Edith accepted me as I was. Hugging me and so relieved that I did have a diagnosis and some ideas.

We reviewed the hints, and it's Edith who had the idea to contact Ellie. She is the school secretary after all.

So, I called her, with my parents, and Edith, in tow. I gave her the news, explained it, and she was happy too that it was not something more serious. She confirmed that perhaps, the school can help. That we will see what the principal has to say.

I briefly spoke to Marge, but I was exhausted, and I felt that Marge was bothered by my retelling. She had just gone throught it and didn't need to know that I excelled in parts where she failed.

She still made an effort, but she couldn't be there for me in a way that Edith and my parents were.

I tried calling Mindy, but she was away. I wasn't told where, and I didn't ask. Just that she wouldn't be back soon.

So I called Olivia, but alone. She was my tutor and private friend, not our family friend.

"I can't talk much, Julie. My parents are leaving for a few days for a funeral and leaving me alone. Maybe we can talk tomorrow?"

"Perhaps I can come over to keep you company?"

"I would like that. Perhaps a sleep over? I don't like sleeping alone in my house", she offered.

That took me by surprise. "I'll talk to my parents, but I think they would be okay with it. I could bring some food"

"I would like that", says Olivia.

"I have my diagnosis, you were right. Visuospacial dyspraxia. But not full blown"

"Happy to hear that. Well, sad you have that, but happy you have a label. See you tomorrow. Come with your parents, not with the bus"

She hung up on that.

With no surprise, my parents were concerned for her, and of course, fully supportive of bringing food and anything Olivia needed. It's like saving one of my friends, Edith, wasn't enough. They were trying to save the whole town.

The next lunch period, Mindy was over the moon. She has a boyfriend, but not Lukas. He was not interested in dating Mindy. Like, at all. Instead, Billy called her and apologized. Truly. He was dealing with plenty of things, and well, Mindy was too, as she was about to have her first period, and they reconnected. It's where she was when I called.

The four of us celebrated, but then, Edith took us by surprise.

"I might have a boyfriend", she says, all shy.

"Wait, seriously? Why didn't you tell me before?", I asked.

"Well, I wasn't sure, but I spoke to him this morning, and well, I think we are dating? I have a date tonight, and I feel like it's getting serious?"

Mindy was over the moon.

"Oh my God, the two of us with a boyfriend! Wow, do we know him?"

"You do", says Edith.

But I drew a blank. Edith doesn't hang with any boys I know. Maybe it's someone that Marge and Mindy know from their classes.

"Whom? Come on, spill it", says Mindy. But Edith turns to Marge.

"Sorry, it wasn't planned", says Edith.

"What wasn't planned?" says Marge.

"It's Charlie"

"Wait, her brother, Charlie?" says Mindy.

I am stunned. They spent so much time together at my birthday party, and he decided to go to Mindy's house, and they hung out together.

"Holy shit. I didn't see it. You were with him most of the weekend", I blurted.

"And yesterday at lunch. Sorry I wasn't there", says Edith.

But Marge is silent.

Says nothing, does nothing.

I ask her. "Marge, if you are now non-verbal, just nod"

She nods.

"Can I hold you?"

She nods, so I hug her. And Edith hugs us, apologizing. "Sorry, he was so nice to me."

But I tell her to just stop. That it might just be an emotional overload.

Marge nods against my shoulder.

"See, perhaps go back to the beginning? Would you like that, Marge?" She nodded again, against my shoulder.

So Edith kept us in the loop. He was kind and gentle with her. He didn't even try to seduce her, not then. In reality, he was just trying to follow the rules from his mother. But they still bonded. He has a lot of trauma from not understanding himself, and Edith, well, she has a lot of external trauma. He respects that. She respects him. They get along fine, and they both like to game.

By the end of the story. Marge was better. We were able to say she was happy that Edith found someone and hoped that Charlie would keep his good attitude and was sorry if he didn't.

Edith would spend the evening with him at Marge, but in his room. Marge was somehow happy with that.

That got me concerned until I realized something. Marge doesn't ask for much for herself. She is selfless and cares a lot about her friends. Maybe she is thrilled that Edith can find love. Perhaps she knows that this will make her brother more tolerable. But I know that if I were in her place, possibly I would like having one of my best friends more frequently in my home.

Me? I was mostly worried about having Charlie more often in my home, but I do admit that he was a positive presence at my birthday party and even the next day.

Edith came home with Mindy and Charlie, and I suggested we inform our parents. She had not even thought about it, or perhaps she was planning to hide it?

All I know is that Mom was thrilled. She had only seen Charlie's good side and only heard of his bad side, so she saw this on a positive note. Dad was more protective of his other daughter, since he knew she was vulnerable, but she is also older.

"There is a limit to keeping her locked up. It's what her parents did, and I don't want to control her"

Only, I never heard about that. Is that my father's interpretation? Or did he imply an emotional lockdown? I asked him, while writing this, and he has no idea what he meant, so I suspect he meant that she was locked down emotionally.

