“I’m telling you it was an Earthquake!” Mai said to me as we looked up at the blue house about to fall off the cliff. My cousin was trying to distract me from my encounter earlier with Jeni.

“That’s a boring reason! I want something interesting!”

“Mik! What do you want from me?” They replied.

“Tell me a story. Like how the house was infested with so many flies it started to fly to the edge of the cliff. The people who lived there angered a witch and she shot a curse at them. In the attempt to save his wife the man neglected to check on his daughter, who the witch stole and locked high in a tower—“

“Okay, that’s just the plot of Rapunzel,” Mai said, rolling their eyes.

“Things can be similar to other things. Have you never heard of a retelling?”

We kept bickering like this until we reached the ice cream shop she was taking me. After Jeni stopped coming with me, Mai joined. They’re two years older than me and had money so they would always pay.

When we walked in the shop I was distracted by the new menus. It had just been a few months since I was in here last and the menu was way flashier now. I was frozen in my spot trying to see my favorite order when someone bumped into me from behind.

It was Jeni.