After we had left my room, we went into the closet in my bedroom, to get some clothes. Lucy was sleeping on the couch, so we decided to leave her there. Alma said that Lucy was used to being alone when she went to school, so it was okay.

"Take whatever you want," I said while looking through the clothes. Alma was standing there, seemingly lost in the big closet.

I grabbed her hand so I could lead her to where my pants were, without thinking that through. She didn't expect me to touch her, and was shocked for a moment, then pulled her hand away.

"Sorry..." I needed to keep in mind not to touch her so suddenly, "look, come over here."

After a moment of hesitation, she came over to where I was standing.

"These are too small for me, but might fit you," I said while showing her an old pair of dark jeans.

She picked them up, looking at the tight pants that were ripped on the knees, while I chose a pair of shorts I bought while shopping with Quinn and Ida the other day.

"D-Do you have any hoodies?" asked Alma while looking around with her ears pointed up like she was observing her surroundings very carefully. I giggled at the thought that my clothes were the prey of the fearful Alma right now.

"Yes, over here... I bought this one just yesterday, want it?" I said while pointing at a particular one. She looked at the hoodie and had a small smile on the lips. She nodded and took it from the shelf.

I grabbed a light blue tank top for myself and went over to the drawers for my underwear.

I looked over to Alma and saw that she didn't seem too sure about wearing my underwear. The nervous movements of her ears showed me her uneasiness.

"Just take some that you like, don't think about it. I believe you are about my size," I said while looking at her body proportions.

I might have "accidentally" looked at her chest and other areas a few times. Just like Ida said, I had my needs, and Alma had her boobs. That's a simple equation, everyone knows it makes sense.

Once again she hesitated a bit, then took out a plain white bra and matching panties. That was cute, it fitted her personality. I was sure it would look pretty tempting on her.

Then I thought to myself, 'Stop it, Brea. Don't even start fantasizing about that girl, that will make being around her unnecessarily awkward.'

I reached into the drawer and took out a black sports bra and plain black panties. Alma went into the bathroom, so I quickly got changed before she came out again.

After a short time the door opened again, and out came an even cuter Alma. She was wearing the tight black jeans that were showing small spots of her skin on her knees and thighs through the holes, and the adorable hoodie.

As I was quite tall while Alma was rather short, she was a few inches shorter than me. So, the hoodie ended way lower than it should, completely covering her till below her bum. The sleeves were also too long, so they covered her whole hands.

"You look so cute..." nothing was stopping these words from coming out unintentionally.

"D-Doesn't it look weird on me?" asked a blushing Alma with a small voice while hiding her mouth behind her sleeve.

"It looks perfect on you, I promise," is what I said, meaning every word.

"Thank you..." whispered Alma while looking to the ground with a smile on her bright red face. Although it was already afternoon, I followed my morning routine. The next thing I usually did was brushing my teeth, which I already did in the morning. Alma didn't, so I offered her a spare brush.

Once she started cleaning her teeth, I took my hairbrush from the shelf and started brushing her light blue hair. She was shocked for a moment, but then calmed down again.

After brushing her hair for a while, I got lost in thought and started stroking it with my fingers. Then I mumbled unintentionally, "Your hair is so soft and beautiful..."

When I realized what I was doing, I quickly pulled my hand away, apologizing, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be weird."

Alma was standing there, shocked frozen. Although I only touched her hair, I looked down at the floor and felt bad. I was trying to make Alma open up to me, but instead, I might have weirded her out. First by tickling her and now that. Through the mirror, I saw her tearing up, which made me feel even more terrible.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." I started but was interrupted by Alma, who turned around.

"N-No, it's okay. It's just t-that... it was the first time someone called my hair... beautiful..." she had a smile on her pink lips, "thank you..."

I was relieved and responded, "I'm glad, I thought I scared you away for good... And as a matter of fact, I think you are very pretty, not just your hair... Should I tie it into twin-tails again?" I asked her after complimenting her. I felt like she needed that.