We stopped at Domino's and got a pizza for Olivia and me. My father decided to also slip her $60 to thank her for all the help. She initially refused but ended up accepting it anyway.

As we ate, she admitted something. She was left money for ordering food in, but this way, she could add more funds to her savings.

My stomach was in a knot. We had saved Edith. Why couldn't we help Olivia too?

Sure, we only had 3 bedrooms, and the social worker insisted on Edith having her own room. But at the same time, Olivia is safe enough. I asked many times weird questions to judge her situation, and each answer reassured me.

Edith was traumatized from a young age, but Olivia wasn't mistreated or neglected as a child. Her mother lost her job a few years ago when her employer closed and has been in depression ever since. The family's financial troubles began then, simply because her father had to get a less paying job roughly at the same time.

She wanted to know everything about my examination. I couldn't talk to Edith about it as she has her own problems. Marge went through the same ones but got triggered, and Mindy, well, she's Mindy. Fun, but not there enough to listen.

I discovered that Olivia was actually funny. She cracked jokes that made me laugh and had a good sense of timing too. But I think the best is that none of her humor was deprecating. Not even against herself. Sure, a lot of it was puns, but a few were based on wholesome, unexpected shock value.

For example, I explained how a few of us ended up at McDonald's eating before the autism disorder test but not able to look at each other.

"Right, the last meal on death row"

I don't know why, but I found that funny. Perhaps not hilarious, and maybe I had to be 13 to find it funny, but I laughed. It certainly felt like death row, the death of the innocent me who had no idea how broken my brain was.

She didn't want to tutor, she didn't want to do math, and honestly? I didn't either.

She found a microwave popcorn bag, something we never buy, and put it so we could watch some TV.

"The trick is to listen to when the popping stops", she says.

"We have an air machine that is mostly perfect"

"Ah, lucky you."

We ended up sitting with the bowl between us, putting on a movie on DVD. It's The Perfect Score, which has Captain America and Black Widow in the cast! But also Shaggy, from the live-action Scooby-Doo. For a low-budget movie, it has a packed cast. Granted, it was most of them before they broke through.

In all cases, I don't know why, but we ended up basically touching. Our shoulders next to each other to share the popcorn bowl.

It got me thinking. One of the things that naturists do is reduce the amount of touching between nude bodies. It's just the rule. But Olivia isn't a naturist and, right now, doesn't suspect I am one. Perhaps it's something that all girls do with a friend, and I am missing out because most of my friends are naturists, and my sister doesn't like to be touched that much?

All I know is that it felt good. We were eating popcorn, slowly, watching (and in her case, rewatching) a movie, mostly in silence.

When it was done, I realized that I liked it.

"Soon we'll have to prep for the SAT", she said.

"I am not ready for that"

"And I can't wait. It's my ticket out of his town"

"I get that. A lot of people say it's going to shit", I said. I was almost nervous for saying that to my tutor. Who is also my friend.

"It is. I see no hope. It's being gentrified, and my parents are only waiting for their house to gain in value, not realizing that they aren't putting the work into it to keep it in good condition"

"It's not easy being an adult", I say. I get that they don't have the money for it. I have countless financial talks with my parents, and it looks like she doesn't. But I don't want to side with them, not one bit. It's her I am friends with, not her parents.

"No, it's not. But they could make more of an effort"

"They could. They should, as they have a responsibility toward you", I said.

"Yeah."

She proposed we go to bed, as we have school tomorrow. It was arranged that my father would pick me up in the morning and drop me at school. Olivia really didn't want anyone in school to know I had slept over, in case her mother would find out.

"Wouldn't the neighbors know?"

"All gentrified. None of them will talk to my mother, and she will not talk to them. Haven't you noticed how their lawn is perfect, and ours is overgrown with weeds? They hate us"

I hadn't. I don't think many 13-year-old girls notice that. But it bothered me that I didn't. I want to become an environmental engineer. This is the kind of thing I should notice.

I made a mental note to notice that more.

I could feel some tension in her after brushing our teeth. I couldn't sense where it came from.

"I'll go put on my pajamas," I said, realizing that I hadn't put any on in months!

"Sure, right. Hum. Do you mind if I don't put one on?"

I look at her. Is she asking me if she can sleep in the nude? I decide to open up.

"Well, to be honest, I often sleep in the nude, so no"

"Oh, I meant with panties. Because, well, I don't have one that fits", she says, ashamed.

"You grew out of yours, and they didn't buy you one?"

"Exactly. I mean, if you want to sleep in the nude, it's fine by me. I was about to offer to put a t-shirt on to sleep, but maybe I can just put my panties on like usual?"

I look at her. She seems terrified.

"That's perfect. Don't adjust to me. It's your home", I tell her, smiling.

"You won't judge me?" she says.

I promised my dad not to tell her we were naturists, since she doesn't need that complication. I also made that decision to keep her and the rest of my friends apart. She looks up to me, but Mindy is more fun, Marge is calmer, and Edith is more mature. I like that I might be Olivia's only friend. It makes me feel more special.

"Of course not. If you don't judge me for how I sleep"

"Oh, right. I'll change in my room. Maybe you can undress in the restroom and join when you are ready?" she says, shy.

