The silence is overbearing. Pearl still can't get her head clear from what happened at the door before. But like her human father said, these thoughts are only for a failure—A failure that Pearl has been alienated with. They said it would be better if she waited in the bedroom to ease her mind instead of thinking about such a failure.
The two couldn't tell what to do in a moment like this. Their heads are as bored as a stone, with purpose still unfound. Starglaze thought to himself of a game to ease their hours, with Pearl thinking of the humans' sake first. For a Joyling, they shouldn't have been too attached to sadness and anger that wasn't theirs. But it is difficult to resist it under the same roof.
"We need to do something with the humans. They didn't seemed to be happy around here." Pearl suggests.
"We should do something about this place first!" Starglaze yelled.
The bed is cold and soiled like a mat—a bed that belongs to a failure. The humans are promising her a bigger one, saying a few hours of pain should be worth the wait. But all she could hear downstairs was their glums and chatter that said nothing of a promise. The rude woman cast a curse on their hearts.
"You think maybe we could just send her somewhere? Don't want to hear that voice anymore..."
"What? That's my sister. Donna, I couldn't risk myself losing someone like her."
"Aww, off with the bluff, David. We both knew you didn't like her, either."
"That doesn't mean I can just ignore her, dear. Not by any days...yet."
———————————————————————————————————————————
Pearl and Starglaze remained restless, for they could only hear the humans wail for the rest of the day. The silence in the mansion only worsened their voices, with nothing in their room shrieking louder than the rambling from these humans. They were just cursed by the rude woman.
"They're still going?" Starglaze lay on his bed—a crumpled bed.
"Yep. That woman sure mumble a lot of words...I don't even know what are most of them..."
"Yeah, funny words- aha! I know what to do now!" Pearl raises a star of an idea.
Knowing the rude woman, she wanted to learn more about her through the language she was using. There's only one way she could understand that, and that was Graham's special gift. The book containing these human words comes right in time for the show.
The book was thick, written all by Graham with his quill fingers. The words are small, but Pearl could read a few. Some words are more unique than others, with some being a funny call and others a harsh tone. These are the right pages she needed when she was hearing that rude woman's voice.
"Bluff...Bollocks...what a funny word..." She swipes the page further.
"It says here it was some kind of common compliment used by humans whenever they get along? Oh, let me try...ehem..."
"Hey, Starglaze! Aren't you a piece of bollocks here?"
"Aww, flattering, Eve. Thank you so much..." Starglaze flatters.
So many words, so many notes. How much did Graham write before he handed it to Pearl? He must have heard so much from the humans to be this smart. It seems that Pearl was closer to the answer for the rude woman's words.
The two play hide and seek, where Pearl is seeking a new word.
"Wohoho! I see you, mate!"
"Mate? As in roommate?"
"Nope, mate! As in friend!"
"Ooh..."
"Now don't be my trouble and strife and get me some beers!"
"What?" Starglaze pauses.
"It says here that these words means to call someone they cared so much. They usually said this when referring to someone who's kind-hearted!" Pearl opens the page.
"Really? That sounds like an insult! I like it!" Starglaze praises.
She tried knocking on a joke with her new intellect, but her words are above Joyling's understanding. All she knew was that she would've muttered something nice and kind as a compliment to Starglaze. That confusion on his face was priceless.
However, her jokes were cut short by an interruptive break. The silence of this house was so dense that even anything downstairs could be heard from Pearl's room. The parents stopped arguing, and they could hear that the oven was set. However, it was not what shook them more.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
There was a knock on the door, and it wasn't a familiar one from her room. Another guest? She thought as she opened the door, only to find that the knock comes downstairs. It was another guest as she worried it was, but the knocking rhythm was less violent than before.
Unlike the rude woman whose knocking is fierce and fast, this one knocks slower and softer on the door. Though they could be the rude woman again, given how little Pearl knows about this place.
"Ah! It's the rude woman again! Quick, hide!" Pearl drags her friend into the wardrobe.
"Wait, no! It's the rude woman! She didn't when to stop, did she?" She stops and walks out of the wardrobe.
Another guest or the return of the mean woman? Either way, two of them can only watch from behind the curtains. The father quickly reached for the door with a groaning face, still bewitched by the rude woman and perhaps going to be again twice. Yet to everyone's surprise, the guest who came out of the door was none other than a girl.
