Chapter 11: Learning to Speak

They were out of pudding. Joan let out a sigh as she peered inside the fridge; she'd eaten the last pudding cup while watching "Unova's Got Talent" the previous night. All that was left was the cardboard packaging the cups had come in, which she plucked out of the fridge with a frown and tossed in the trash. She'd have to go buy more. But… She looked over at the telephone hooked on the wall and wrinkled her nose in thought; she didn't want to miss her call while she was out. Her thoughts turned to Celeste.

That poor girl hadn't been outside in days, not since their last trip to the market together. She wasn't even going on any of the morning walks she usually took. Maybe it's become too cold for her lately, Joan thought, continuing her ascent up the stairs.

She knocked on Celeste's door lightly before stepping inside. "How's it going?"

"I'm almost done." Celeste added another folded shirt onto a stack of clothes. "There are still a few things drying outside though."

"That's alright, dear," Joan said. "I was hoping you could do a grocery run for me. You can finish this up when you get back. I can even hang some of these things while you're out. I'm waiting on a call from my daughter you see, dearie."

Celeste nodded slowly, carefully adding another shirt to the stack. "What do you need?"

"Let me write it down for you."

"No, it's fine," Celeste said before Joan could go hunt down pen and paper. "I'll just remember it."

Collecting her coat and Eevee's Poké Ball, Celeste soon headed outside. Joan had given her more money than she needed and told her to take her time, buy a little something for herself if she wanted. But Celeste only wanted to finish quickly and go back to her room. Standing on the front step, she gazed out across the sidewalk and let out a heavy sigh, before finally walking down the stairs and releasing Eevee onto the pavement.

Eevee spun around in confusion, blinking as she took in her surroundings. Were they…? They were! They were outside the house! Eevee yipped. "Where are we going?" she asked expectantly. "As if I didn't know." Head raised proudly, she began to march, singing a little ditty to herself. "We're off to see the triplets! The wonderful triplets of—"

"Eevee, you're going the wrong way."

Eevee stopped and gave Celeste an enquiring look.

Celeste raised the wicker basket in her hands. "We're going to the grocery store." Eevee frowned; Miss Joan always took that basket with her when she went shopping. Celeste swung the basket falteringly. "Do you want to…?" Eevee nodded, and Celeste lowered the basket to let her hop inside and take a seat.

Eevee rested her head on the basket's rim, letting herself fall into the rhythm of its sway, observing the buildings they passed along the way for familiar landmarks. At least we're outside, she thought. It was better than nothing.

Eevee's head perked up. What day was it? She scanned the street for familiar faces, sniffing fiercely…before remembering it was Wednesday. She slumped back into her seat. The triplets would be busy in their restaurant at that hour.

Eevee pricked her ears at the sound of soft notes falling down to her from above. She peered up at the source: Celeste, nonchalantly humming a tune they'd heard on the radio that morning. Eevee tucked herself snugly at the bottom of the basket. Celeste was in a good mood. But not a good enough mood to visit the triplets, I guess.

"Don't get too comfy in there," Celeste spoke up. Eevee lifted her head and cocked her ears curiously. Celeste grinned. "You're getting evicted as soon as we reach the store. By pudding cups, no less. ...Or is it the bagels?" she wondered to herself. "One of those two." She wasn't quite sure which section was closer to the entrance—the dairy aisle or the bread aisle—and fortunately for Eevee, that really was her biggest concern at the moment. If only because she felt confident they wouldn't run into any familiar faces at that hour. Mostly confident, at least.

It turned out the bread aisle was closer, so it was a bag of bagels that dethroned Eevee first, leaving her to follow her trainer around on foot. Which was fine, except for the potential to get run over by a shopping cart. At least, since school was still in session, there wouldn't be any little kids pushing carts around—not only were they too short to see in front of the carts, they drove them like different karts entirely. Celeste would know—she'd tried it once. Once, she reflected ruefully. Because the one time she tried she ended up running into somebody.

