I had a better math class in the morning, and I got to thank Olivia for her work. She proposed first that I get to her house tonight, but it's Friday, who knows what we will do. Instead, I proposed to go see her Saturday morning. She agreed and said that she looks forward to it. Good.

At lunch, in our secret spot, I first wondered where Marge was, but then remembered that she was behind tested for Autism. Apparently, Mindy already knew, but more importantly, Billy won his game and scored two goals, and one assist.

For soccer, apparently, this is huge. Especially since they were not favored at all to win. Mindy thinks that his place in the junior varsity team next year is pretty much secured.

Now, I mentioned varsity teams earlier, but I was 19 when I wrote it. I didn't want to reveal that I didn't know what varsity meant.

And when they mentioned the first time, I didn't feel comfortable asking.

That day, maybe because I was closer to Mindy and Edith than before, or perhaps because I felt more confident, I decided to ask.

"Sorry if it's a stupid question, but exactly what is a varsity team. I mean, I know it's the best team in the school, I am not stupid. But like, what does it change?"

Mindy looked at me, but it's Edith who spoke first.

"Thank God, Julie, I was hearing her speak, and my mind was going blank. I am the oldest of the three of us, I should know this, but I don't."

It reassured me.

"Well, the team Billy was playing against, is another team from his school, right?"

"I guess"

"It's like at my resort, we play volleyball between us"

"Sure"

"But the best team of each school, in addition to playing the other teams, they play the other schools, like, for regional championships"

"And that's the varsity team?"

"Yeah, and then, there is the junior varsity, which is the same, but younger"

"Ok, I get that"

"When we have homecoming, we like, welcome former students. They get to see their old school. We do a dance, but there is also a game. And usually, they get to see the varsity team play"

"To show off the school?", said Edith

"Yeah. Like, us, it's football, but at Billy's school, it's soccer. Even if they had football too, they wouldn't play each other"

"Why?"

"Private schools fight private schools, public schools fight public schools", says Mindy.

"That's stupid", I said

"That's what I told him. But for regionals, it's everyone."

"Football is way stupider than soccer", I said.

"I agree", says Edith

Mindy went on about Billy and his goals.

It was annoying, but at the same time, it meant I didn't have to wonder what Marge was up to.

The afternoon went on to drag a bit. It always does on Friday evening.

We had social studies, and it was another boring lecture about respect or government or some other bullshit. In English, we had to study a text which, in my mind, made absolutely no sense. I failed that assignment, but it was just a practice one, so I didn't care. I didn't fail because I couldn't do the assignment, I failed because the text to analyze made no sense.

I wasn't the only one who thought the same thing. Olivia isn't in my English class, but she had the same assignment and also thought the text made no sense and yet, she passed. With a good note. I wanted to know how, but it was when I was at her place to get my math in a better position. English, I usually managed.

I came home with Edith on the bus. Mindy was to hang with Billy at her house, and we desperately wanted news from Marge.

The call came at 4h23 PM. We jumped and I ran to the phone.

It was Ellie.

"Hey Julie, Marge wanted to call you to give you the news. She is pretty much shaken up"

"I bet. Can you tell her, that even before you tell me the news, that both Edith and I, and I am sure Mindy too, we fully accept her for who she is? Regardless of the diagnosis?"

"Julie, I will. She feared your reaction, not yours, Julie, but like, her friends in general"

"N ah, we got her. Right, Edith?", who had her ear next to mine to listen.

"Absolutely Ellie. We love Marge."

"Girls, I am so happy you are her friends. So, Marge has level 1 autism. It's the lowest level. It means that without people to support her, she can collapse in the communication ability. It means she had issues initiating social interactions, she needs her friends to push her to do things. She is supposed to have issues responding to social overtures, but the psychiatrist said that she did well on that level"

I spoke up.

"Marge is great at responding to others. I think she got that from you and your rules"

"It's possible. You know how she had less interest in social interactions, like how she does her homework alone when she is with you?"

"Yeah, but we don't mind. We like, Edith and me, how we can be quiet with her"

"Good, it's an aspect too. But she is also inflexible with her behavior, and has issues switching between activities"

"Like only playing Zelda on Nintendoland"

"Yeah, and only playing the Wii U. Next time she comes to your house, can you not play a video game to help her?"

"Sure"

"Finally, she is supposed to have organization Issues, but while she failed the test, I think she is not that bad"

"Again, I think it's your rules, like homework first", I say.

"Could be. She will need a lot of help in the coming days."

"How is she taking it?"

