Значительный

After Barbie agreed to tell her mother what was bothering her, they both stayed in the kitchen. After waiting for the blonde to finish her pizza, Margaret got up from her chair, waited for her daughter to follow her, and headed upstairs to the pool.

Once on the roof, they sat down on the gym mats, making themselves comfortable on them. Red-cheeked Barbie stared at the floor, waiting for questions. Margaret looked at her carefully, waiting for her daughter to say something.

- Are we going to keep quiet? - The woman spoke first with a chuckle, watching the blonde's expression, - I am waiting.

- Ahh... um... - the girl looked up at her with a confused look, immediately looking at the floor again, - Why don't you ask and I'll answer?

- All right... Well, then , - she put a finger to her lips, thinking about the question, - How long have you been romantically attracted to Ken?

The girl exhaled awkwardly, realizing that there was no point in starting a hurdy-gurdy about how they were just friends, and therefore slightly hushed her fingers, gathering her answer.

- I... can't say for sure... - the blonde looked into her mother's gently smiling eyes, gradually calming her embarrassment, - It's been a long time, exactly more than a year...

- All right, - the woman was now alert, trying to remember her daughter's answer completely, - Why don't you tell him?

- I-I am... I'm afraid of ruining our friendship, Mother, - she looked at her with a sad smile, - What if he doesn't accept my feelings? Or will we stop communicating altogether?

- You know that's not true, - Margaret looked at her, crossing her arms expressively over her chest, - Ken's not the kind of guy to just stop talking to you.

Barbie pursed her lip slightly, looking away.

- But he likes Harriet...

- And how did you know that? - The woman gave her daughter a slightly skeptical look, - When?

- He told me, - the girl narrowed her eyes jealously, - when we went to the school dance.

- That was six months ago, - the older blonde rolled her eyes, smiling a little, - and I think he said it to you so he wouldn't betray his real feelings.

The younger Roberts looked at her mother incredulously, her mouth hanging open.

- What are you talking about?

The woman chuckled softly into her fist, amused by her eldest daughter's lack of foresight.

- Don't you notice?

- Don't notice? - the girl nervously rubbed her hand on her knee, starting to get a little angry , - I don't notice what?

Margaret noticed the nervous state of Barbie, and therefore decided not to pull the cat by the tail.

- He looks at you with the eyes of a devoted puppy, - she said, running her hand over the horizon as if stroking it, - Consider: head over heels in love.

- What makes you think that? - the girl looked at her mother, feeling her cheeks begin to burn again, - Maybe it's him looking at me like a friend.

She was far from sure what she had said, and Margaret laughed so hard at her words, closing her eyes. Barbie looked down at the floor in confusion, soon feeling her mother's hand on her chin. The woman lifted her face to hers, smiling, and the girl also stretched her mouth in an awkward smile.

- Don't make me laugh, dear, - the woman said, patting her shoulder, - do you believe yourself?

Barbie stiffened, pursing her lip, and looked away. Margaret got up from the mat, kissing her on the forehead.

- In any case, whatever happens-come to me, - she patted her daughter on the top of her head, - I'm always with you, honey.

- Thank you, - the blonde looked at her gratefully, smiling back cautiously, - mother.

                                 ***

When he got home, the blond man dusted off his feet, finding his parents sitting on the couch in the living room, laughing at something.

- Hi, there.

When he didn't get an answer, he raised his eyebrows in surprise as he walked down the hall straight to the couch, stopping beside it. They immediately looked up at him, smiling slyly. The guy smelled something wrong.

- Why are you smiling like that? - Ken asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously, - What happened?

- Nothing, - Heather and John looked at each other, then burst out laughing, - Don't worry.

The surfer looked at them blankly as he turned and went into the kitchen, knowing that he couldn't get anything out of his parents, so he didn't even try.

Having found something edible, the guy had a snack, and not being hungry anymore, he moved to his room: surprisingly, he just wanted to lie down and dream.

Putting the sly smiles of his parents that had put him in a stupor out of his mind, he lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling and closing her eyes. A vivid image from the dream immediately popped into head.

The guy was slightly embarrassed, smiling to himself, and covered his face with his hand, hiding a happy smile in it.

Of course, he knew what he was doing when he kissed her this morning.

Chuckling softly, he covered his mouth with his hands and stared contentedly out the window at the house next door. Before his eyes was a vivid image of Barbie from a dream, gently kissing him, pressing her whole body against him. The guy could even say that he felt her lips on his.

However, he guessed that it was just imagination, played out after an unforgettable evening in the company of his beloved, but we all know how it really was.

A furry thief entered the room, immediately jumping on the bed to the owner. Ken grinned as he hugged the cat, which immediately started purring in his ear like a tractor.

- Hey, Smoke... Miss you? - the blonde gently scratched the animal under the chin, for some reason it literally vibrated with purring, covering its green eyes, - Oh, baby, how big you are already!

He tried to lift the cat, which was clinging to him, but it absolutely refused to move away, and the surfer had to accept the fact that a fluffy seven-kilogram carcass was lying on his chest and purring like a tractor.

