"So, are you going to change everything around here, or keep everything the same?" Zoe asked.
"Are you kidding? I'm gonna trash this shit as fast as I ..." Athena started, but then stopped. "Sorry. It's the Sarah part again. I, uh ... I was thinking of replacing most of my stuff. Maybe you want to take some of it?"
"Uh, sure," Zoe said, feeling a little uneasy about her friend. Okay, yeah, she was still Athena, her friend of many years. But it bothered her to know that there was so much of Sarah McMillan in her. It's like she was conversing with a friend and an enemy at the same time.
"Could you do it right now? I was thinking of heading to the mall to buy new stuff."
"The mall? You have enough money?"
"I was gonna use the money that I have stashed away. You know, the money I was saving up for ..."
"Not that money," Zoe interrupted, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "Athena, you've been saving that up for years."
"Yeah, well, I'm not interested in it anymore." She paused. "You want to come with me?"
"To the mall? I think I'll pass," she said, sourly.
"Then just take what you want and leave," Athena said, a little more harshly than she intended. She wanted to make their friendship work, but Zoe wasn't making it easy for her.
"Fine," Zoe said, grabbing a couple of things off the bookshelf and then heading out the door.
Athena was about to stop her, to tell her that she was sorry for her attitude towards her, but Zoe was out the door before she could. Athena really was sorry, but the Sarah part of her was glad that she left. It was already bad enough that her entire room looked like a witch's lair. She didn't need an actually Goth there too.
Outside, Zoe paused and looked back at Athena's house. She sighed, realizing that perhaps she hadn't given her friend enough latitude. Athena was obviously trying to cope with the part of her that was Sarah. Zoe should have been more patient with her. But to go back in there now would make Zoe look weak. She decided to come back over the next morning, after she gave both of them a little time to reflect.
