Molly pushed her two friends to each side and slide herself in between. She sat on the bench without an ounce of guilt.

"I'm ruining your date, and I just wanted to be obvious about it," she explained unnecessarily and held out an onigiri on each hand as a peace offering.

Iqball coughed but Ballqis laughed. Molly's brand of joke was something Ballqis found charming. She accepted Molly's gift.

"Come on Iqball, of course Ballqis would tell me that there's something going on between the two of you. I know it's still new and you two aren't ready to use labels just yet... But I don't plan to ruin your date unknowingly like I did when I saw you guys at the pasta place. So if I'm going to ruin the mood, I'll announce beforehand. If I'm not aware, tell me," she spoke candidly.

"Thank you for the heads up. But we are not on a date at the moment. We were just hanging out and you're most welcomed to join," Iqball grinned and grabbed the onigiri.

Molly smirked.

"Thank you for the food," Ballqis said as she opened her onigiri pack.

The trio ate in silence for about a minute before Molly sighed a little too loudly.

"I don't know if I like Nastia," she said, again without tact nor filter.

Ballqis stopped chewing.

"Nastia?"

"I'm peeved she's taking too much of Aga's time that he canceled our Calculus session today. But, I'm more worried about Nastia herself. She's... I don't know how to put it. My gut just doesn't sit well when she's around," Molly said, staring into space.

"So it's not that you mind she's getting too close to Aga, but you're more worried about what Nastia is up to?" Iqball summed up.

Molly nodded her head, grateful that she was understood.

Ballqis and Iqball exchanged looks.

We can trust Molly, Iqball agrees when Ballqis asked if they should share, all with just exchange of looks.

"Truth is Iqball and I felt there's something off about Nastia too," Ballqis confided.

Molly's head snapped her way.

"I knew I wasn't the only one. I met Mirna earlier today and she told me the Russian boys suspects that Nastia is a lot older than them. And that they don't think she's a student at all. I asked Mirna how come, Mirna told me the Moscow boys said they've never seen her study. She's always hanging around the lab and Aga whenever she's not having classes," Molly enthused.

"Wait, Mirna gets to talk to the Moscow boys and you're not jealous?" Iqball joked. The matter was becoming too serious to his liking, and the fact that even other people noticed how invested Nastia was in the lab activities made him nervous.

"Iqball!" Molly berated him.

"Nastia likes Aga and, or the fish lab a little more than socialising with other students or studying..." Ballqis recapped to get the conversation back on track.

"I know the fish inside the lab are expensive but surely an exchange student like her would not try something as funny as sneaking a live animal back home, right?" Molly thought out loud.

"Doubt it. The flight alone would be a crazy journey and a fish is not that easy to smuggle in. Besides, a tilapia may be expensive but if I was desperate for money I still would not risk the law by trying to kidnap a fish," Ballqis agreed.

They ate again in silence, each one buried in their own thoughts.

"Wait," Molly said. "What about that weird fish Aga was talking about? The nosey one who likes staring at people videocalling. Could it be a rare species worth fishnapping?" Molly asked.

Her deduction hit too close to home.

"Tell me, Balls, is the fish a wunderkind of sort?" Molly demanded.

Tongue-tied, the couple racked their brain to think up an answer.

"You two are going to tell me whatever it is that you guys are hiding or I'll hound you two worse than I did Aga," Molly demanded with a couple of fish sausages in her hand.

With food on sticks trained their way, the duo started talking.

***
Molly was still processing everything Iqball and Ballqis said when Agamemnon and Nastia showed up.

"Wow, how many sausages did you eat this time, Molly? You should not be eating too much processed food, you know. It's bad for your stomach and intestines," Aga advised as he grabbed a seat for Nastia and himself.

"So many wonders in the world and you're wondering how unkindly I'm treating my belly? Geez Aga," Molly cursed under her breath.

Aga laughed. Then Nastia followed suit. The girl was stunning and her features seemed genuine, but Molly could not ignore the plastic tone in her laugh.

"So the fish lab is really something. The little fries are so cute," Nastia said.

"Do you keep goldfish at home? Is that why you love the fish lab so much?" Molly asked without thinking. She was genuinely curious about Nastia.

"My grandfather live by the river so I love eating fish," she said.

"The fish in the lab are not for eating, but if they are would you buy them?" Molly pressed.

Nastia nodded hastily.

"I've never tasted a tilapia before. Mrs Jogh said they taste heavenly. Especially when cooked with lime and preserved plums," Nastia said.

"How about we have a cookout next Saturday," Aga suggested

"We can go to the beach and camp and cook some fish there," he added.

"Count me in," Ballqis quickly said. She was curious to see if Nastia would agree to come or worm her way into the lab on Micah's shift.

"Will we have tilapias? I saw a farmer's market outside the campus' west gates. Do they sell freshwater?" Nastia quickly inquired.

Molly nodded.

"I've seen fish being sold in that market but specifically tilapias... I can't tell one fish from another unless their colors are different," she said. Molly was interested to see if Nastia was more into the fish lab or Aga.

"Then I'll come too. I'll buy some fish and make ukha. Then we can add more fish during the cookout," she offered.

"Do you know there is a mart that sells fresh fish just outside the East Wing of the campus. It's a bit of a walk but if we go now we can check out their stuff, in case you can't find what you need at the farmer's market. Shall we check it out?" Aga suggested

Nastia jumped off her seat.

"I'd love that!"

"Aga, if you still want me to tutor you I'll be up till 9pm," Molly offered, knowing Aga would not likely to show up.

"You're not coming with us?" Aga asked Molly, his face unreadable.

Was he actually expecting any of them to join them, Molly especially? Ballqis could not tell.

But the girl in question shook her head.

"I have a Sociology paper to submit in a couple of days..."

"Do you need my help?" Aga offered.

Nastia's face dropped.

"Naah.." Molly declined.

"Balls?" asked Aga.

"We're going for a date," Ballqis said quickly and reached for Iqball's hand.

That got Aga's mouth agape.

"Yes, we're going to catch some constellations tonight," Iqball concurred.

"Why you two... When... " Aga started.

"Well good for you!" Nastia cut in. "We should go now before the mart closes, right Aga?"

Nastia quickly bid good bye for both of them and slithered away with Aga on her leash.

Molly snorted.

"I can't believe it. She is actually into Aga more than the fish!"

"I still don't get her. Or him for that matter," Ballqis admitted. "I thought he wasn't ready to move on after his last heartbreak, remember how badly he took the breakup?"

Iqball mused quietly.

"Don't ask me how I knew but it doesn't seemed that Nastia is interested in Aga. I think she is trying to get what Aga has," Iqball said.

"What has Aga got? Looks? Brain? Body? OK maybe he is cute, brilliant when it's not maths and his six packs are showing but a whole bunch of guys in campus have the same thing," Molly assessed, making Ballqis and Iqball snigger.

"Aga has access to the fish lab and he's been telling everyone about the fish that kept wanting to join his videocalls. He even repeated his little experiment with Micah last week just to show off his trick in front of a few students at the cafe. Maybe Nastia thinks Aga knows a lot more about the fish's rare talent," Iqball theorised.

Ballqis wasn't ready to agree but Molly clapped Iqball's shoulders in agreement.

"She's going to use Aga in whatever plans she has for the fish," Molly added.

"Wait a minute. You two seemed so sure Nastia's gunning for the fish. What if she really is into Aga?" Ballqis tried to reason.

Molly guffawed.

"Maybe all she's after is an Australia bridegroom huh," Molly joked and laughed harder till her sides hurt.