In the middle of the night, Jason awakens to someone shouting, “No, please, leave me!” In less than a second, he is out of bed and ready to fight whoever is attacking his family. As he runs to the door, he notices the remaining effects of alcohol. Hopefully, he’ll still be able to aim at the intruder. “Go away! It wasn’t me!” he hears a female voice shouting as he leaves his room. That’s when he notices that the shouting comes from the guest room right next to his bedroom. “Please, I can’t take it no more! Help!” he hears Roja scream as he runs over to her room. What’s going on?

He pushes the door to her room open and runs in, just to see her sleeping with her arms wrapped around her body. Her facial expression shows nothing but immense pain. “Please stop!” she whimpers as Jason walks over to her. She’s clearly having a bad nightmare, Jason is sure of that. He knows that feeling far too well.

“What happened to you before I got you here?” he whispers more to himself than to the sleeping girl. “Wake up!” he says urgently while softly touching her shoulder.

Roja wakes up from Jason shouting but is very confused. “Where am I?” she asks, still partly asleep.

“You had a nightmare”, Jason answers.

About to fall asleep again, Roja mumbles, “My whole life is a nightmare.” With that, she’s back to being asleep. Jason can’t believe that she fell asleep that fast after a nightmare. The fact that she’s probably used to having them makes him feel sad for her. Quietly, he leaves her room again, knowing that she’ll probably start screaming again soon.

***

When Roja wakes up again, she’s not sure if it was just part of her nightmare or if Jason was really in her room at night. To her, it seemed like he was really worried about her. Lola knocks on Roja’s door and invites her to get breakfast. “But first I have some better outfits for you to change into!” the purple-haired girl says as she enters the room. Roja tries to act as normal as possible, but such a situation is new to her. Lola notices that Roja is unsure but decides that saying something about it would make her even more uncomfortable.

After Roja changed, Lola wants to leave for the kitchen. “Do you think your brother is alright with me going there?” Roja asks, still scared that she could do something wrong.

Lola shrugs and replies, “I don’t really care. You look hungry and Mary said you need to eat because you’re undernourished.” Lola grabs Roja’s wrist but feels her pulling back her hand and let’s go immediately. As Lola looks down at Roja’s wrist, she notices some bruises. They are probably from being tied to that wall all the time. “I’m sorry,” Lola says, noticing how uncomfortable her behaviour could make Roja. But surprisingly, Roja isn’t uncomfortable. She knows Lola didn’t mean to hurt her so she tries to give her new friend a little smile. Although it doesn’t really work, Lola understands. They both leave for the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Lola looks around for the fresh cupcakes that should have been on the sideboard. Roja stands close to one wall so she can see both doors of the kitchen. That’s why she doesn't get scared as Oren walks in and says, “There are no cupcakes left. I ate them.” Lola gives her twin brother the evil eye.

“Can’t you think about others before you eat all the food?!” she nags. Oren ignores her and walks over to Roja.

“I kept one for you,” he admits and gives her a chocolate cupcake. Roja thanks him while Lola walks over to the two of them.

As Roja notices that there’re no cupcakes left for Lola, she asks, “Do you want mine?”

Lola starts laughing while declining the offer, “Eat your cupcake. I know you’re already in love with that chocolate chip at the top.” In reality, the purple-haired girl just wants to hide her concern about how little her new friend eats.

“I’ve got one for you too!” Oren says while handing his sister another cupcake.

“I knew it! Not the healthiest breakfast, but it’s delicious,” Lola says. “I would have thrown you out of the house if you’ve really eaten all the cupcakes!” she threatens Oren while Roja is eating peacefully.

“I’d never eat your food!”

“Good choice.” The twins laugh and Roja admires how friendly they are while still teasing each other in playful ways.

Yet, a harsh voice from the living room makes her turn around in fear. “What’s she doing down here?” Jason asks while walking into the kitchen. Both Lola and Oren roll their eyes before Oren walks up to Jason and Lola finishes her cupcake.

“We just got her breakfast. You know, people need food,” Oren explains sarcastically. Jason rolls his eyes while watching his sister cross her arms and giving him the evil eye.

“Lola, take her back to her room. Now!” Jason demands.

Lola rolls her eyes again before turning to Roja, “Come on, he’s grumpy in the morning.”

Without daring to look at Jason or saying anything, Roja follows Lola to her room.

As they are out of the kitchen, Oren asks, “What’s wrong with you?”

A bit confused, Jason answers, “Nothing.”

“Of course! Then why are you such an idiot towards her?” Oren sneers.

“From all we know, she could be a spy,” Jason answers aggressively. This idea came to him randomly but it sounded like a good excuse to him.

“Yes. And the Easter Bunny is real,” Oren says before walking away, leaving his older brother alone in the kitchen.