"No, I will do that myself..." she answered blushing. I still had to do my makeup anyway. I didn't use much of it because I liked how my face looked, but still.

Now I was standing beside Alma and opened the drawer beside the sink. I took out what I needed and started washing my face.

I began putting on my makeup and looked over to Alma who was tying her hair into these cute twin-tails.

It took me some time to do it, and when I finished, I saw that Alma was looking at me through the mirror. She noticed that I caught her staring and turned away blushing.

"Do you want to put on some makeup, too?" I asked.

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded and answered, "I want to, b-but I don't know how..."

I chuckled, "Want me to do it for you?"

Again, she paused for a moment, before nodding, "Yes, please..."

"Okay then, come sit over here, it makes it easier for me to put it on," I said while tapping the counter. Alma walked over and hopped on, placing her bum beside the sink.

I took a big towel and put it around Alma's shoulders so that her clothes wouldn't get dirty.

"At first you have to put on this moisturizer so that the makeup stays in place. You should do that by yourself," I instructed and gave Alma the bottle.

After she was done with that, I took some foundation that I had left from winter when my skin was even paler than now and used a big brush to apply a thin layer of it on her face. I used a smaller brush to cover the bags she had under her eyes. After adding some blush the only things missing were the eyeliner and lipgloss. I never used mascara because I thought it was too much, same with makeup for the eyebrows.

I took the eyeliner and moved my hand towards Alma's eyes. She closed them, and I carefully traced the end of her eyelids, mixing white and black colors. This made her eyes look bigger and cuter.

The lipgloss was the only thing left, so I picked it up from the counter and moved it towards her lips. While carefully putting it on I somehow took an interest in her pink lips, so even after I finished, my eyes were still fixated on these kissable lips.

I looked a bit higher and saw these light blue orbs staring right at me. My eyes lingered a while too long, and I realized I was slowly leaning in Alma's direction.

"All done," I said and quickly took a step back. This was too damn close, I almost kissed her. She turned around to look into the mirror and lightly touched her lips with her finger. Her ears were hanging down slightly, and she seemed a bit disappointed.

"You don't like it? Sorry, I never put on makeup on anyone other than myself..." I felt sorry for not doing it as she wanted it.

"N-No, thank you... I feel like I look better," answered Alma.

'Not that you needed to look any better...' I said in my mind. With the makeup, she looked a bit older and even prettier, but the cuteness remained.

"I think you are gorgeous... anyway, let's go fill our stomachs with something delicious," I said while leaving the bathroom, "What do you want to eat?"

She gave me a questioning look because she probably wasn't used to being asked about what she wanted. Then she answered, "I don't know... I always ate bread or rice..."

"Come on, we are going to eat whatever you like, just name it," I explained.

She was in thought for a moment, but then it seemed that she had an idea, so she spoke, "When I was little, Mommy always bought me strawberry ice cream... C-Can we eat ice cream please?"

The human being that could decline something said with those puppy eyes, or rather kitten eyes, of hers wasn't invented yet.

"Let's go then," I answered which made her smile while making an approving sound.

I took her by the hand, which was still cold from washing, and led her downstairs to my car. I didn't realize I was holding her hand until we arrived at my car. She was looking at our intertwined hands, so I let go and said, "Sorry, I unconsciously took your hand again..."

"You do t-that a lot... but it's fine..." answered Alma. She seemed like she didn't mind our hands touching like that, which had me hoping that she indeed was opening up to me.

"Hey, ice cream alone is neither very filling nor healthy. Want to go eat some burgers first?" I asked her. Burgers might not seem very healthy either, but firstly, it's not like we were going to eat fast food or anything like that. There was a place near my school that served real burgers, with fresh meat and not that much fat.

Secondly, Alma's body was way too thin; she needed some extra fat.

And thirdly, I just really liked burgers.

"I never had that..." replied Alma shyly. I let out a sigh and got into the driver's seat. She looked down to the floor, both her ears and the corners of her mouth hanging.

