Team8s and Counting

192. The Life You Don't See

Just like that, the clock struck three, meaning it was time for all of the children at school to go home.

"Finally." Thread whispered to herself. "I can't wait to tell my dad about the science experiment we did!"

Flare put on a smile. "I'm sure he'd love to hear about it." Flare's smile quickly dropped. "Not like my mom would ever want to hear about what happened at school."

"Oh, come on, Flare!" Thread encouraged. "Who wouldn't be interested in a homemade lava lamp!"

Flare shook her head. "My mom, that's who."

Thread felt bad, but didn't want to make Flare feel bad. "Well, hey, hopefully we can all get to hang out at Bookmark's this weekend, and I'll get to show you all the chair I pick out tomorrow!"

"Well, that's something else to look forward to." Flare smiled, and waved goodbye. "Have a nice day, Thread!"

Thread wheeled away to where the buses were. "You too!"

And just like that, the second half of Flare's day had just begun. She casually headed over to the pickup area to wait for her mom to pick her up. In the meantime, Flare just sat down on a nearby bench and played on her phone.

After around 15 minutes, she decided to give her mom a text, hoping that she would write back. But to no one's surprise, 15 minutes quickly became 30, and then 45.

Flare shook her head. This wasn't unusual for her, but it was still annoying to have to do the 30 minute walk home. If only her other mom didn't have to work so late, then she would never have to do this.

On the walk home, Flare would take time to reflect about what happened at school. Flare always enjoyed school, much more than home that is. At school she got to learn and be with her friends and not have to worry about if mom actually took a minute to go grocery shopping, which was almost always no. But now, she was headed back to her house, where it would be just her and her mom.

As soon as she got home, she was greeted by none other than Pencil yapping away on her phone.

"Mom." Flare whispered, trying not to be too loud. "You forgot to pick me up again."

"Hold on a minute." Pencil said to the person she was talking to, as she went and muted her phone. "I'm busy, Flare. I've been on the phone and I guess I missed your text. Besides, now you're here, so why does it even matter. Now, go do the dishes, will you?"

Flare sighed. "Okay, you're right, I'm sorry." Flare headed over to the sink, where she was greeted by a giant pile of dishes. One by one, Flare took each dish, and wiped it down with a soapy towel until it was clean.

She first started out with the plates and silverware, which were easy enough to clean. Then, she got to the glasses, which were always the hardest part. Most of the ones that Flare used were not that hard to clean out, but her mom's glasses always seemed to have a faint purple stain that would never come out. Pencil would usually put what she would refer to as her "mommy juice" in them, which Flare was instructed never to drink, as it was only to be had by grownups. It's not like Flare ever had the desire to though, as the so called "mommy juice" smelled what Flare could only describe as grape juice mixed with hand sanitizer.

After Flare finally managed to scrub the glasses clean, without even a thank you from Pencil, she headed up to her room, and shut the door behind her. She flopped down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, letting out a heavy sigh.

Flare never understood why Pencil was like this, and her confusion only grew after watching the first season of the show. It seemed like she had everything: she was good at a lot of challenges, had a strong group of friends, and was insanely popular, which Pencil had told Flare was the key to making it in life; popularity.