Lemon Zest stared at her homework, gripping her pen in her mouth as she held her head in her hands, tapping her fingers in time to the song that she was listening to. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't read the questions. Her brain kept focusing on the fact that, at this time, on any previous Saturday back at her old town, she would be hanging out with her friends. The words flickered in and out of focus, her vision blurring at the edges. The letters sharpened slightly but made no sense, she just couldn't read.
A knock on her door startled Lemon and she looked up hurriedly, turning down the volume of her music. "Hey, Zesty," Lime greeted cheerfully. He bounced up and down in place, not holding himself completely still. "Rue's in the city for the afternoon. Wanna go meet up with her at the mall?" Excitement crept into his voice and it was infectious. As much as Lemon knew that she should finish her homework, she couldn't help but agree with her brother. She held up a hand to him and he grinned, backing out of the room and closing the door behind him.
Lemon left her desk, stretching. She quickly changed into jeans and a band t-shirt with a collared, short-sleeved shirt unbuttoned over. The weather in the city wasn't the same as back in her old town, where everything was warmer and brighter. Maybe she was biased but the weather here was less summery, with the air too thin for her liking. She grabbed her phone and her wallet before leaving her room, shutting the door behind her.
Lime stood by the door, waiting. He was already dressed in a plain t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, looking a little out of place. "No polo shirt today?" Lemon teased as she threw on a pair of Cornverse.
"Ma! Pa! We're going out!" Lime called out. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "I would look like a joke next to you and Rue," he laughed. "You both are never formal enough."
"Or you're just not casual enough," Lemon retorted with a grin.
"Say hi to Kiyomi for us, sweetie!" A voice called out from the distance.
Lemon and Lime looked at each other and shrugged before leaving the house.
It was a short bus ride to the mall and the two soon reached in no time. The mall itself was packed with weekend shoppers, the overlapping noise clashing with each individual store playing a different song. Lemon turned on noise canceling on her headphones, fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt. She was beginning to wonder if it was better if she had just stayed home and finished her homework.
The two siblings sat at Starbucks, Lime busy on his phone while Lemon sipped on the overly sweet mocha that had been on the table in front of the siblings for a while, making a face. While her headphones drowned out the idle chatter of the people around her, the number in her line of sight still made her uncomfortable, something grey and muddy red. Lime looked a little out of it today, as he always did when something was bothering him. He was so carefree but he never really opened up easily, people just thought he did.
Just as she was about to close her eyes and tune out the rest of the world, Lemon spotted a familiar mess of light green hair in varying shades. A hand reached down and ruffled Lime's neatly smoothed hair, making it stand up at weird angles. "You can't hide the family hair," A voice laughed as the hand moved to pick up the drink which was now dripping in condensation and definitely diluted at the top.
"Rue!" Lemon said brightly, turning down her music to the lowest volume.
"How're my two favorite siblings?" The older girl returned, sitting down next to her sister, smoothing out her graphic t-shirt. "Done anything weird yet?"
"We're your only siblings," Lime said, though he laughed easily, relaxing noticeably. "If anything, the family hair is a curse. It never lies flat and when it does, some people make it stand up again."
"Grow it out a bit, gravity will take over. Embrace the family curse, even Lemon has," Rue suggested teasingly.
"Lime'll never do that," Lemon commented, a smile resting contentedly on her face. She fluffed up her hair a little, proving her older sister's point.
The older girl grinned. She was taller than the other two, just by a little bit. None of them had the same eyes but they all had the same uncooperative hair in the same colors. If anybody asked Lemon to describe her siblings, she would say that Rue was wild and studious, Lime studious and herself just wild. They worked it out somehow. Rue grinned, her cheek dimpling, as she took a sip of her drink.
"How's college? EISP?" Lime asked, leaning forward with interest.
