She had picked up pants after all. She wasn't sure if she would be able to resist the cold and in the end, they probably weren't used to see her in skirts. She was also wearing a black sweater. It was stylish but, more importantly, it protected her from the cold. She had her hair down and applied some makeup, although it was hard to discern. Her lipstick was almost the same pink as her lips.

What she was wondering now was, how she should greet her friends, in special Mari. For Christine, she could give a kiss on her cheek like usual, but was that okay for Mari? Until then she always greeted the girl she loved with a nod. Wouldn't be weird doing something now?

Scenario 1:

After giving her a kiss in the cheek, Harriet would realize Mari's eyes confused looking at her.

"W-Why?" She would ask, blus.h.i.+ng.

"We're friends, right?" Harriet would say while hugging Mari's hips. "I think we need to get a little closer."

That would never work. Mari most likely wouldn't say anything even if she finds it weird, so the situation would be awkward. Unless it's something more shocking, maybe.

Scenario 2:

Harriet kisses the back of Mari's hand.

"It's a pleasure for me to start the New Year beside such a graceful woman," she would say.

"H-Harriet…" Mari would say while looking to the side embarra.s.sed. "Being with you fills me with happiness, too."

Also wouldn't work. That would probably scare Mari more than anything. She might even go back home immediately. So, another option would be:

Scenario 3:

Harriet would take Mari hand and look deep in her eyes while approaching their lips together.

"Tonight, you'll be mine," she would say as she kissed her.

"No way, no way, no way!" Harriet thought, throwing herself on the bed. "I mean, I would love to do it, but that's impossible! Also wrong!"

She sat back and let out a long sigh. She left her eyes to wander through the floor while thinking. Maybe just a hug would do fine. It would be less cold than a nod, but still just friendly. She would also feel Mari's body against her, which would be nice.

"Yeah, I'll just give her a hug," Harriet said and started to get ready to go out.

***

When she saw Christine's home, her two friends were talking to each other in the sidewalk in front of it. Christine saw Harriet first and waved her hands. Mari just looked in her direction with a faint smile. Harriet felt her steps getting rushed beyond her control.

She greeted Christine hugging her and giving a kiss on her cheek. Then she looked at Mari, who looked nervous behind her friend. She was wearing a white blouse with a blue waistcoat and blue pleated skirt with black leggings.

"Hi, Mari," she said with a nod. Mari smiled back at her.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," she thought to herself as she followed both girls inside the house.

***

Christine was frustrated. It was thirty minutes since Harriet arrived and beyond her greeting, she didn't talk with Mari. Her plan was to make the girls get closer when they went downtown, but that would be hard if they couldn't even talk to each other.

The three girls were sitting on the couch. Christine was in the middle with Harriet to her right, looking away and playing with her hair and Mari to her left, looking at the ground with her hands frozen on her lap. Christine let out a sigh and stood up, leaving the s.p.a.ce between them empty.

"Do you need help with anything, mom?" Christine asked, walking to the kitchen. There were some few distant relatives for dinner, so her mother had more work than usual.

She started helping in the kitchen while throwing careful glances to the living room where Harriet and Mari were sitting. None of them were opening their mouths. At least until Christine's cousin, a ten years old girl who looked a lot like her, but even more extroverted, sat in the place Christine was before and threw an amazed look at Harriet.

"Wow, miss. You're so pretty," she said, making Harriet look at her.

"R-Really? Thanks," Harriet said. She threw a glance at Mari, who seemed to be looking at them with the side of her eyes.

"Don't you think she's pretty too?" The young girl asked Mari. Mari threw a startled look at Harriet.

"I-I mean. Yes, she's beautiful," Mari said and looked at the ground. Harriet seemed to be putting effort to keep her cool.

Christine m.u.f.fled a laugh. She was helping her mother but keeping an eye on the living room. She needed to remember to thank her cousin later, even if that wasn't in her plans.

