"Hey, Cindy!"

Cindy turned around as she was about to walk out of the school's campus and saw Rafferty catching up to her.

"Rafferty?"

"You wanna hang out at my place for a little bit?"

Cindy blinked, "...This a joke?"

Rafferty scoffed, "No."

"Did Lola make a bet or -"

Rafferty put her hand on Cindy's arm, "No one's making me do this. You always go home after school, you don't hang out with... anyone, really. Miles tells me you've even turned down his offers to hang out. Unless... do you hang out with that, uh... I don't wanna call her -"

"Keemia?"

"Oh, is that her name? They, uh, they always just call her Marko."

Cindy rolled her eyes, her lip having a slight sneer for a moment, "...'Course." Then mumbled, "...nothing better for their -"

"What?"

"They have nothing better to call her? Like - you know, her name?"

"Some people just never change, but they will eventually." Rafferty beamed a smile when she said that.

Cindy narrowed her eyes, "...Sure."

"So, wanna come?"

"Right now?"

"Isn't that why I'm asking?"

Cindy paused, trying to stall to gave a sound reason to why she didn't want to. "...If I bribe you with food, will you?"
Rafferty's smile became knowingly, almost smug.

Cindy rolled her eyes again, "Who do you think I am?"

"Someone who has a big appetite. Some of the girls are jealous how you can eat so much yet stay skinny."

"Blame genetics."

"Does your Dad get upset about lunch money?"

"He knows how much I eat. He was paid a lot in his old job, science field."

"Well, has he ever taken you to Great Bite Pepperoni?"

"Is the mascot a red shark?"

"What?" Rafferty looked at Cindy confused.

"Cus' it sounds like..." Cindy sheepishly frowned, being the only who knew the meaning behind her joke, "Uh, no...
No, he hasn't."

Rafferty snickered before she continued, "Well, I have a coupon that not only makes a pizza of our choice cheaper, but if we eat the whole pizza we can get two free boxes!"

Rafferty held up a green slip with orange letting of Great Bite Pepperoni on it, waving it.

Cindy snorted, "I don't think its gonna be -"

"Cindy... I am, so worried about you."

"What?"

"You ate the whole pizza by yourself! What do you mean?!" Rafferty's astonishment didn't hide her amused yet nervous smile.

"Oh, uh..."

"These pizzas are big, people just eat two slices and eat the rest later."

"Um..."

"You even bought yourself a box - are you going to eat three boxes of Great Bite Pepperoni pizzas?!"

"Y-yeah...?" Cindy said, looking over at Rafferty while holding the three pizza boxes.

"Okay. The moment we get to my place, I'm gonna check your weight and your body for stretch marks - no way can your body handle that much calories."

"Wait, wuh..."

"Yes! I'm not taking no for an answer - your health matters more than anything."

"W-wait a minute! This isn't some like, y'know..."

"No. Mind, out of, gutter, now." She said, slapping her back hand against her palm in tune with her sentence.

"Okay..." Cindy then suddenly remembered Rafferty saying that she and Lola used to be together, and found herself blurting, "Were you this straightforward with Lola when -"

A tingling went over her scalp and a jolt went down her spine as lightning struck next to her -

Her eyes darted over and saw the glare Rafferty gave. With her glasses, it were as though a ray were being focused by her lenses and were shooting into her, burning her alive.

"Never mind, sorry..." Cindy mumbled.

There was a long pause, "...No. We were... we had a friend group. Lola wanted to do something with them that I didn't agree with. We talked it out, and we went our own ways. I didn't expect to see her in Brooklyn Visions. But, there she was suddenly."

"What's stopping you two from getting back together?"

Rafferty hummed in thought, "...Lack of interest."

"From what? Killing someone?"

There was reaction,

Minute,

Too minute for Cindy to read anything from it.

"No." Rafferty said, "But it may as well be close to it."

Cindy felt the thin ice and stepped away from the topic. Of the few times that Rafferty had talked to her, she had always kept this bright and motherly demeanor, never raising her voice or made it threatening. But just now, the somberness in her voice had an edge to it was hate or malice, Cindy couldn't discern. But it was there, like a shark fin breaking the surface of the water.

For the rest of the time until they reached Rafferty's home, it was in eerie silence, something alien to Cindy from her interactions with Rafferty.

"Wow..." Cindy's eyes took in the pristine apartment complex, the kind dipping into the abstract with its architecture, its windows chromatic in the sun, making its side seem like an interconnecting network of metallic plates.

"You never said you were a rich kid." Cindy said, looking over at Rafferty.

"You're not the first one to say that," Rafferty said, "And its not that appealing to the eyes, come on."

