"Don't...I cannot...She's talking about Christine...she definitely didn't know me..." Pearl struggles. The human girl's tears are not for her. It was for another person, a person with the name Christine. She cannot risk herself just for the sake of one human. Humans are not her friends—not the ones under this roof that has no D in their name.
"Ooh cake..." Starglaze's eyes was shimmering. His body floats, his edges slowly going further to the corner.
She is still here, having not yet completed her tears. How long does it take for a human to mourn someone? Meanwhile, her human parents had just finished a cake for the human girl. It was adorned in a pale pinkish cream of a strawberry, and perhaps a taste of velvet from the colour of the layer. She couldn't care for such colour, but she did.
"Aww, now I'm hungry..." Pearl wails with her fingers reaching for the cake from distant. Only a doorframe and a space separates them.
"Christine...?" Lisa mumbles with one eye open during prayer.
For a moment, she suspected the presence of Pearl elsewhere. But the father shuts that hope quickly with another guest that Pearl was icked with. The human girl didn't like the rude woman, either, given the face from a determined to a disturbed one.
"Eugh, my head...my beautiful head..."
Pearl was dazed by the smell. That incense might have another poison for her eyes, but Starglaze has been going without her. That star follows his heart into the kitchen, clinging to something more lovely for him, like a cake set on the table. Pearl had to stop him, for that cake had the name Christine on it.
She tiptoed slowly from the wide doorframe that could've caught her if the human girl turned around. Her lightweight foot danced so well that she could balance herself with only one. If the human sees her, she would've been on a happy show for her.
Starglaze was treating himself with a piece. He set a plate and a fork before the cake, and lent a knife to make a cut. Pearl tried to stop him, but Starglaze's mischief was beyond her saving. One piece of that cake was gone, and the cut was not even perfect.
"Starglaze, no! Get your hands off of it!"
Pearl tries to rid Starglaze's hand of it, hoping that she can recover the cake before the human girl finds it. But Starglaze was an arduous thief, creeping his edges close to the cream and tainting the topping with his dust. That cake was beyond saving, let alone a plate he dropped to the ground by accident.
Prang!
The echoing shatter is beyond her saving. And as she knew what would happen next, the humans heard the sound from a distance. Without wasting any more time, Pearl quickly snatched the crumbs of the cake from Starglaze's edges and made what was left of it back into the cake.
"W-who's there? Someone's on the kitchen!" Lisa muttered.
She snatched Starglaze away, hiding around the kitchen before the human girl could catch a glimpse of her. Just in time, they were hidden well, and the humans suspect nothing. But it doesn't mean they haven't seen what Starglaze did to their precious cake.
"W-who's eating the cake?" Lisa yelled.
The berry cream was uneven, as if someone had dipped their edge for a taste with curiosity. The cut marks still linger on top, but the knife is nowhere to be found. Someone is surely getting caught for this act.
"Well, uh...It was..." David excuses. But before he could finishes his words, Donna came to intervene.
"I...I'm so sorry! I didn't meant to!"
To save Pearl from the trouble, the human mother sacrifices her dignity to the human girl, covering her tracks to make Pearl's way out of the kitchen safely. The human girl isn't disappointed, but she isn't happy for the disrespect of her artwork.
"Ms Starstuhm. I understand this isn't a one-time party, but I inquire that you could've waited a few more hours. I still have a lot to do." Lisa lectures while she tries fixing the cake.
A few more hours, the human girl said. Pearl couldn't handle being in this state for a few more hours! What did the human girl need to do that cost a few more hours? She hasn't even started her test with the doctors. How is she supposed to start this day?
"Come on, Starsy. The doctors are waiting for us."
"Starsy? Starglaze?"
Starglaze isn't around with her. Sometimes boredom gets him beyond her control. Now the star wanted to satisfy himself with the human cake, though he had already been told how wrong and consequential that treasure was. Pearl had to return to the kitchen and search for him while the humans were still talking.
"You bake this cake? I'm surprised! I thought you had always been an athlete girl." Donna mumbles with her eyes sharpened at crawling Pearl. Her daughter is going for another trouble.
"Athlete? Where did you hear that? I'm not an athlete..." Lisa grabs a knife.
"I don't even remember taking a sport. Are you sure you're hearing right, Ms. Starstuhm?" She continues icing her cake.
"Ouch, hot. W-what is this knife, Ms. Starstuhm? It burns..." The handle of the knife wounded her.
"Is this glitter? Why is it so hot?"