"...sorry..." she added while getting into the car.

"Alma, I'm not disappointed by you, I'm just sorry that no one showed you these things before," I said. She didn't look convinced, and I continued, "But it has a positive side."

Her ears pointed up, now I caught her attention.

"There are so many firsts, and I can be the one showing them to you," I told her.

"Only if you want me to be the one, of course..." I quickly added.

She smiled and nodded, "Yes..."

With that, I pulled out of the garage and drove up the hill around the house.

I didn't take us long to get to the place, it was just a minute from my school. While opening up my umbrella after getting out of my car, I went over to the passenger door, to open it for Alma.

The big green sign at the parking lot read "Robbie's - Burgers and more." Alma closed the car door and was looking at the neon blue sports car. While looking at a strand of her hair, she stated, "Your car is very nice, b-but I don't like blue..."

That made me wonder why she would dislike blue. It was my favorite color, and besides that, her eyes and hair were blue too.

"Why is that? For me, blue is the loveliest color..." I replied.

"When I was little, I liked it too, but now my father made me hate it..." she said.

"Why do you hate it now?" I asked, unsure if that was too personal.

She hesitated a moment, then pointed at one of the bigger bruises on her arm, "Because of these..."

I speechlessly looked at Alma, who was looking at the ground. For me the thought of parents, who didn't love their own child, was unacceptable, but if they even beat their own family, I couldn't help but feel enraged. I was so thankful for having the kindest and most understanding parents in this world.

"Alma, even then, don't hate neither the color nor yourself for it, both are wonderful. I love it, there are so many beautiful things that are blue. Be it the sky... the ocean... my car... your hair or even your eyes... they are all great," I kept on talking without even thinking about it, and once again took her hand in mine by reflex.

She reddened and once again looked to the ground, partly hiding her face behind her free hand again. Then she mumbled, "Thank you..."

This time, I was sure that she was opening up to me. She was starting to talk more in general, but also told me something personal like this. Her shy personality wouldn't be changing any time soon though.

As if to prove me right, Alma hid behind me as soon as we entered the building. I led her to a table in the corner of the room because there weren't any people. Shortly after we sat down, Lizbeth came to take our order, making Alma look down to her lap while partly hiding behind me. Although Liz wasn't a real waitress yet, she was the owner's daughter, so she sometimes helped out.

She was a freshman at our school this year, meaning she was about fifteen years old now. She had shoulder length, reddish brown hair, and dark brown eyes on her round face. She was wearing the same uniform as all the waitresses here, which consisted of a mint green button-up shirt, a short black skirt, and a black apron, with the shop's name in mint green letters on it.

Then suddenly an image crossed my mind. I somehow imagined Alma wearing those clothes, and I couldn't get rid of the pictures that were forming inside of my mind, it was just too charming. Then I noticed someone was pulling at the hem of my shirt.

"Um... B-Brea?" Alma was the one who woke me from my dreams. I realized that I was spacing out, and the both of them were staring at me.

"Hi Brea, nice t'see ya again, girl! Hope y'all had a good drive here, this storm is going like crazy, I tell ya," greeted Lizbeth as cheery as ever. I had known her for quite a while, even before she went to our school. I come here pretty often after all.

"Um, hey Liz," I greeted her with a slightly embarrassed smile. Alma seemed a bit scared of talking to the cheerful girl and slid a bit closer to me, our thighs and shoulders touching.

"And who this cute kitty be? Never seen hair this blue in my life, I can tell ya that," Liz continued. Alma was visibly nervous, and now even took my hand in hers, gripping it tightly.

"Um..." she was even too afraid to introduce herself. She looked at me with her ears twitching nervously, so I decided to help her out.

"This is Alma, she's a friend of mine, right?" I said, and Alma nodded. I continued, "Alma never had a burger before, so we are here to change that."

"Girl, have ya been livin' behind ta moon?" Liz was clearly surprised, "Anywho, I gotcha. I'll bring ya the best burger you will ever eat. So, Brea what can I bring ya today, girl? Same as always?"

