CXLIX. Carol and Vanilla.

So, maybe Vanilla and Carol weren't that different from each other after all, despite what Vanilla had thought until that moment. Behind Vanilla's melancholy and childish curiosity, as well as Carol's pride and dominance, there was a blank layer of a numb, resonating void where no deeper emotions nor energy fluctuated. 

"I always felt it," Rowie said.

"You felt what?" Cookie asked.

"Carol. She's always hiding her vulnerable side by wearing a mask of control and power. She is very sad inside. She misses your father a lot, Vanilla. But there must be something else…"

'She is not the only one who misses him, Rowie' Vanilla thought. She would not speak out loud about how she felt about her father, nor how she wished so much for him to return so they would not be lonely again. That was an assailable side of herself that she would not expose to anyone.

"What else, Rowie?" She asked.