She's off yet again. I swear, with being the size of a child, Rebecca has the energy of a child. Sometimes, it's like she is like the Energizer Bunny. She just keeps going, and going, and going. I'm not running out of energy, myself, but I can see a day coming where I just won't be able to keep up with her. The good thing about the situation this time is that she runs off without tugging on me the entire time, letting me come at my own pace. It's not like she can reach the oven to get it open, anyways. The very bottom of the oven is a good three feet in the air, much higher than she can reach.

Coming into the kitchen, I see that Speed Racer already has some things ready. There are two oven mittens out on the counter and she's on one of the bar stools, pushing back the mail we got yesterday. By the time I get over to the counter, it's all cleared out and she looks to me. “Hey, where were you?! I already had time to get everything ready!” In order to keep up with this woman, I'm going to have to be in constant overdrive. At least when she's like this, I will. “Do you ever run out of energy, Rebecca?” I ask, avoiding her question. She knows she's too fast for me and can do some things better than I can, but that doesn't mean I'd like to admit it all the time.

“What's the matter?” she asks, as I slip on the oven mittens, getting ready to get the food from the oven. “Am I too fast for ya, Trent, just like in Wipeout?” A few chuckles come out of the crease in my lips as I turn away from her, slowly opening up the oven. She is so comfortable around me. She's got an ego that far surpasses her height, and she teases me like this all the time. I don't mind it, though. I kinda like her being like this. Pulling the pizza out of the oven, I look back to her, still holding that grin on my face. “Maybe you are, Rebecca. Maybe you are. For now, though, use that speed to clear away from that cutting board. I don't want you to get burned by this food.”

Rebecca quickly retracts herself and starts climbing down the stool, using a net that I attached to all of the chairs in the house. The precautions I have thought of over the past couple months are definitely helping the situation. The last time Rebecca tried to climb down from that bar stool, she ended up dislodging her arm. This time, however, she got down, just fine. The net was like a climbing ladder to her, and enabled easy access to the ground. She wasn't really that heavy, so it worked just fine for her. I pull out a pizza cutter and get the pizza sliced while she climbs down. By the time I finish up the last cut, I feel her against my leg.

“Don't worry, Rebecca. I'm done.” I speak to her, as if I already know what she is going to ask. The pizza is done now, and needs some time to cool off. I'm sure she's more than happy that we can go back to our little race while that happens. “W-What? I wasn't going to ask you if you were done! Don't make assumptions like that. What are you thinking, up in that head of yours?!” she says, a little flustered. I simply pat her on the head and start walking away, back towards the living room. “Come on. We've got a race to finish. Better hurry or I'll get in there and unpause it!”

“H-Hey!” she yells, running after me. I know this will only make her more frustrated with me, but I don't really want to go there. I impulsively assert myself, every so often, in verbal ways, or by picking her up, and I don't really mean to. I'm a two-sided person, after all. I want both to be taken care of and to take care of others. That's a hard mix to balance out in everyday life, especially with a house mate small enough for me to pick up and easily carry around the house with me. “Don't you walk away from me, Trent! You...You get back here!” I can hear her feet running after me and she practically slams her body into my leg as she latches onto me.

I look down at her, seeing both her arms grabbing onto me, being dragged across the floor. I stop moving my leg and look at her, a look of frustration looking back to me. I blink, and then speak, trying to see what's up with her. “Rebecca?” She just shakes her head at me. “Don't walk away from me! I asked you a question! Please, answer it. Until you do, I'm not letting go of your leg. You'll can drag me completely across the house, if you want to, but my arms are not letting go until you answer my question. Understand?” Her face then looked like it was a mix of different expressions. Part of it looked frustrated and upset with me. Another part looked a little disappointed and sad.

Already near a step, that led to another room, I move my free leg and sit myself down. If she wants to talk about this, I will. I may not like to talk about this stuff, but hey, I can't have her latched onto my leg all day. “Alright, Rebecca. I'm sorry.” “You'd better be!” she says, pushing away from my other leg and nearly punching me in the side. It doesn't hurt, but it's enough to make me flinch for a second. I move my leg and she sits down on the step, right next to me. Looking back up at me, she gives me a serious look. “So, back to my question? What do you think about? Why do you make assumptions?”

I take a deep breath, thinking about the question. Why do I make these assumptions? “Well, Rebecca” I say, as I look into the next room, towards the ceiling. “Everyone makes assumptions about certain things. I guess I was just trying to predict what you wanted. Maybe...just maybe, I was wrong in that guess?” I look to her again as I raise this question. I'm still not sure if I was wrong, but if she was pushing this hard on me, I suppose I might have been. “Yes! You were!” she replies, hitting my side again. “You may be predictable, Trent, but I don't think I am. I was just going to ask you how you were doing, not if you were done.”

She crosses her arms and leans against me. “I...don't like being predicted upon and being told I'm doing something when I'm not! It's not fair!” I look at her, for a moment, and then wrap my arm around her, pulling her closer to me. “Sorry, Rebecca.” I say, softly. “I didn't mean to upset you. I was just trying to think of what you were thinking.” She sighs and pushes against my side a little harder. “I...I know. Just try not to do that in the future, alright? Let me be myself. Just let me...do things without constant interference. I may be smaller than you, but that doesn't mean you have to try to help me with everything! I'm a person, too, and I can do things just as well as you can!”

I nod to her and rub my fingers along her back as she tells me all of these things. “Yeah, you can. You're amazing, especially for your height.” She pushes in a little harder for a second, and then pulls away. “Darn right I am. Now, let's go finish our race!” She runs off, as if that talk hadn't just happened. This whole situation is so confusing...