Sugarcoat was a young girl in the tender age of 12.
She didn’t have any friends. None of the girls in her class shared her interests.
None of the boys either for that matter...
The few times she had tried – always after being goaded by one of her teachers – they would quickly declare her to be “weird” or “strange” or “a girl” and start ignoring her.
It didn’t particularly bother her, though. She was perfectly fine spending time on her own while her classmates played.
Today she was at home.
Normally that was a time for her to spend time in her room reading, doing her homework, or her dance exercises. But her mother had other plans as of late.
“Sugarcoat! Could you go play outside for a bit?”
“Do I have to?” she replied.
“Only for a little while. I need to talk with your dad.”
She didn’t particularly want to play outside today, but she couldn’t see any reason for why she couldn’t.
As such, she donned one of her father’s white coats (making sure to roll up the sleeves all the way up to her elbows), took the Big Book on Cats her mother had gotten her last Christmas and a notepad, and headed outside.
Her cat was already out there, basking in the afternoon sunlight on top of the garden table as he usually did.
For the last couple of weeks, the cat hadn’t used its litterbox for his business, instead opting for the sofa or the carpets. Obviously, that wasn’t good. So now she was looking for a solution.
She sat down on at the table and began reading. “The book says that going outside the litterbox could be a sign of distress,” she narrated. “Distress is commonly caused by sudden changes in the home.”
She tried to think of anything that had happened that could upset the cat, but nothing had changed as far as she knew. The only thing she could think of was how her mother wanted her to play outside more after school.
She put down the book, picked up the notepad and looked the cat in the eye. “What is upsetting you? Would you please share it with me?” she asked and waited for some sort of response.
She did receive one, but not one she had expected.
“Are you talking to a cat…?”
Sugarcoat looked up to see another girl with short, electric blue hair and light peach skin leaning above the fence dividing both of their backyards.
Quite the feat, considering the fence stood almost twice as high as herself.
“I am,” she replied.
“Why…?” the girl asked.
“I am being a psychologist.”
The girl frowned. “Mom says those are limp-deers who brainwash you and take all your money.”
“You’re thinking of Scientologist,“ Sugarcoat replied.
“Oh...” The girl scratched her head. “So, what’s a Saigomist?”
“Psy-cho-log-ist,” Sugarcoat clarified. “It means ‘Person who Studies the Psyche’.”
The girl looked at her with a blank expression.
“It’s a head doctor.”
“Oh, cool! And you even got a doctor coat on! Sweet!”
“It is my dad’s,” Sugarcoat replied.
“Is he a doctor too?”
“No, he’s a chief.”
The girl giggled. “That’s cool too.” She swung over the fence and walked up to the table. “So who’s this little fellow?” she asked and petted the happily purring cat.
“His name is Mr Meow.”
The girl laughed. “Seriously? What kind of name is that?”
“My mom named him…”
“You’re lucky to have a pet,” the girl said. “I’ve always wanted one, but my mom hates animals.”
Sugarcoat was about to reply when she realised something. She didn’t know this girl!
Her mom had always told her to never talk to strangers. ‘Never, ever talk to them!’ she had said.
Was this girl a stranger, though? When she thought of strangers, she thought of that creepy guy in the park. Not girls her own age.
Her teacher always said she should try and meet new people…
If she introduced herself to this girl, would that mean they weren’t strangers anymore?
Finally, she decided that was the case and introduced herself.
“My name is Sugarcoat. What is your name?”
“I’m Indigo Zap!” The girls replied with a big, proud smile and struck a pose.
“You’re missing a tooth,” Sugarcoat noted.
“You don’t think I know that?” Indigo giggled. “I was playing football in the park and this more-weirdo kicked the ball right in my face and knocked one of my teeth out! I had to go to the emergency room and everything!” She leaned forward. “Do you play any sports?”
“I practice ballet and ice dancing,” Sugarcoat replied.
Indigo scoffed. “Those are not sports! Mom says it can’t be a sport without a ball!”
“I don’t see how whether you have balls or not determine what a sport is or isn’t.”
Indigo had to cover her mouth to avoid bursting into laughter, with limited success.
Sugarcoat was very confused by this. “I don’t see what so funny,” she said. “You don’t use balls when you practice ballet or ice dancing.”
That only made Indigo laugh even more.
Sugarcoat folded her arms and waited. She may have been used to people laughing at her for no reason, but she still didn’t like it.
“You said balls…!” Indigo wheezed in between laughs.
Again, Sugarcoat didn’t understand what was funny about that.
Indigo threw her arm around her and pulled her into a side hug. “I like you. You’re really funny!”
“Indigo!” yelled a voice from Indigo’s house. “Where are you? Your dinner is done!”
“Coming, mom!” Indigo yelled back and turned back to Sugarcoat. “Sorry, I gotta go. We should hang out more sometime!” When she looked at the fence, an idea came to her. “Watch this!” She took off sprinting towards it, leaped and went into a handstand on top of it.
Until the momentum made her fall over onto her own yard with a loud crash…
“Are you hurt?” Sugarcoat called over the fence.
“It wasn’t so bad,” Indigo replied. “I’m used to it.” She groaned as she stood up from the pile of stuff she had landed on. “Okay, maybe a little… Mom! I need more band aids!”
After Indigo had shambled her way inside, Sugarcoat realised how hungry she was. She went to check the time and found it was right about time to start eating.
Her mother was in the kitchen, sitting at the table at her dad’s spot. Her dad was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s dad?” she asked.
Her mother sat up in surprise. “Oh, he had to go to back to work,” she replied.
“What are we having for dinner? I’m hungry.”
Her mother looked around the kitchen for a moment before deciding there wasn’t anything easy to cook. “How would you feel about takeout?”
Sugarcoat shrugged and sat down in her seat.
Once the food had been delivered and they began to eat, her mother began asking about her day. “Did you have fun outside?”
“I think so,” Sugarcoat replied. “I met a strange girl from the house next door.”