My imaginary friend is gullible.

  Or maybe she is just an optimist?

  Either way she is going to be sorely disappointed when we get home and she finds out the internet isn’t working yet..

  There is no way my mom cares enough to get things working on the same day.

  But it would be mean to plunge Ami into the depths of despair sooner then absolutely necessary, so I’ll let her enjoy her delusions for the twenty minute walk back home.

  “Mai, are you even listening to me? Let's lose those girls tailing us so we can decide what we watch when we get home.”

  This is not a spy movie, Ami. They are simply walking behind us and the only way I’ll start running is if they try to talk to me, otherwise having to walk is already bad enough.

  Actually that is a scary thought, I’ll start taking random turns to get away from them.

  “Good job Mai. we can finally talk.”

  Yes yes, my ability to turn to the right is truly amazing. Look, I can even turn to the left.

  “MAI!!! Look, it’s a clothing store, let’s go in.”

  So it only took us two turns to get to hell…

  “N-no.”

  “Come on, just a little bit. I have never been in a store before.”

  That statement is making me jealous, but I don’t see a reason to hurt both of us just because of it.

  “I-i’m not going in.”

  “Fine, we need to go buy food for you anyway so I’ll give up for now.”

  “N-not doing that either.”

  “Your mom threw away all the canned food we had left, there is nothing for you to eat.”

  A few days without food won’t kill me. Having to deal with people in the store will.

  It’s completely counterproductive to die for sustenance.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “OK, to the food store. Lead the way Mai.”

  It’s called a grocery store and no I won’t.

  “N-no.”

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  She is acting like a three year old.

  Actually, it hasn’t even been half a year yet. I wonder if I should praise her for being so mature for her age or get mad at her for being so annoying.

  “C-clever girl.”

  “Thank you. Now let’s go to that store.”

  That didn’t work.

  “N-no.”

  “Yes.”

  I really hope we aren’t doing this the whole way home.

  “M-my mom will buy f-food.”

  It will take a few days, but Ami doesn’t need to know it.

  Maybe it will happen sooner if I’ll leave the money she left me in plain view so she knows I didn’t use it.

  But that also means she will get mad at me again, so I’ll only use that trick when I can’t hold on anymore.

  “You need to be more confident when you lie.”

  That's horrible advice. I don’t have confidence at any other time, it will be a dead giveaway.

  “I-i’m not lying.”

  Don’t give me that look, I’m trying my best here to fool you.

  It has to be more believable than us getting our net connection back today

  “To the store.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  I could just pretend to give in and lead us home anyway, it’s not like she knows this area at all. But without a working TV to distract her with, I’ll have to deal with her throwing a tantrum for a while. And I won’t have anything to do to distract me either.

  It’s a pretty big risk, Ami tends to escalate things when she gets mad.

  Who knows what she’ll do without any distractions.

  I really can’t win here, I doubt she will give up either.

  “I-i can’t.”

  This day has been bad enough already, I can’t handle it anymore. Just let me go home.

  “Are you sure? You are going to be hungry, and you can also buy coffee while we're at it. You can’t stop talking about how much you miss coffee lately.”

  “I-i just can’t.”

  “Ok. If it’s too much for you then let's just go home for today. We got plenty of shows to catch up on anyway.”

  She is unusually understanding today, which makes me feel kind of guilty that what she is looking forward to isn’t going to happen.

  “T-thanks.”

  “Don't mention it. I know school was hard on you today, but you did great. Good job Mai.”

  I don’t think I did anything worth praising like that, still it makes me kind of happy to hear it.

  I know it was hard for her too, so I’ll make sure to make this evening fun for the both of us.

  After all, it's the only thing we have left before having to do this all again tomorrow.

  I really wish we didn’t have to do it all again tomorrow…