"Are you j.a.panese?" She asked Mari, making the girl look at her.

"Yes," she stopped, then added. "I wasn't born in j.a.pan, but my family is."

"That's nice. You have pretty eyes," then she turned to Harriet. "Don't you think she has pretty eyes?"

Christine was having trouble keeping her reaction in check. That was just too perfect that she wanted to laugh.

"Y-Yeah," Harriet said, struggling with her voice while looking at Mari. "She's very pretty."

Mari blushed and stared at her fingers.

"Are you two friends?" the girl asked Harriet.

"Yeah, we're friends."

"So you love her?"

Harriet paused. She thought for a moment before answering the girl.

"As a friend, yeah, I love her."

"So you wouldn't marry her?"

Mari's face was completely red. Harriet was blus.h.i.+ng too, but since she was the target of that inquisition, she couldn't run from it.

"W-Why are you asking that?" She asked the girl.

"I heard two girls can marry, but I never saw it. I wanna find two married girls one day," she said. She tried to speak again, but someone called her out. "Oh, mom is calling me. Bye!" And she left, leaving Harriet and Mari alone, without being able to look at each other and with their faces completely red.

That was amusing in a way, but Christine also wondered if she should have a talk with her cousin later.

***

They ate dinner together. Christine ended up sitting between Harriet and Mari, despite wanting to make them sit beside each other. Harriet was faster to sit one chair away from Mari and seemed to regret her decision after that if Christine was reading her expression right.

Christine's cousin was across them. She still sent glances to Harriet, looking fascinated, but didn't talk to her anymore. Her mother had probably scolded her for before.

When the three girls finished dinner, Christine looked at the time. It was 23 PM. If she was going to act, that was her opportunity, before her mother offered desserts to their guests.

"Hey," she said walking outside, where Harriet and Mari were. Even though they were together, they weren't talking to each other. "How about we go to downtown now? I know a nice place to watch the fires for the New Year."

Mari's face showed interest, but it was Harriet who talked.

"Don't you think it's too late? I don't really mind, anyway."

Christine wanted to slap Harriet by how she couldn't help herself. She could see in her face that the thought of spending the rest of that night close to Mari was making her happy.

"It's New Year's Eve, come on. There are lots of people out tonight," she said and pulled Harriet and Mari by their hands, practically forcing them to follow her.

There were really lots of people outside yet. To go to the place Lilian indicated her, Christine would need to cross downtown, and it was packed. Mari, in particular, seemed uncomfortable there, bringing her body to close to Christine, who was between Mari and Harriet again. Christine was grabbing Harriet's left hand with her right hand and Mari's right hand with her left. That was a habit she had, holding hands with her friends. Meg often called out on her about how childish that was. She knew Mari wouldn't complain, but the fact that Harriet also didn't say anything was surprising.

"I know of a good place, come on," she said, still pulling her friends.

Suddenly, an idea came to her and she started surveying around while walking. At a point, she saw a cla.s.smate from middle school with who she had kept contact.

"Oh, can you wait for me for a moment girls? I saw someone and I wanna greet her," She asked and both Mari and Harriet nodded. So, without any warning, she Mari and Harriet join their hands and walked away. She glanced behind after taking some steps to see if they were still holding hands. They were.

***

Harriet felt troubled. Christine had suddenly made her hold hands with Mari and she didn't know how to act. She wondered if her hands were shaking or sweaty.

"Should I pull my hand back?" She thought. "But if I do, won't she feel offended? But if I don't, won't she think it's weird? What do I do? Why Christine did that? But her hands are so warm, even in this cold. It feels good. But my hands are cold. I wonder if that's uncomfortable for her. Should I ask her?"

"H-Hey," Harriet said and Mari threw a glance at her. "Y-Your hands are warm…"

"T-Thanks…"

"What am I saying?!" She thought. She was completely frozen there even though she was desperate in her mind. "Say something. Say something else, anything! Oh, wait. We're alone, holding hands, it's almost new year. I can confess now. Now is the best opportunity. I'm already embarra.s.sed enough, so whatever. Just say it!"

