Intermission - Ready for an outing.

Just like last week, Alice drove the girls back to the house in Oliver’s van while their boyfriend rushed from university to work.

“So you and Mila are going out tonight?” Grace asked her from the copilot seat.

Alice nodded. “We’re picking Fernanda up at her house then going to the old mountain pass.”

“I’m getting nervous about driving my own car there, though…” Mila said from the seat right behind them. “Everyone there will have cool, tuned cars while mine is nothing special.”

“Your car is fine, and there are plenty of people who're into keeping their machines stock. Better than putting a bunch of useless mods to make it look like a race car and end up making the car worse if you ask me. They call that ricing, but that’s also used as a slur against Asian people, so… careful with the word.”

“That seems good to know,” Mila said with a small grimace.

“And what are your plans for tonight, girls?”

“I’m streaming from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am,” Noelle said. “I’ll try to see if Cake wants to stay around so she won’t feel lonely on a Friday night.”

“Ah, right. That happened last week…” Grace said, nodding. She sighed. “I’m going to study for an hour, take a dip in the hot tub, then go to sleep.”

“Going wild, huh?” Sarah teased.

“Sundays are our new days to play, anyway. And what about you, Sarah?”

“I don’t have anything special planned, either.”

“Why not come with us, then?” Alice asked.

“Tempting, but I’m tired and I want to go to my parent's house early tomorrow to borrow some books from my dad. I might have lunch with them, actually.”

“We’ll let Oliver know so he’ll know there’s one less plate to serve for lunch tomorrow,” Noelle said, smiling. “Happy to go see your family?”

“A bit, yeah.” Sarah said, smiling back. “It hasn’t been long, but… I guess I was looking for an excuse to visit, haha.”

The group made it home, and while the others returned to their rooms to leave their bags and change into more comfortable clothes, Alice went to check the fridge.

“Yep, there it is…” she said, smiling.

Oliver had left some plastic containers with everything ready to make a stew. One of them had chopped onions, carrots, celery and potatoes and another had small pieces of sliced beef. There was a carton of beef broth next to those, too.

Even when away, he wanted to leave everything ready for them to eat. If he had the time to leave the stew cooked, he would have. Alice did tell him she’d see to dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, at least, but he still left this for her. She’d be a little offended if it wasn’t so sweet. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her to make dinner, it was that he wanted to make it easier for her.

…

Guess this meant she’d have to get serious about cooking, too. As much as she loved being pampered with good meals, it just didn’t feel right to leave everything to him.

They’d have to have an early dinner, considering Alice and Mila had to leave a bit early to make up for the distance to the old mountain pass. She used to be just 30 minutes away, now it was an hour and a half. Another one of those strange changes to get used to from the move in.

Making stew is easy, since it’s mostly just throwing things in a pot, and with Oliver leaving all the ingredients ready to go, it was even easier. The group had dinner together some 40 minutes later, after which it was time for Alice to get changed into another outfit.

She put on her racing suit, even though she wasn’t racing tonight. At most she’d do some drifting for fun and to show it off to Fernanda and Mila, if they wanted, but safety first anyway. Not like she’d be out of place. Plenty of others there wore them, too. He threw in a jacket, remembered that her gloves were in the appropriately named glove box, and exited her room to find Mila by the stairs, ready to go.

“I’ve always said you’re a badass, but you look even more like one in that suit,” Mila told her.

“Shut up, I'm just a fool,” Alice said, shaking her head to try and hide her smile. Mila’s praise always made her feel bashful. “Ready, then?”

“Yep.”

“Remember to be alert, especially as we go up the pass.”

“R-Right.”

“Relax, it’ll be fine. I’m just saying it to keep you awake. Also, don’t look at your phone while driving.”

“Okay, even I don’t do that…”

“Good.”

The two girls said goodbye to the others, got in their respective car and left the house. It would be a bit of a long, dull drive, so they kept a voice call open.

“Fern told you she was ready, right?” Mila asked from her car.

“Yes, she’s already waiting. A bit too early, though.”

“Can’t blame her for being excited.”

“I suppose.” Alice sighed. “I’m gonna need your help tonight, Mila.”

“Hm? With what?”

“Well… Breaking the ice with her. You know I’m bad at this stuff. I can only ever talk about cars or school.”

“You can talk about Oliver and sex, too,” Mila teased.

Alice couldn’t help but snicker. “Okay, yes, but… I want to get to know her more. I want to be friends with her. You already managed it in like a day.”

“I would say we’re friends, but not to the same level as, say, you and I are. That’s gonna take time.”

“Right…”

“Just relax, Alice. Be yourself. You’re amazing as you are, and anybody who doesn’t think that doesn’t deserve you.”

Alice wasn’t sure that exact mentality was the best to have here. After all, if Alice couldn’t be friends with Fernanda… that would spell trouble for Fernanda’s relationship with Oliver.

…

Then again, Alice was the strongest supporter of the theory that Oliver’s powers were bringing together people who could naturally get along. Maybe that was a good thing to put her faith in going into this…

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