"A little birdie told me that somebody picked on you today..." Barbara's voice trailed off as she jabbed her ice-cream sundae with her plastic spoon. She then brought it up to her lips, her eyes on Orion despite the myriad of sprinkles that rained down onto the table.

"Humph." He shrugged, his own gaze on the lemon sorbet in his glass cup. Maybe it was that same bird that had warned Carter about Orion's unfortunate situation.

Orion stabbed his sorbet, angry that his thoughts were still on that episode. At first, he  thought that it had been some sort of freakish daydream, but now that Barbara had brought it up it had materialised into twisted reality. He had once again proven the world that he was weak, a wimp that couldn't even stand up for himself.

But he never really had to—when Shen was at school, it was an understatement that nobody was to mess with his younger brother. But now that he was gone...well, it was a completely different story now.

"So are you going to tell me or not? I've given you enough time to decide," Barbara prodded, her chocolate-brown eyes never leaving him. Orion huffed. That girl could be really stubborn sometimes. Both a strength and a weakness, if you asked him.

He tipped the spoon into his mouth and allowed the bittersweet concoction to slide down his tongue, melting away before it reached the back of his throat. He swallowed, then returned Barbara's pointed look with a sarcastic one of his own. "Tell you what?" Orion asked, playing dumb. Two could play at her game.

She scrunched up her face and slammed a hand down onto the table, earning a couple of strange looks from the other booths.

Barbara must've forgotten that the two of them were in a public place, and the last thing Orion wanted was to get kicked out of Alfreddo's parlour. Not because they served his favourite dessert—the one he was currently having—but also because it was the only place outside of school that he could meet up with Barbara without his parents knowing. They weren't exactly fond of her and were very vocal about it.

"Stop it! You are going to tell me what happened today with Brandon or—"

"Okay, okay," Orion said, throwing his hands up in the air, "but keep your voice down...please."

Barbara tucked a curl behind her ear and took another spoonful of her dessert. Her satisfied grin could light up a room.

"I don't know where to start, honestly..." Orion said, scratching the back of his head.

-:-

"I'm going to end him," Barbara declared once he had finished. She had only interrupted his story twice, which meant that she was mad. Really mad. Her sundae now sat in a melted glob before her, forgotten. She pushed it away, disgust evident on her face. "I can't believe he did that to you! If it wasn't for that guy Carter, he could've given you a black eye!"

"Well, me neither...but I mean, he did have a point..." Orion twirled his spoon in a hand, preferring to look at that rather than at Barbara. He shouldn't have told her; or at least shouldn't have been so complacent. Now that the volcano had erupted, damage control was nearly impossible.

"No. If he did, then why didn't the whole class kick your ass?" A pause. "No rhyme intended," she added, wiping her fingers with a napkin, a sheepish grin on her face.

Orion chortled. How couldn't he?

Barbara giggled along, albeit a little awkwardly.

"This isn't funny!" She said, and her face fell back into a scowl, "This is serious, I'm being serious."

"Alright, alright. You're right," Orion stood up and smoothened the minuscule creases along his jeans, "Thanks for listening but," he looked down at his watch, "I have to get home while my parents are still out."

"Really? Doesn't your Dad finish at around five-thirty? It's only four!"

Orion's heart squeezed in his chest. She remembered every bit of information he ever fed to her, without fail. Meanwhile, it was a constant battle for Barbara to get him to remember anything about her, even trivialities like her favourite colour.

Sometimes he wondered why she still stuck around.

"Yeah but..." Orion bit his lip, trying to think of a good-enough excuse for him to leave without Barbara trailing behind him. If his parents found out that he was lounging around instead of studying, then all hell would break loose. "I have to get home and do some work," he added lamely.

"Okay." She slowly nodded, not buying a word of what he said, "Then there's no problem if I walk you right?" Barbara jumped to her feet and swung her purple backpack over her shoulder, narrowly missing a passerby's head with a wayward strap.

"Yes, actually," Orion said meekly, shrugging when the person turned to glare at them.

Barbara had already begun walking towards the entrance, completely oblivious, short curls bouncing with every step. She didn't even glance back to check if he was following her, even when she reached the door and pulled it open. Orion hurried up to her, manoeuvring around a toddler that had hobbled into his path, and stepping over a puddle of soft-drink.

"Did you hear what I just said?" He caught up with her on the sidewalk, slightly breathless.

"Yeah."

"So? Why are you still—"

"I've always known that he was a bad egg," Barbara interjected, zipping up her sweater when a gust of wind blew in both of their faces. Orion raised an eyebrow, perplexed. She briefly glanced down at him then looked straight ahead, "Brandon. I remember one time I lent him my favourite pen—the one that looked like a giraffe—for a Social Studies class back in sixth grade because he didn't have anything to write with."

Orion rolled his eyes. "What does this have to do with anything?"

They both stopped at a traffic light, and Barbara shoved her hands into her pockets, brows furrowed in concentration. What was going on in that girl's head, he would never know.