I accept and take the opportunity to take my pill from my bag. I undress and feel weird about it.

She isn't a naturist, and I told my dad I wouldn't push naturism on her. But this isn't naturism, surely? Countless people sleep in the nude. Even Marge did, before hearing about naturism. And Olivia slept topless!

I do put my clothes in the gym bag my parents gave me for the occasion. I took out tomorrow's clothes from it and folded them on top of my school bag.

Nervous, I knock on the door of her bedroom.

"Come in", she says.

I open the door and find her sitting on her bed, brushing her hair. She is wearing a pair of white panties and is otherwise nude.

"Fuck me", she says.

"Huh?"

She laughs. "This is ridiculous"

"What?"

"I was all nervous and scared shitless because I am not as developed as the other girls, and I never realized you haven't even hit puberty yet"

I felt a major relief. "Yeah, I am being treated for delayed puberty"

But I look, and her breasts are fine. Not that small, but smaller than my other friends. They aren't quite fully formed yet, more like cones than spheres? I don't know how to describe it. It's not like my friends have spheres.

I think that Robert would say that instead of being in B4 like Mindy, Marge, and Edith, she is in B3, while I am trying to climb out of B2.

"If you think I would judge you, you are so wrong," I say.

"Well, good," she says.

I sit on the bed next to her as she continues to brush her hair.

"Sorry, I do it every night," she says.

"I should do it more often. I guess I am not developed enough. I don't see boys yet"

"Hey, not that I see them, but that could be because of my situation. I don't have time for them! Did you want to shower?", she said.

"Well, I had decided not to, and my parents agreed."

"Right, they couldn't know how clean it is. I wouldn't take a bath, but the shower is separated, and I clean it myself. My father showers at work or takes a bath, and my mother takes hours in the bath."

"Is there only one bathroom in this house?" I asked.

"Yeah. So either I had to hold it or pee next to her," she says, faking shivering.

"You don't have one in the basement?"

She scoffs. "It's not a full basement, only a crawl space", she says.

"Oh, we have one. It's my parents's office."

"What does your parent do again? I think they have a company and warehouses, but I don't get it", she says, putting her brush on the side, but then offering it to me. I gently shake. I think a brush is too personal to share.

"They have an importation company. They buy stuff from overseas and sell that to distributors."

"Oh, that's a cool idea. Find stuff on the cheap and import it. Don't tell my parents. My mother lost her job when her company moved the factory to China. She might hate your parents for it."

"Right. I think it's not all from China? Like, we have a ton of towels and plates and glasses and stuff. They did get a cheap hot tub they placed in a warehouse."

"That's where your birthday party was?"

I look at her.

"You heard?"

"Well, I overheard. That older girl you hang out with. Edith?"

"Yeah"

"She was talking about your birthday party with a boy. I just overhead stuff"

"Like what?"

"Not much. They had fun. It was in a warehouse, and they connected. I think he is the brother of one of your other friends?"

"Yes, of Marge. Sorry, I couldn't invite you. Like, it's difficult to explain"

"You don't have to"

"But I do. It's like, their parents are all friends with my parents, and they sort of had their own party on the side? Like, the kids were playing, but the mothers were in the hot tub, and the fathers were... Well, I don't know what they were doing. They sort of went to the back of the warehouse and talked about their jobs, I think"

"Hey, don't worry about it."

But she seems to worry a little. I decide to open up. Not about naturism, but about my other thoughts.

"I sort of like having you as a private friend. I mean, not that I want to keep you a secret. But like, we can talk about things I can't with the others. Like, it's not the same."

"I get that. We barely know each other", she says.

"No, it's got nothing to do with that. Like, Mindy, I have fun with her. We do sports, we do things. But I can't talk much with her. She mostly talks about her boyfriend."

"I know the type"

"And like, sure, Marge has her problems, but I feel like I connect with you in a different way"

"Like a different energy level"

"Yeah. Like, you get me, and maybe I get you?"

"Not fully, but that's okay.", she says, looking at her feet.

"Perhaps"

She takes a pause. I give her. And then says. "Thanks Julie for telling me that."

I smile. She smiles.

"You truly are a good friend to me, Olivia"

She sort of side hugs me? Like, not a front hug, more like rubbing shoulders.

We get under the sheets, but it's not a two-sheet trick. We are next to each other. Each on our side.

"Julie?"

"Yes Olivia?"

"Thanks for keeping me company. I get scared alone"

"I can come back tomorrow night if you want?"

"My cousin will be there then. I don't like him much, but I couldn't have you sleep over with him here. He would tell my mom"

"Right."

We talked some more but soon fell asleep. I was happy. Very happy. And once more, I had a weird dream, but it was a pleasant one.

The next morning, I woke up first and got dressed in the living room while Olivia was still sleeping. When she joined me, she was also fully dressed.

When my father pulled in, she thanked me again and hugged me. It was a warm, pleasant hug.

I left with a heavy heart. She is struggling, but I don't know how to help her more than I already do.

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