Rue shrugged noncommittally, not particularly keen to discuss school. "Boring. I didn't come all the way here to talk about school." She pulled a face. "Well, actually, it is quite interesting. I have a lot of time to do my research project and I've met some cool people. Starlight is one of my friends, you've seen her before, I think. She's younger than me and she's only at college for EISP. There's also Sunset and she's got a little brother at Crystal Prep apparently. I mean, she hasn't seen him in years but apparently he's there. Also an EISP. I feel old. But enough about me, how's your new school, since you made me talk about mine?"
"Nyeh," Lemon muttered, unhappy that the questions were now directed towards her. "It could be better."
"Need me to beat up anyone for you?" Rue asked hopefully.
"I'd rather be in the Julliard or something, even EISP. Everyone at school's all the wrong colors and they all wear makeup. Makeup itches." Lemon looked away, rubbing the collar of her shirt.
Lime smiled distractedly, completely missing the point. "I'd like to apply to EISP." He was dreamy and a little out of it, as he always was when these kinds of things were brought up.
"Chill out, Limo, the youngest one in the entire history of EISP applied when she was a Junior and even so, she was a special case. You need to wait until you're a Senior at least." Rue turned to Lemon. "Lot's of people wear makeup in college, some start when they're in middle school. Don't let it get to you, you don't have to fit in all the time. I don't wear makeup often because it gets in the way with all the chemicals." She paused, taking in Lemon's emotions that glimmered just below the surface. "Although, I know somewhere that has a shade of eyeshadow that would suit you perfectly, wanna go check it out?"
Lemon considered the proposal for a moment, before saying calculatingly, "Last time, you said you'd take me to bleach out some of my hair. I still want to do that." She titled her head slightly, staring at her sister's left ear.
Rue grinned wickedly. "Let's do both. In fact, let's all go bleach out hair. Just a few streaks, huh?"
Lime hunched over, not meeting anyone's eye.
"Come on, Limo, I know you wanna. Mam and Da might kill me but you won't be in trouble. Some boys look pretty fetching in makeup too. Oh! What about glittery gel, your hair'll stay in place but you'll look great." Rue teased. She finished her drink and threw it away before grabbing both her siblings by the wrist and dragging them out of Starbucks.
"High school's a cutthroat place and you might have a tough time fitting in, especially people are pretty quick to judge. Makeup isn't something that's going to magically fix all your problems but it's something that you might end up liking anyway," Rue said, sitting on a bench next to her siblings. It was a nice day and the three had decided to head to the park after they finished up at the mall. "It sure didn't fix my problems, at least. The three of us have friends and we can be popular, nothing stops that from happening, but we're always going to be a little different. Mam and Da never tell you everything that goes on but we're not like other kids.
"I didn't realize it early on, unlike Lemon, but I don't think like the others. My brain's wired differently and that's perfectly fine, I was pretty popular all the way until Junior High. For me, that still wasn't enough. I could be a crowdpleaser but I would always rather be doing my own projects. Pretty early on, we all realized that Lemon was a special little thing and that doesn't change anything but you see the world differently, not everyone sees it as you do. People aren't always going to accept you for being different but you can't let it get to you. You'll always have both of us behind you.
"Lime, you aren't any different from the two of us. You've always been more of a noticer and a deducer, you see the world plainly, breaking it down to the base code, the black and white. We aren't people kind of people, we are driven by ambition. We have passions and we pursue them. Since an early age, we've all known what we want to achieve. Very few others have this kind of drive and passion and we can't expect them to have it, nor can we expect them to understand us completely." Rue paused, stroking Lemon's head as the younger girl lay her head in her sister's lap.
"There are people out there who are going to be mean, they're going to be jerks. I'm not telling you this because I want to scare you; I'm telling you this because it's true and I've experienced it and I want you to be prepared. I want to but I can't protect you from everything. I'm not going to hold you back either. Mam and Da might not always think so but you're both old enough to make your own choices and forge your own path. They're understanding but they don't want you guys to grow up so fast. I grew up too fast and left before they were ready for me to leave and that hurt them. You should never hold yourself back to wait for others but you should be open, to new ideas and to sharing your plans." Rue's tone dropped slightly and she softened around the edges. "I just needed to get that out there, I guess. I feel like I should pick up the pieces that Mam and Da don't quite catch. I want to be here for you two the best I can because school keeps me so busy."
