>>5423143Opening your eyes a minute after they instinctively shut, you notice that Mitzi hasn’t moved one inch from her spot on the beach, nor has she stopped boring holes into your face with her eyes.
“... I see.”
With the faintest shudder, Mitzi wordlessly rises from the towel and folds it over her shoulder along with her discarded denim shorts. Lifting the duffel bag onto her other shoulder, she silently carries the load back up the way you came.
Shit, you mutter under your breath as you gather up your clothes, what… what <span class="mu-i">now</span>?
“<span class="mu-r">Now,</span>” Nats suggests as you realize Mitz has no intention of stopping to wait for you, “<span class="mu-r">Now we follow her… and quick...</span>”
Scampering after the tomboy, you silently thank whoever’s watching that you’re so close to her house–Mitzi only has to cross one street on the way back, and when she does it’s only by divine providence that a passing car doesn’t crush her into roadkill. Not even turning to look at the irate driver, she fishes out a key from the miniscule pockets in her shorts and lets the front door swing wide open onto the porch!
Huffing and puffing close behind, you’re ready to dive through the closing portal when you realize she’s leaving it open for you. Climbing the porch and shutting the door behind you, you creep back through the entryway covered in fresh damp, sandy footprints leading back into the <span class="mu-g">LIVING ROOM.</span>
You’re just about to call for Mitzi when you spot her curled up at the foot of the couch and wrapped in her towel like a safety blanket. Peering at you through her still-dripping bangs, the girl doesn’t invite you to take a seat, but she doesn’t shoo you away either when you sit down next to her on the carpet.
Is… you don’t have to talk about i-
“Stan.” She interjects in a hollow, but serious tone.
Y-yea?
“Tell me everything,” she asks in an increasingly-quivering voice, “And don’t even <span class="mu-s">THINK</span> of leaving anything out…”
You begin to ask if she’s sure, but you think better of it, so instead you respond with a quiet ‘<span class="mu-i">okay</span>’...
And then you tell her.
>CONTD.