I suppose you could say he was right about Dexter—in his own way, of course. Dexter wasn’t the nicest kid on the block—maybe the smartest (and youngest), but he always had that superior air that made him so infuriating. Sometimes I swear I could go right along with Mandark and seriously try to hurt him…but for a long time I didn’t.

I was very busy one night, I was supposed to be helping Mandark finish his newest plan, while writing thank you notes to everyone who attended my last birthday party (they were a few months overdue), taking inventory, and watching one of the many cameras Mandark had bugged his sister’s new home with. As much as I wanted to do one over the others, I couldn’t simply drop what I was doing.

“Lilli, I require your assistance this instant!” ordered Mandark.

“I’m needed in several places at once right now, I’m very busy.” I spat, more rude than intended.

“Lillian, I understand. You have been overworked, you have been working all day and you just want to go home. Well, that’s not happening, until I get what I want.” he said, with fake sincerity.

I grumbled to myself as I rubbed my fingers raw, searching, writing, and typing. Sure I loved him, but his love seemed to have died out with Deedee. That night, without having been asked, I decided to call Olga, better known as Lalavava. I dialed her number, the one that had tempted me so many times, almost without noticing until she answered the phone.

“Hello?” asked the nasally female voice I knew to be Olga’s.

“Lala, it’s Lillian.” I sighed, wondering why I had called.

“Oh, yes, Lillian. I remember now. Any particular reason you called at ten o’ clock at night?” she asked.

“I suppose not. I just needed someone to talk to.” I said.

“Lillian, you really need to get more friends.” she sighed.

“But I don’t have the time! Susan always has me running around for him—not to mention my school work ruling me as well.” I explained.

“No, it’s fine. Is something bothering you?” asked Olga.

“Perhaps a little bit, Lala. Susan’s been cracking down on me a lot recently, if it weren’t for the fact that I haven’t yet finished writing all these old thank you notes, I would have collapsed by now.” I said.

“You still haven’t written them?” she asked.

“No. Again, I don’t have the time. And of course, I’m still taking inventory. He finds it necessary for me to have security access to his lab at all times, so I can take it wherever I go.” I replied wearily.

“Hm, I find that asserting yourself works quite well.” She replied thoughtfully.

“That’s your job—If I tried that, he wouldn’t like me.”

“That’s true. To tell you the truth, even if he liked you, like liked you, he wouldn’t say. I might be able to squeeze it out of him, of course, but there’s two things keeping me from trying.” said Olga.

“Which are....?” I asked.

“One: it’s really none of my business; I don’t have a reason to. Two: he’d suspect it eventually.” she said.

“You have a point. There are hundreds of alternatives, but I think it’s best to just wait anyway.” I sighed.

“Goodnight, Lillian.” she finally said.

“See you tomorrow, no doubt.” I murmured.

“Oh, and Lillian?” Olga asked.

“What?”

“Get some friends, please.”