"Oh, Lisa Bowell?" The mother awaits.
"H-hello, Mr. Starstuhm...I hope I can still come in..." The young girl uttered in a saddened tone.
"Aww, she's sad. What happened with her?" Pearl commented.
The new guest is a human girl like her. Though young and living, she seems to be weeping for someone with an orchid flower in her hand. Pearl recognises this flower from Doorwell's storytelling, and it is said that whoever holds it may have something deep within them.
The human girl appears saddened and spiritless, as if she were losing her mind elsewhere when she steps into the mansion. The human parents were to comfort her, swinging the door in for her so she could finish what she wanted to do at the house. However, Pearl was certain that she wasn't her family.
"It's Tuesday, Lisa. Can't you just go for tomorrow?"
"No, I had to do it now. I couldn't go on Wednesday because of family matter. Please, I only need to see Christine once more..."
That human girl said the name that only Starstuhm knew—A name given to Pearl when she was human, where she seems to know that she was here, too. The human girl was not excited, as if she might have come for another reason with her. Pearl was shocked to hear her coming for that name, though she wondered which of the 'Christine' she was looking for.
"Alright, follow us. She's waiting for you." David mumbled.
"What?"
The parents even let her in. Pearl was exasperated by their betrayal, and the human girl just stepped without cleaning her feet on the mat. She would've tainted her bedroom with those shoes, and Pearl had to clean it afterwards. But now, her only doubt was watching the human girl getting closer to the stairway.
She tried running faster upstairs, but her eyes couldn't focus on where the stairs were. She slipped, and she had her limbs stuck on the rail. Pearl couldn't remove in time, for the human girl was only an inch closer to her position. Darkness is the only thing she could hope to shroud her.
"No, no, no...father, what are you doing...?" Pearl whispers. Her arms wrap around her face as she fails to find a hiding spot in time. She wasn't ready to accept this look for the human girl. Surprisingly, that chance happened only by a look, not a slip.
"No—Huh?"
This human girl is not coming for her. Rather, she was heading for another Christine—a picture version of her. Tears that flowed from her eyes were a waste, and the whimpers that she made nearly caught their attention on the stairways.
"Huh? They...they ignore me?" Pearl opens her eyes.
"Looks like they were looking for another Christine. I mean, they don't say Pearl, right?"
Starglaze appears from above her head, watching her struggle without helping. She was disappointed, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is that they have something more important to catch up with the humans.
"What do you think she's doing here?"
"Probably fixing my picture? That frame feels outdated with my new looks."
"Yeah, but the humans didn't even charge him. Remember the last time you let Wormtimer renovate your room chargeless?"
"Ugh, don't tell me...green goo all over my room...ugh..." Pearl icks.
The humans are standing for another moment with Christine. Her picture still lies on the table, with a few candles going off and being replaced with another one. This one has a strong scent in the air, like a poison on the wall, but not poisonous or elusive.
"Hey, Christine. I hope you're waiting for me, because I don't want to mess this up for you." Lisa mumbled. The picture and her had a strong emotion.
"*Sniff* Aww, Christine...why must you be gone? We could've been schoolmates together now..." Lisa cries.
"We could have bullied the students from the neighbouring school together, played in the river with the fish, and even tried out some new makeup at the stall next to my house. You could have been here with me, but you're gone."
"You're gone...and I'm alone...without a friend..."
The human girl misses Pearl so much, if only she could say the same. Her tears and her wish for her were nothing of any lie, but they couldn't convince her enough to show reason. The human girl is still a stranger to her, and she is talking not to the face of a shell but a glass.
"Christine is my only best friend...I could never choose anyone but her..." Her tone goes even lower, face full of tears, and gripping tight on the orchid stem until a cut comes out.
"I miss her...I really miss her..."
The human girl glanced with a fondness, an eye that Pearl didn't know could be so big. Despite many humans, she remains firm with Pearl as her forever friend. Though Pearl finds it difficult to see, she can understand that bond with Starglaze, whom she has closely attached to for a long time.
"It's been years. Everyone forget, but not me..."
"Neither do we, hu—...Lisa." David's replies, eyes glancing to the picture with his hands wrapped for a prayer.