Her next stop was in front of a full shelf of tea. She was scanning the labels for chamomile when it occurred to her that there were certainly a lot of different teas. Only two months ago she wouldn't have given it a second thought; tea was tea. But with Miss Joan and the triplets being basically tea aficionados, her ignorance on the subject hadn't stood a spoonful of a chance. She smiled. The variety really amazed her now that she could appreciate it.

Spotting the chamomile at last, Celeste reached out to take it, setting it down into the basket on top of the bagels, and was about to leave the aisle when she heard someone call out her name. She turned to find Tia flouncing over to them, waggling her fingers.

"Hiya!"

Eevee gave Tia a cheery bark in greeting. "Hi," said Celeste, hands hesitant to wave clutching the basket tighter.

"I haven't seen you guys in weeks!" Tia said, giving them each a quick squeeze. "It's like you've been avoiding the restaurant or something. You've missed so much!"

Celeste grinned uneasily. It hasn't been two weeks yet, she thought to herself. "What did I miss?"

And so Tia joined Celeste on her grocery quest, filling her own basket and chatting idly about the items they passed and the things that had happened at the restaurant while Celeste was away. They'd recently hired new help, so Tia had the day off. It was the first time they'd done so since the restaurant opened earlier that year.

"You know, it used to just be a gym," Tia explained. "I think Rock-type? And when that leader retired the triplets got the gig, and after a while they decided to spruce it up." Celeste nodded attentively. That explained why there were so few workers, and why the building was so…imposing for such an inviting restaurant.

"Oh, hey!" Tia chirped as they reached the cash registers. "After this, wanna go get something to eat? I know this place that has the best Danishes ever, and it's just a few blocks away."

"O-Oh." Celeste placed her items on the conveyor belt and looked between the eagerly smiling faces of Tia and Eevee. Miss Joan had told her take her time, and Danishes sounded really good about then. She smiled. "Sure, ok."

As they headed down the road, Tia went on to talk about the new staff. "Alexis is super good at gymnastics. And Vic really likes to rap, but he's…pretty bad at it," Tia was saying. "I mean I'm sure he could get better, right? If he practices and stuff. But not at work." She giggled. "Sheila thinks he's annoying, but Lane still thinks he'd make a good poet. I don't see it though. I even asked Maxwell, and he doesn't see it either. Now, I know Jenny's a gym guide and stuff, but if she were to try out for the police force that would make tons of sense. Don't try to tell her that though," she winked. Celeste grinned. While she wasn't entirely sure it was alright for Tia to talk about Jenny's irrational fear of Herdier so casually, she was intrigued nonetheless to learn more about all the staff. She'd only met Lane and Sheila once, and while she was a little more familiar with Maxwell, she'd never really talked with him. Eevee liked him though, and Eevee was currently listening closely to Tia's gossip from her hold in Celeste's arms. She was also curious to learn more about the new workers, not to mention what wrapping had to do with being a poet. She didn't get the chance to find out, however; just as Tia got back to the topic of Alexis and Vic, they reached a storefront with a white-and-orange-striped awning above which was a sign lettered "Crumbkin".

Tia led them inside and they were immediately greeted by the sight of a lengthy, glistening glass counter filled with pastries. Strudels, scones, muffins, sweet loaves, Danishes—but no cakes, Celeste noted. There must've been a different shop entirely for cakes.

Celeste savored the pleasant aroma and let out a sigh. "Ugh, I know." Tia crooned. "It smells so good." Celeste didn't know where to begin. She'd always wanted to try scones. But Tia had recommended the Danishes earlier, so it might seem rude if she didn't order one. But she was curious about the pumpkin crumble bars that the shop specialized in; even the name sounded delicious. Unlike Celeste, who surveyed the selection long and longingly as she debated what to get, Tia placed her order—an almond custard Danish and coffee—right away. Not wanting to seem even more indecisive than she already did, Celeste settled on a berry Danish for herself and a pumpkin crumble bar for Eevee, so that she could at least taste it. "And milk, please," she told the cashier. Tia gave her an amused expression.

