Level Down

1

The day was hot enough for the usually fairly steady stream of customers making their way in and out of Gar's Bodega to almost halt entirely. Even after Enid's battle against Elodie, the crowd of people who had appeared at the Plaza to see Elodie had mostly dispersed since she left after her defeat.

Time seemed to crawl by with the only break in the silence of the store being an overhead droning of radio hits playing just loud enough to be distracting. Enid was fidgeting with an old pen, rolling it back and forth on the counter in front of her. She was startled by a loud thud followed by a yelp from Rad and a quick "sorry!" from K.O. which caused her to flick the pen just hard enough for it to roll off the counter. Enid sighed and rested her head in one hand. Glancing to the side, she saw Rad picking up a box that had been dropped on his foot. She laughed lightly to herself, earning her a sharp look from Rad.

Enid let out a breath, making no effort to retrieve the pen she dropped. Instead, Enid leaned back in her chair and kicked up her feet. She yawned and tilted her head forward, closing her eyes.

Enid didn't pay much attention as K.O. scampered back and forth and Rad continued moving and unpacking boxes. She was mentally exhausted. It wasn't her usual tiredness that resulted from sitting in the same place with nothing to do for so long, but those factors weren't out of the question. Alongside the fight she had won earlier in the day, Enid had been putting a lot of effort into not thinking about anything. Thinking led to reflection and reflection led to Elodie, but what happened between them was a subject that Enid had done enough thinking about as of late.

Regardless of Enid's reluctance to think over the events of the day, she couldn't help but look back on what she thought was true about her childhood best friend and how her thoughts on those things had changed. Enid had believed Elodie to be a liar and that wasn't exactly wrong, but there was more to it than that. Elodie hadn't lied about being Enid's friend when they were younger, but she was still a liar. Elodie had told Enid that she took advantage of her to win a competition and a scholarship when that wasn't true. Even when meeting face to face for the first time in years, Elodie had kept up her charade. For all that time Enid had hated her and Elodie might as well have accepted it. Now knowing that they really had been friends, Enid couldn't help but ask more questions.

Was Elodie just bored of her company when the competition happened? Was she faking her enthusiasm and waiting for an opportunity to let go? Maybe. Enid wouldn't have been able to tell, considering that Elodie had proven herself to be an exceptional liar. Maybe Elodie really just felt bad for Enid all that time. Maybe she had lied about never having a best friend before they met. Elodie didn't ever seem to be the reclusive type, and her tendency to seek out others has only ever helped her make a name for herself in recent years.

Enid jumped at the loud thud on the counter beside her. She scooted her chair back, once again sitting with her feet on the ground. She was met by K.O. who had slammed the palm of his hand down on the counter. He stood on his tip-toes to reach as far as he could onto the counter.

"Something is wrong with Elodie's Pow Card!" He said. Enid wasn't entirely sure whether the tone of his voice was one of intrigue or concern.

"Huh?" Enid blinked as she looked down at K.O.'s hand, a single upturned Pow Card underneath it. "What do you mean?"

Despite reaching as far as he could onto the counter, K.O. was still barely able to look over the counter at Enid. "Elodie's Pow Card," K.O. repeated. "It changed!"

"Well, sure," Enid replied before noticing how dry her voice sounded. She cleared her throat before responding in a more interested sounding tone. "Did you catch it while it was updating? That must have been cool-"