"Dust? Is there a dust on the knife? It must be our...uhm..." Donna reasons once more, with her eyes nodding for Pearl.
"Knife handle heating dust?"
"Well, can you tell me that first before I use this? It hurts a lot on my fingers! Like a spark of lava..."
Starglaze's clumsy edges couldn't be more predictably disappointing. The human girl caught up to his dust, yet she hadn't found the secret ingredient in the drawer. Though the chef was somewhere in the kitchen, sharpening his skills for food and tasting a new human food without Pearl. It's a hunger-ridden responsibility for Pearl, claiming her friend from his never-ending selfishness.
"Ms Starstuhm, is anything okay here? You two looked different lately."
"W-what do you mean?"
"Well, you didn't look much sad than we were first met. You look more inspired and well. You found a new career somewhere?"
"We just had a good trip! Nothing big! Hehe!" Donna chuckles.
She keeps searching through the kitchen, from low to high and left to right. The kitchen was a big place to search for a small thing, but Pearl could feel that Starglaze was closer than ever—somewhere. She just needs to keep looking until she notices something shimmering yellow.
"Where is he...?" Pearl searches around. Starglaze is still nowhere to be found.
"*Sigh* I'm out of icing. Do you have some to spare?"
"We have like six flavours. Go fetch yourself a favour in the fridge." David helps Pearl find Starglaze within the drawers and jars, though both still find a void in their search.
There's still no sign of Starglaze's presence, let alone his dust. He was gone, like nowhere. She had searched every drawer, low to high, and left to right. He was gone. But the human girl still hasn't noticed the Joyling yet, reaching for the fridge to grab an icing.
*Gasp*
The humans and Pearl gasped. Starglaze was there, munching on a snack alone inside the fridge while sealing himself inside a jar. She was right before the human girl's eyes, caring less about his glass shell until he had his last meal. It brings confusion as to how he even happens to be there.
"*Sigh* Not the type of day I'll ever have since a few weeks without Christine. But anything is better than just waiting for her, I guess..." Lisa grabbed an icing from the shelf, but her eyes told her she was missing something. Something in the fridge is looking unusual. Perhaps her eyes deceived her, but she was sure not to let it slip.
"Hm?" She opens the fridge door. But the jar of Starglaze is empty and still sealed. Pearl and the humans were relieved to see Starglaze go away, but now she has to hide again before the girl finds her wandering loose. Now finding Starglaze is much easier with a trail of his stardust lying on the floor, slowly fading.
"Ms Starstuhm, are you out of ice? Looks like you have to go buy some..." Lisa inspected the fridge.
"Not good for a fridge, just to remind you."
———————————————————————————————————————————
Pearl thought she would've been caught, but she was fortunate. The human girl was too distracted, leaving so much space for her to flee. On the other side, the doctors are waiting for her. The front doors are open, and Pearl could've gone from the human girl's sight.
But Pearl couldn't go yet. She still needs to hear about her human life from her. The human girl clings to this 'Christine' so much that she feels questioned by her tone. Does she really need her? Or was she wishing for someone else?
"Pearl, what are you doing? Get back here!" Adele yelled.
Pearl insists on staying aside, watching as the human girl leaves the kitchen to wander around the living room. The doctors couldn't stop her in time, and Pearl was alone without her friend Starglaze yet again. However, this is what she had hoped to happen. She and the human girl met again in a one-sided moment.
The human girl glanced at the hallway with a melancholy stare. Her eyes stare deep into the green wall, but her thoughts are elsewhere. Pearl trailed from behind, watching her dream of lives with her imaginary friend, like Pearl. She wasn't even surprised that she knew the feeling of seeing such things—the dream of another world she had.
"Huh?" Lisa turned around, only to find nothing. It was difficult to remain anonymous when her presence shone like a star. The human girl caught her dazzling presence by the back of her hair but was never the full set.
"That was close." Pearl peeked and followed her again.
The human girl returned to the living room, alone, without the human parents to complete her ritual on the picture. This time, she appears silent in a praying hand, begging for the picture with a pleasing word. Though she seems to be asking too much from Pearl's human self.
"Oh, Christine. What should I do to bring you back to life?" She asks.
"Should I use dark magic? Can I even do that? What should I sacrifice for you?"
The human girl wonders how to bring Pearl back to life—her human form to life. She speaks erratically, discussing sorcery, sacrifice, and the oddity of wanting Pearl to be a human even for the slightest chance. She has even admitted to trying to cut a few parts from her body, only to get a glimpse of Pearl's face.