The usually brash and impulsive girl quietened, revealing a hidden part of herself that so few had ever seen. "Don't make the same mistakes as me but don't be afraid to make mistakes. You need to fall sometimes, just remember to get back up when you do." She paused and her tone shifted again. "So then, tell me what your plans are. I know you have some. Now that I'm in college, I have some connections, I can hook you up."
Lime scratched the back of his neck before saying, "I don't actually want to join EISP, I just want to do my own thing. Ma and Pa say it's a little early to specialize but I want to look into cartography. Mapping and all that fascinates me, I guess."
"A hyperfixation," Rue smiled. "We're lucky to be different because hyperfixations are great. How about you, Zesty?"
"I saw a person at the mall with blue raspberry hair and birthday cake colors and they were wearing headphones and dancing everywhere. I want to talk to them." Lemon paused, trying to remember the question. "Oh, and I want some friends and to produce my own music. Rue?"
"Hm?"
"Can you do a research project on the colors and smells and the feelings?"
"Synaesthesia is a hard thing to research but it intrigues me. I've always had many questions about it, especially how your brain makes connections. The brain is fascinating and I would love to look into it and as well as the psychological aspects some time. Many neurodiverse people have multiple comorbidities and I would also like to look into why it is more common," Rue rambled dreamily, distancing herself from the world.
"Rue?"
"Limo, let me have this moment, most people at college can't be bothered to listen to me ramble. They're also stuck in their own projects and don't care for anyone else."
"Just like the people at Crystal Prep. Nobody cares for anybody and my classmates are weird. They only care about being the best and they don't care who they hurt to get to the top," Lime remarked thoughtfully. "Why can't people just stop and care? There is so much hate and indifference, would it kill them to just slow down and care about others? In stories, the hero always does so much harm for the greater good and that makes sense but they should still care about all the scared and manipulated people they had to cut down to get to the bad guy. Why can't people just care?"
Lime thought in stories, living in his fictional world most of the time. Back at their old home, he had been popular and carefree, although he still spent countless hours with his books and maps. When he was little, their parents had always worried that he'd never give the real world a chance. He stepped out in time, enough for their parents to not panic and ship him off to doctors, but at the end of the day, he still returned to books, his refuge.
He was a stark contrast from Rue at that time, who was inquisitive and boldly examining the world around her. She was never satisfied with simple answers and she always had to know more. Lemon was different. She hadn't talked until she was 8 and stuttered through conversations when she had to. Even with countless hours of speech therapy, it wasn't until she was in middle school that she had a reason to talk. Once she did, she had so much to say, it was a little hard to get her to shut up at times. She was the timid one who trailed around in the shadow of her friends until one day she wasn't.
"Rue, Mom and Dad say hi," Lemon whispered, clinging on to her sister tightly.
"Tell them I said hi back. I'll come home over winter break, I suppose. Unbox the things in my room and we'll figure things out. You have to let go now, kiddo. It's time for me to head back to my lab. I'll see you soon, yeah?" Rue ruffled the younger girl's hair affectionately. "If Mam and Da ask about the hair, say it was my idea."
"It was your idea." Lime stood a short distance away, his hands in his pockets.
"And so it was. My only regret is that we didn't tickle Lemon here to death today. School can be rough some times but you need to let loose, lil bro. You aren't usually this wound up and I'm only excusing you for today." Rue detangled herself from Lemon and gave Lime a quick pat on the head. "Until next time."
Just as she was about to turn and go, Lime clung on to her tightly, burying his head in her shoulder. "Don't go." His voice was muffled but the words were clear enough.
"I have to go, Limo. Look, you can call me later. I can tell when something's wrong and if you don't want to say it, at least drop me a text."
Lime nodded and the two watched, side by side, as Rue left. She disappeared among the crowd, leaving not even a telling mark on the ground. The only proof that she had ever been there today were the matching lightened streaks in the siblings' hair.