It was a long day. Violet walked home alone--Jade had work--and as soon as she opened the door, she found her siblings waiting.

"Are we going somewhere?" she asked nervously.

"Yes!" Jessie said. "Remember? Cat Cafe!"

"Oh, yeah!" Violet dropped her bag by the door. "Let's go!"

As they walked, everyone chatted about their day, about the substitute teacher, about the boy who wouldn't believe her sister could fly (In Debbie's case). Violet, on the other hand, walked near the front of the group, but off in her own little world.

When they got to the Cat Cafe, a sign on the door read, "4 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 14 PER 1 ADULT OVER THE AGE OF 14"

"That's okay," Mr. Everby said quickly. "We have Nicky, Carol, and I as the adults. That's...thirteen of the rest of you." He looked worried. "Someone can't go in, then."

"Can't we just say Jessie's fourteen?" Charlie asked. "She's almost fourteen."

"Sorry," Jessie said. "Lying is wrong. Violet will stay behind, though. She doesn't mind, do you, Vi?"

Violet opened her mouth to say that she did mind, actually, but closed it after a moment and shook her head. I don't want to be the only one who's trouble for Nicky and Jessie and Carol and Papa.

"Good," Jessie said briskly. "Well, then, everyone else can come in..."

The others filed inside the cafe, leaving Violet outside alone.

She began to walk up the street. After a few moments, what had just happened set in and tears welled up in her eyes.

She kicked a lamp post, which didn't do much except hurt her toe. Why do I always agree to these things? 

She kept walking until she found herself outside of Pumpkin's. Sniffling, she pushed open the door to be greeted by the smell of coffee.

At the sound of the bell on the door, Jade--of course Jade was working today, how could Violet have forgotten?-- glanced up. She spotted Violet before Violet could duck outside again.

"Hey, Vi!" She called. Then she spotted the tear tracks on Violet's face and grew worried. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Violet mumbled.

Jade raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Give me a second. I get off in a minute anyways, nobody cares if I leave a few seconds early." She walked over to Pumpkin and scooped him up. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Violet asked.

"Follow me," Jade urged.

Violet followed her to the park, where Jade found a tree and sat down at its roots. "Sit!" She reached out and pulled a raspberry from a bush nearby. "Eat."

Violet sat down next to her. "Are you sure those are safe?"

"Of course. Here." Jade pressed a couple into Violet's hand. "Now, tell me what's wrong."

Violet shook her head. "It's stupid."

"Oh, Violet." Jade squeezed her hand. "It's not stupid if you're crying about it. You don't cry easily."

No, Violet thought. You don't see me cry.

"If you tell me, you can hold Pumpkin," Jade bargained.

Violet nodded. "Blackmail," she muttered under her breath. "Hand over the cat."

"You'll tell me?" 

Violet nodded again and Jade gave her Pumpkin, who promptly snuggled up in her lap.

"Now, what's wrong?" Jade asked her. Violet sighed.

"We were going to the Cat Cafe."

"Right," Jade said. "You've been looking forward to that for ages."

"Exactly," Violet said. "And we got there, and it said that there were only four kids under the age of thirteen allowed per person older than thirteen. We had Papa, Nicky, and Carol, and there were thirteen of the rest of us. One person couldn't go in, and Jessie said that I'd stay behind."

"Why?" Jade said. Violet shrugged.

"And I agreed," she continued. "And I don't know why I agreed except that I always agree to these things and I don't want to be trouble for Papa, but I really did want to go to the Cat Cafe, and now I'm crying again."

Jade moved closer to her. "And it just hurts more that Jessie volunteered you, doesn't it?"

Violet nodded.

"Listen. You told me before you and your siblings were alone for a really long time, right?"

"Right."

"And so during that time, Jessie and Nicky acted like your parents, right?"

"Right."

"And from what I know of your family, Jack and the twins must've constantly been making trouble, and really the others are too young to not constantly be supervised, so everyone else was constantly getting their attention and causing trouble. And from what I know of you, you wouldn't want to make life difficult for Nicky and Jessie."

"Right."

"So you just kept agreeing to everything."

"Right," Violet sniffled. "And I know I shouldn't, but every time I think about arguing, I think that they'll hate me if I do."

"Violet!" Jade exclaimed. "Nobody hates you. Alright? Nobody hates you. God, everything makes so much sense now."

"What?" Violet asked.

"You never talk in class-- or even around me and Reese and Lila and Carley-- unless someone specifically asks for your opinion, and even then you just agree with everyone else. I thought you were just shy."

"I am shy," Violet mumbled. 

Jade reached over and hugged her tightly. "You're not trouble for us," she told Violet. "Not for Reese, not for Lila, not for Carley, and especially not for me, alright?"

"Alright," Violet agreed.

"Now," Jade said. "Let's get you back to your house."

Together, they started walking towards the trees, which were losing their spring flowers and growing full summer leaves.