Mr. Yuto, in all the years he'd been teaching kindergarten, had never heard a child doubt the existence of the red string.

   Fia posed as such an anomaly to him that he had to think for a while about how to answer something he had no personal knowledge about.

   The class, for the most part, stayed silent.

   They waited for Mr. Yuto to collect himself.

   "Well, Sofia," Mr. Yuto began his impromptu, "There truly isn't a lot known about anyone who hasn't gotten theirs or like you asked, never got one. I don't know anyone who hasn't got theirs. No one does, I think."

   "How come?" She followed.

   Mr. Yuto sighed heavily.

   "As I see it, I don't think it's possible not to get one. But!" He quickly added when she opened her mouth. "Let's say someone doesn't get theirs, do you think they would openly want to talk to you about it?"

   Fia pursed her lips and said, "No, maybe not. Maybe, Indy. My mom says I don't keep secrets well."

   Indy furrowed her brows. She'd been thinking of telling Fia about her red string, but now she was thinking twice about revealing it.

   "Let's say, this is just playing pretend. Let's say, you never get yours."

   The class gasped as if Mr. Yuto had just cursed Fia.

   "Okay," she said, unphased.

   "Who would you tell?"

   Fia again was left to ponder. She inhaled then exhaled, thinking deeply, deeper than Mr. Yuto expected.

   "Maybe Uncle Oliver," she answered.

   "Who's that?"

   "Bri's uncle."

   "Who is Bri?" The class asked.

   "Our best friend," Fia pointed to her and Indy when she spoke.

   "Not any of your best friends then?" Mr. Yuto asked.

   "No. Beth really loves the red strings. She'd be sad if I told her. Bri would get sad too. She cries when she's sad. Indy can know, but it's not okay to tell other people to lie for you."

   Mr. Yuto didn't have to ask, he understood what 'lie for you' meant.

   "So, you don't intend to tell the world," he summarized.

   Fia shook her head.

   "People wouldn't trust me anyway."

   "And there you go, Sofia. How many others would think like you if they were in that position?"

   "Probably a lot," she seceded.

   She wasn't his best student due to her war with Alfonso, but in the year they spent together, Mr. Yuto admired Sofia's inquisitive mind. She often posed questions for him he'd never been asked before. As difficult as she was, she was also pleasantly challenging.

   When she turned six, her questions about the red string became more frequent. She was great at talking, but not as great at her studies. She had difficulty maintaining focus and often was found bored or distracted. Unlike her, Indy was quiet but excelled in every subject. She was his model student.

   Strangely though, Fia and Indy got along well. Indy reigned in Fia whenever she got too much to handle (unless it had to do with Alfonso) while Fia brought out Indy from her shell.

   After Bri turned six, Alfonso nervously admitted to Indy that he actually liked her. However, he'd teased her for far too long already that she just wanted to avoid him. He even went as far as getting himself invited to Bri's birthday. As his poor luck would have it, Indy truly had no interest in him.

   Amber, from the other class, had a better chance at garnering Indy's interest. They shared a passion for insect watching, which wasn't really a passion, but more of a distraction. 

   Indy's way of deterring her mom from talking too much about the red string was to bring up ways a praying mantis would mate and then kill off their husband. Her mother was, for obvious reasons, hated any talks of botched marriages.

   Anyway, Amber and Indy got to know each other when Beth invited the entire school to her birthday that year, preceded by Joanna's equally extravagant birthday. Then after, Patrick did the same, excluding Arian.

   The exclusion created a bit of animosity between their parents which made Indy's birthday all the more controversial that summer they turned six.

   Mona had the brilliant idea to invite both for two different birthday celebrations. It gave her the incentive to prepare twice for one child and splurge where she couldn't before. It was truly a blessing for her. It was a disaster for Indy.

   "Why can't you just be friends with Arian," Indy huffed.

   She didn't even know Arian, and she thought better of him than she did Patrick at this point.

   "He's a know-it-all," Patrick retorted.

   "But so are you," Fia muttered.

   "Huh?"