"M-Mari…" Harriet said and the other girl looked at her again, her face flushed. "Y-You see… This might be, well… But I…"

"Harriet?!" She heard a male voice calling her.

Looking at the voice's direction, Harriet recognized a cla.s.smate who had been trying to talk to her throughout the whole year. He was clearly interested in her and was such a bother. That was the worst moment for him to show up.

"Oh, hi, you…" She said, actually forgetting what his name was.

"Wow, girl, what a coincidence meeting you here. And you're…" He looked at Mari, but soon forgot about her and looked back at Harriet. "Here for New Year's Eve? It's a little cold, right? Want me to warm your hand instead?"

He held his arm to the hand Harriet had holding Mari's. She glared at him in silence, planning to tell him to f.u.c.k off but before she could react, the pressure on her fingers got her by surprise. Mari was squeezing her hand in a way she wouldn't be able to let go even if she wanted. That made her heart beat fast and suddenly she forgot about the boy in front of her.

"Come on, baby," he said again, giving her a smile.

Then his hand was suddenly grabbed by someone else. Harriet looked surprised as Christine pulled the boy by the hand and looked at him with a serious face.

***

While talking to her old cla.s.smate, Christine was throwing glances at Harriet and Mari to see if they were still holding hands. She expected one of them to let go, but they just stood there like that, without being even able to look at each other.

She found them adorable. Mari's shy reaction was always cute, but she never saw Harriet acting like that before. Her unfriendly behavior usually made her be called a "b.i.t.c.h" by her cla.s.smate, and there she was, unable to even face the girl beside her.

At a point, Christine realized Harriet was trying to talk to Mari. She herself was feeling excited by thinking if her friend would finally act. That's when she realized a male cla.s.smate interrupting them and clearly start to flirt with Harriet.

"It was nice to see you, but I can't let my friends waiting," Christine said goodbye to her old friend and ran towards Harriet.

In a jolt, she grabbed the boy's hand. He looked at her, seeming surprised.

"If you're looking to hold hands, how about mine?" She asked, trying to put up a smile.

"Oh, Chris," he said, now ignoring Harriet. "You don't need to feel jealous."

It was clear by his face, he was feeling full of himself. She let out a sigh, trying to control herself to not slap him right there.

"Yeah, sure. Want to come with us?" She asked, knowing he wouldn't go away by himself.

"I don't even know where you're going, but sure," he said with a laugh.

Christine let Harriet and Mari walk, still holding hands, in front of them. She wasn't planning to go anywhere until she could send that guy away. Harriet sometimes gave a worried look behind. Christine felt thankful for her friend's watch.

"But you know," he said with a loud voice. "Seeing Harriet holding hands with someone doesn't look right. Are those two friends?"

Christine was really trying to hold herself.

"What's your problem with that?"

"No, I mean, it doesn't suit her. She's always so cold."

"You and your friends talk a lot about us, I guess."

"Don't worry, Chris, we all love you," he said with a smug. "But Harriet's personality is just so s.e.xy. She looks so hard to approach, but that's why she gets so irresistible. So seeing her getting along with someone is kinda weird…"

Christine sighed. She looked at her friends walking in front of them again. They weren't holding hands anymore. She didn't know the point where they let go.

The two of them seemed like they were very uncomfortable with the situation. In another occasion, Christine thought Harriet would snap at him. She wondered if she was holding herself back to no startle Mari.

"Have to say, though. That j.a.p girl by her side is kinda hot, too," He said.

Harriet stopped. She turned around with a scary look in her face.

"Agh!" He shouted before Harriet could say anything. He jumped away and gave an angry look at Christine. "The f.u.c.k is wrong with you?"

"Sorry, my hands slipped."

