Lemon Zest dug her teeth deep into the melon. Her lips tainted with its juice, she happily slurped the liquid out of its red fruit flesh, sucking it as dry as possible before she bit off the piece between her teeth. Drops of melon juice were flying around as she swung her head, her green mane swaying along. One drop landed on the screen of a laptop, the liquid creating a sheen of rainbow-colours on it. Angrily the owner of the laptop glared at the girl standing behind her, who casually munched on her melon.
“Your manners are terrible” Sugarcoat flatly told Lemon, a subtle, but clearly audible ring of annoyance in her voice.
Gulping down the melon Lemon shrugged, before biting off another piece. Sugarcoat mumbled something while she rubbed the melon juice off the screen with her sleeve of her uniform.
“Jeez, you’re treating that laptop like it’s your baby or something” Indigo remarked, looking from behind the bench over Sugarcoat’s shoulder.
“Well it is new” Sunny argued, sitting with her legs crossed next to Sugarcoat on the bench. “It’s understandable she doesn’t want it to get dirty.”
With a raised eyebrow Indigo looked at Sunny. “Why that?” she asked. Flashing a grin she put a thumb on her chest. “It’s bruises and scratches that give an item individual flair and personality!”
“That’s just an excuse for treating your stuff poorly” Sugarcoat said, not looking up from her laptop while Indigo threw some dark glances at her.
In front of the bench, Sour was walking up and down on the sidewalk, arms folded while looking rather annoyed at her friends. “I hope the bus will be here soon” she mumbled, glancing down the street. Seeing nothing but the morning sun shining on empty asphalt she turned back to her friends at the bus station, a sweet smile on her face. “Not that I don’t enjoy your company, but after spending the whole weekend with you guys - I’m starting to hate every single one of you” she grumbled.
Indigo chuckled. “You’re just mad you lost in ping pong - a hundred times!”
“Hey, I did beat you once!” Sour snapped at her, stemming her fists against her sides.
Rubbing her temples Sunny sighed. “Sour, sweetheart, tossing the ball between someone’s eyes does not count as scoring a point.” She flipped up her bangs, revealing a red spot on her forehead. “Especially when the one being hit isn’t even playing!!”
Lemon gulped down the melon in her mouth. “But such a rule would be really rats!” she smirked, wiping the juice off her smudged lips.
Sugarcoat rolled her eyes at the antics of her friends, before focusing on the screen of her laptop again. Leaning a little closer Indigo curiously peeked over her shoulder. “What’cha doing?”
Turning her head Sugarcoat glanced at Indigo, before staring back at her laptop. “Just setting up my desktop and preferences” she replied. “I just got this laptop on Friday. Didn’t have time to set it up yet because I’ve been fooling around with you guys.”
While Indigo frowned, Sunny leaned forward to look at the front of the laptop. “I’ve been meaning to ask that for a while, but what model is that? It looks rather expensive.”
“That’s because it is” Sugarcoat told her, tapping something into the keyboard. “I’ve been saving for it for months, and used up all my money to buy it. Which means one of you will have to pay my movie ticket on Wednesday. And probably all my other movie tickets for the rest of the year.”
Meanwhile, Sour was growing increasingly impatient, staring down the road while tapping faster and faster with her foot on the sidewalk. She pulled out her smartphone, scoffing as she looked at the time. “Is your bus always that late, Sunny?”
“Not really” she shrugged, smirking slightly. “It’s probably your bad karma.”
The cherry-haired girl growled. She was about to snap something back, when the sound of an engine approaching caught her attention. With a big smile she turned towards the road, contently noting a large yellow vehicle appearing in the distance. “Finally!” she chirped, picking up the backpack at her feet. “Was about damn time!”
Sunny got up from the bench and picked up her backpack lying under it, while glancing at her seat neighbor. “You should pack up your computer” she advised her as she shouldered her backpack. “The driver isn’t really famous for his patience…”
“I’ll pack up in the bus” Sugarcoat told her, not taking her eyes off her screen as she stood up. With one hand she held the laptop, while her other one continued to use the mousepad. “I’m in the middle of organizing my personal files. If I stop now, I have to start over again. Also, please carry my backpack.”