"It literally looks like the headquarters of a super hero or villain."

Rafferty chuckled as she entered the apartment complex, "I can tell you're not a city-girl, Cindy."

Cindy followed after, seeing the lobby with its pristine decor, so clean that it seemed fancy just by that alone with an appealing contrast from the white of the walls and the red carpet and black furniture.

"Thought this was an apartment?" Cindy said, looking at the receptionist behind the lobby desk.

"It is." Rafferty said, "But when this was made three years ago, they had the idea to make the other half of the building rent-able like a hotel. While the people who want to live here, live on the other side of the building."

"Wow..." Cindy said, "Its almost as if only rich people can do that."

Rafferty flashed a purse lip at Cindy, "Okay, come on. We're hitting the stairs."

"But, the elevator's over here?" Cindy pointed to the nearby elevator.

"Stairs. Now. Burn off those calories you took in."

Cindy glanced at the elevator before shrugging and followed Rafferty up the stairs.

"So, which floor do you live in?"

"The seventh."

"And we're taking the stairs, why?"

"Scared of a little exercise?"

"Do you?" Cindy made a small frown, realizing what she said.

"Ah!" Rafferty's jaw dropped in offense, "Of course! I wouldn't be working part time in the school's infirmary, if I didn't!"

"So, you said your Dad, used to work in the science field. Where, did he work?"

"Oscorp, I think. With my mom."

"Oh? What did he do?"

"I dunno. Science stuff? He and Mom were always gone, a babysitter always had to be with me after school."

"I... won't ask bout your mom, but... You also said you guys... moved a lot?"

"Yeah. All over the country. North, south, east, and the west. And, now, back to the east. I guess permanently this time, it looks like."

"Oh..."

"You okay?"

"Of course! This is no problem, at all. Lola worked me harder than this!"

"Oh gawd..."

Cindy stopped, "You sure you're okay? One more floor and we're home free. Do you I need to carry you, too?"

"Why... aren't you...?"

"...Dad wanted to make sure I was in shape when I was home schooled. Clearly, its paying off."

"So that's why... you're..." She trailed off.

"...I'm?"

Rafferty made glances up and down Cindy, "Never mind..."

"I'm not looking for a relationship."

"I never said..."

"Its a shame you and Lola divorced, both of you are bad at hiding things."

Rafferty did her 'Motherly' glare.

"...Sorry." Cindy then balanced all three pizza boxes in one hand while reaching out to Rafferty with the free hand, "C'mon, lemme help you up."

"You can carry that?"

"Not complaining - hurriup." Cindy said in a faster pace to give emphasis, even though she could hold them all with no problem.

To resolve the supposed issue of the three pizza boxes being heavy, Rafferty put her hand on Cindy's shoulder so as leverage to help her up the remaining set of stairs, allowing Cindy to hold the boxes with both hands. Once they reached the seventh floor, Rafferty shuffled over to the door that held the apartment she lived in. When fishing the key out from her pocket, she set her forehead against the door and continued to do so as she lazily unlocked it with the key.

"...You gonna shower when we get in?" Cindy asked.

"Y'know... That sounds nice." Rafferty said as she opened the door and entered, Cindy following after, "But, I meant what I said earlier." She closed the door and gave an affirming look, "Take off your clothes."

Cindy opened her mouth, paused, then closed it, "I was about to say you didn't buy me dinner, but then what the hell are these?" Cindy lifted the pizza boxes for emphasis.

"Pfft. Alright," Rafferty said, after Cindy put the pizza boxes on the nearby kitchen counter and taking a glance at the modern and sleek decor, "Come on, the sooner we can get this over with the better."

"This really necessary? I don't look that fat, do I?"

"With hoodie you always wear, you kind of do."

Cindy pouted and became silent for a moment, "...Fine."

"So... uh," Rafferty said during her inspection, "What exercises did your Dad have you do?"

"Push ups, sit-ups, crutches, some weights, running on the treadmill - that kind of stuff. Every day. Eventually, I made it a personally goal to do at least fifty of each, then one hundred after I got used to it."

"Is that it? Anything else? Like, what pre-workout you take or..."

Cindy hummed in thought, "...Just genetics."

Rafferty's clicking tongue could have cut a stack of papers, "...Man..." She mumbled, but easily heard by Cindy.

"So, uh..." Cindy said, "Are you done yet, or do I actually need to call someone for my own safety?"

"Do you still do these exercises to work off the calories you eat - I mean, you gotta unless you wanna put on pounds."

"Usually, although these days I tend to make cheat days for myself. Just wanna have time to do other things."

"Uh-huh, yeah, I got it."

