tuesday afternoon

[deepest_magic]

Elizabeth's house is within walking distance. Bella goes over to it the following day, after lunch, carrying two extra clumsily-frosted but perfectly baked cupcakes in her hands and notebooks in her backpack.

Comments

[neverbeatme]

Elizabeth answers the door.

"Ooh, cupcakes. I graciously accept this tribute."

[deepest_magic]

"There's one for your aunt too," Bella says, but she hands over the prettier of the two.

[neverbeatme]

She laughs.

"Awesome. She'll be so pleased. C'mon in."

[deepest_magic]

In comes Bella. She inspects the house.

[neverbeatme]

It is small and cute and cozy and nice.

Elizabeth eats her cupcake and directs Bella to put the other one in the fridge.

[deepest_magic]

Fridge. "What have you been up to so far today? Boring things I bet before I came along."

[neverbeatme]

"Math. So, boring to you."

[deepest_magic]

"I was right," giggles Bella. "Is your aunt not home?"

[neverbeatme]

"She's working. So she's only home in the strictest physical sense."

[deepest_magic]

"Oh, she works from home. That's cool. Charlie works less when I'm here but I'm allowed to be home alone, sometimes."

[neverbeatme]

"As opposed to what?"

[deepest_magic]

"As opposed to having to have a babysitter. He wouldn't leave me alone when I was eight, but he started doing it sometimes when I was nine and I didn't burn down the house or get murdered, so now he'll go in to work and just call me sometimes. He knows I'm here," Bella adds responsibly.

[neverbeatme]

"Oh," says Elizabeth. "I haven't had a babysitter in years."

[deepest_magic]

"Well, you wouldn't need one if your aunt works from home," says Bella. "Regardless of if she thinks you'd get murdered or burn down the house if she left."

[neverbeatme]

"Does your dad actually think you're going to get murdered or burn down the house?"

[deepest_magic]

"Nope," says Bella. "Not anymore. He probably didn't really think it when I was eight either but he didn't think it would be good to test it."

[neverbeatme]

"That's good. I wouldn't want to have a parent who thought that. It sounds really inconvenient."

[deepest_magic]

"Well, if he was wrong, and one of those things happened, it would have been worse than inconvenient, so I don't really blame him, but I like this better," says Bella brightly.

[neverbeatme]

Elizabeth gives her an evaluating look.

[deepest_magic]

"What?"

[neverbeatme]

"Figuring out what you mean by that."

[deepest_magic]

"What do you think I meant by it?" asks Bella, puzzled.

[neverbeatme]

"You could've meant that you think it makes sense for Charlie to act like there'll be a huge disaster if you're home alone because he really doesn't want your house to burn down. Or you could've meant that you really don't want your house to burn down, so you're okay with extra rules to make sure it doesn't happen, if he thinks you need them. Do you see the difference?"

[deepest_magic]

"I don't think I exactly meant either of those things. Something in between. It makes sense for Charlie to act like that, and it doesn't much bother me that he does, because I agree that it'd be bad if the house burned down. If I didn't agree that it would be really bad - worse than it being inconvenient in the way it is - then I would resent it, but I do agree. If it was more inconvenient or less bad then I wouldn't."

[neverbeatme]

"See," says Elizabeth, "to me, it makes a lot more sense to just not burn down the house."