Another heatwave came through a few weeks later, as though to mock us for appreciating the budding, colder mornings. My white dress served me well, though at some point not even being naked could have saved me. Even though I didn't have a massive festival crowd to try and keep up with, Derrick, Gus, and Hal still watched me like a hawk and took turns telling me to drink or take a break. It was a humiliating reminder of my 'unbuffness.' I felt like some fragile lilly in both name and body.
Whenever I got a break to go into town, to the temple, or even outside the city walls to appreciate the rolling green farmland at the height of the growing season, Gus followed along. If I said I wanted to go alone he'd throw the teenage equivalent version of a hissy fit, so to get him to shut up I'd jus
