Mina unlaced her shoes as mouth-watering smells wafted through the air. Footsteps sounded on the floor above as Tzuyu returned to her room to change after opening the door for her and Mina unconsciously turned her nose to sniff towards the kitchen. Tzuyu’s mum was a formidable cook and did all the cooking for her family; they didn’t employ servants. It was an unusual occurrence considering their wealth but Mina always welcomed the delicious home-cooked meals. Sometimes a motherly touch did wonders for the atmosphere of a meal not to mention that she felt at home eating with Tzuyu’s family. Tzuyu was the spitting image of her mother and they shared the same interests and sense of humour, something Mina found amusing when it wasn’t focused on her.

There was a clatter of sound as Tzuyu rushed into the room to take a seat, her clothes fluttering to catch up. She smiled at Mina as she sat, before focusing on the plates of food before them. They were soon joined by Tzuyu’s parents and ate; Mina losing herself to taste. A while later, when her stomach was finally sated, she leaned back and sipped from a cup of tea and observed the family. They chatted casually about their day to day events and there was a nostalgic closeness between them. Tzuyu was still eating but managed to talk between chews and Mina mused about the way that the younger girl was able to eat so fast yet maintain a delicacy; a certain elegance in her eating.

She wondered if she was the same then looked down at her shirt and grimaced at a splash of sauce that had appeared. She tongued the tip of her finger and tried to dab at the stain to no avail. The family finished up their dinner and Mina joined Tzuyu in her room to settle their stomachs. They caught up about their lives until Tzuyu brought up the upcoming ball to celebrate the end of winter.

‘So is your dad going to let you come? My mum and dad are coming as well this time.’

The Spring Ball was a major event in the social calendar of the upper class and everyone who had a name for themselves attended and Mina’s father was no exception. He had friends among the other businessmen and would otherwise take some time to catch up with Mina’s uncle who would also be attending.

‘Yea sure, why not? He let me go to that other one and you’ll need a customary date for the event.’

‘Cool. I’ll see you there then, if my parents let me walk around.’

Mina grinned, knowing just how protective Tzuyu’s parents were. At the last year’s ball, Tzuyu had been forced to mingle with her parents and had spent an entire evening greeting older people she didn’t know and pretending to not be bored. However, her grin disappeared when Tzuyu mentioned the previous party that they had attended together. “You know, I’ve been wondering for a while. Where did you go that night?” she asked. Mina started and raised her head, wondering why Tzuyu was asking about it.

‘What do you mean? I told you I was going to take a walk for some fresh air.’

‘Yea but you were gone for ages. I even went to look for you but I couldn’t find you.’

Mina frowned as she thought back to the night. “I met someone and we talked,” she explained. “And besides, I wasn’t even gone that long.” Tzuyu swivelled around in her chair and turned to her with a disbelieving stare. “You were gone for more than two hours,” she pointed out. “How did you not notice? Who is this miraculous person who can catch your attention for more than an hour? Every time someone came up to us to talk with you, you seemed irritated beyond belief.” Tzuyu got up from her seat and sat beside Mina on her bed.

‘Alright, spill. I want to know about this amazing guy that you met.’

Mina reddened slightly and shrugged her shoulders. It was an awkward subject and she realised that she thought of her meeting with the mystery person as a secret privy to her heart.

‘It’s a girl actually and we just talked about random things. She was walking in the maze outside the mansion and I bumped into her.’

Tzuyu’s eyes sparkled at the information and she leaned in conspiratorially. “What’s her name?” Tzuyu asked. Mina tilted her head then widened her eyes as she realised she didn’t know herself.

‘Uh, I’m not sure. We never gave each other our names.’

‘Come on. Can’t you at least tell me her name?’

‘I told you, I don’t know.’