"Don't you drink coffee?" Tia asked with a grin. Celeste shook her head. She much preferred tea anyway.

Once the group had seated themselves and Celeste had spent a moment relishing the wonders of scrumptious baked confections, Tia took it upon herself to start up a conversation that wasn't based around food.

"You know," she began thoughtfully, "since we're here, we should have a girl talk." Celeste stared blankly at Tia for a moment before taking another bite of her Danish. Tia giggled. "Well you don't seem very excited."

Celeste blushed, rubbing her neck. "Um, well, what do you mean by 'girl talk'?"

Tia laughed, waving her hand airily. "Oh, you know!" When after a moment Celeste still hadn't replied, Tia's mouth formed a small, surprised "O". "You really don't know?"

"No…?" Celeste looked to Eevee for help, but the Pokémon was even more confused than she was.

Tia scratched her head. Weren't they only a year apart? Celeste should definitely have known what girl talk was. "You know, shopping, clothes…boys." Mostly boys, she noted. Again, Celeste gave her that same apologetic grin of hers and shook her head, clueless.

"Ok then," Tia said. "How 'bout I'll start and we'll go from there." She sipped her coffee and thought for a moment. "Oh! So the other day, Alexis' boyfriend picked her up from work. And with a motorcycle, too!" she bubbled. "So then I went and asked Sheila if she had a boyfriend and she said she did! And it was like whoa, you know? I asked Jenny too, but she doesn't have one, because she wants to focus on work and studying and stuff." She paused to see how Celeste was holding up. "Are you starting to get what I'm talking about?"

"I think so…um…" Celeste held a hand to her cheek, trying to think of the right response. "Do you have a boyfriend…?"

Tia beamed. "I think you understand the gist of this conversation now!" Celeste nodded slowly; she wasn't sure she wanted to have that conversation.

"No, I don't have a boyfriend," Tia answered with a laugh. "Just a bunch of guyfriends. There is somebody I like though…" A light blush rose up in her cheeks as she continued. "He's really nice, and we've known each other for a while, but I don't really think he likes me like that…"

Celeste's eyes lit up in understanding. "You mean Maxwell?"

Tia's jaw dropped, her blush deepening before Celeste's naïve expression. "Maxwell? What are you talking about!?"

"Huh?" Celeste flinched, more surprised by the reaction than she should have been. "W-well, it's just that—the way you talked about him in the store—I thought maybe…" Celeste shrunk down into her seat. She hadn't thought Tia was one to get embarrassed. I messed up, she bemoaned. Eevee pushed her head under Celeste's hand and licked her wrist, and Celeste scrunched her fur tightly as she watched Tia expectantly.

"Did I say something weird in the store?" Tia asked, calmer as she tried to remember their conversation.

"Well not exactly," Celeste backtracked. "I mean, I didn't think so, at least. It seemed normal and relevant to the conversation, b-but I mean our conversation was really random and yet he always seemed to be relevant to it, so…" She trailed off, figuring she'd made her point.

"Huh." Tia nodded in thought. "Wow I didn't even think twice about that. But yeah," she grinned with a blush, "you could say I've liked Maxwell for a while."

"How long?"

Tia chuckled nervously. "Maybe a year. Or…two—it doesn't matter really."

"Was that when you met him?"

"I knew him for a while already."

"Why do you like him?"

Tia tilted her head a bit. Celeste was still nibbling on her Danish, but her tone sounded different than usual, for some reason. "He's really nice…and funny too. And he's a real cutie, you know. I mean he's kind of a nerd sometimes, like when he talks about math. And he doesn't like sports at all. But he's a really good writer. We had to write a paper together once and the teacher said he had really good voice." Tia stumbled on her words. She wasn't explaining herself very well, was she? "We get along really well," she said, trying to start again. "And he's really good to his Pokémon. He still trains with them, even though he doesn't journey anymore. Sometimes he goes to the Battle Club in Accumula Town." She shook her head with a smile. "You know, he finished the League challenge once—the gyms, I mean—but he was too late to register for the conference. He's thinking of entering next year. I'm not much for battling—I still have a Lillipup. But I think he'd do well. That's kind of off-topic though." Tia frowned, taking a moment to finish off her coffee. "Sheila says I do that a lot."