Laughing softly, he continued to stroke the gray beauty, gradually becoming distracted.

Thinking about something else, Ken scratched the cat between the ears, which had already dozed off on the owner's chest, sniffing noisily. The guy laughed softly, shifting his friend to the bed next to him, and then picked up his phone from the nightstand, checking the general chats, because his chat with his friends had started a fire, and he wanted to know the reason for the boiling.

Opening the correspondence, he saw +100 + messages. Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Ken peered closely at the beginning of the dialogue, soon realizing what the reason was.

There was a picture of him and Barbie on the chat screen. Today's event.

He felt his cheeks flush.

- Who made it?!

In my thoughts, a real farce began. The guy quickly began to read the correspondence, blushing more and more-the friends found a weak link in their relationship with Roberts, starting to tease them. The first couple of messages were quite harmless, until suddenly the girls moved on to more serious jokes.

What is most surprising, Barbie answered them only at the beginning, but then just stopped, and you could think that she was offline, but the blonde was online, as indicated by the green circle next to her profile icon.

After a while, the friends stopped making jokes, after which Ken breathed a sigh of relief - it was really very awkward to answer such jokes. Although the guy would be lying if he said that he did not like the subtext of these phrases.

"I wonder if you'll keep saying at the wedding that you're just friends?", "What about your child? Have you chosen a name yet?", "What a child, they haven't even reached the bed yet, and you're already talking about the child... Don't do that, Teresa", "Is it just me, or are they harassing each other in this photo?", "Renee, do you have sex addiction?", "Will you invite me to the wedding?" - this is still a small part of what they saw in their address.

Soon, when everything was more or less settled, Barbie finally wrote, translating the topic, and asked something about school. The girls had already safely forgotten about that awkward conversation, chatting about what they would have tomorrow according to plan. The guy was also thinking, staring unseeingly at the phone screen.
 
                                ***
In the evening, Barbie, tired of the day's work, settled on the sofa in the living room, hanging out in social networks and listening to music. A variety of songs played in her headphones, each time replaced by new ones. The thing was, she had a class scheduled for tomorrow at the dance club she went to with Ken, so she decided to look for some songs to practice.

Nodding in time to the music, she made a couple of movements with her hands, as if dancing. Mind was full of dancing, singing, and Ken. Basically, nothing new.

Remembering the words of their group choreographer, the girl thought, putting one hand under her cheek, and the other drawing some patterns in the air. Pulling one earpiece out of her ear, she stared at her thighs, studying them.

"We will soon be performing at the school's last bell and then at the prom, so be prepared to select several dancers for the number."

Barbie knew that both she and Ken would be included in the line - up-it was not difficult to guess. They were the best in the group, and therefore always got to different competitions and performed everywhere together.

- I hope they put us together... - she closed her eyes a little dreamily, drifting away into the clouds of dreams, - and when did I fall in love with him...?

- Who to fall in love with?

Barbie almost fell off the couch, jumping up and down in fright. Chelsea jumped out from behind her, startling her.

- Chelsea! Oh, my God, don't do that again!

The younger one giggled slightly, nodding, and then repeated her question. The girl hesitated, not knowing what to say to her sister. Fortunately, the excuse soon came to mind.

- Into this new song, Chels! She's so beautiful...

- Wait, you said "into him", which means it's him! - the girl looked at her sister uncomprehendingly, - And the song is her!

- I... I... I just accidentally misspoke, - the blonde smiled slightly nervously, - Yes, I misspoke.

- Aah... well... - the little girl breathed out so frustrated that Barbie felt sorry for her, - Okay then...

Soon, Chelsea ran to her sisters' room because they had called her to play board games. The girl was not in the right mood, so she stayed below.

When the little sister ran upstairs, the blonde gasped - she was almost caught in the hot again. And she didn't want to get burned in front of her sisters, either - as if it wasn't enough that her mother now knew about her infatuation.

Shaking her head, she got up from the couch, picking up her phone and the earpiece she'd pulled out earlier. Still searching for the right compositions, the girl wandered thoughtfully towards the kitchen. After swimming to the right place, she left the gadget on the table, and she picked up a glass and a carafe of water.

Barbie poured herself a drink and drank it all in a couple of sips, refreshing herself. With a clear head, she went to her room and, not forgetting to grab her phone, began to pack a backpack for tomorrow. Still, the school has not been canceled yet.

Finally finished with this, the blonde collapsed on the bed, starting to just play games stupidly - just wanted to relax. Having played, she did not notice how time passed and all the household dispersed to their rooms. She looked out the window, her mouth hanging open in surprise as it was almost completely dark outside.

Realizing that there wasn't much charge on the phone, she got out of bed, went to the desktop and picked up the charging cord, connected it to the gadget. Just as she was about to leave and go to bed, she froze when she heard the soft sound of a notification. Turning back around, she released the lock and stared at the screen with happy eyes.

In the messenger, there was an unread message from a lover.

11:37. Ken: Good night and sweet dreams, Babs❣️

Not daring not to reply, she sent a reply message, then kissed the phone screen.

11:38. Barbie: Good night💕