"The f.u.c.k?! You stabbed my hands with your nails!"

"As I said, my fingers slipped. They kinda moved by themselves. I swear," Christine said with a smile.

"You're crazy, you b.i.t.c.h!" He shouted and walked away.

"Hey," Mari said, approaching her.

"Are you okay?" Harriet said, getting close too.

Christine raised her fingers in front of her eyes.

"Ahhh," she said, disappointed. "My nails are ruined now."

"That guy," Harriet said, looking at where the boy disappeared.

"He's just an idiot. Let him go," she looked at her phone, it was 23:45 PM. "Come on, let's go or we won't get there on time," she said pulling her two friends by the hand again.

***

The place Christine took them was an isolated cliff from where they could see downtown completely. She was still holding their hands while they stopped looking at the direction the fires would explode. She gave another look at her phone. She had only five minutes.

"Oh, I need to take this call. Excuse me," making an excuse, she released her two friends' hands and walked away.

Harriet looked with the side of her eyes at Mari's hand close to her. Mari didn't move or looked at her.

"She'll lose the fires…" Harriet said and Mari nodded.

Harriet moved her hand closer. Her fingers almost brus.h.i.+ng against Mari's. She just needed to courage to get a few centimeters closer and hold it. Soon the year would end, she had her resolution.

After holding her breath for a few seconds, Harriet held Mari's hands. Mari's fingers gripped against hers.

"T-Thanks…" Harriet said, without looking at the other girl.

"Why?"

"Before, when that guy approached me. You held my hand like this…"

"Yeah, you looked like you didn't wanna go with him…" Mari looked at Harriet and gave her a smile. "And we're friends."

Harriet's heart jumped with that smile. It strengthened her resolution. She moved her lips.

The fires started. It was a new year. Mari turned her head to the light exploding in the sky in front of them. The fire's light s.h.i.+ning in her eyes. Harriet couldn't move her eyes away from her friend's face. So when Mari looked at her again, she met with Harriet's pa.s.sionate eyes still focused on her.

"I love you," Harriet said, too low to be heard with all those explosions around them.

Mari kept looking at her. Her face became serious. Her fingers holding Harriet's hand became stronger. The sound of fires exploding still echoing around them. It made the two girls' hearts skip stronger.

It took some minutes until the fires calmed down. Then it became just a faint noise in their conversation. Mari gave another faint smile, looking nervous.

"I-I didn't hear it before," she said, anxious. "You said something, right?"

Harriet didn't have the courage to say it twice. She was planning some excuse inside her mind. That's when her lips moved.

"I love you," she said, to her own surprise.

She planned to back out. She opened her mouth to give some excuse, but Mari was faster in grabbing her other hand.

"Are you serious?" she asked. Then Harriet realized the happy smile on her friend's face.

"Yeah," Harriet said, after all. She felt her heart beating like crazy. "Since the very first moment I saw you, I fell in love with you. And that just became stronger after becoming your friend," she took a big breath. "So, like, would you become my girlfriend?"

"Yeah," Mari said and laughed. She lowered her face. Her cheeks were getting flushed. "Yes! Yes, I do! I can't believe it, but I do!"

The two girls became silent again. There was still some fires exploding in the sky, with a less frequent interval. Harriet couldn't think straight. Her confession and Mari's words and smile was everything she could picture in her mind.

"I can't believe it," Mari said, with a huge smile. "I couldn't imagine… During this whole night, when we got close I would think, oh, it would be nice if…" she paused, struggling to put her thoughts in words. "B-by the way…Oh, were you the one who wanted to confess to the girl you love, then?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"And I wanted a girlfriend…" she turned her eyes away. "You probably realized it by now."

"Well, if I can say, I was a little suspicious of it. But then I thought it was just wishful thinking. I couldn't believe it…"

Harriet cut her phrase again. The two girls looked at the smoke at the sky after the fires stopped.

