For the first time in her life, Nola hangs out with someone other than Elon. It goes as well as you probably think.

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I turn on some lofi in the hope that will calm her down, but no, she's still crying. She's been crying for a while now ever since we got in the car. Poor girl, she must really be troubled.

"Are you crying for Elon?" I ask.

"Yeah..." she answers as she sobs.

"Nola, you know what you did to him is wrong, but it's not too late to fix it."

"Yes it is. I wish someone would have told me that he died."

"Died? He's not dead."

"Yes he is. What other reason would he no longer hang out with me?"

"But he shows up in the bathroom when you need him."

"Yes, but that's just his spirit. He became my guardian angel to ease me when I'm in the toilet. That's why he's always late, he's flying down from Heaven."

What is this now? Must be more influence from her mom. "What if Elon really did die?"

"What!?"

"Ha, see, you don't even believe what you said."

"Well, why isn't he hanging out with me? He only walks me home from therapy and he won't even hug me anymore."

"That's because you keep touching him in places you shouldn't."

"I thought boys liked it when girls touched them."

"That's just a stereotype. At least, not all boys. Elon, he's too nice for that."

"I didn't mean to do it. I just wanted to be nice to him. You know, give him a reward for taking me to the toilet."

"All you're doing is just making things worse. The only thing you can do is better yourself. Like I said, what if he died."

"Why do you keep asking that? He's already a spirit, why do you want him to die again only to reincarnate into a pig or something?"

"If he dies, then what will you do? Huh? What if a truck hits him and he is sent to another world? You can't go without him, so what happens if he's not there for you? That's what's going to happen once he goes to college. He's moving out and he won't be there for you anymore. By the way, what are you going to do when you graduate?"

"What makes you think he's not taking me with him? I just give him the sad puppy eyes and he will take me anywhere."

"There you go again, manipulating him."

"Well, I can't do anything. I'm useless. I just want him to marry me so I can just give him a million babies."

"That's not much of a future for you."

"It doesn't matter. It's all about him now, as long as he takes me to the toilet that is."

"You know, you keep doing that. You keep going back and forth. One minute, you're saying you want to fix your problem, the next minute you still want him to follow you. Are you sure you're trying?"

"Yes, I'm trying. I really am, but it's hard."

"Want me to help you go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... if it's your muscles that are giving you trouble, then maybe I can, like, open your butt hole or something-"

"EEEEEEWWWWW! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING! PERVERT!"

"I'm only joking, relax."

"Elon would never say that to me! He's a gentleman!"

"But... you want him to do exactly that."

"Who told you that?"

"He did, remember? You keep touching him where you shouldn't."

"But he would never stick his hands inside me. He's respectful about my body."

"You're talking about respecting other people's bodies?"

"I don't like you. Take me home already."

"We're going to hang out today. It's for your own good."

"Where are you even taking me?"

"To play soccer."

We drive up to Nicely Park and I take out my soccer ball from the trunk.

"Elon says you like this park."

"With him. It's nice here to walk with him. I want to walk with him, not you."

I toss the ball towards her and she... gets hit in the face and leans on the car. I grab her before she falls.

"I knew it! You're trying to kill me!" she accuses me.

"Nola, I'm sorry. Didn't you see it?"

"No. I was lost in thought."

"Well, here." I hand the ball over to her.

"I don't want it," and she pushes it away.

"Okay, I'll carry it. Now come on."

We walk over to a open field and I drop the ball in the middle.

"I don't know how to play soccer." she says.

"We're not going to play actual soccer, we'll just kick the ball."

"Why?"

"It'll help you relax, get some exercise."

"I do plenty of those and I don't like it."

"Come on, let's have some fun. Kick the ball. I'll chase after it."

She looks at the ball on the ground with a bit of a grouchy face. She winds her leg back and swings it. She kicks the... grass... and trips.

Wow... that... I've never seen before. I help her up and she dusts herself.