"I've done everything! I tried putting my best! I swear!"
It was scary; the detail was too strong for Pearl to hear. The human girl's obsession is both lovely and unsettling, shivering Pearl's bones as she continues. She made it sound sweet for Pearl, only for it to sound more like a Frowling's tease than a compliment.
"Do you go out there fighting bad people, too? Heh, I don't think the afterlife has one. And I'm glad..."
Pearl was more than a human best friend. She was a fierce human among other humans, which the human girl adores the most. She helped the human girl from the mean people, especially from human boys who like to harm innocents for fun. She never fell, and she was feared among the young humans.
"A lot of people would've missed seeing you here."
But these compliments are a bittersweet taste. Pearl was not that person—not a human, nor a human-beater. She finds it alluring to be feared by humans, but the thought of hurting them is impossible. The human girl even tells how happy she was as a human-beater, which she isn't now or ever.
"I wonder if you miss some boys here. Don't you miss hurting the mean Vincent and Bollo from school? They haven't gotten your fist for six years..."
The school where Pearl used to be was terrifying. Humans get along with violence, and Pearl was indulging in it often. How unamusing! No wonder Pearl became a Joyling now—violence is Frowling's type of play. She would even come home waiting for another one tomorrow.
"What kind of human am I...?" Pearl glances in horror.
The human girl continues sharing her story more, but Pearl has heard only the bad side of her. None of those things are fit for a ballet like her, especially with these gloves and socks. Pearl couldn't fight people; she danced and sang for them! How ridiculous this 'Christine' everyone had been adoring was.
"I don't like this. I really don't like this Christine..."
"Is this really what I am? Is this what they wanted me to be?"
Before she could even comprehend that story, Starglaze appeared out of her back with an irritated face. Careless and unaware of what Pearl had heard, he approached her just to scold this Joyling for leaving him alone with the other humans outside. He would've shivered his edges if he knew who Pearl was.
"There you are! Where have you been? Don't you know how horrible this decision was?"
"Yeah, don't you know who I am? I could hurt you so hard if you surprise me like that."
Starglaze was confused, but Pearl didn't let him for long. She shares what she found about Christine, shocking the star with the realisation of her strength. Pearl was not one human or Joyling to be messed with, for she could make humans fear just by showing her fist.
"You're bluffing, aren't you?"
Starglaze still finds it a lie, even laughing at her for convincing him of such an idea. But Pearl was lying; she knew what she heard, and it was written by the human girl's head and tears. It was a perfect reason for someone not to get close to her.
Starglaze is getting more annoying. He felt more weirded out with the human girl, and he couldn't take her more seriously. Something about Starglaze's shifts in words only changed when the human girl arrived. Maybe he was angry about her, too, or maybe he didn't like her presence around Pearl.
"You're bluffing! That human girl is messing with your head! Get over it!" Starglaze bumps onto her face.
"No, I'm not! I'm just trying to find out about her!"
He started pushing over Pearl with his edges, trying to 'knock her' out of her senses. But Pearl's head was clear, her eyes and ears were still working like before. Yet Starglaze goes further as to be convinced that she was deluded by the human's charm. Pearl simply had no idea what he was talking about.
The star raises his tone at her, with a pointless argument that says nothing more than a threat. Pearl could not be bothered by his words, but by his touch. Not long after, they made themselves too loud behind the human girl's ears. Their shadows are reflected on the floor where they fought.
"What the..." Lisa looked behind, "W-who's there? Hello?"
As the human girl followed the two fighting Joylings into their spot, she found nothing there but the two humans covering the track of their fights. The two Joylings were nowhere to be found, hiding in time before the human girl could catch them.
"H-hey, Lisa. What's the matter? You look...troubled." Donna puts up a face.
"If you see anything troubling you, you can ask us." David mumbled nonchalantly.
The human girl didn't buy anything strange, though her face had had enough. She felt even worse than crying in this house, which means she will leave. Pearl and Starglaze couldn't be more relieved to wait after the sun sets in the center.
"Nothing. I thought...I thought I saw something..."
"Are you sure there's nothing strange happening here, Ms Starstuhm?"
"Definitely! Now, why don't we go for another
"No, I think I'm already done. Being in this home for too long had made me believe Christine was haunting me...Maybe I should put a rest on her first." Lisa wraps herself with her arms. Somehow, it gets colder in this place the longer she waits.