I nodded, and said chuckling, "Sure thing, but please don't drop yourself on my food this time."

Liz reddened and replied, "T'was only once, fuhged about it already!" Then she quickly went back to the kitchen.

Alma was looking at me questioningly, so I told her what happened, "Although Liz acts and speaks so self-confidently, she is actually really clumsy. Last year she was bringing me my burger, but tripped, dropping the burger to the ground. To make the whole thing even funnier, she face-planted right into the burger."

Alma started laughing, showing her white teeth. That was the first time I saw her canines, which were a bit longer and sharper than the ones from people without cat-like features.

Her laughter got silent again, which was kind of a bummer. I loved her laugh; it sounded so happy, I would give everything to make her smile like this every day.

My thoughts sounded so soppy, like something from a romance movie. But I couldn't help it, seeing her happy did make me happy after all.

Then, while we were waiting for our food to arrive, I could suddenly hear the rain and thunder from outside. I looked over to the door which had opened and watched as a strange looking guy entered, completely drenched from the rain. He had dark, messy hair, bags under his eyes and roughed up clothes. He seemed like a homeless person.

He looked around the room, and as soon as he saw Alma and me, made kind of a disgusted face. I wasn't sure if it was because of Alma having cat-like ears, or because we were sitting very close, which made us look like a lesbian couple. Or maybe something entirely different, which I couldn't think of right now.

Either way, I didn't like the look on his face. He sat down two tables away from us, facing our back. I shivered as I felt his eyes on me but tried my best to ignore it.

I could see Almas uneasiness; she was getting stiff and nervous. An idea came to my mind, which could work either very well, or really bad.

I decided to once again rely on my luck and put my right arm around Alma's waist and pulled her closer to me.

She was shocked and at first didn't move, but then loosened up and calmed down. The warmth I felt from our sides pressing together was pleasant and relaxing, so I stayed in that position until our food arrived.

I kept on talking with Alma, holding her close to me, because it seemed to relax her to be held like this, and I also liked the intimacy between us so I would hold her for as long as she wanted.

"Wait, you never had hot chocolate? God, there are so many things I need to show you..." I said after Alma told me that she never had my favorite beverage.

"Who of these youngins is the first-timer, eh?" asked a familiar voice. I turned my head away from Alma and saw the owner of this shop standing there with our food.

"Hey Rob," I greeted him. He smiled in return.

"M-Me..." said Alma shyly. He put the plate with Alma's burger in front of her and said, "I made it especially delicious so that you will remember your first burger forever."

Rob usually didn't use slang when talking to customers, as the rest of his family did. I got my usual two-layer cheeseburger with onions and bacon, while Alma had a regular bacon cheeseburger.

Sadly, I had to let go of Alma, so that we could eat our meal. My skin felt cold because of the missing heat from her.

I took a bite from my burger, while Alma seemed a bit unsure about eating with her hands.

"You know, burgers are usually eaten with your hands, no need to worry about it so much," I reassured. Alma nodded and slowly took a bite of the burger. Her ears pointed up, and I could tell that she liked it. She ate another bit and looked content.

"Seems that she likes it," I said to Rob. Alma nodded again, which gave Rob a satisfied look on his face, so he went back to the kitchen.

We ate our food and talked a bit more about the stuff Alma had and had not tried in her life. The whole time this guy was sitting there, staring at us from time to time. The odd feeling I had was growing stronger, and Alma's nervousness was also getting out of hand.

I reassured Alma, "Don't worry, I'll pay and then we'll leave, okay?"

She nodded, and I saw as she took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm herself. I waited for one of the waitresses to pass by and then paid, so we could leave the building. When we were out the door, I glanced back in and relaxed when I saw that the guy wasn't following us.

"Ready for some ice cream?" I asked, and Alma nodded while looking genuinely happy as we linked arms while going back to my car under my umbrella. From not even being able to touch her hand to linking arms in only a few hours; it seemed like I was doing something right.