"So, you're leaving then," a girl with light brown skin said, sitting down on the steps just below her friend. It wasn't quite a question, rather a statement of the inevitable truth. "I will miss you very much, but I am certain that a change of atmosphere and some new faces will be good for you. There is hardly anything you can pursue here and you will most definitely go far." Her friend just sighed, pulling out her earbuds. She leaned forward and took the other girl's long darker brown hair in her hands. Her fingers were thin and skilled, quickly twisting the thick hair into braids. They both stared out at the driveway for a moment, not speaking. Truth be told, there was very little that could be said. "Symphony Bloom and Toffee said they would have come to send you off, except that it was too early for them." The green-haired girl's heart sank. "They did write a letter to you, here." The first girl put it down next to her, a thick envelope that was neatly labeled and doodled on with small hearts and musical symbols.
The second girl was now done braiding her friend's hair and slid down a couple of steps to sit next to her. "Thanks," she whispered, her voice barely audible even in the early morning calm. There wasn't another person in sight, just the pale, waning moon and the few stars that managed to outshine the street lights. It was almost like there was no other person in the world, just the two of them and the infinite possibilities that lay ahead of them, a journey through the future and into the unknown.
"I could not bear to miss your last dawn here, Lemon," her friend replied as Lemon rested her head on her friend's shoulder. Words sat on the tip of the first girl's tongue but she swallowed them down, choosing to enjoy the gradient of pastel colors that streaked across the sky. There were so many things that could have been said but this last, oh-so-precious moment said them all for her. There had already been days of frustration and grief, of promises and promises that she intended never to break. Now was just the quiet acceptance and this last pocket of time they had together before it all changed.
"I don't want to leave," Lemon mumbled, pulling her knees toward her. "I don't want to leave here, I don't want to leave you! This place is home and I don't want that to change, I don't want everything to change!" Her body shook with quiet sobs, tears rolling down her cheeks. She had never cried in front of her friends, not even when she broke the news to them. She rubbed them away roughly, hoping that the other girl hadn't noticed yet, setting her jaw and staring off into the distance. Yet, another silvery tear slid down her face and she left it there, salty and hot. "Rano, I can't leave you." She added, once again quiet.
Soprano turned around and gripped Lemon's hands tightly, forcing the other girl to look straight at her. Lemon met her gaze for a second before ducking down as tears welled up once again. She blinked them away quickly and looked back into her friend's pale green eyes. "Lemon Zest," Soprano said firmly, "I love you and you know that no distance and no time could ever change that. I am always going to be just a phone call away from you and nowhere any further. We may not be able to control our current circumstances but we are going to do our best." Soprano pulled Lemon in for a hug, holding her there as the other girl cried into her shoulder, muffling her sobs. And together they sat until the pink and purple sky faded into a pale blue. It was time for Lemon to go.
"You are going to go far, Lemon, I just know it. Besides, if it serves as any consolation, Crystal Prep is supposed to be a good school. Don't forget the letter, here you go. Wait." Soprano pulled a sleek, black case out of her bag and passed it to the other girl. Inside was a pair of wireless, hot pink headphones with the pattern of a slice of pie on each of the ear cups. "D'you like it?" Soprano gave a hopeful smile, holding them out. "I know you really wanted a pair that was specific to you after the other one broke and you always draw those pies everywhere and I thought that-" she rambled nervously.
Lemon cut in, smiling broadly, "They're perfect, Rano, don't worry. I love them." Lemon paused before hugging the other girl once more, holding her tight like she was never going to let go. Whispering in Soprano's ear, she said, "I'll never go a day without thinking of you. I love you, Soprano Dawn, never forget that." They pulled away from each other and Lemon got into the car, her parents hurrying her along.
