“This is bad,” Wendy groaned. Carefully placing the phone away from her on the table she dropped her head to her hands and completed a groan sigh combination.
“Didn’t you get the job?” Mum queried over her over.
“I did. That’s the problem.” She peeked through her fingers. “But the last time I worked in an office I became chubby and had to order new work pants.” Shudder. That had not been fun what so ever.
“What about your skating?”
Wendy lifted her head completely from her hands. It was time to be an adult and explain her reasoning. “That’s not going to cut it. I really am going to be working off my ass for eight hours straight and then add in the time in a vehicle driving to and from work and I graze when I’m bored.” Dramatic sigh. “Maybe I should’ve turned it down.”
“Or maybe you should exercise.”
She had said it so calmly, as if it had been the most logical answer to begin with. Of course it was; everyone knew that if you wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle you had to eat well and exercise. Didn’t mean that Wendy wanted to give up her chocolate cake with the thick top coating of ganache. And whip cream on the side.
“I guess I could start up a workout routine for after work.” Hmm, that shouldn’t be too bad. “And it should help with my skating. Every bit of information that I find says that I need to have a strong core in order to do any jumps.”
Mother rolled her eyes. “Why do you want to jump while wearing wheels on your shoes?”
“Because the people who can do it properly look pretty.” And I want to look like that and impress people with being that cool skater chick who can mimic the ice skaters while outside on concrete.
“And what if you fall?”
“I fall normally, it won’t be any different.”
She opened her mouth to argue further, then stopped.
Have I done it? Did I make my mother speechless with that one little statement? That is so amazing. Wendy grinned at her mother. “Don’t worry. I wear my pads when I’m practicing.”
“And when you fall on your head?”
“It’ll knock some sense into me.”
“Very funny, dear.” Mum downed the rest of her coffee.
“And if I start exercising on a regular basis then I can get away wearing any cosplay costume I want without being self-conscious.” Wendy grinned. “That’s a plus.”
“How did I end up with a daughter who wants to look good while dressed as a character from an anime and rolls around on skates? Where are my grandchildren? When are you moving out of home?”
Even though she was teasing, the words had a little sting to them to remind Wendy of how abnormal she was. “Remember mother; I could be doing drugs, struggling financially, unhappy, having kids with multiple baby-daddies, and/or be spreading my misery.”
Mum smiled indulgently. “I know, I was only poking fun.”
“And I’m reminding you why I’m the best daughter in the world.”

The cupboards were bare, no more staples left in the flat to make a decent cup of coffee. But the bitter sweet smell hung in the air like a slap across the face. “Who’s turn was it to go shopping?” Wendy asked, her voiced void of all emotions.
Am I going into shock?
“Huh?”
Wendy took a moment not to lose it. The kettle rumbled to her right, the water leaping up inside, trying to knock the lid off. The ruckus was annoying when the realisation she was to go coffee-less that morning.
“Who was meant to go shopping this week?” She turned and death stared her first and probably last flat mate.
He blinked a couple of times, looking more stupid than usual before shrugging.
Shrug? Did he just shrug in response? Is that it? That’s all you’re capable of?!
Anger flared, burning hot in her muscles, ordering her to lash out and take revenge. She slammed the cupboard door to release some of it and smacked the switch on the kettle. The pop of the bubbling water subsided.
Calm down, don’t murder until you know all of the details.
“What are you drinking?”
He was tilting his head right back, so all she could see was his unshaven chin and the bottom of the takeaway. The smell was undeniable.
“Cappuccino,” he smacked his lips. “We didn’t have any coffee so I went out.”
The flames wriggled and tickled under her skin.
From his seat, he pitched the empty cup towards the garbage. It was too short and lacked power. The cup smacked the front of the bin and tumbled to the floor.
He didn’t move to clean.
Wendy stared.
An out of body experience would be nice right about now. Just to stop me from doing this.
“Are you fucking kidding me?! We’re out of coffee but instead of being a decent human being and just buying another jar when shopping or picking up an extra takeaway, you guzzle your lone cappuccino and then make a mess in the kitchen! That throw was pathetic!”
Her voice broke at the end, the squealing ripping the sides of her throat so it ached as she inhaled.
“I added it to the shopping list on the fridge.” He was so stupid he didn’t even realise he was in danger. No fear flickered in his face. In fact, he smiled. “Calm down and do what I did; get a coffee.”
She screamed and stamped her feet.
Finally, he said something semi-intelligent. “Maybe I need to look for another house mate.”
“You think?” Damn it, I need to move back in with mum.

“Of course you’re still welcomed.” Eva messaged. “I wouldn’t have invited you if you weren’t.”
Wendy grinned at the screen. “Thanks for giving me a place to crash.” She adjusted the charging cord for her laptop, making sure her knees weren’t affecting it before lounging back into the mound of pillows on the bed. Heaven.
“I take it the job didn’t happen.”
She groaned. “No kidding,” she typed. “It would’ve been a dream job too.” She started to type more to add to the message, her fingers snapping over the keys. How dare they waste my time like that and get my hopes up?! Screw them! I’ll just save up and go for a holiday instead. “Go over to Japan and work for a couple of months, learn the language, and then see the country before coming home. Grrr. Still pissed they made me do all of that research for the visa and then went silent on me.”
Inhale, release the burning hate for people who care not for proper etiquette in a business.
Wendy added, “They’ve had their chance to recruit me. I’ve put off making plans for too long. Time to lock in Supanova Gold Coast.”
“Are you sure? Because that could still be a great opportunity.”
“Positive. Bring on the convention!” At least there is a positive side to everything; when one thing fails to satisfy there is always the celebration of anime to look forward to. “Japan’s cherry blossom festival is still a goal, just not for 2017.”
“That sucks.”
“Tell me about it. I’ll just keep saving. And you’re sure I don’t have to pay you something for this?”
“You’re on the lounge, that wouldn’t be fair.” Eva quickly sent through a follow up message. “But now you’re indebted to me…”
Wendy’s stomach tightened. Oh no. “What does that mean?” Her body lifted away from the pillows in a tense sit up motion.
“I have an idea.” She included a grinning emoji. Coupled with the words Wendy was gaping at, it looked evil.
“Maybe I should just pay for a hotel.” Wendy tried to escape.
“Nonsense! Anyway, it’s a cosplay idea.”
Ohhhh. Wendy flopped back into comfort. “Don’t scare me like that.”
“Lol.”
“What sort of cosplay were you thinking? I’m assuming you want to do a couple thing since you’re ‘trying’ to bribe me with accommodation.”
Eva surprised Wendy with the next sentence. “I’ve been checking the rules and regulations for entry and nowhere does it say we can’t roller skate.”
“Roller skate? What are you on about? Sakura for Card Captor is the only anime character I can think of who roller skates. But she was on roller blades.”
“Think Wendy, why did you start roller skating a few months back?”
“Because the ice rink is ages away and expensive and I had the skates from years ago…. Wait!” She gasped. That is so brilliant!
“Have you caught on?”
“Yuri on Ice cosplay on roller skates!”
“Yep!”
Wendy bounced on her bed and clapped her hands together. “That has to be the best idea in history! Has anyone else done it before?”
“Not that I can tell. We’ll make history.”
Wendy snorted. “We’re going to totally own this.”
“Have you been practicing?”
“Everyday. Youtube is my coach.”
“Do you think you’re good enough to enter the cosplay competition though?” Eva asked.