Nothing happened over the next few days. The soccer idiots acted normally, only being a bother to them if they got too close, which they went out of their way not to do.

Only one thing had changed. Mary and Josie felt awkward around each other when Mark wasn’t there.

It was like they didn’t feel whole anymore, just the two of them, and needed Mark to bind them together.

Neither of them said it directly, nor did they really notice it enough to be able to put it into words, but it was definitely there. 

A heavy awkward cloud hung above them, only moving along when Mark made a funny remark or complained about his sandwich.

Even as a few weeks went past, and the potential danger the soccer idiots could bring them seemed so diminished that all of them only vaguely recalled why they had started doing everything together, they continued the routine they had made.

Josie seemed to be the most aware of the change, even if she couldn’t exactly put her finger on it. Mary only knew that she felt more comfortable with Mark around now, but that it didn’t feel that weird.

They were all friends, after all. They had stood against bullies together, helped each other, been there to have each other’s backs.

She had even started to get a tiny bit into basketball.

Only a bit.

And looked forward to seeing Mark play whenever she had the chance.

Josie, meanwhile, had taken up drawing, and had started to always walk around with a sketching book and a pencil everywhere, so she could draw if she found inspiration.

Mary had asked Josie to draw her a few times, to which Josie had told her she might do it when she had gotten a bit better.

“I’m still just a beginner,” Josie had said, and while Mary had understood, a part of her was a bit disappointed.

Wasn’t it exactly the reason why Josie should draw her? To practice and get better? What else were friends for than to support each other? Josie should know that Mary wouldn’t judge no matter how bad it was. Sure, she might tease a bit, but she would support even more.

But she also didn’t want to push.

Josie having any sort of hobby she did for herself was new territory, and she was afraid of somehow ruining it for her.

Besides… Josie having something entirely for herself was something Mary couldn’t blame her for. Mary didn’t always tell Josie everything either, and while Mary was sure Josie was aware of this, she had never pushed her to reveal things.

The least Mary could do was repay the favor.
Even though it made the awkward and uneasy feeling grow bigger.

The day finally came, months after Mark had started, where he was given his own table and books.

None from the trio was happy about that.

Mark had gotten used to instantly being able to get help from Josie and Mary if he needed it, and he did, a lot.

The girls had a theory about him being homeschooled, but hadn’t asked him about it. He just seemed like he was very behind on things they considered normal, and very far ahead in other areas, they hadn’t gotten to yet. He excelled in math, for one thing.

If his previous school had followed the same curriculum, the difference shouldn’t have been that big.

Josie wasn’t happy about the move because that meant it was just her and Mary again, and the awkwardness that they could avoid most of the day started hanging out from the start of the class to the end.

And Mary… Well, Mary wasn’t entirely sure why she wasn’t happy about it. She mostly just knew the two others were dissatisfied and joined that train as well. If her two best friends weren’t happy, she wasn’t either, after all.

But not all bad things came from it.

Because of the prolonged time Mary and Josie had to spend with each other, the awkwardness slowly and naturally started to lessen. 

While intense at first, the more they had to interact without Mark there, the more they found their own flow again. That natural stream of looks and actions being understood more clearly than words. Where a smile could tell an entire story and a headjerk could be an answer to an unspoken question.

They never talked about what had happened on the way home from the bowling trip, never even mentioned bowling with a word.

Mark most likely didn’t mention bowling at all, as he was more into lighter balls, so that hadn’t been a problem either.

And so, suddenly they found themselves at the last day of their third year of high school, things mostly feeling back to normal as they were at the edge of summer vacation.

One day, over lunch break, the three of them sat around, eating lunch, as usual, when Mary suddenly stood up.

“We have never been to your place!” She yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Mark, who seemed to be actually surprised.

“That’s true, we haven’t,” Josie agreed, nodding sagely.

“Uhm, yea, you haven’t. I’m not really allowed to bring anyone by,” Mark said, but when he saw that explanation didn’t do it, he added, “my parents mostly work from home, so having people around would interrupt them.”

Josie and Mary took this as an acceptable excuse, and while Mary had given up, she still felt it important to complain about it.

So she did.

“But aren’t you super rich? I really want to see how you live. Do you have multiple cars?” and on Mary went, asking about servants, butlers, maids, chefs, and if his mother wore furs or if his dad smoked cigars. There wasn’t any time for Mark to actually answer her, so he just let her ramble off all the questions, before he looked at Josie, begging for help with a pleading look.

“Mary, you’re being rude. Don’t assume everything you watch in tv-shows are real,” Josie said, and that did the trick. Mary mumbled an apology, but also mumbled about how she just wanted to meet a real butler, before she changed topic.

Mark still hadn’t actually confirmed the girls’s suspicions about him being rich, but he clearly didn’t deny it either, so the assumption stayed.

“So, what plans are we making for vacation? I want to go to the beach!”

“The beach could be fun, there would be a lot I could try drawing as well,” Josie agreed.

“Is there a beach nearby?” Mark asked. The girls had momentarily forgotten he wasn’t originally from there, and so explained that the nearest beach was about an hour by train away.

“Oh. We can just get my driver to drive us,” Mark answered, before he could stop himself.

His head slowly turned to Mary, waiting for all the rich-people stuff that would come out, and he wasn’t disappointed when she yelled out “OH RIGHT! You have a private driver!”

And off she went with assumptions about the private driver, going so far as to assume he was British, only wore suits, even on his days off, and that he had to have at least two tea breaks written into his contract or he would leave.

Mark neither confirmed or denied it, but did laugh together with Josie at how specific things got.

And that was that. Mark had as good as promised his private driver was available for him and the girls to do things over the break, and while he had originally only offered it for the beach, both Mary and Josie conveniently pretended like he had offered it in general, to which Mark could only comply.