   "I said-"

   Bri cupped Fia's mouth and spoke for her, "We're going to get food, Indy."

   Indy didn't really care and waved them goodbye, staying where her mother had told her to stay put twenty minutes ago.

   Just as she was ready to leave Patrick all alone, her mom came rushing at her.

   "Did you hear, Indigo? One of your classmates just got their red string!"

   Patrick jumped up and asked, "Who, Mrs. Bamford?"

   "An Amber Hayley."

   "Amber?" Indigo looked sad as she said her friend's name.

   "I'm waiting for one of the boys to get theirs too."

   Patrick looked shocked.

   "Is that how it works?" He was looking around now too.

   "It's possible," Mona told him. "Possible."

   The three of them examined the guests. Indy noticed a boy look at his hand at first then around him. She saw that he held nothing, but he kept looking there as if there was something.

   "Him..." She whispered.

   It was the same. She could tell that's how she looked when she first saw her red string appear. It was like a dream and a nightmare at once. On the one hand, she was glad to see it, but on the other, she was afraid of what it meant for her.

   She continued to feel the anxiety from that day one year ago. It was like reliving it over and over again.

   The boy looked utterly confused as he ran to his mom to tell her what he saw.

   His mom rejoiced, first screaming, then jumping before hugging him.

   She must have told him to follow his string because he started to walk while she trailed behind him.

   "There," Mona spotted the mother and son duo. "Oh, how exciting!"

   Amber felt her red string tug again and again. She looked around and observed the boy approaching her. She saw her string tighten as he drew closer.

   "Dad, I think that's him," she nudged at her dad.

   Amber's dad was a construction worker, not an executive, but had at least seven years of experience with the company- enough to earn Mona's respect. He frowned when he saw the woman walking behind the boy.

   "Arthur?" The woman gasped.

   "Celia," he said.

   They didn't look happy.

   "Oh, they don't look happy," Mona frowned. "Time to change that."

   Before she could attempt to intervene, Lina had jumped on the opportunity first.

   "Oh, my Eros! You'll be in-laws someday! I mean, you're practically in-laws!" Lina cheered.

   Unfortunately, Celia wanted nothing to do with Arthur, her ex-boyfriend she had to break up with when his red string turned up not connected to hers. It was devastating when she first found out and still, to this day, left a pinhole in her heart. As much as she loved her husband, she wondered sometimes if it could've worked out with her and Arthur. Except, what-ifs weren't in the stars when it came to Eros.

   Cupid knows, and he's always right, right?

   Arthur, furthermore, couldn't stomach that Celia had ended up with his once bully in middle school. The thought of marrying his daughter to that man's family made his stomach churn. Celia was one thing, but her husband, no. He was unacceptable.

   "This can't be," he mistakenly said aloud.

   "Excuse me?" Celia looked appalled. "Is my son not good enough for you, Mr. I'm so successful."

   She was mocking him since she'd become a local newscaster, beloved by the suburban folks.

   "Celia, that's not what Arthur meant." Arthur's wife chimed in. "He's just shocked."

   Celia frowned. She didn't like Arthur's wife. She had been her best friend, who happily took Arthur away. The two of them hadn't seen each other in years with Celia doing most of the avoiding.

   All the while, Amber and the boy, Tobias, who was in the fifth class none of the girls were overly familiar with, were already acting friendly with each other.

   "I like dung beetles the most," Amber told Tobias.

   "I like carpenter ants."

   Safe to say, they got along pretty well despite their parents thinking otherwise.

   "This is Tobias and this is Indy," Amber introduced them. "He likes carpenter ants."

   Indy's eyes grew wide.

   "I like black widows!"

   Mona tried not to listen to her daughter's crazy antics. She confidently chalked it off to silly childish antics Indy will one day grow out of. Hopefully. She prays to God Eros at least.

   "Oh, may my daughter be the best daughter she could be," she would pray every night.

   The next day, after Indy's first sixth birthday party, Patrick wasn't invited, but Arian was. However, insulted to have been invited to the second day rather than the first, Arian was told to boycott Indy's birthday.

   In the end, Indy never met Arian.