I briefly thought about going after her, but the bell rang, and with a sigh I turned in the other direction to get to my own class.

I looked around for Mari after school ended but didn't see her.

Eventually I gave up and met Belle at the minivan five minutes later than usual. I asked Belle if she'd seen Mari and my pixie ‘little sister' replied that she hadn't since Lunchtime.

“What's wrong?" she asked, recognizing the concern on my face.

I sighed and explained about bumping into Gerald and then making the offhand comment about Mari only being my girlfriend until Sunday.

Belle listened considerately and then popped her eyebrows.

“I'LL call her when I get home, okay?"

"Thanks." I nodded. "I really appreciate it."

She gave me a wan smile. "She's my best friend. You're my... my Matty.

I want to see both of you happy.”

Without really thinking about it, I hugged Belle close and then bent to kiss her lips softly. But when I went to release her, she squeezed me tight and wouldn't Let me back up. Only then did I really remember that we were still in this little Limbo state between normal and estranged.

I knew that until she got her house key back, Belle would always know that things weren't back to normal between us. And as much as I might've wanted to just put the past behind us, I was waiting for... something... to show me I could trust her again before giving her the key back.

Maybe helping fix things with Mari would be the first step.

Twenty minutes after I got home, the doorbell rang, and I quickly got up to answer it. Feeling relieved, I greeted, “Hello, girlfriend” before getting a good look outside, and then blinked in surprise to see

Zofi on my doorstep.

The exquisite brunette grinned at me.

“Well hello, boyfriend,” she greeted in return and stepped forward to give me a kiss.

It took me a second but I returned her kiss. While Mari had made clear that Alice would get to keep her regular Tuesday, I wasn't aware of any such promise to Zofi about Wednesday. So when we finally parted, I looked her up and down and asked, "What are you doing here?"

“Relax, I'm not crashing," she informed me as I welcomed her into the house. She walked in and started looking around. "I asked Mari at recess if she'd mind me joining you two. Has she not arrived yet?"

“Uhhh, no. Not yet." I didn't yet explain that I wasn't a hundred percent sure Mari WOULD arrive. I mean, I'd expected my girlfriend-of-the-week to come by, and I didn't think that what happened at the end of Lunch was significant enough to change that plan, but I wasn't totally sure anymore.

“That's alright." Zofi nodded and hefted her backpack. "Maybe we can actually get some studying done first."

I nodded. "Sounds Like a plan."

In the end, though, Zofi and I ended up doing homework for more than thirty minutes without Mari showing up. Zofi asked about her absence, and I answered truthfully that I'd assumed Mari would be coming over but had not actually confirmed that beforehand. Zofi asked what was going on, since she'd assumed it was a done deal as well. I explained about the Little run-in with Gerald, and Zofi nodded her understanding.

She then volunteered to call Mari's house and see if she was home instead, but there was no answer. Five minutes later, I tried to call myself, but still the call went to their answering machine.

Zofi and I went back to work. Neither of us was inclined to mess around with each other behind my girlfriend's back, and the mood wasn't conducive to sex anyway. It wasn't really conducive to studying, either, but I managed to muster up enough focus to at least go through the motions.