It was Christmas Day. You were in Celia’s room at noon, lazily smiling down at the girl as she prodded around some Pygmy mouse she was gifted that morning. Her small hand moved about the cage, adjusting things that were perfectly in place.

In the backyard, your parents conversed over fruit platters and nostalgia—taking advantage of Florida’s endless sunlight. It had been around a year ever since your parents moved you and your younger brother out of New York after reconnecting with their old friends, Eva and Franklin.

You didn’t have trouble adjusting to the new environment at all, already having connections at schools that were both beneficial and gratifying. Your parents, having always being cold and skeptical of you, didn’t care for how low you went as long as you saved face and didn’t cause them any trouble.

They constantly brought you and brother over to the Khatchadourians. Eva even took care of your brother until your parents got home from work because he and Celia went to the same school. If it was a weekend or holiday, you’d drop him off at her place and walk back home to be on your own.

As you apathetically nodded and listened to Celia ramble about her animal, Kevin had quietly stepped in the room, seemingly to take a look at the mouse as well. He stood beside you with no particular expression, arms crossed and gaze fixed on the cage.

You’d see him around school every now and then, but you both partook in the unspoken rule of ignoring whoever your parents tried to associate you with when they weren’t in the room. Whenever you were over, you were only ever perceptive of him, or his expression, when Franklin would squeeze your shoulders a bit too tightly and gleefully hint that you should get to know his son a bit more sometime.

During any visit, you’d usually just let Celia drag you around and appeal to her girlish desire of having an older, pretty girl call her a princess, before sending her away to play with your brother, who was currently outside with the adults, waiting for her to return because she really wanted to show you her mouse.

Kevin had shown up in the midst of her rambling, to which she turned and wrapped her dainty arms around his waist. He merely brought his hands up to her shoulders, still observing the creature within the cage on her desk, as if to push her away at any moment—but never did.

“Wait! Before I go, I have to bring him the chewing toys Auntie got me!”

By Auntie, she meant your mother.

Her blonde locks bounced away as she left the room, leaving you and Kevin to stand in silence. You also gazed down at the mouse, but your interest for it was nonexistent.

After Celia’s footsteps faded into hallway, your hand mindlessly moved to where her small one previously was, lifting up the entrance to the cage and carefully wiggling inside. The fuzzy, vibrating body of the mouse immediately brushed against your fingers, you lightly felt it before carefully grasping it.

Suddenly, you held its wriggling body over a small container of water at the corner of the cage. A humored chuckle escaped your lips as you turned it over and dunked its head into the water, holding it there for a moment.

You knew Kevin was watching, but you doubted he’d say anything about it maybe until you left. Even if he did, the worst case consequences were laughable. You were too lovely to suspect, and too indifferent of your parents’ friendships to care.

It was after you heard footsteps again that you let go of the mouse and retracted your hand, swiftly wiping the stray specks of sand and water on your skirt. Celia waltzed into the room again, holding little balls in her hands as she went back over to the cage. She reached into the cage to place them inside.

“Eh? Why is he wet?” She said in a tone childlike and unfazed enough to know she didn’t suspect anything other than her rodent exploring its surroundings. Her big eyes turned towards you and Kevin with lighthearted confusion, as if prompting you to play along.

You heard the boy beside you let out a barely audible snicker.