I Look In People's Windows

Chapter 17

Debut

I was walking beside Folklore and Evermore, grass crumpling beneath my boots, as we moved through the farmers market looking at different stalls. I had nothing better to do at home so I decided to tag along with them when they went to do one of our weekly shopping trips.

Evermore split off from us to join one of the increasingly long lines while Folklore and I queued for waffles on a stick, hints of cinnamon and maple syrup wafting through the air. I stood next to Folklore, hands fidgeting with the zipper on my jacket.

"Hey, everything all right Debut?"

I looked at Folklore who had an expression of concern on her face. "Yeah. Actually no. I need some advice."

"Go on."

"How do you know if you're a bad friend?"

"I don't know if I'm the right person to answer that." She hesitated for a moment. "But I'll try. Is this about you and Fearless?"

"How did you know that it was her?"

"Debut, you two are always together. It's not hard to notice when somethings wrong, especially when the two of you usually make so much noise around the house." Folklore handed money over to the one of the people behind the stall before handing me a waffle. "Come on, we can talk over there while we wait for Eve."

"Weren't we supposed to meet her at the root vegetables stall?"

"Yes but it's too noisy there. Besides, it shouldn't be too hard to find us." We stopped under a tree away from the busiest parts of the market. "So, what's going on between you two."

"I don't really know. Ever since the haunted house, things haven't been the same between us. We got back home that day and she wanted to be alone and ever since then, she's been staying in her room. I tried talking to her but she says everything is fine and I don't know what to do. I must have done something wrong but I don't know what I did."

"You can't blame yourself."

"Then why else wouldn't she want to talk to me? I'm worried about her. She always talks to me after episodes like that happen and now she just shut me out. What if she needs support but she can't open up to anyone because of me."

"Debut, I promise you that you're overthinking this. Whatever's going on with her isn't because of something you did. It's not your fault. You're an amazing person and an amazing friend."

Folklore's words did little to soothe my worries, something she seemed to pick up on.

"Look, I think you should try talking to her again. Tell her how you feel. Sometimes, we try to deal with things on our own and in doing so, we shut other people out, whether it's intentional or not. Explain your perspective on everything to her and see what she says. It can't hurt to do it."

She had a point. Maybe a proper conversation was all I needed to figure out what was going on with her. "I'll try it. Thanks for listening to me."

"Anytime Debut."

"There you two are. I thought you both got lost." Evermore approached us, exasperation etched across her face.

"We aren't that far off from the crowd."

"That's not the point. You didn't tell me you were going to wait here."

"We needed somewhere quieter to talk."

Eve let out a sigh, adjusting the strap of the bag on her shoulder. "A heads up would be appreciated next time. Anyway, where's my waffle?"

"Uh. I may have forgotten to get you one."