"Well, to be honest? She is currently non-verbal"

"Oh"

"Don't worry, it's shock. A sort of breakdown. It's not her first time, but it hadn't occurred in a while. She broke down during the diagnosis with me present. I think she is relieved to have one, but is disappointed that it's like, permanent. That she is just broken"

"She is still out friend"

"Thanks. I'll give you more news tomorrow"

"I have a tutoring session in the morning, at worst, talk to my parents or to Edith if I am not there"

"Sure, Julie. Can you tell your parents?"

"Better yet, they are downstairs, I'll fetch them"

"No, We are still at the clinic, and it's closing in a few minutes. We have to leave, and I need to well, helped Marge."

"Sure. Good luck. You can call my parents tonight if you want"

"I won't. I have my husband and my son to deal with too. We'll see each other tomorrow evening anyway."

"Right"

I thanked her, Edith did too, and we hung up.

We both ran downstairs unprompted and found my parents working as nude as I was.

"Marge is autistic level 1"

"Well good", said my mom. "It could have been worse"

"She is non-verbal right now"

"I don't doubt it. How are you girls holding up?"

"Us?", says Edith

"You just found out your friend has a serious issue"

"Well, like I said to Ellie, we support her", I said

"Good. She will need help. Should I call Ellie?", said my mom.

"She said she will have her hands full. Oh, I have a tutoring lesson at Olivia's house tomorrow. I have the address, it's at 10h00"

My dad checked the address.

"You know, I think this evening needs something special", he says.

"Like what?", I said.

"Olivia lives like only a few minutes from that warehouse where the camper is"

"So?"

"Would you girls like to go camping inside?", he said.

"Steven, nothing is ready, we don't have the food, we didn't even fully clean the camper from Halloween", said my mom.

"First, we didn't clean it because I did. Remember? I went to the warehouse to wait for the delivery, and it was late. I scrubbed it clean before it came"

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't tell you I did the oil change on the car. You didn't tell me you did the laundry. Being married means you can count on each other. It didn't do it for you, I did it because someone had to do it, and I was in the right place to do it"

"Ok, so food?"

"Pizza? Girls, would pizza tonight do?"

"Wait, hold on, can someone tell me about the warehouse?", says Edith.

I spoke up.

"We have a few warehouses, one of them, has enough space to put the camper, the one we slept in, so we can go camping, inside"

"Nude?", asks Edith, confused.

"Yes, Edith, there are no windows. You can stay dressed. You can always stay dressed"

"So what do we do there?

"We have a hot tub, and a sort of fake fireplace to tell stories", says my dad.

Right, the hot tub arrived, but I hadn't tried it yet. My parents had, and it's fine. Just fine, nothing more.

"I'll bring my bathing suit then"

And like that, we packed some snacks, more towels, some games and Edith grabbed both a pajama and her bathing suit.

On the drive, I told her I drove the forklift, but when my father offered to let Edith try, she declined.

Her loss, I thought.

We couldn't undress right away, however. The heating is kept low, just to prevent freezing, but it also meant that when the pizza arrived, we were still all dressed.

By the time it did, however, it was starting to get comfortable, and we managed to undress, well, my parents and me, to eat the pizza.

While the hot tub was getting warm, Edith wanted to tour the warehouse, but to be honest, it's just boxes, more boxes and even more boxes.

She did comment that it could make a good nerf gun battle zone, due to the rows of shelves and the empty spots between some boxes to hide in a sniper nest position.

My mother didn't like the idea, but my dad fell in love with it.

"I imagine Julie, Edith, Marge, Clara, Peter, Mindy, Billy, James, Ellie and us just shooting darts at each other. It could be fun", he told my mom

"I think you will find Clara and Ellie in the hot tub with me", she said.

"Party pooper", he told her.

"You are a child", she said, rolling her eyes.

He stuck his tongue at her... She laughed.

Edith changed into her bathing suit, but kept her t-shirt on top. In the water, I realized that she only had her t-shirt, but I didn't comment.

Now, the hot tub.

Oh boy. What a piece of crap!

Ok, let's start with the good parts. First, the water heater works well. The water was toasty, and the filter seemed to work. But what do I know about filters?

Second, the walls are better isolated than they let on. Seriously, the water was hot, and the panels on the side were barely warm.

Third, the jets worked. Flawlessly. We had bubbles all over.

Finally, it held in place. Like, we left it filled and running in filter mode all winter, and it never broke. We were four in it that day, but there were more people later and it held. In fact, the motor was the first thing to break, several years later.

That's the end of the good parts.

There are LED strips, and they were already broken. They worked like 2 days. We didn't mind much, but it meant leaving many of the warehouse lights on instead of having colored LEDs to illuminate.

Like they mentioned, it's a flexible spa. It's meant to travel in an RV and be deployed beside it. It means it worked on 24 volts, but then, the heater is incapable of keeping the water hot. You need 120 volts for that, but the only reason we had good heat was that it also works on 240 volts, and my parents had a plug in the warehouse.