"Can…" Harriet started, but she was stopped by a Mari who almost jumped to talk first.

"Can I kiss you?!"

Both girls looked at each other and laughed.

Harriet sighed and put her hand on Mari's cheek. She got closer to her, feeling her heartbeat stronger and her face burn. She brushed her lips against Mari's.

She held Mari's hand, still warm. Her lips were also warm and Harriet wondered if hers were cold. She was afraid of that making the kiss unpleasant to Mari. When she opened her eyes, Mari was still with her eyes closed and her head inclined forward.

Slowly, Mari opened her eyes and gave a shy smile.

"W-Wasn't it bad?" Harriet asked. "I never did it before. Was that okay? Were my lips cold?"

"It was cold," Mari said, trying not to avoid Harriet's eyes. "But it was nice…"

"I'm really glad I came today. I wanted to talk to you for a long time, but I never found the courage. If Christine didn't insist…"

Harriet stopped. Her face became serious. Mari threw a confused look at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Christine knew," Harriet said and put her hand over her face. "Of course, that girl knew what we wrote. All this time she knew everything. She lied to us."

As if realizing they were talking about her, Christine showed up, holding her cell phone and giving an embarra.s.sed smile.

"Sorry about that, girls. I lost the fires, but…"

"You lied to us!" Harriet said, giving a step in Christine's direction. Mari held her hand, stopping her.

"Wait, Harriet…" Mari said.

"Ah," Christine said and let a grin form on her face. "Guess it was useless trying to hide it."

"So it's true, huh?" Harriet said. "We trusted you, but it seems like we shouldn't."

"No, wait, let me explain. I did find out, but that was by chance. I wasn't even sure about you before meeting you yesterday."

"You said you wouldn't try to guess."

"Yeah, sorry. I know I shouldn't…"

"That's fine, right?" Mari said, interrupting the two friends who looked at her. "I mean, I don't mind. If she hadn't done that, we wouldn't be together now."

"But…" Harriet tried to say, but Mari held her hand and pulled her, boldly giving a kiss on her lips.

"I do feel a little embarra.s.sed, but the good things make it worth."

The two girls looked at each other as if forgetting their surroundings. At the same time, Christine tried to walk away, but her arm was grabbed by Harriet.

"Now, now, we're not done with you yet, miss."

***

Already in Christine's home, Mari was lying on the couch. Since there were more people sleeping over, Christine was making a bed on the floor of the living room to her friends. Mari was too tired to wait and was sleeping with a smile on her face. Harriet was crouching in front of her poking her cheeks.

"Isn't she so cute?" Harriet said.

Christine looked at her friend and let out a sigh.

"To think that the Harriet everyone found so cool and cold would be like this."

"T-That's fine, right? And I mean, she is cute. I can't do anything about that."

"Ok, ok, fine," Christine said and threw a look at the bed she made at the floor. "Ok, now here's the problem. Either you two will share the bed or I'll have to share it with one of you."

"I won't let you sleep with her," Harriet said, standing up.

"What do you think I would do, exactly? Well, you two can sleep together, then. But, huh, you're in the living room and, huh, anyone could show up, so, you know…"

"We won't do anything!" Harriet said and turned her face away. "I don't think I would have courage for that yet..."

Christine shrugged and went to her own room after saying goodnight to her friend. Harriet gently shooked Mari until she woke up and invited her to the bed. As the two lie down, they looked at each other. Mari was giggling.

"You know, when you woke me up just now, I thought: 'ah, so it wasn't a dream."

"I feel like that will be me by the morning. If you're still around, that is."

"So let's combine that the first to wake up will wait for the other one before leaving the bed."

"Fine by me."

Mari gave a smile and approached Harriet, holding her hands and kissing her lips.

"Good night, my girlfriend. And Happy New Year."

"Yeah," Harriet said, almost unable to contain the emotion in her voice. "Happy New Year. It's the happiest year for me already.