Chapter 18: Little Miss Understanding

Ein held out the letter. "Here."

Chucky took it and studied it. "What's this for? Is it to me or--"

"It's for Samantha. I'm really sorry about what I said. Please give it to her."

The nerd boy scrunched up his face. "I don't remember you ever saying anything bad to Samantha, so it seems kinda weird that you'd write her a letter like this, but if you insist, I'll give it to her, but--"

"I'm getting really tired of this, Chucky--you pretending that you don't know what's happening." He sighed. "But I'm finished yelling at you about it. I made a promise to your parents, and I intend to keep it."

"Ein, what are you talking about, I really don't know what--"

"Let's just drop the whole thing for now." Oh yeah, he almost forgot! "So how did it go with you and Princess yesterday?"

"What do you mean, I didn't see Princess yesterday, she--"

"She didn't come over to your house to return your equipment?"

Chucky shook his head. "I didn't see her, but maybe she came over and left the equipment with my parents or something, but I don't think I left any equipment at the restaurant, though I don't remember much of what happened there, and--"

"Mrs. Kyoto's here."

They both shut up.

***

Usually when Princess ate, she could taste every wonderful flavor. She was aware of the texture of the food; the way it danced all the way down her throat; everything that eating had to offer her.

But right now she was an eating machine. She didn't know what she was eating, and she didn't care.

"You're eating away our profits," Sunflower said.

Princess looked up from the floor. "I know. I'm sorry."

Sunflower nodded and turned around. "I'm going to my office."

"Wait." Princess felt the coldness of Fridgy blowing at her face, but she hardly cared. "Sunflower, has anyone ever told you they didn't…or couldn't love you?"

Sunflower stood in the doorway, staring for a while. "No." She turned around, and took a step to leave, but turned around again. "You should consider yourself lucky, Princess."

"What?"

"The only love you can always depend on is your own."

***

Nothing bad happened in class today. Ein was beginning to think his life was changing for the better--but then Mrs. Kyoto made him stay after class again.

"Sit down, Einstein."

Ein took a seat and swallowed.

"I listened to what you said to my daughter, Einstein." She put her hands flat on the desk Ein sat at. "You didn't tell her to give up her dreams like I asked."

Ein squirmed in his seat. "I couldn't--"

"But I believe that your lack of support might be just as effective. Perhaps even more so. The truth is, Einstein, I've had a change of heart."

What? "What?"

"Yes, I've now decided that I want Princess to make her own decision about her future. If she wants to have a restaurant, that's fine. As you must know by now, I'm even helping out with the cooking. But if she decides that the food business isn't for her, I don't want you to get in the way. This should be her decision. Hers and hers alone. Do you understand."

Ein nodded.

"A little side-note." She smiled. "The things I've done to you so far, they're nothing compared to what I'm capable of. You see, Einstein, I've studied the human mind for many years now. I've studied fear. And if I want to make your life a hundred times more miserable than it is now, I can. And I will."

***

Dear Samantha:

I'm sorry about what I said. You're not the stupid creation, I am. Just because we were created differently, doesn't mean we're not equal, and I didn't mean what I said.

Anyway, I never wanted to hurt you. I was really mad at Chucky because he's going after a girl that I like and he won't even say he's sorry about it. I'm so frustrated, you know? The girl I really like is so close, but I feel so far away. I'm too afraid to talk to her now because I don't want her to tell me that she likes Chucky. I feel so trapped. I hope you can forgive me.

Sincerely,
Einstein Masters.

Samantha set down the digitized version of the letter Dante had dropped into her scanner.

She decided to forgive Ein for what he said. Because she knew what it was like to feel trapped.

***

Princess decided she didn't really like Chucky all that much anyway. He was a weirdo, and she had enough weirdness in her life already.

Then why did she feel like this?

"Boy trouble?" Her mother sat down beside her on the kitchen floor, (something her mom ordinarily would never do).

Princess shook her head. "No trouble at all."

"A little birdy told me otherwise."

"What little birdy?"

"I know that you're hurting, and I also know how to make you feel better. That's why I've reserved a dinner for you and a boy named Zimmer."

"I don't--"

"He's a med student. His mother has sent me his picture and bio. Very nice looking."

"I don't want to go on any sort of date right now."

"I know you don't want to. But you need to. You need to realize that what happened to you isn't the end of the world. No matter what Chucky did to you."

Princess shuddered at the mention of his name, and wondered how her mother knew so much. Chucky was in her mother's class, so was Ein, but neither of them seemed a likely suspect to divulge such information. Maybe there was a spy.

"Listen, Princess, I don't want you to go on this date for me. I want you to go out for you. No one is worth you feeling as terrible as I know you are. Especially not over someone like Chucky."

