19. Shoes

Lance was not sure if they would fight with fists or if he had to stop her from eating his innocent self.

But then she said in one breath, "ThestorylinehastwopartsweareinparttwonowandIdon'tknowtheplotit'smyfault." Then she collapsed on the ground while gripping her chest.

[PUNISHMENT WILL BE UPGRADED AGAIN IF YOU DON'T LISTEN!] The system 'kindly' reminded her.

Before he could decipher what she had said, he ran to Paige, holding and stroking her back while letting her lean on him.

"It's fine, it's fine." While she tried to relax, he decoded her message.

"We are now in Part Two, and you have no idea about the storyline? And what Jace remembers is the first part—wait, don't answer; I understand what you have said. It's okay; you are not at fault." He had never been this close to a girl, and she felt strangely soft—he averted his attention back to their conversation.

Lance already had a plan, and even if Jace was reborn, he had enough to eat and was away from the orphanage and the street. He would surely live well-fed, with a rich Paige by his side and wealthy parents elsewhere.

He made sure that she was okay again and brought her a glass of water. She nodded and drank it slowly.

Coming around again and giving a middle finger to the system, she said,

"Take the tablet in the kitchen and buy as many shoes and things as you want." Finally being rich, she was going to spend it on him as an apology. What could buy the affection of a young teenager more than a few pairs of shoes? She had really messed up, and she felt bad.

"No, I don't need it." He was already thankful for everything he had here.

"It isn't my money, so if you don't spend it, I will."

He flew into the kitchen and back to the couch with an additional flat object in his hand. They had computers in the orphanage, but they had to be shared, and there was designated computer time.

In the last month, he had familiarized himself deeply with them in Internet cafés, but he didn't know if he could use the tablet that was lying around. Lance was instantly distracted by the new plaything.

Paige lay flat on the bare ground, not caring about anything.

"At least roll on the carpet." Lace didn't even look up.

He had already mentioned it, and it would be impolite not to follow suit. She really rolled over.

Lance chuckled and threw a couch pillow at her. She didn't move anymore and let the pillow on her face be where it wanted to be.

"You didn't even comment on my new haircut." Came from the muffled voice from the floor.

"Oh, you really went there? Looks good." He said while filling his shopping cart with branded shoes and a few t-shirts with funny slogans on them. He himself wanted to communicate with the outside world, too.

"You can't see my hair right now, and before, you didn't even notice." She refreshed his mind.

"You always look good, so it doesn't matter."

"Okay," she said with satisfaction.

"Good boy." She didn't really care anyway.

"I'm hungry," she stated.

Lance sniggered,

"In the kitchen, there are spaghetti with tomatoes and eggs."

"That's really nice, thank you." Paige said blankly and fought to get up, moving there slowly as if she were an impaired person.

She was thankful for the food not being something unhealthy, so she could eat it despite trying to lose weight. It tasted really good, and she liked having a roommate now even more.

After eating, she went upstairs.

"I'm going to sleep. Good night."

"Good night, Paige." Lance answered, still looking at the tablet.

She paused briefly in her steps and then went upstairs, smiling.

Lance peeked at her disappearing back, feeling a bit flustered.

He couldn't remember the last time he had said that to someone.