The next day both girls have their breakfast together with Rita's mum. Once they are finished, they go outside. The sun is shining bright and there are no clouds in the sky. They make their way towards the forest, where they are supposed to meet up with Sidhean and Joan. May sees Sidhean from far and runs towards him, Rita following closely.

"Hi, May. How are you? Ready for your trip to town?"

"Yes!"

"Hi Joan", Rita says to him quietly. But Joan hears it and responds smiling.

"Hi Rita. Good to see you!"

Then he leans forward and puts a flower into Rita's soft, blond, silky hair. "I found it in the woods today and it made me think of you, so I took it along", he says to her, smiling in a warm way that Rita has never experienced before.

"Thanks", she says, smiling to. Then she looks up at him. She sees his eyes sparkle in the sunlight. Then he puts his hand into hers and they walk together, side by side towards town.

May and Sidhean follow closely. May likes it, that Rita has now got somebody who cares about her, just the way Sidhean does for her. She does not look so lonely anymore and seems a lot happier now.

When they get to town, May and Rita decide they need new dresses, so they go into about five shops, before they find the right ones for them. Then they go looking for new outfits for Sidhean and Joan. May and Rita do not miss an opportunity like this, to help them. After a long time in many different shops, the girls are finally happy with the choices they made for the boy's outfits.

So, packed with bags of new clothes, they go to a café round the next corner. It's just a little café with not many people sitting there, but it sure looks good enough to have a sit- down.

When they enter through the front door, a draft goes past them and they can smell freshly made waffles, buns, hot chocolate, tea and coffee. The smell is so lovely that it takes them a minute to realise that they are still standing in the doorway. They then make their way towards the back of the café and take a seat at a window.

Through the window they can see a big tree blossoming. It looks wonderful. The window is slightly open, so the smell of the blossoming tree fills the air around them. The walls are painted a fresh green colour, reminding of grass, and are decorated with a lot of paintings. They are mainly bright and colourful paintings, with flowers or meadows on, which warm the place, in a way that makes you feel joyful and at home.

A waitress, about their age, in a red and white apron comes towards them with a big smile on her face. She has one of these typical model bodies with really long legs and lovely blond hair. As May sees her coming, she is instantly jealous, especially, when she sees her smile in Sidhean's direction. May looks at Sidhean and sees him smiling back at her. Then the waitress says in a high voice.

"May I take your orders please?"

"Four hot chocolates, please." Sidhean answers, still smiling.

"Coming right your way, Sir", she jokes. Sidhean laughs.

Then she turns around and walks towards the kitchen. May watches her leave, pleased that she is going and hoping that someone else will bring them their orders.

When May looks at Rita and Joan, she has the feeling that they did not even realise what just happened, let alone that they just ordered, because they are talking and laughing about something May cannot make sense of. Then she realises Sidhean laughing with them, looking so relaxed, as if nothing has happened a minute ago. It more looks as if May just imagined the waitress. She gives it a little thought, not quite sure if she is exaggerating a little, but then decides to forget about it.

They are just laughing about a joke Joan made, when the waitress comes out of the kitchen. She is holding a tray with four hot chocolates and though it looks hard to carry the tray without smashing the glasses on the floor, she looks really confident and still has that false smile on her face, which makes May feel sick.

When she reaches the table, she puts the tray down, hands the drinks out, smiles again quickly at Sidhean then goes to take some more orders. Deep down May is hurt, but she tries to hide it and joins the conversation. After finishing their hot chocolates, they decide to head home.

When they reach the end of the forest, May and Rita say goodbye to Sidhean and Joan. Then they watch as the two boys disappear behind the trees.

When May gets home, Erica opens the door. She smiles at May quickly, then disappears into her room. May watches, puzzled, because usually Erica does not stop talking, asking questions like "Where were you?", "What did you do?" or "Did you see the boy again?". May would always look a little annoyed and Erica would start laughing. Then May would laugh as well.

Today May feels quite sad that Erica did not ask her. She quickly goes into her room, before her mum sees her. She still does not trust May one bit. The rest of the day May spends in her room.

Then at around 6 o'clock Erica calls for dinner. They eat in silence, as usual. After dinner May goes to her room again. About two minutes later there's a small knock at the door, it's Victoria. She looks sad and asks with a small voice.

"Do you have a second to talk?"

It takes May a while to react to Victoria's question, because she does not understand why Victoria is talking to her at all. When May is herself again, she opens the door a little further. Victoria takes one more look behind her, before she enters. Then she takes a seat on May's bed and motions for May to sit down beside her. May does as she is told and sits down.

Suddenly Victoria starts crying. May stares at her helplessly, then asks softly.

"What is the matter?"

"The boy I thought liked me has now got a girlfriend", Victoria says through tears. "I am so sorry to hear that Victoria. How can I help you feel better?" May looks helpless.

"I was wondering if you could help me make him fall in love with me?" Victoria looks up.

"Why would you ask for my help?" May looks puzzled.

"Because you're pretty. Every boy just needs to look at you once and they fall in love straight away."

"Do you really think that? But why do you hate me then?" May does not understand a word.

"Of course I think that and every other girl does as well. You have lovely long silky brown hair and beautiful brown eyes and the most gorgeous smile. I don't hate you as such, I hate that you are prettier than me. I am used to being the prettiest. In my old school, every boy wanted to be my boyfriend. It was great, but then my mum had to go and marry your dad. When I received the picture of you I was jealous straight away. To make matters worse, Erica even had to point out that you are the prettiest girl she has ever seen. Now I have realised that I can't just hate you because you look prettier than me. Will you forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you Victoria. But you are pretty too, trust me. And anyway, I don't consider myself to be as pretty as you think I am."

"Thank you so much May." Then Victoria even gives her a hug.

"Do you think you could give me another chance and we start again from scratch?" Victoria looks at May pleasingly.

"Sure", May answers, looking happy. She is starting to like the new and improved Victoria a lot better already.

"Well then... Hi, I'm Victoria and you must be Maria. It is nice to meet you", Victoria smiles at her.

"Hi Victoria. It's nice to meet you too. And you can call me May", May laughs and Victoria laughs too.

"To a new friendship." Vitoria says, perking up. May smiles at her.

Then Victoria says good night and leaves the room. That night May has difficulties to fall asleep. She keeps going through the dialog between her and Victoria. She cannot quite make sense of it. 'How come is Victoria so nice to me all of a sudden? Did I just imagine her coming into my room and having that conversation with me? Am I going crazy?'. With these thoughts all swirling through her head she finally falls asleep.