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“...What?!”
Maya shouts out in astonishment at the horrendous ending of her favorite anime. The bright light of her screen showed her the image of both main characters holding these hideous, hybrid babies that completely pulled her out of the dissociation she’d been through the entire day. Her confusion was quickly interrupted by a knock at her door, so she quickly closed the tab while responding in a totally inconspicuous way.
“U-Uhm, H-Hallo?”
She called out to the door to let whoever was knocking know it was safe to come inside. The door creaked open slowly as Coco’s head peeked inside.
“Hoi, Maya....”
Coco’s voice echoed into the room, and the door was slowly pushed open further as she continued to speak.
“...Mymy and I are going to play a game.”
She continued, Mymy holding up a Ludo box with a wide, idiotic smile.
“Care to join us?”
Maya sat there in her chair, wide eyed, her cheeks pale with anxiety. She hadn’t expected to be so suddenly called to play a random game with them, especially not so late. She didn’t really know what to think; she didn’t really think at all. After a long, thoughtless pause, her mind was starting to eat away at her silence and she abruptly blurted out,
“N-No- I mean- Ye-Yes- Yeah.”
Maya’s brain started screaming at her. Was she stupid?! She didn’t even know what game that was! She didn’t know the rules, she’d obviously mess something up. There was no way they actually wanted her to play, either, they probably just wanted to-
“Really? That’s wonderful!”
Coco exclaimed, standing up straight with both her hands clasped together. She waved Maya over with a smile.
“Come on, we’re playing in my room, Maya. We will have so much fun!”
Mymy, too, had a vaguely shocked expression. She expected Maya to brush them off instantly, and she could tell Maya didn’t really want to, though her settling on a ‘Yes’ was definitely more than she expected from her sister.
“Oh... Okay. I’m coming.”
Maya spun around in her chair, pressing the off button on her PC before she stood up. Coco watched her excitedly, a rare, toothy grin shining on her face even as Maya left the room. It was intimidating to see Coco emoting with more than her usual, evil grin. Was... was she really happy to be playing a game with her?
Her thoughts were answered when Coco suddenly grabbed her and wrapped her arms around Maya’s shoulder for a hug. It was brief, incredibly so, but it was so unexpected that Maya’s brain was starting to melt. It had been ages since anyone had last given her a hug, she’d almost completely forgotten what it felt like to be hugged. Her hand came up to her upper arm, lingering on the warmth of her sister’s embrace.
“Okay, let’s go!”
Coco turned on a dime, marching towards her room excitedly. Mymy followed, looking back at Maya with a raised brow. The two briefly made eye contact, and in a rare moment of clarity, Mymy said something that didn’t involve spices or anti-Belgian propaganda.
“...Are you having a good day, dear Maya?”
Mymy asked, the pompous tone of her voice somehow managing to bleed through to what Maya assumed was supposed to be a genuine question. Maya paused for a moment, not answering instantly, thinking it over.
She did it, right? She passed the history presentation, she... she uh... she...? She didn’t really have a good day, in retrospect. Most of today sucked, like everyday, even her... ‘friends’ were mean to her today, and yet... she didn’t feel bad. She almost felt like she was satisfied? Or, rather, she felt... like she wanted something. It was a confusing feeling, but it was something new, and something she liked, so she nodded with a smile.
“Y-Yeah. I think it was a good day, Pi- Mymy.”
Maya responded, the tone of her voice incredibly genuine. She lacked the usual anxious tone of voice she wore, and it actually sounded like it was true. The pace of Mymy’s walking slowed a bit, and Coco paused at her door, looking at Maya with her jaw slack. The young girl shrunk a bit, not knowing what was up with their reactions.
“That’s wonderful, Maya! That means you will help me crush Coco, once and for all!”
The ginger nationalist exclaimed loudly, throwing her arm into the air with fiery passion. Coco giggled, opening the door to her room and walking inside. Mymy followed, jogging after her, and Maya was left standing there in the silent hallway of the Schoppenboer household.
She stood at the door, looking into the bright room with unsteady eyes. Was this really it? She... she didn’t feel anything negative right now. She was a bit hungry, maybe, and her legs were sore from biking to and from school so many times, but... she felt good. Mymy and Coco were being friendly to her in a way that didn’t feel like they were trying to undermine her, and, more importantly, she felt happy.
With one hand lingering on the door knob, she finally entered Coco’s bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Coco was sitting on her bed, and Mymy on the floor next to the box, setting it up. A plate of crullers sat on the bed next to Coco, and she waved Maya over to sit next to her. Coco moved the plate and patted the place next to her.
“Maya! Come take the red color. It’s your favorite, right?”
Maya felt her eyes watering, though she didn’t cry. Mymy nodded, patting her chest as she went on a tirade about how she made sure, when she bought the game, that everyone would get a color that fit them. Orange for Mymy, yellow for Coco, and red for Maya. Most of the rant was tuned out of Maya’s brain, but the fact they’d put so much thought into such a simple game that they clearly didn’t even expect her to play blew her mind away.
