The Late Bird's Tale: A Tale of the Floating World

Part 2 || 6 | Grace | A Sleepover, A Chance Encounter II

Written on 2/28/23. Winter Season, February 2023 edition (1st scene).
Written on 3/28/23. Spring Season, March 2023 edition (2nd scene).
Grace Ransom (picture reference).

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Part 2 || 6 | Grace

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A Tale of a Sleepover

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"I first noticed a change in Franklin's demeanor on the third weekend of July," Grace said, thinking back to the week before she and Judy visited his house for a sleepover they had planned that weekend via Screen Chat. "When Franklin visited my house that time, he looked like he had lost a lot of sleep. I asked him what's going on, but he told me not to worry about it and asked me if Judy was at my house. I said, no, she wasn't, so he told me to be careful of her. I asked him why, but he wouldn't say anything else about it and left."

"He just stopped by to say that?" Sakura said.

"Yeah," Grace said. "I asked Judy about it via Screen Chat later that night, but she had no idea what's up with him, so we tried hitting Franklin up on Screen Chat. We couldn't reach him, though, which was really strange."

"Why so?" Sakura said.

"We can usually catch him on Screen Chat."

"But he wasn't responding?"

"Nope," Grace said.

"Like, at all?" Sakura said.

"Yep, and we couldn't reach him by email, phone call, or text message," Grace said, wondering how she was going to tackle the next part of her story. In the end, she decided to be up front with her new confidant and added, "Anyway, Judy and I talked about it over the next few days, and we decided to ask him about it on the fourth week of July during the weekends. We had actually planned on a sleepover for that weekend at Franklin's house a week before, but when the weekends rolled around, we noticed a difference. Franklin looked more tired than he had when he visited me, so we were worried and asked him about it, but he'd sidestep our questions."

"Anything else that sticks out?" Sakura said.

"Yeah," Grace said. "I noticed that he was very uncomfortable around Judy, as if she had him spooked for some reason. And Judy wasn't helping in that department, either. She kept sneaking up on us whenever I was alone with Franklin."

"Let me guess," Sakura said.

"Sure," Grace said.

"Was she cock-blocking him?" she said.

Grace just gaped at Sakura, feeling her cheeks burn at her crude wording, and said, "It's not like that!"

"Then what is it?" she said.

"Look," Grace said, "he and I were both a bit antsy over Judy asking us what we were doing, like a nosy mom. You know what I mean, right?" When Sakura nodded, Grace continued, adding, "So Franklin flat out told Judy to back off, which surprised me, because he was so gruff with her. When I asked him why he said that, he said he just wanted Judy to leave us alone. I mean, it wasn't like, get out of the house, you know? It was like, give us some space."

"Did she?" Sakura said.

"Yeah," Grace said, "but she was upset."

"Understandable," Sakura said. "What did he say about it?"

"He said he'd apologize afterwards, and he did," Grace said, "but Judy was still upset and wanted to go home, so we tried convincing her to stay."

"Did she?"