"What do you mean like Chucky?"

"Princess, he's my student. He's a very intelligent boy, but he's also a weirdo. What you need is a nice normal med-student boy like Zimmer."

Her mom was right. Chucky wasn't good enough for her. "Ok, one date."

***

When Ein first received the phone call, he told himself he wasn't going to go through with it. There was no way. But then, of course, he thought about Daisy, and how there was still some possibility that she would go out with him. Then he thought about Daisy seeing the pictures of him kissing Destiny.

So he went through with it.

"You really are a Jerk Boy, Vincent."

Vincent took the bike and hopped on, while Old Hobo Joe kept it steady. "That's not the response we discussed."

Ein sighed. "Thank you for taking my bike, Your Excellence."

"Yes, I am Excellent, aren't I? Much more excellent than you deserve. I'll have you know I considered bringing a giant mallet here today and destroying the bike before your eyes. Would a truly Jerk Boy discard such a notion? I think not."

"What are you going to do with the bike then?"

"I'm going to learn to ride it, of course. This was yet another activity stolen from me by my so-called privileged upbringing."

"What? Your dad couldn't afford to buy you a bike? I find that hard to believe."

"He never took the time to teach me to bike, I'll have you know. But I wouldn't expect a self-righteous Jerk Boy like you to understand. All I ever rode were electric cars and miniature trains."

Ein almost felt sorry for Vincent, but the Jerk Boy took his bike! Twice! "Can I go now, or do you have some other torture in mind? I know how much you enjoy hurting people."

"Only certain people." Vincent hopped off the bike, and pulled a tiny notebook from his pocket. "I've grown tired of your nightly serenades, so I'm working on a play for you to perform. It's set during Victorian times, and you'll play a restless housewife in search of adventure. You'll have to dress the part, of course."

"Of course." Ein turned away, to leave the alley.

"Off to visit with your precious Waitress Girl?"

"No."

"To the restaurant then?"

"Yes. By the way, why aren't you there? Don't you work there?"

"Yes, but I'm feeling under the weather at the moment. I've received the day off. Oh, and my illness is quite contagious, so don't be surprised of you start projectile vomiting."

"Sick just in time for my final exam. Thanks for that."

"You're most welcome."

***

Ein sat next to Princess in the kitchen. It was pretty busy out there. The people seemed to be enjoying the food. Maybe this restaurant wasn't going to fail after all.

"So," he said. "Do you want to come over after work? There's leftovers in the fridge. You have to try my Grandma's cooking."

"Sorry, I can't make it. I'm busy."

"She has a date," Mrs. Kyoto said, chopping something green.

"With Chucky?" That was weird. Why didn't Chucky say anything during class?

"No," Princess said.

"She's going out with a med student. Isn't that good news, Ein?" Mrs. Kyoto chopped a little harder.

"What happened with Chucky?" Ein said.

"Well, he sort of declined my offer," Princess said.

Ein really looked at Princess then, and realized how sad she looked. This was his fault. He knew Chucky was after Waitress Girl, and yet he still sent Princess over there. Wait a second, it wasn't all his fault. Chucky was the insensitive one, not Ein. "You know, I'm gonna have to have a word with that guy."

"Ein, don't. He just told me how he felt. You can't blame a guy for that. I don't."

"I don't either, but during class he told me that he hadn't talked to you. I asked him specifically about it, and he said no."

"Maybe he forgot."

"Forgot?!? He's been forgetting about a lot of things lately. And I think it's about time he remembers that people are affected by his actions. That we have feelings just like he does."

"Are we talking about me or you now?"

"Both of us. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to explode."

***

All of Samantha's thoughts shattered when someone knocked on the door.

Chucky opened it, and there was a very beautiful young woman waiting on the other side.

"Dante?" the girl said. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," Lante said. "For the moment."

"I was told this was Chucky's house."

"That name doesn't suit me," Vante said. "Dante is a much better match."

"So you're Chucky?" the girl said.

"This is Chucky's room. I'm wearing Chucky's clothes. I leave the rest to your judgement."

"Ok. I've been asking around town, trying to find somebody good at computers. Really good at computers." The girl looked up at Samantha. "I'm guessing that they led me to the right person."

"Yes, computers," Pante said. "They're sure…interesting, aren't they? How they compute and all."

The girl stared at him for a second. "Anyway, I need your help. You see, I work at this restaurant, and the boss thinks that someone's been trying to break inside his computer with all his records and things. Maybe a rival restaurant, I don't know. So I need to learn everything there is to know about anti-hacking programs, so I can keep our computer safe. So, can you help me?"

"But of course, Daisy," Zante said. "This will require numerous visits, I'm afraid."