A Guide to Love (ONC 2023)

Chapter 5

"Come on, Mila!! It'll be fun..." Scarletta begged her, blond hair shining as she chose dresses from her closet. "It's just a few blocks away, and nothing illegal or something will happen!"

Mila sighed a little, looking up from her textbook. "What with distant learning and covid, I hadn't caught up with my learning yet! How are you finishing all your work?"

Scarletta shrugged a little, throwing a lavender dress at Mila. "Mila, come on! Kathleen already agreed-"

At that moment, Kathleen tilted her head. "I think I heard my name." Her black hair was falling in loose waves across her back, and she had a gold accented black dress on.

"Mil, I-"

"Mil?" Mila paused, surprised. She had never had a nickname before, always just been 'Mila' until she had taken the last name of her adoptive family. Yet, Jordans just didn't seem to fit her. It felt like a glove one size too big, a glove that just bordered perfectly on falling off.

It felt like an imposter.

Kathleen blinked. "Well, yeah! Scarletta's Scar, you're Mil, and I'm Kath or Kat. Whatever you choose. But my point is, Scar isn't going to shut up so either you find a way to get her to shut up or you come with us."

Scarletta blinked. "Kath, that's literally the same reason for both. Come with us, and I'll shut up!"

Mila shut her book. "Fine."

*_*_*_*_*_*_

Scarletta threw a navy blue dress at Mila. "Try this one!"

Sighing, she took the navy blue dress off of the hook, and threw it back at Scarletta, who shrieked and the clothes hanger fell harmlessly onto the ground with a plop.

Kathleen, calm as always, was practicing the guqin yet again in the dorms, her nails plucking the strings. How she managed to play an instrument that needed long-ish nails and one that involved short nails was a mystery to Scarletta.

Mila had changed, in the meantime, and spun around in the navy blue dress. The fiery red hair was curling gently at the bottom, and her vibrant blue eyes flashed.

"Beautiful!" Kathleen stood up. "Can we go now?"

Mila looked down at her dress. "Do you think..."

Scarletta combed her hair with a hairbrush thrown haphazardly on the ground. "You look beautiful. Let's go."

Mila frowned a little again, but spun around in front of the mirror. "Okay, let's go."

It was crowded inside, the restaurant that they were meeting at full of people. Spotting Vivian, Scarletta excused herself from Kathleen and Mila, who were playing a game of Spin the Bottle.

"Vivi!" She gave her a tight hug.

"Hang on-"

Pop!

A large bubble popped near her ear, and Vivan pulled away, trying to get the gum off of her nose. "I should really stop blowing bubbles everywhere."

Scarletta smiled at her, slinging an arm casually over her shoulder. Out of the side of her eye, she spotted Kathleen hurrying outside, and wondered what happened, but Vivan was already pulling her away.

*_*_*_*_*

Kathleen was in the middle of a game of Spin the Bottle when her phone started flashing with an incoming phone call.

Mom

She was confused, that was for sure, her mom rarely called, and today, she had called 2 times a day, more than she usually did in a week.

Sliding the bar to accept, she excused herself to Mila, who was having too much fun to care, and hurried outside.

Cursing herself for forgetting an umbrella, she stood under the overhang, not wanting to get wet in the drizzling rain that was steadily going drip drip drip. It was quiet out here, and all the noises faded as she placed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

Her mother's voice came back to her. "Kathleen! I called you-" she started in Mandarin, before sniffling a little. "I called you today, and you didn't respond!"

Changing to Mandarin too, she sighed a little and shivered. "I was driving, Mom. Didn't you see my text message?"

A noise in the background, and her mom placed a hand over the phone. A muffled voice asking in French, and her mom returned. "If you were driving, then why were you texting?"

"Wo tian! (Translation: For goodness's sake/oh my god) Aspen was with me! Didn't I tell him to say that he was with me?"

Her mom paused. "Aspen? Oh that lovely bo-"

Another muffled voice, this time her dad. "Kathleen?"

"Yes?"

He paused a little. "Can you leave campus for a few days?"

"I might manage a few hours, why?"

Her dad paused yet again, her mom in the background, dishes clattered.

"It's your aunt. She's in the hospital."