Mary didn’t go back inside the art exhibition, but waited outside for around an hour before Mark and Josie came out to get her, saying they were leaving. 

Mary had, at this point, put her hoodie back on, as her back felt too naked without coverage, and said she was fine waiting for an hour more, or as long as Josie wanted.

Josie insisted she had seen enough, even telling Mark to call his driver, because her feet hurt from walking in shoes she wasn’t used to, and she didn’t feel like going by train home.

And so, Mark’s driver came to pick them up, the silence speaking volumes in the car.

Before the girls left, Mark said he had found a basketball game he wanted to watch later that month, and they all agreed to meet again then.

“Wait, what about the dress?” Mary asked, suddenly panicked before she closed the car door.

“Keep it, it’s not my size,” Mark answered with a grin and closed the door before she could come up with a reason not to.

Mark’s car drove off and Josie and Mary stood there, left behind, neither making any indications to split up or going the rest of the way home.

“I’m sorry,” Mary said when she couldn’t stand the silence anymore, “I didn’t mean to ruin your art thing, but I felt I ruined it more by staying and not being able to talk along, and making dumb jokes, so I figured it would be more fun for just you and Mark to talk about everything. He seemed to get it.”

Josie looked at Mary for a moment before sighing and smiling in a ‘I give up’ kind of way.

“It’s okay. I know you tried. You even wore a dress for me,” Josie said but was interrupted.

“Not by choice,” Mary cut in.

“Not by choice, but you still did it. It meant a lot,” Josie said, holding out her hand to Mary, who took it without hesitation and squeezed it tight.

Then Mary took a step forward and hugged Josie, who melted into her.

“I love you,” Mary said, feeling the need to know that Josie knew, that even though she didn’t understand art, and couldn’t be part of that world, and had to be forced into a dress, and maybe didn’t understand Josie as well as she wanted to, she loved her.

“I know,” Josie answered, letting the words hang there a bit, something left unsaid, but Mary wasn’t entirely sure what it was.

It was first when they broke apart, Josie looked directly into Mary’s blue eyes and said, tone different from before, “I love you, too.”

Then Josie turned around, leaving Mary standing, not looking back.

Something had happened. Something had changed.

However, what exactly it was, Mary didn’t know.

She just knew that they would never go back to how they were. 

That the fragile thing that had cracked between them had broken completely, even though she thought they had mended it by ignoring it. By moving on.

The day of the basketball game, Mark had insisted that they drive, which neither of the girls had a very strong opposition against. Who would say no to having a private driver?

Josie showed up in a short dress with flower patterns, looking very summerly. Mark wore a nice t-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap and Mary…

Mary thought she had learned from her mistake last time and had worn the same black dress she had gotten for the art thing.

“Mary… I never thought I would say this to you… But I think you might be a bit overdressed…” Mark got out, clearly struggling with putting it nicely.

Josie didn’t say anything, just gave a quick nod and went into the car, looking out a window.

“Isn’t it a special occasion?” Mary asked, incredulously. Mark nodded, tried to speak, and then just nodded again.

“Just… Wear this over it,” he finally said, going to the backside of the car and rummaging in the trunk before handing her a blue hoodie.

His hoodie.

She stared at it for a bit, like it was some sort of unidentifiable object, but after a while she finally took it and pulled it over her head.

“Thanks…” she said. Mark then opened the door for her, and she sat herself down beside Josie, Mark beside Mary.

When they arrived, they got all the snacks imaginable, Mark paying in cash as if he was made of money. Then they found their seats, which turned out to be VIP seats, “my dad knows someone who knows someone,” Mark said with a shrug when the girls looked at him, mouth open, eyes agape.

It was rare for Mark to mention his family, and all the girls had gathered really, was that he had at least a dad, probably a mom, and that they worked from home. That they weren’t strict with rules during the day, but apparently super strict during the night, seeing as Mark always had to get back before it got too dark, even when he had a personal driver. And that he had a grandma, but seeing as he only mentioned what she used to say, they weren’t sure if she was still alive.

The girls also still held on to the theory that he had been homeschooled and that his parents or the teacher that taught him must have been good at math, seeing as he excelled in it. Or maybe he was just talented. And of course, they were still sure he was rich. They still hadn’t asked him about it, and at this point, it was more fun to play around with theories than getting anything confirmed.

The basketball game itself was fun enough. Mary quickly got as into it as Mark, and they cheered and buuh’d whenever the team they had decided to be fans of scored and got scored on.

Yes, decided. 

They had flipped a coin before the game, which was the deciding factor on which team they wanted to win, as they didn’t really have any knowledge of either of the teams, and just wanted the overall experience.

Josie had brought her sketchbook, and was only glancing at the game here and there, turning her sketchbook away whenever Mary or Mark tried to sneak a peek until around the halfpoint of the game, where they got so absorbed in the game and the cheering, that they entirely forgot to try anymore.

After the game, they went home. Mary and Mark talked about the game on the way, but seeing as they didn’t actually know any of the names of the players, and hadn’t paid much attention to the player numbers either, they had given them nicknames all through the game. Josie had accidentally snorted really loudly at the nickname ‘Shoot’n’toot’ as Mary had determined one player kept looking like he was going to fart when he made a shot, the way he put out his butt much further than anyone else as he bent his legs.

When they got out of the car, Mary tried to give back Mark’s hoodie but he just said “keep it,” the same way he had done with the dress.

“I’m pretty sure this one is your size,” Mary said and started pulling it off.

“It’s too dark for this, just keep it on,” Josie said, dragged Mary’s arms away from the hoodie, and started dragging her along with a “bye, Mark,” over her shoulder.

“Josie, stop, I wanna give the hoodie back,” Mary tried, but she didn’t put much force into it. She could have easily broken free of Josie’s grip, but she was afraid to.

“You can give it back to him at school. After you wash it,” Josie said, before she stopped and finally looked at Mary, hesitating a bit she continued, “...Or you can keep it.”

“It’s too big for me,” Mary laughed, trying to break the tension that had suddenly appeared.

“I think it fits you fine,” Josie argued, deadly serious.

“It’s too warm,” Mary tried.

“You didn’t seem to be too warm during the game,” Josie shot back.

“The color doesn’t fit me,” Mary was on the verge of tears now.

“Like you have ever cared about stuff like that,” Josie slapped back without mercy.

“It would look better on you,” Mary whispered, finally putting into words what she had thought all along.

“Me? Are you crazy?” Josie said, before changing tone, and softly saying “I would never wear a hoodie…”

“Josie…” Mary said, understanding suddenly filling her as she sniffed back tears, “I’m sorry…”

“I know…” Josie said, her anger dissipating and turning into tears as well.

“I’m really sorry…” Mary whimpered, not getting the words out very clearly, but still trying her best, “It’s just a really nice hoodie…”

“I know…” Josie said, taking a step forward to hug Mary, “I think the hoodie is really nice too…”

Of course, they were no longer talking about the hoodie.