"Try again." I say.

"No."

"Come on, Nola."

She looks at the ball again. This time with determination, she swings her leg as far back and with full momentum and force, she kicks... her own face! She stumbles back a bit and falls on her back.

I run to her, "are you okay?"

"mmmmmmm...." I don't know what that means.

I help her up again and pat her back. "Try again, and concentrate on the ball."

Once again she looks at the ball with intent. She clenches her hands. "You can do it!" I encourage.

She once again swings her foot and she did it! She kicked the ball. It's flying high in the air. I try to predict where it will land so I can catch it.

Wait, It's going backwards... and lands on her face! Aw man, there was some wind!

She topples down on the ground again and I help her up. Around this time I hear some laughter. Aw jeez, there's a group of people our age who are laughing at her. Nola gets up and starts running away. I get the ball and chase after her.

She's not a fast runner so I catch up with her in no time.

"I WANT TO GO HOME!" she yells.

"Nola... I'm sorry..."

"I WANT ELON RIGHT NOW!" She gets on her knees and starts sobbing again. I rub her back but this was no use. I guess I have no choice.

We've only been out for half an hour and it looks like this whole thing was a failure. Poor Nola really is messed up. I feel so bad for her. Is there any hope for her? I don't know now. She's in the back seat, just sobbing. I texted Elon about it and he says he'll comfort her when we arrive.

Back to her building, I knock on Elon's apartment. As soon as it opens and he appears, she embraces him with tears on her eyes as he hugs her back. He takes her to her room and I wait outside.

Man, she really is attached to him. This started out as fun and games, but she really has a problem. I feel so bad for her. But I also feel compelled to be her friend. Empathy? Sympathy? I don't know, but seeing her suffer like this, I feel like I should do something.

Like half an hour later, they both come out. She's still sobbing but at least isn't crying anymore.

"I'm sorry..." she says so somberly.

"It's okay. We can do something else instead." She doesn't respond, but I continue. "Listen, instead of playing soccer, come to the next match at school."

"I don't know about that."

"There won't be that many people there. You can just sit in the corner."

"No, I don't want to. I just want to stay in my room."

"I'll go with you," says Elon.

"You will?" well that cheered her up.

"Yeah."

"Will you sit next to me?"

"Probably not, but I'll be close by."

"Mmmmmm..."

"Come on Nola," I said. "You got to be out and about. You just can't sit in your room all day, sulking."

She looks at Elon as she say, "If Elon is going, then okay."

"Alright. It's after school tomorrow, so be there early."

"Okay." After this, she then enters her apartment.

"Man, what a trip."

"So I heard," commented Elon.

"I never realized just how bad it was. I genuinely feel bad for her."

"That's why I need her to get this settled as soon as possible. I really don't want to take her with me, but if this keeps on, I'll have no choice."

"I'll take her in."

"You will?"

"Yeah. When I go to college, she can live with me."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I feel bad for her. I really want her to feel better about herself."

"Well, thanks Heather. I'm sure she'll eventually appreciate it."

"Hopefully. Well, I got to go now. Text me an update on her."

"Alright, see ya," and he goes back in. I return to my car and drive home.

Entering my apartment, I find my dad sitting on his chair watching TV... with his suit on. I don't know why he wears a formal suit at home. He says it's what makes him a successful banker in some way.

"Hey, Heather. You're home early."

"Yeah. My trip was cut short."

He gets up and kisses me on the forehead. He then notices my face, "Heather, what happened? You look a bit down."

"Yeah, about that. Dad..."

"Yes, dear."

"What if there was a girl that was in need of my help? What if I wanted to help her?"

"What do you mean, sweetie?"

"There's a girl I'm worried about. I want her to move in here."

"You mean, you want this friend of yours to live here?"

"Yeah. Are you okay with that?"

My dad looks at the ceiling as he thinks about this for a minute. He looks at me and responds, "sit down and tell me all about it."