They tried to put it in the camper, but it's too big, or the camper is too small. Plus, where will you get the water in a campsite? Mindy's resort would yell murder if we brought it there and filled it. They pay per gallon for their water and charge a fixed fee to their occupants for the hookup. But it's not meant to fill this hot tub.

Now, in our warehouse, we only fill it every 3 months or so, but it's meant to be portable so you need to empty it each time.

You could fill it from a river or a creek, but it had to be pre-filtered, or you mess up your filter. And, you need to wait like 24 hours for the chlorine to work. If you stay all summer, maybe, but this is not a one - weekend hot tub.

But the worst, are the panels.

Unlike a rigid spa, the panels move a little each time you shift in your seat.

When my parents tried it, it was fine. It just moved but, like I said, never broke.

When Edith and I were also in it? The water level was higher, so when my dad, and only my dad specifically, moved, the panel behind him would sometimes move enough for some water to fall on the floor, lowering the level and making a mess.

This, was not a suitable solution, and they did go bankrupt.

Everyone realized how much it sucked.

Also, they neglected to include steps, which are, to be honest, an add-on. But it made getting in and out harder until my dad bought spa steps.

Now, they were in plastic, and water made the steps slip on the concrete, but we just put the steps opposite my dad who didn't even need them.

Still, we stayed for perhaps an hour, talking about Marge, about school, about medical supplies imports which were still being worked on. Edith asked if a banner could be printed for Marge for when she would first come back to our house, to, like, show we accept her.

My dad thought it was a great idea, and offered to work on it during my tutoring lesson. This made Edith smile. She would get to use the plotter that Marge was impressed with, and she would get some one-on-one time with my dad.

I swear that Edith is in a better mood each day.

We eventually got out, but the heater wasn't turned off.

My dad powered the electric fireplace, which we all laughed it.

It's a plastic toy with LEDs that flicker. It doesn't even make any heat, and it's far too small.

"Hey, it's the thought that counts", he said, but mostly laughed at it.

We sat on foldable chairs we had bought from a yard sale for the camper, on towels, even Edith, who had changed into her pajama.

The chairs were light, not the comfortable enough to sit on them, even with a pajama on.

We still had marshmallows from Halloween, but nothing to roast them on.

My dad found a lighter, but it didn't really work that well.

I ate one, and realized, I like them warm.

It's my mother who helped pass them, but by making hot cocoa in the camper, on the stove, and cutting up the marshmallows to put in them.

Now that, was excellent problem-solving.

And great hot cocoa.

We told each other jokes, none memorable, and my father mused about the future.

"We are approaching drop-shippers to order from us, instead of from foreign suppliers. The goal initially was just to get rid of our excess inventory, but as predicted, they don't want our old crap. So, we might end up working more, but for individual orders. In the end, I am not certain we will make more money, but it might help us survive what's happening in town", he explained.

"Is it that bad?", I asked.

"Not yet, but I fear that it is irreversible. The city just approved to rezone one of the industrial zones into a high density residential building."

"What is that?", I asked

"Apartment towers", says Edith

"No, not apartment, condominium towers. The thing is, those are for young professionals. People who work in an office"

"So?", I asked

"How many office buildings are in town?", asked my mom.

"I don't know. I know of a few"

"Yes, with dentists or insurance brokers. Local proximity ones. How many accounting firms are in town, and I don't mean Mort, who does income tax returns. I mean, attorney firms with more than 15 employees? How many big stock market listed corporations have their head office in here?"

Edith and I both looked at him.

"From your tone, I am guessing zero", I said.

"Bingo, sugar. Zero. This town cannot, on its own, support such towers. But as a suburb, it can. And a suburb, cannot sustain our business"

"Can't you serve the main city?", Edith asked.

"Excellent question. We do. Already. But the city isn't industrial. We were. By becoming a suburb, we join the rust belt. The only factories within a 100 miles radius of here, were in town and they are all dying. ", he says.

"But you have a plan"

"No, I do not have a plan. I have plans. The drop-shipping is one. A pickup center is another. The nonmedical supplies for clinics idea from Robert is yet another. The portable spa went nowhere, but it was an idea"

"Well, they aren't bankrupt yet", says my mom.

"At the price they want, I can't move that spa"

"If the problem is the price, a negotiation is the solution."

It'll spoil it for you. It failed. Like I said, they went bankrupt. Before that, my mom and my dad both tried every solution they could think of to lower the price, and then, when they got to the lowest they could, no spa store or camping store or retailer thought they could sell it at that price, even with a low commission from my parents. They did get a second one.

