Next week in school, just before the lesson starts for the day. Rose is sitting on Lily’s desk, spacing out and looking outside. Tarutaru is leaning her back on the windowsill next to it.
"It was nice seeing Aoi again," Tarutaru says.
"It was," Lily says. "It was also nice to see you or her not being alone anymore either."
"Oi! I’ve not been alone for a while now!" Tarutaru says.
"Yeah, but I’ve not seen him before, really," Lily says and smiles at Tarutaru.
Rose looks out of the window, with her eyes almost closed. She’s smiling gently. "It was really nice to see Aoi with Hayden…," she says. "Aoi’s been alone for so long…"
"So were you, Caldwell," Tarutaru says.
Rose turns around and stops spacing out. She looks at Tarutaru and blinks a couple of times. She looks down to Lily and smiles. "Well, yeah…," she says. "It’s just slightly different with Aoi."
"How so?" Tarutaru asks.
"I… I never wanted anyone. I walled myself up and build walls around me. I was not afraid of not finding anyone ‘like me’, I just didn’t want anyone. I bet Lily had some problems drawing me out of my shell," Rose says and strokes Lily’s hair gently.
"Yeah, she walked in and you fell for her so hard it probably left a crater.," Tarutaru says and grins.
Rose blushes slightly. "Was I that obvious?" she says.
"Yes!" Tarutaru says at the same time as Lily goes "No!"
They giggle at each other. Rose slides down from Lily’s desk, Tarutaru stands straight up. They all look at each other and unspoken words are shared. This is the last week of school before their last - and only - summer break. Tarutaru will be away for most of the break after the first couple of weeks, so they won’t be able to see each other that much. Next year will be much harder at school, Probably doubly so for Rose who has not gathered much goodwill towards herself from their teacher, but now that she’s determined to graduate, she’ll have to work for it. They won’t be having that many free days then, and Aoi’s going to be away. Next year is promising to be hard and slightly lonesome, so they’ve decided to get everything out of the summer break.
The last few days at school go relatively quietly and smoothly. The three of them hang around each other a lot, even if it’s just a lunch or a study session. Tarutaru and Thomas seem to be getting more close and they are seen together during school hours too, sometimes. He’s still awkward and nervous when the four of them are together, so he’ll usually stay away from the three when they are still in school.
The last day of the school year arrives, and everyone is in high spirits. School is over, summer is here. Lily seems to be more and more surprised how hot it gets during summer, as she’s more used to the summers in the cold north where it’s great and warm if it doesn’t snow - a lot. They’ve planned to use the Caldwell Manor’s private beach as soon as possible to get some swimming and beach fun out of the vacation before Tarutaru needs to head away. Rose invited all of them - including Thomas - to visit the beach every time they wanted to, but Tarutaru says Thomas might still be a bit too shy to come, but she promised to talk to him. Lily’s living in the manor more and more and her room in the dorms is practically for show only now. She goes there to change clothes and sleep maybe once a week - and even then Rose is probably with her.
When they day ends, they wave goodbye to each other. Tarutaru and Thomas are heading to her place. Lily and Rose see them to the bus stop, then start walking towards the Caldwell Manor.
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