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The silence lingers for a little while, neither of you seeming sure what to say. Eventually, Rana takes a steadying breath and faces you diplomatically.

"I know you were just doing what you thought was best. I guess I probably would have done the same thing before now. But I don't always want to be scared of making people upset if it means backing down from something important. Do you think that makes sense?"

Rana thinks to herself for a moment, as if it's important to her that she finds the right words.

"I guess my point is," she begins, "that if you want to talk about some stuff, you might end up upsetting people anyway. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try and talk about it. But also, my aunt didn't want to talk to us. I wanted to talk, but she just wanted the petition. I know she's busy, but I just figured I should take the chance to try and stand my ground. If we hadn't left, maybe she would have ended up listening—and if that could've ended up doing something good, that I'm pretty sure it would've been worth it. But because we just did what she said, nothing really changed. All we really achieved was not making her more mad at us. So I couldn't just talk, because Dina didn't give us the chance. I had to try and do something instead."

She looks at you, seeming to hope that you've taken in everything she has to say. Then, after a second, she tightens her lips—and you think she must have decided that she's said enough.

With that, the two of you go your separate ways. You're left with a lot on your mind as Rana heads off towards her car—and especially the thought that things have never been so complicated for you before. Maybe, you think, things will go back to normal after the vote finally happens; but at the same time, you wonder if living in a town, rather than a forest, means that there's pretty much no such thing as normal.

You're not sure. You figure you'll just have to wait until after the vote is decided to know for certain.

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