The three of you are sitting on the library steps after school, like always. Maximilian is reading. Mika is talking fast about something — birds, maybe, or candy, it's hard to keep up. You watch. That's what you do. Then Maximilian asks something offhand, something simple, and before Mika can open her mouth — you answer. In English. Clear, correct, no accent slipping. The silence lasts maybe one second. Mika's head turns. Her smile doesn't move, but her eyes do. Sharp. A look that says: *stop.* You go quiet. She keeps talking like nothing happened. But Maximilian's book is still open to the same page.