Seeing the human girl crying for someone whose soul is still here and alive feels so gauche. She wasn't a girl who stood with a class, yet she had a heart as pure as Pearl's. Those tears she shed are honest and hurtful to hear, even for Pearl who has no idea about her.
The room gets tense, and the human girl starts sharing more stories about Pearl's life before her shell. Her voice, low yet smooth, speaks more about Christine than Pearl. Yet her story fell into a sad fate for such a friendship that still lasts until now.
"*Sobs* Did I ever tell you how I met Christine...?" She holds her grip on the flower tightly.
"You told us about that many times." David commented.
Now, something new comes to the table. The human girl shared about how she met Pearl as a human and how it became clear that their friendship is forever carved in time.
"Once it was an autumn, raining falls off so quickly, and I was but a drenched soul in a wilting town. There was no hope for miles, and I was growing cold to death. Nobody could save me, but she was there. She didn't just come and look, she lent me her arms and lifted me for a reason to stand up," she said.
"My mother looked upon me with low, but Christine saw me high. I thought once that she might have been a glimpse, but she was a twice! She cared for me enough that I had my life shaped by her words. Christine was not just a friend; she was the only one who wanted to look for me."
"Didn't she said something bad about her at home?" David objects.
"Well, she does say she's been going around with her just to prove that. So..." Donna commented.
"I've always wondered if Christine really cares about her if she didn't say those mean things about Lisa all day. Maybe she was just pretending she hated her?"
"Poetic...can you really deny that plea, Pearl? Who could've eaten that kind of compliment?" Starglaze commented. But Pearl remains silent.
"Pearl? Are you okay?"
She was loyal in her name and was one of the humans who seemed to be attached to her. The human girl even learnt about the day of Pearl's freedom, carrying that hope where she could find her among the rubble or the dome. Each words she uttered only draws Pearl more and more uncomfortable with the truth. She couldn't believe a human would befriend her, let alone having being this loyal!
"I heard the news! I...don't even know what to start, though I still find it hard to believe..." She begs further.
"You said Christine was gone to that studio, right? Do you think...maybe..."
"Is it possible...? Maybe it was! You never said she was dead, right? Right?"
The human girl was down on all her knees. She was begging hard for something that Pearl's human parents had already done, only to be lied to in her face. She could only cry in deception, unaware of the curtain behind her where Pearl lies still alive, but not her friend.
"We could only say we didn't see an inch of her skin there. Nor have we..."
"Believed if she may find us somehow..."
That one answer from the mother had already broken the human girl's heart. She began crying, but only for a whimper before a silence. The human parents couldn't relate to her, given that they knew she was wrong about Pearl. However, the rule remains.
"Oh, dear. This little one is way too much trouble for us." David thought.
"If only I could tell her the truth. But I doubt it." Donna thought.
It was time for Pearl to leave. This girl had so much for herself, but not for her concern. The humans are not ready to meet her, for her stage is still waiting far beyond three moons (months). However, the girl hasn't finished yet.
"Starsy, do you think she needs our help? She looks...sad. I could feel that in my heart..." Pearl pokes her chest.
"No way! Cut it out of your head. Thought you were human-proof, but I only see a hypocrite star here." Starglaze intervenes.
Starglaze remains indifferent with the girl, but his approach was more fierce and cold for a star. For some reason, he turned more focused on the human girl as well. His eyes, looked much worse than Pearl had thought.
"Starsy, do you think she needs our help? She looks...sad. I could feel that in my heart..." Pearl pokes her chest.
"No way! Cut it out of your head. Thought you were human-proof, but I only see a hypocrite star here." Starglaze intervenes.
Starglaze remains indifferent to the girl, but his approach is more fierce and cold for a star. For some reason, he turned more focused on the human girl as well. His eyes looked much worse than Pearl had thought when she expected his reaction. Perhaps the two of them took this moment more seriously.
"I know it! I should've been more cautious around humans. But I need to get close to see if she's troubled."
"Nope! Nope, nope, nope...just get it out and don't bother with her, Pearl. Last thing you wanted here is a trouble with someone who know us more than we do." Starglaze advice. Such a wise word from him, but it would've been wise if he hadn't been too carried away with his cautiousness.