Celeste smiled softly. "You really do like him…"

Tia laughed. "Well yeah! Weren't you listening?"

"I-I mean it's not just a crush," Celeste said. Tia raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Um, there's a difference between having a crush on someone and…really liking them, isn't there?" Celeste chuckled nervously; she hoped her previous statement hadn't sounded demeaning.

"Aren't they the same thing?"

Celeste rubbed her arm self-consciously. "Uh, well, I always thought crushes were less, um…substantial? Than when you really like somebody, I mean. N-not as much as love, obviously, but…" What was she saying? Celeste turned to Eevee helplessly, but the Pokémon gave her an encouraging look and nuzzled her head against her hand. "I mean…feelings are really complicated, and…love has a lot of different…stages, so I thought it made more sense for crushes to be different from liking somebody. A-Although I guess if you had a crush on someone you'd still say you liked them, so maybe…not." Celeste fell silent and stared down at her plate, peering up at Tia for some sort of reaction. She currently had a thoughtful look on her face.

"So if I really do like him," she spoke after a moment, "what should I do about it?"

"Nothing, I guess," Celeste muttered. Tia cast her a doubtful look. "You say you don't think he likes you, b-but I don't think you should be so sure. When I saw you two together before, I never really thought that either of you might like each other, but you obviously do, so…" She paused, trying despairingly to collect her thoughts. "I guess what I'm saying is just do what comes naturally, I suppose… You'll have less to worry about that way."

A long silence followed that made Celeste regret ever stepping outside the house that day. She slowly sunk down in her chair once more, wishing she still had milk to drink to occupy herself. She'd said too much. She should've just let Tia say her piece. Maybe then they could've talked about something less awkward. Those things weren't even her business anyway.

"Jeeze, you're really deep for a thirteen-year-old!" Tia chirruped suddenly. "You know, that's really good advice!"

"I-I would hope it was," Celeste blinked, stunned by Tia's cheery reaction. "I wouldn't want to give bad advice…"

"Oh, but we never even got to you!" Tia laughed. "I wanted to ask you if you liked anyone!" She put her head in her hands and beamed at Celeste keenly.

"No, I don't," Celeste said simply.

"No one caught your eye since you moved here?"

Celeste put a finger to her lips, thinking it over. "I don't think so."

Tia frowned. "Come on, there's got to be someone. One of the triplets? All of the triplets?" She raised her eyebrows expectantly. Celeste's opened her mouth to speak before closing it again, her brow furrowing.

"Um, you are kidding, right?"

"But don't you think they're cute?"

"I guess…?" Celeste answered hesitantly. It sounded like a trick question. And with Tia's mischievous grin it looked like one too. "I don't know. Objectively, right?" she asked timidly. "It's not like they're particularly unattractive or anything. I mean, you must think they're cute to have asked me that question in the first place." Tia pouted, crossing her arms in mock offense.

"So that's it? I tell you my love life and get nothing out of you? That's not fair."

"Veee!"

Celeste turned to Eevee, surprised. "You don't think it's fair either?" Eevee nodded, pawing at her sleeve; she wanted Celeste to share something too.

You have to start somewhere, Eevee thought. It was as good a point as any. She set her head down on the table and directed her puppy-dog eyes at Celeste.

Celeste looked away, smiling halfheartedly at the crumbs on her plate. She already knew what Eevee wanted her to say. It would be nice to get to tell somebody, for once…

She took a breath, twiddled her thumbs, and muttered softly to the crumbs, "I used to like somebody."

"Well how was he?"

"He was nice. Really smart, and considerate." Celeste smiled as she reflected on the memory. "He was bit awkward around people at times, but he was a natural with Pokémon."

"Aww that's cute. Why don't you like him now?"

The smile faded from Celeste's face, and she shared a look with Eevee. She lowered her head. "He wasn't who I thought he was."