"I was being nice, he looked pretty desperate. But little did I just how much of a piece of shit he was." Her Caribbean accent was much stronger on the profanity, and she paused for dramatic effect. "At the end of the lesson I kindly asked for it back—it was the last lesson for the day, so he wouldn't need it anymore. But you know what he told me?" The corner of her mouth was slightly upturned like she was trying not to laugh.

Orion shook his head. Barbara was just trying to keep a conversation going to keep his mind off the fact that they were only a couple of blocks away from his house. He was going to make it known that he hadn't been fooled by this little trick of hers.

"No, but what I do know is that you're—"

"Looking me dead in the eye, pen in hand, he asked, 'What pen?' then he put it in his pocket and left the class! It was unbelievable!" Barbara snorted with laughter, sounding more like a donkey than a teenage girl.

"I honestly can't believe you. Why do you always do this?"

Barbara wrapped her arms around him and squeezed the life out of him. "Because you're my best friend and nothing will stop me from walking you home."

Orion patted her forearm, nearly tripping over his own feet. "Are you sure?"

"One thousand percent. Not even your parents can stop me." She pulled away and gave him a determined look.

He shook his head, his mood lightening when his house came into view. The driveway was empty, meaning that neither of his parents had returned home. The two walked by his front-yard—which was kept immaculate through his mother's gardening—and up the path that led to his front door.

"They aren't even here yet, see? You were just worrying for nothing. I could totally come inside and have a snack before—"

Wheels crunching on gravel had them simultaneously turning to look at each other.

"Spoke too soon," Orion muttered, blood freezing in his veins. He watched helplessly as his father pulled up to the garage, switched off the engine, and threw the car door open.

"What are you still doing out here?" He asked, hostility a thick coat over his words. His eyes narrowed when they landed on Barbara, and an accusatory finger immediately flew up in the air. "And with her?"

"Leave," Orion whispered through gritted teeth, squeezing Barbara's wrist. His heart thrummed in his chest, loud enough to be heard in the next town over.

Without a moment's hesitation, she bobbed her head, and after a quick goodbye, ran off. In order to avoid Orion's father, who was advancing towards them at the speed of light, she cut through the garden and trampled the newly-planted flower bed.

Orion watched helplessly, internally screaming at her clumsiness which at any other time would have been amusing, and forgivable. But now it just threw Orion into a deeper pit of shit, its opening out of reach.

Jian grabbed his son's forearm, pulling him away from the front door and shoving the key into the lock. His anger rolled off him in waves—which shook Orion to the core of his being—but he wasn't going to make a scene in the full view of the entire neighbourhood.

Once they were inside, the bomb got set off.

He released Orion's arm only to grab his ear, pulling the snivelling boy all the way to the living room, where he tossed him onto a couch.

"Where were you?" He yelled, hands on his hips.

Orion cupped his pulsating ear with a trembling hand, his head hanging low in shame. "I was...at the library..." he lied in a small voice, drawing his knees together.

His father leaned in and backhanded Orion so hard, a grunt escaped the boy's lips and his head snapped to one side.

"Don't lie to me! Tell me what you were doing with that stupid girl, or I won't hesitate to use the cane!"

Orion's eyes widened in fear, and a tear rolled down his cheek. "We had ice-cream at Alfreddo's." He wiped it away with the sleeve of his shirt.

His father dragged a hand through his thinning hair, an incredulous expression on his face. "Is this what you do when your mother and I are away, slaving away at work? You go and waste your time—and our money—on recreation?" The grooves around his mouth seemed deeper, and his eye-bags looked heavier. "And if I hadn't just happened to come by to retrieve a file, then God knows what you would have done with that girl!"

He adjusted his tie and placed his hands back on his hips.

"I'm sorry, Ah Pa, I—"

His father raised a hand, silencing him. "I don't want to hear a word from you." He shook his head angrily, "Instead of studying, you fool around—you were told not to speak to that girl, yet you have disobeyed us."

Orion's lips parted in a reply, but then he swallowed back his retort. He couldn't understand why they hated his friend so much. Could it be due to the dinner fiasco from a year ago? Barbara had been so hellbent on making a good impression, that she did everything she could to earn brownie points. But things kept backfiring, to the point where at the end of the evening, his parents closed the door after her and asked Orion never to associate with her again.

"She is a bad influence on you, a complete buffoon!" His father's remarks were an echo from the past, "It took the whole weekend for your mother to plant those Chrysanthemums, and that sub-species trampled them like some sort of animal..."

Orion kept his eyes trained on the stained Persian rug, counting every spot in his head. He had reached the tenth one when a name broke him out of his thoughts.

"...Shen. Follow in his footsteps and you will get far in life. Continue doing what you're doing and you'll be a failure." His father gave him a long, hard look, the kind parents give their children when they're awaiting an impertinent reaction. When Orion didn't oblige, he lifted an arm up and started undoing the cuff of his dress shirt. "You're grounded. No devices for a week, and from tomorrow, I want you home by four. This is the last chance I'm giving you. Now go to your room."

Orion got to his feet without so much of a peep and began making his way towards the kitchen.

"Leave both your phone and diary on the table—and don't bother coming down for dinner."