?”

“I do not. I don’t have time for a boyfriend.”

“Hehe, I have three,” Blythe said. She smirked and giggled as her bubble dog spirit waved more bubbles into the air.

Hope blushed.

-POP-

Hope believed the lie. New bubbles joined the others on Florian’s head and were not going away. These bubbles were Blythe’s lies. Florian realized if they popped around an individual, that person believed the lie. If the individual didn’t fall for the lie, the bubbles accumulated and didn’t disappear.

Florian was surprised such a complex spirit belonged to a young kid. She wondered what would cause Blythe’s spirit animal to take on such a form.

Florian felt a chill down her spine and turned around.