Tzuyu scowled and pursed her lips then leaned back to stare at Mina. “Wow, you’re serious. How did you not ask her name in all the time that you guys were talking?” she frowned. Mina shrugged her shoulders again. It seemed such a simple thing to do now that she thought about it but it hadn’t really seemed to matter at the time. When she had talked with the mystery girl on both occasions, the conversation had flowed and there had been no need for introductions. “It wasn’t really at the top of our lists to ask each other. And how are you going with school? Do you want some help?” she asked.

It was a blatant change of topic and they both knew it. Tzuyu maintained her stare for a few moments before she begrudgingly acquiesced. “Maths is an absolute slog,” she complained. “As soon as I think I’ve understood something, I find out that there’s a new way to do it and I have to spend more time on it. Have you guys learnt any tricks to solve this faster?” She gestured down at her exercise book that she had been working on and Mina stood up to her shoulder to peer down at the problem. When she had asked Tzuyu if she needed any help, she had just been trying to change the subject but she hummed surprise when she realised that she did actually know how to solve the problem. She grabbed a pencil and scribbled out a formula as she began to teach Tzuyu.

A few minutes later, Tzuyu threw down her pen and whistled appreciatively. “How did you know how to do that?” she asked, looking up with marvelling eyes. Mina smiled wistfully as she recalled the time she’d spent with Momo trying to understand it herself. It was simple once you learnt how to do it but the difficulty was in learning it in the first place. “What can I say? I had a good teacher,” she shrugged modestly. Tzuyu laughed and slapped her shoulder playfully.

‘As if. You were complaining to me about your Maths teacher just a month ago. What caused this sudden change of heart?’

‘Oh well I realised he wasn’t actually that bad when I started paying attention in class but I learnt a lot from this girl who’s been tutoring me. She’s an amazing teacher.’

Tzuyu raised her eyebrows then held up her hands protectively across her chest.

‘Who are you and what have you done with Mina?’

Mina grinned then turned serious. “It’s not really a big deal. I realised I was being a totally spoilt brat by not focusing in class and wasting time with useless things. And I thought about what a disappointment I was being to my dad,” she confessed. Tzuyu nodded in agreement. Mina had told her everything that had led up to her grounding. “Am I one of those aforementioned useless things?” Tzuyu inquired, bringing Mina’s attention back to the conversation.

‘Of course not. I enjoy spending time with you and my dad approves of you being such a goody two-shoes. No, it’s the other people I was being around. Bad influences and such.’

Tzuyu patted her on the shoulder and smiled gratefully. “I’m oddly touched and I would love to continue this heart to heart but it’s nearly time for your curfew. I don’t want to give your dad a reason to stop you coming here,” she said. Mina glanced at her phone screen and saw that Tzuyu was right. She gave her younger friend a hug and waved goodbye. She walked downstairs and thanked the Chou parents for having her before calling her chauffeur to pick her up. Her father had mostly cooled down about the majority of her privilege access and she welcomed not having to use the public transport, shuddering at the memory.

The car arrived to pick her up some time later and she waved up to Tzuyu who was standing at her bedroom window before getting in. Her mind was filled with thoughts about the mystery girl she had met at the events and wondered if she should pose the question about her identity the next time they met. The glow of the streetlamps lit up the interior of the car and she fell asleep with a frown on her face, wishing that the weekend would hurry up and pass.

~

Monday mornings are the worst. This universal thought rang true in Mina’s mind as she trudged through the school courtyard towards her locker. She had had trouble falling asleep the night before and she was suffering for it now, looking at the world through bleary eyes. A sip of her father’s mug of coffee didn’t seem to have had any effect and she wished that she had been allowed to sleep in. Gravel crunched nearby and she turned to see one of her friends approach. She waved, feeling the need to conserve energy and not waste it in a greeting. Her friend waved back and called out a ‘Good morning’.

They walked slowly across the school grounds and Mina just listened with half an ear as her friend talked, offering the occasional hum of agreement or nod. She felt slightly guilty for ignoring her friend but she really wasn’t that interested in w