Heather, the jenga piece that keeps the entire structure in place. Except jenga is played by taking AWAY pieces. I suck at jenga.

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"I don't know about this," said Nola.

"You need something to get your mind off of Elon, and the only thing I know what to do is soccer. It may also help you relieve your stress."

"I'm only stressed because you stole Elon away from me."

"Nola, stop being so difficult. Let's start by warming up. How about we stretch?"

"Okay..."

"Let's start with some squats. Just follow my lead."

I stand in place and start doing some. I bend my knees while holding a sitting position and then get back up. "Try doing that."

She gets in position and starts squatting. Good, so far. "Now get up." She gets up slowly. Her face is... well... too early to show that expression. "Come on, Nola. It's not that hard."

"mmmmMMMMMMMM." She stands up and immediately topples to the ground. Oh boy. I reach my hand, "come on, get up."

"I can't! I'm dying!"

"I know you're not in the best shape, but come on. It's not that bad."

"No. I'm dead! I'm sorry, Elon. You're little Nola is going to the light. The bright shining light in front of me. I can almost reach it. Let me enter the light."

I quickly get her up before she blinds herself from staring at the sun. "Come on, Nola. These are not hard. With a little practice, you'll be doing them just fine."

"No, it hurts. It's bad. I don't like it. I'm going to break my legs if this keeps up."

"You did one. Now do 9 more."

"Nine more!? Are you trying to kill me?"

"I promise this is the only warm up we'll do."

She gets back on her squatting position and then goes back down. Okay, good. "Now get up."

"I'm trying."

"Come on, get up."

"My legs hurt. My joints hurt. My feet hurt. My booty and nono-part hurts."

"Come on, you're not even trying. Get up now."

"MMMMMMMMMMMHMHMHMHM!"

Is she trying? I thinks she is. I better help her. I go behind her and place my hand on her sides.

"AH!" she yelps. "Stop taking advantage of me."

"I'm trying to help you."

"You're trying to help yourself. You seem me in a vulnerable position and are trying to cop a feel, perv."

"You're having trouble getting up yourself. Let me help you."

"No. Keep your hands off. You see my booty sticking out and you can't control yourself, can you?"

"Hmm... maybe I can't?"

"Huh?"

"How about I tickle you."

"No, I don't like being tickled... other than Elon... in bed."

I start fiddling my fingers on her ribs. In no time, she's hysterical.

"No, stop it," she says while she's laughing.

"I won't stop until you get up." I keep tickling while she continues to laugh. She keeps trying to swat me but I won't stop until she gets up. But it's no use. She falls into her sides as she continues to laugh. Eventually it subsides.

"How about we just do some jumping jacks?" I suggest.

She does a few and at least she's capable of doing this. After we're done, I ask, "how do you feel?"

"I guess it wasn't so bad. I'm tired. Let's go home."

"No, not yet. We got to practice kicking the ball."

"No. I don't like doing that."

"It'll make you feel good kicking something around."

"No it won't."

"You don't have a choice. Remember, this is for your own good. Now, I set up a mini soccer goal a few yards away. Stand like this." And I show her how to stand properly. "Remember, concentrate on the ball and your legs."

She concentrates at the ball. Looks like she's paying attention. She swings her leg with all her might and misses the ball. She ends up tripping and falling on the pillow I set behind her.

"Okay. I think your problem is that you put too much energy. Try to kick the ball gently."

She gets up and once again concentrates on the ball. She once again puts all her effort into the swing and kicks the ball. It doesn't go into the goal but it hits a bike parking rack. The ball bounces and ricochets back to her. I managed to grab the ball before it hits her on the face.

"Wow. Okay. That was great, but this time, let's not kick the ball too hard. Try it again, but this time, gently."

Once again, she sets herself up and she controls her leg as she kicks the ball, but it was still too much. The ball flies above the goal and goes up the tree. I hear some kind of squawking as a hawk falls to the ground!

"I KILLED A BIRD!' she cries.

"No, you didn't!" I utter as the bird gets up and starts chasing us!

After running for our lives from that hawk, we return back to our spot. I get the soccer ball back but Nola is just on the ground, sulking. I sit next to her and pat her back.

"You're going to take some time before you can play."

"I don't like this. I want to go back to how things were."

"But you can't, Nola. Even if you did, you only have a year and a half left and Elon is not going to take you with him to college."

"Why not? I promise I won't bother him. Besides... I was suppose to marry him."

"That must be your mom talking."

"Well..."

"Well, what?"

"...mmmm..."

"Nola, you can tell me anything."

"No. You'll just tell Elon."

"I promise I won't tell."

She looks around her surroundings. After confirming no one is around, she then says in a hush tone, "I wish Elon liked me like I like him. I'm in love with him. I wish he was my boyfriend."

"Oh. Well, that's not surprising."

"Don't tell Elon, okay?"

"But I'm sure he already knows."

"Yeah... but still, don't tell him I told you."

"Why not? It's clearly obvious. Just tell him how you feel."

"No. He's going to reject me. Our precious bathroom time is all I have left of him. He wants to cure me so that he never goes to the bathroom with me again. My crush for him is all I have left."

"Nola..." I hate to be the one to say this, but I have a feeling I have to. "Listen, Elon is going away irregardless of how you feel or what you tell him. But it's not like you'll never see him again. It's just that you won't be seeing him as often. And yeah, he is going to reject you, but you should be seeing him as a friend or sibling, like you already do. Adding lover to that is just going to complicated things even further. Nola, it's time you let him go now. It's time to detach so you can finally live your life the way you want to."

"But I want Elon to-"

"Don't say things like that anymore. Don't say, 'I need Elon' anymore. Say things like, 'I want to do this by myself' or 'I want to hang out with my friend Heather today'. Stop depending on Elon for everything, and then maybe, surely, you'll finally get used to the idea of being separated from him."

"I don't know what that's like. If it's like right now, it feels awful."

"That's because you are still holding on. Nola, just tell him how you feel, and get rejected. It's going to be horrible, but that's the first step to finally freeing yourself from this illness that you have. You're not healthy like this."

I get up and help her on her feet. I get the mini soccer goal and ball and we head back to the car.

We drive back to her home and I lead her to her apartment. Mrs. Peeper grabs Nola and hugs her.

"Heather. What have you done? Why is my sweet precious child who is legitimately my own flesh and blood looking so depressed?"

"It was just a tiring day, Mrs. Peeper. The more practice she gets, the better she'll be able to handle it."

"I should hope so. Look at my little baby who I've carried for 9 months and raised for 17 years. She's so sad. Come on my little Nola, sweetheart. I'll make you some black tea to ease your pain."

"Mrs. Peeper, there's something weird about your tea." I hear as the door closes... while I'm still outside. You could've invited me in for some tea too, you know?

Well, Elon is probably tutoring Rudy now so he's not home either. I guess I'll just head home. But I feel happy helping Nola. She's scared and lonely but I think I can help her overcome this. If she can be Elon's sister, then maybe... she can be my sister too.