Soprano watched, as the car pulled away, waving. Both of them watched each other until the other was no more than a mere speck in the distance, a dot against the horizon. In the hand that had not very long ago been holding the headphones case, Soprano found herself holding something else, a mixtape. In permanent marker, it read: thnks fr the mmrs. All Soprano could do was smile sadly at it as she walked away. Moving on didn't mean to forget but you could not hold on to someone who wasn't there, you couldn't dwell on the past and get so caught up in your fantasy world that you forgot to live in the moment. She had never shared Lemon's taste in music but a mixtape was something that meant the world to her. Just because Lemon seldom spoke before they became close to each other didn't mean she didn't have a language of her own. Soprano shared that language, the language of music.
- memory -
"Oh, you're the new girl, aren't you?" A girl with pale pink hair asked, jogging to keep up with Lemon. "I don't remember you from elementary school, did you go to the other school across town? What's your name? I didn't catch it during class. Hey, wait!"
Lemon stopped in her tracks, fiddling with a pair of wired earbuds, her gaze focused on them. She coiled them around her hands, shifting her gaze to somewhere left of Symphony's sneakers. "I-I'm L-Lem'n... Zest," she managed audibly. She shifted her weight uncomfortably, shrinking into herself.
For some strange reason, Symphony was completely comfortable with this. "That's a pretty name, I'm Symphony Bloom and my friend here's Soprano Dawn. I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch with us." She was calm and relaxed in a way that even Soprano, cool and collected, was unable to rival. Lemon nodded slightly, looking up for a moment with the hints of a smile just beginning to form at the corners of her mouth.
"Th-thanks."
Symphony took off running with Soprano and Lemon trailing behind. "You don't have to talk, Symphony is a little overwhelming at times," Soprano said, trying to fill in the awkward silence.
Lemon shook her head, eyes on the ground. Her lime green hair fell into her eyes and she didn't push it out, instead fidgeting with it and forming a small braid. She stumbled over her words as she tried to respond, "C-can't talk v'wy w-well..." A pause. "Y-your hair's pwet- Your h-hair's nice." She looked up for a moment and Soprano quickly gave her an encouraging smile.
"Thank you," she replied kindly, touching the ends of her hair. Her father had cut her hair recently and she hadn't enjoyed the hair cut. Instead, she had been feeling rather self-conscious about it all day. "I see that you have earbuds, what kind of music do you listen to?" She asked curiously, unsure how to continue the mostly one-sided conversation.
Lemon's eyes lit up and she immediately took out her phone and began showing Soprano her playlists. There were playlists with almost every artist that Soprano had ever heard off and many that she hadn't. They were labeled with strings of colors, such as orange-pink and blue-teal-silver and cyan-gold-indigo. They were confusing labels but they probably made sense on some level. Having been friends with Symphony since pre-school, Soprano had gotten used to the other girl's many idiosyncrasies and while Lemon didn't speak very well, the girl was nice and perhaps just shy. Unlike her father, Soprano wasn't particularly judgemental of those around her, not constantly trying to associate herself with people of higher power. Besides, Soprano herself wasn't very talkative either and was quite comfortable with silence most of the time. Perhaps it was just that Symphony did more than enough talking for both of them and she, if Lemon decided to hang out with them, would also begin speaking on behalf of her.
"Oh hey! I like that song too," Soprano pointed out and Lemon grinned, plugging in her earbuds and offering one side to Soprano. And they two fell in sync, walking side by side. No words were necessary, just the quiet lack of silence that they shared. Very few people were able to see past Lemon's surface, how she wasn't quite nearly the same as other peers her age, seeming at once both more and less mature than them. Yet, the kindness of youth and the possibility of a blooming friendship was more than enough for Soprano to accept her. In fact, Soprano didn't just accept her, she rather liked her for the feeling she gave of, a sense of calm. It felt like Lemon was smiling even if she didn't show it. She didn't need words to show Soprano that she was happy or that she was grateful, her posture said it all. Somehow, that felt more genuine than words. That might have been because one can easily lie but for someone to completely radiate a feeling was something completely different. Yes, Soprano was sure that she and Lemon would get along just fine.