"Oh… Well that's alright." Tia put a hand on Celeste's shoulder. "That just means he wasn't all that great in the first place, right?" She gave Celeste a reassuring smile, and Celeste returned it in miniature.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I'm glad we had this talk," Tia said as they walked outside the bakeshop. "We should do this again sometime! You've never heard of Donut Joe's have you? It's Chili's go-to donut shop, so you know it's gotta be good. Oh, and you should stop by the restaurant tomorrow if you have time!" Tia beamed. "I want to introduce you to Alexis and Vic."

"O-Oh I—"

"I'm off this way now," Tia said as she reached the corner. "See you around!" She waved as she split off in another direction, and Celeste waved back as she watched her go.

"That went pretty well," she murmured to Eevee as they went on their way. Eevee nuzzled her head against Celeste. They'd made good progress that day.

Still, having spent almost two hours on what was supposed to be a quick grocery run, Celeste had begun to worry about how disappointed Miss Joan was going to be, especially when she was waiting on her pudding. But when Celeste entered the house, she found Joan lounging casually on the couch talking on the phone and laughing at a joke her daughter had told. She gave Celeste a friendly wave and a whispered thanks before continuing her conversation, and Celeste let out a sigh of relief and slipped out of her shoes. Snippets of Miss Joan's happy chatter and an unfamiliar muffled voice floating in the air, Celeste put away the groceries, retrieved the last garments hanging outside, and went upstairs to finish folding the laundry, singing something or other about hangers and clotheslines while Eevee rolled around on the bed with her Poké Ball.

That evening, Celeste decided she'd take a shot at making dinner, and, after seeing what they had available in the cupboards, settled on a vegetable stew, using what she'd learned with the pea soup.

Joan poked her head into the kitchen. "Something smells delicious."

Celeste chuckled sheepishly. "It's almost done. Just a few more minutes."

"Alright, dear," Joan said. "That cooking lesson your friends gave you looks like it really paid off." Celeste nodded, stirring the soup slowly.

Maybe I really should stop by tomorrow, she thought. She'd been wondering how long she'd keep avoiding them for. It'd been so stressful; she'd worried she'd meet someone from the restaurant every time she went outside. Eevee had noticed right away, of course, but even Tia, who thankfully didn't even know about the incident, had mentioned it—jokingly perhaps, but that hadn't made it any less true. In trying to avoid the subject of her blatant overreaction, it seemed she may have simply emphasized it. At least she was feeling a lot better than before, she reflected as she turned off the stove. But if she kept hiding it probably wouldn't mean much.

Celeste ladled three bowls of stew and ferried them into the dining room, setting two on the table and the smallest third on the ground for Eevee. "Bon appétit." That's what the triplets always said. Joan nodded her head as she took a taste, pleasantly surprised.

"Are these chunks Qualot Berry?"

Celeste nodded, pouring them their refreshments. "I hope you don't mind I used them."

"No, not at all," Joan smiled. "It's good. Your parents would be very proud."

Eevee tensed, her eyes locking onto Celeste's face, which went blank for a moment before taking on an expression of regret as she carefully set down the pitcher and took her seat. She looked down, gingerly smoothed out her skirt, and lifted her gaze to her bowl with a noiseless sigh, stirring her stew wearily. Eevee's ears drooped, and she halfheartedly bowed her head to her bowl once more. Celeste's restraint, however necessary, was draining. They'd just learned to live with it.

Celeste prodded at the carrot slices in her bowl, submersing them in the stew and watching as they bobbed back up to the surface, then submerged them again to repeat the process. She didn't think she'd given her parents much of anything to be proud of lately. She pushed around the Qualot chunks, then glanced up at Miss Joan. Maybe… Maybe it was time to start.

She took a breath and set down her spoon. "Miss Joan?"

"Yes, dear?" Joan reached to take a sip of her lemonade, and Celeste held her breath until she had set down the glass before continuing weakly, heart pounding in her ears.

"My parents are dead."