A moment passed, Then -

"...Hey!" Cindy scowled.

Rafferty's hands jumped back, "Oh! Sorry! But, uh, well... You know the talk about where fat goes for us girls."

Cindy's eyes went up in thought, then, after a moment, merely, "...Yeah."

Cindy glanced at her wrists, glad that, without prior knowledge or a keen eye, the organic web shooters were practically invisible to the naked eye.

"Look, just because I didn't find any stretch marks doesn't mean you can eat three more slices! Just because you look skinny doesn't mean you aren't fat! And why are you in my room?!"

"I think its obvious I have a fast enough metabolism. And because I was curious." Cindy said, despite the fact it was more as a result of pushing her body too far that one time she tried to outrun the Spidermen.

There was still a lingering soreness in her body, but she kept calm and played it cool. Eating this much calories was a treatment for it - the only real knowledge she had of this process was that the energy she gained from the calories soothed the soreness. Reminiscent of dipping a heated sword in blacksmithing into water. In fact, Cindy had noticed over the years that it seemed to be also helping her build her muscles to a degree that kept her lean. Dare she say, even stock piling energy for such scenarios as the one aforementioned. Because of that, however, Cindy was glad this process didn't make her look like a meat-head, among its other purpose.

"Fat is fat - your heart is the one thing that can't even lie to your body."

"Obviously," Cindy said before her eyes glided around Rafferty's room, "And its obvious you would know such a thing."

Rafferty's room was very clean, not a speck of dirt or stain anywhere. It was tidy as well, as though everything in this very room lined up with the doctrine of a soldier's. Every part of the room was designated for a purpose. Of course, there were things like books she liked to read, bands she liked to hear, there was even a poster of some girl band -

Then there was the corner where her studious nature appeared:

Her desk having notebooks at the sides,

Textbooks sitting overhead on a shelf,

A laptop in the center,

Miscellaneous things regarding the health industry -

And a photo of what could only be Rafferty's family.

Her dad,

Her younger self,

And her mother.

Cindy pointed at the picture, "Its almost as if I stole your glasses."

Rafferty looked at the picture and everything that was ice within her melted to become spring.

"Yeah. I had a pretty bad eye sight those days, I was one of those lucky kids where it got better as I got older."

"You're mom's very pretty."

"...Yeah," Cindy regretted bringing up the topic once hearing Rafferty's tone change, "She was."

Cindy felt as though a hand had appeared behind her head and was beginning to press its fingers down on her scalp, "Uh..."

"Its okay. She fell down the sub ways stairs. Nothing fancy, just an accident. She was late for work that day."

"...Your dad?"

"Changed for the better, funny enough."

Hearing that caused a mental whiplash that drove the storm clouds away from Cindy's mind, "What?"

"He was already going down hill after getting laid off from his science teaching job. But, when Mom died, its like he realized something. Can't really tell you what, though. I just remember one day he looked at me and had this look in his eye, then started improving himself. Went back to school and is now working at Oscorp."

Rafferty took one more look at the photo before pointing towards the living room, "TV in the living room's got streaming. Anything you wanna watch?"

Cindy paused, pouted then looked to the side, "...Masked Norite Neo."

Rafferty pursed her lip, "...O-kay... Uh, we can check. I have to use the bathroom, go ahead. I'll just be a minute."

Without a word, Cindy went off towards the living room while Rafferty went into the bathroom.

Once inside, she unlocked her phone and began typing -

I checked.

Sent.

A moment later, she received a reply -

She the one?

Similarities.
Uncertain.
But I know you're going to go after her anyway.

Your damn right I will.
And if she so much as touches you I'll make it hurt more.

Lo.
I don't think she did it.

She's connected to her.
I just know it.

And if she isn't?

The others are getting antsy.
They already believe she's involved.

This is why I -

Rafferty paused. She deleted the sentence -

Its your fault.

Someone had to be there for them.
We're not like the ones who left.
Not like you.

But you had -

She stopped again.

Just be careful, Lo.
And if she isn't involved, promise me you'll back off.

Can't promise that.
Might even bring out the real one.

Rafferty hated that the only thing she could say from this was -

Lo...

Rafferty tilted her head back and sighed.

There was a soft buzzing from her phone, signalling Lola sent another text.

I love you.

Rafferty stared at the screen long.

Soon, slowly, her thumbs began to move -

I - L-O-V-E -

She stopped herself, remembering what was done and what was said.

She deleted what she typed.

Common courtesy made her reply -

Yeah.

There were no more texts after that. As Rafferty did her business on the toilet, she covered her face with her hands, her glasses pushed up by the tips of her fingers.