To make things work, they were unable to offer a big volume discount.

So, they went bankrupt the next year.

The pickup center was an idea from my mother. The idea was to set up a website which listed what they had to offer, at a premium price due to low volume, and then, you could come and pickup your order when ready.

By doing it in person, they save on shipping, but more importantly, it eliminates fraud.

The orders were initially ready after 3 days, but eventually, they lowered it to 2 hours for many items, by consolidating those items in the same warehouse where either my mother or my father would prepare the orders. That is, until they would hire someone to do it for them, but that is years down the line.

Soon enough, we were told to prepare for bed. I had my tutoring, and apparently, Edith had problems sleeping, which I hadn't heard about.

My parents, returned to the dreaded spa to relax as a couple, while Edith and I brushed our teeth.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I can forget my mom said anything"

"No, it's just... I went through a lot and I have nightmares. I wake up and have trouble getting back to sleep", she says.

"Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. You don't deserve that at all"

"Thank you sis. I try. I think that when you guys are at the non-landed club and I stay home to relax, I will dry myself a bath in your parent's bathroom, stay in it for like, an hour, and go play Animal crossing nude. I am not ready to be nude with others, but I have to be ready to be nude on my own. I need to accept my own fat deformed body, and my weird pubic hair and my disgusting pussy and accept that I am like every other girl"

"You are not like every other girl, Edith. You are kind, open-minded, loyal, you are my sister. It's always nice to hang out with you, unlike so may other girls"

"Marge is better than me as a friend"

"Marge is autistic. You are neurotypical. She can't lie, she can't do harm, you could. Your parents taught you that, and yet, you are a good person. Edith, I only have one sister. You. Marge will never be one. Mindy is, well, I used to call her my best friend, but I think I can say that Marge is, not you, do you know why?"

"Because she is a better person?"

"Because sister is better than best friend. Calling you my best friend would be a downgrade"

"You really think that?"

"Edith, to hang up with my new best friend, I get her to come visit me. I call her, or I go to her house. When I do, when I invite Marge to come see me, it's just her and me, right?"

"Well, I am often there"

"You are almost always there, Edith. You are the default. To see you, I go knock on your door if you are in your room, but more often than not, we get to the Wii U or a board game at the same time, without even needing to talk about it. You aren't my best friend, you are my constant companion. When I see my best friend, it's with you. When I don't see her, it's because I am with you. We are camping as a family in a warehouse, and you are here. Edith, you are loved, by me, by my parents. By Marge and Mindy too, but as a friend. To us, you are in our family"

Edith cried a little. This was an important moment for her, but not so much for me. I said out loud what I thought for a long time.

And I realized that Marge, had taken Mindy's place as my best friend, not that I didn't like Mindy any less!

Imagine that Mindy was my best friend because she got 89% of the compatibility score. She still scored 89%, but Marge got a 91%.

We installed our bed, by lowering the table on the seats, which made it easier to get on it, and made it more solid. We pulled out the mattress, and made the bed.

We only had one bedsheet, so we didn't do Mindy's trick, but Edith was already in her pajama anyway.

We went to bed, and spoke some more.

Edith was worried about her next therapy meeting, about Marge's condition, about my math issues. But in all of her list, our relationship wasn't worrying to her, not anymore. My parents, our parents, didn't seem to worry her. Her school didn't either. I did admit that Math worried me, but Olivia got what I was missing and knew how to help me. I was worried about Marge, but unlike Edith, I had my full trust in her. I mean, that came out wrong. Edith also trusted Marge. I guess I should say that I had faith in her. That I knew she would overcome her problems and that when she wouldn't be able to, she would find workarounds. But I also knew that when she wouldn't find them, Ellie, Edith, Mindy, my mom or me would find a way.

Edith fell asleep surprisingly fast. She didn't suffer from sleep onset insomnia, but rather from sleep maintenance insomnia. Look at me, with my 22-year-old words!

I only know, to be fair, because my ex suffered from terminal insomnia. That occurs when you wake up before you had your full sleep and simply can't get back to sleep. On my part, I later had some sleep onset insomnia, which is when you can't fall asleep initially. Edith, had the third type, Sleep Maintenance. That's when you can't stay asleep, and you wake up in the middle of the night, and need at least 20 to 30 minutes to get back to sleep. Notice the past. Had. She got better. I got worse, and then better... and recently, post breakup, back to sleep onset insomnia.

That night, I wouldn't say I had insomnia. I wasn't even trying to fall asleep. I was thinking. And when I heard my parent laughing as they were getting back into the camper and then, brushing in silence their teeth in the "too small for two people, but they still manage to squeeze in it" bathroom, my thought chain was broken. When they climbed into their bed, I was already half asleep.

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