She nodded, speedwalking to the bed and sitting next to Coco. Her pieces were already set up, and the game was about to start. Her eyes were fixed on the board in front of her, on the fact that she was actually sitting here between her sisters- no- her friends- well, no... Maya shut that down, realizing she barely even knew anything about her sister.
...Wow, she didn’t even know anything about her sisters?! Maya never really spent much time with them, and she mostly just hung out in her room, but she realized now she really didn’t know much about either of them. She knew Coco liked music and sports, and Mymy played Korfball, and it was impossible not to know about Mymy’s obsession with the Netherlands, but she barely knew who they were as people. She felt terrible about that, in retrospect. Here they were, being so nice to her when they were basically strangers. How could she-
“...aya. Maya! Maaaaayaaaaa!”
Mymy’s voice echoed through the air, both sisters looking square at her. She’d zoned out while she was lost in thought, and it seemed it was finally her turn. She looked down at the board and, slowly, realized that Coco had damn near already completed the game. She had every piece out of her circle, and even worse, half of them were halfway around the board. Her jaw dropped, and she pointed at the board while looking at Mymy.
Mymy slowly looked at the board, and then nodded with an exhausted look.
“...Yeah, I know. I am certain Coco is cheating, but how, I don’t know...”
Mymy scratched her chin, staring at Coco. Coco frowned, tilting her head to the side.
“Cheating? I am not cheating! And my turn is over, now. It’s your turn, Maya.”
Coco responded quickly, and then gestured to the board for Maya to take her turn. Maya’s attention was finally fully set on the board, and she realized she had no idea what to do on her turn.
“Oh- uh, what- what am I supposed... to do...?”
Mymy was about to giggle, but Coco quickly got Maya’s attention, and Mymy realized she shouldn’t waste the moment.
“You must press the button,”
Coco gently tapped the bowl in the middle filled with die, careful not to click it.
“And then, you can move a piece. You must roll a six to get your token out of home, though.”
Maya nodded slowly. The instructions were simple enough. All she had to do was bring her hand forward and press the button. So easy. She reached out and clicked the button and rolled... a six and a three.
“Oh... Yay...”
She celebrated in a low mumble, grabbing one of the red pieces and taking it out of the square on the left. Coco moved to speak, but Mymy beat her to the punch.
“On the right, rice farmer!”
Maya looked over at Mymy with a perplexed expression.
“...Wut?”
Coco cut in to quickly intervene in the reaction, not trusting Mymy to not use a slur.
“She means pieces come out here, on this tile.”
Coco gently took Maya’s piece and moved it to the other side where a red square was. Maya nodded slowly.
“Oh, okay. Thanks, Co... co.”
She nodded quietly. It really was that simple, though saying thanks to Coco of all people made her feel weird. Considering how things usually went for her, she expected the board to blow up the instant she touched it, but nothing happened. It was nice, having things work out.
The game continued on with a decent flow. Coco obviously won in the end. It didn’t even take very long, considering she kept rolling so well that her turns lasted forever, but even despite that, Maya enjoyed herself. She actually managed to get a piece home, and more importantly, she’d sent the only piece that Mymy managed to get out straight back to where it came. While she’d have liked to win, watching Mymy lose so thoroughly was infinitely better.
Once the game was over, though, Mymy and Maya didn’t really have any reason to stick around. Mymy packed up and had already left with the game, so Coco and Maya were left together in Coco’s room. Maya really wanted to start a conversation with Coco, but she... didn’t know what to talk about. She knew Coco liked playing the drums and stuff, but music was not one of her strongsuits, and she’d rather not listen to Coco geek about eurobeat stuff. Still, though, she was almost satisfied with today, something she couldn’t say about any day in a long time.
Maya suddenly stood up, which garnered Coco’s attention. She was about to leave, but her feet stayed stuck to the floor. There was still one thing she needed to do, something that she really wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to commit to. She took a step closer to Coco, and then, with a thoughtless burst of speed, just lunged forward. Her arms wrapped around Coco’s waist, her face buried in Coco’s neck.
“T-Thank you, Coco... Good night.”
She nodded her head, about to let go when she felt Coco’s arms around her. She couldn’t see her sister’s face, but she could hear in her voice that she was smiling.
“Have a good night, Maya. Sleep well.”
And thus, they went their different ways. Maya left Coco’s room and returned to her own. After spending so much time in Coco’s room, her own room felt crude and dusty. She would have to clean it later in the week, but for now, she was tired. She’d spent too much time socializing during the game, and now, it was time to sleep.
Maya leaped forward, collapsing onto her bed, wrapping her arms around her blobfish toy. Today... was a good day. And for once, when she went to bed, she slept quickly...