Though she scoffed at her friend’s blunt request, Sunny grabbed the second backpack stuffed under the bench. At the same time Indigo also grabbed her backpack, throwing a glance at Lemon who took another bite from her melon. “Come on Lemon, get going!” she told her. “You can finish eating at school.”
Lemon looked at the rest of the melon quarter in her hands, and nodded. Her mouth full of half-chewed melon pieces she put her head back, fighting a little as she gulped it all down. Suddenly the rocker girl’s eyes widened in shock. Frantically she hammered with one hand on her chest, coughing as she choked on the pieces of melon stuck in her throat. Realizing her friend’s dilemma Indigo immediately dropped her backpack.
“Uh-oh… hang on!” the athlete yelled, getting behind Lemon. Wrapping her arms around her Indigo pressed her thumbs against her chest. Lemon gargled, before a red bulb came flying out of her mouth. Flying straight forward the munched mass of melon headed for Sunny’s face. With a loud “splat” it landed right on her cheek. A blank expression on her face Sunny slowly turned her eyes towards the red spot in the corner of her sight. The goo was clinging to her skin, little chunks dripping off.
“EEEEEEWWWW!!!!!” Sunny’s high-pitched scream echoed through the neighborhood. Dropping Sugarcoat’s backpack she jumped on the spot, while flailing her arms through the air as if she tried to shake something off them. “Gross gross grossgrossgross GRRROOOOOOSSS!” She kept screaming while gesturing in panic. Her friends all gave her slightly bewildered stares, except for Sugarcoat who was still focused on her laptop. Suddenly Sunny jumped over to Sour, who was too perplexed to react as Sunny grabbed her hands. “GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!” she screamed, rubbing Sour’s hands over her cheek.
As she felt the red stuff on her fingers Sour immediately tried to jerk her hands away. “WHY ARE YOU USING MY HANDS?!” she screeched.
“I DON’T WANT TO TOUCH IT!!” Sunny tried to press Sour’s hands back on her cheek, while Sour did her best to pull them out of her grip. In their struggle they moved around on the sidewalk, looking like they performed some sort of modern dance. Finally, using her whole body Sour tore free from Sunny. This however caused her to stumble backwards, almost tripping over her own feet. Just as she was about to find her balance again she fell over Sugarcoat’s backpack. Shrieking she tilted backwards, right to where Sugarcoat was standing. The white-haired girl finally turned her gaze away from the screen, her eyes widening as she realized her friend was directly falling towards her. Both girls screamed as Sour fell on top of her, forcing her to drop the laptop as she was dragged to the ground. Her glasses almost fell off her face when she hit the hard sidewalk, while the hair of Sour’s ponytail got scattered all over her face.
Raising her head Sugarcoat glared at Sour who was lying on top of her. Her friend sheepishly smiled back, with a look on her face that screamed “Whoops.” Quickly she retreated, allowing Sugarcoat to get back on her feet. Behind them the bus approached the station, and slowed down. After brushing some dirt off her clothes, Sugarcoat took a look around. “Where’s my laptop?” she asked.
Suddenly, as the bus rolled to a stop behind her, Sugarcoat heard metal and plastic crunching, as if something was being crushed under a massive weight, before it abruptly turned silent again.
Paralyzed Sugarcoat stood on the spot, her eyes bulging behind her glasses. Not daring to turn around she stared at her friends. The four girls all looked behind her at the street, the look on their faces confirming Sugarcoat’s suspicion. A little hesitant she turned her head around. As she saw the crumbled pieces and wires scattered around and beneath the tire of the bus she dropped her shoulders slightly, while letting out a small, but very frustrated sigh.
“You got some of that melon left, Lemon?” Sugarcoat asked dryly. “I could use something to bite into right now.”