A quiet weekday, classes were in session , the star students of Crystal Prep each took notes in their respective classes.
Lemon bobbed her head along to a headphone hidden by her hair. The teacher wasn't dumb, he was aware. Normally he would be upset by this, but as she was one of his best students, it didn't really bother him that much. Just how well was she paying attention?
"Miss Zest, where are we in the workbook?" He asked.
"Question 43, Mr. S!" She said cheerfully.
"Well, alright. So long as you aren't slacking off." He noted, "Just don't have it too loud."
As the next track began, Lemon felt that familiar urge to zone into the music. She fought it for a short while, but soon pictured the music video. She had told Indigo about it last time they hung out. What she didn't bring up was how familiar the tone of the song was.
She pictured the singer falling into the darkness, staring up at the light and wishing to have it in her life. Sinking in an endless ocean of gray and black. As the lyrics flowed through her, the singer began to look more and more like her friend. The red headed girl broke through the dark to find the light of the world.
She blinked back a tear. She knew that was possible, she just had to be there to help her stand.
She looked back up to the front, Mr. S was explaining something, but she wasn't sure when he began to speak. She looked back to her workbook and realized she was finished with the assigned problems, even looking over them to double check. With a shrug, she returned to class, letting the music play in her ear.
The bell rang for class and they began to pack up, Lemon heading out after a handful of students darted to their next lesson. She hummed along to the song as she walked. People often thought she didn’t pay attention to her surroundings, but in reality, she only lost track when she was really into a song. She ducked and dodged around the traffic of the hallway with ease, coming to a rare break in the flow of bodies.
“How come you didn’t tell me your dad was ex-military?” Indigo asked, catching her attention, she glanced over to see Indigo and Sunny by themselves in a corner.
“He was a tech guy, he doesn’t really bring it up often. He went to college thanks to them, got his engineering degree, so I guess I have that to thank for my bracelet.”
“We gotta come up with a better name for that.”
“Says you.” Sunny pouted, crossing her arms. “The Flare Smart Watch is a great name.”
“Now you’re just lying to yourself.” Indigo smirked, crossing her arms back.
“Listen, you-”
Seeing Indigo open up has been a fun journey. Despite the dark times. She watched Sunny as she poked Indigo’s chest, still going on with their argument. Sunny is to thank for all of this, really. She felt a warmth in her chest thinking about her newfound group of friends. Sugarcoat had actually been giving this more and more of a chance, Sour was getting help with her problem, Indigo was in a safe place. All because Sunny wanted to know more about Indigo.
“Hey girls!” Lemon said with a wave, joining them.
“Lemon, help! She’s gone mad!” Indigo whined, holding her hands up as if she had a gun pointed to her.
“Don’t think you can squirm out of this.” Sunny said, before turning to Lemon. “Good morning Lemon, how are you dear?”
“Only old people call people ‘dear’.” Indigo interjected.
“I will end you.”
“You two seem to be having a good morning.” Lemon giggled.
“Sunny’s threatening my life and you think we’re having fun.”
“You started it.” Lemon shrugged with a giggle.
“Betrayal!”
Sunny checked her watch, noting the time. “Isn’t this around the time Sour meets up with us?” Lemon nodded, pointing past Sunny.
“You have us scheduled?” Sour asked, with a raised brow. “And here I thought I made the choice to talk to you before the next class.”
“Okay, is it “Jump on Sunny” day or something?”
“Nah, that’s next tuesday. Check the calendar.” Indigo teased, pointing to her wrist.
“Ugh.” Sunny groaned as Sour chuckled.
“We’re your headache now, you brought this upon yourself.” She said, “Where’s Sugarcoat?” The group turned to Sunny, giving her an expectant look.
“Just because I like to keep things organized doesn’t mean I know where everyone is at all times.” She huffed, arms crossed.
“There’s no way you don’t know our schedules.” Sour said. “What’d she have last period?”
Sunny thought for a moment before sighing. “She’s on the other side of the school. She’ll probably be here soon.”
“Told you having a stalker could have it’s upside.” Lemon said cheerfully.
“Lemon, if you have a stalker, please talk to the police.” Indigo replied with a hint of concern.
The song in Lemon’s ear changed, a rock song starting up, but the lyrics caught her attention. She watched her friends as she lost herself in the music. Indigo leaned on Sunny’s shoulder, saying something to her, though what Lemon heard was “Secret love, are you there?” and her mind started to race. Music was so subjective, she could mold it into whatever she wanted, and that’s what made her love the medium so much.
The song, in her opinion, was about a couple where one was hiding a second relationship. Either a literal romantic relationship, or possibly just a secret passion that the singer was using to escape, but in this instance…
Indigo was rescued by someone who cared about her. The bond that formed between her and Sunny was strong. It became her escape. She took her away from the pain.
“Lemon, you still in there?” Sour asked, snapping her fingers in front of her face.
“Wha? Oh, sorry. I’m just jamming. Did you ask something?”
“Not really, I was just curious as to what you were zoning out to.”
“Just people watching with some tunes, you know how I do.” She grinned brightly, indicating the other two with her eyes. Sour glanced over, seeing Sunny shrug off Indigo’s arm.
“I swear, you’re such a pest.” Sunny pushed her friend back with a huff.
“Aw c’mon, teasing you shows that I like you enough to do it.” Indigo giggled.
“You’re all pests.” Sugarcoat said as she approached. “Were you waiting for me?”
“We were, do you have time to hang out today?” Lemon asked with a grin. Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Sugarcoat, you love us."
"I tolerate you."
"That's good enough for me." She shrugged.
"Didn't you have another song you wanted to tell me about?" Indigo asked as the group began to walk toward the parking lot.
Lemon's eyes lit up at the question. "Oh! Yeah, I got one. So this song is about the singer's journey. It's a cover of another song, but the first time I heard it was from the perspective of this character and it's sort of a bummer of a song. At least with how I understand it."
"Why do you like it so much then?"
"Her voice is beautiful." She said simply. "Plus putting the context of her story into it makes it hit a little harder. See, she always hated how deep her voice was and was actually teased by her family and one of her friends because she rambled a lot when she got excited." She explained. "It's just- the song references flower names during the chorus and shows images of them until the last chorus. I think it's really sweet how the video shows an image of her friends when she says 'Felicia'." Lemon said with an earnest smile.
Sugarcoat thought for a moment. "Happiness."
Lemon nodded. "She's finally found happiness with her friends and that's the cutest shit ever. Don't even try to argue with me."
"Aww, that is pretty cute." Sunny smiled.
"You've wanted something like that for a while, haven't you?" Indigo asked. "Sorry for dipping out on you when we were younger."
"Don't apologize. You did what you needed to. We're where we want to be now, that's what matters." Lemon said with a nod. "Don't forget that."
"I didn't take you for someone so sentimental, Lemon. I'm impressed." Sugarcoat admitted.
"You kidding?" She scoffed. "I'm an incredible softy." Lemon reached under her collar, tugging a necklace from under her button up shirt. "I carry memories with me." The necklace had a few odd things on it, one being a soda can tab. "This is from middle school, do you remember?" She asked.
"Middle school..?" She lifted a brow, trying to recall.
"Aw, that hurts Sugarcoat."
"Wait, give me a minute, dammit." She huffed.
"It goes to show that people can have noticeably different outlooks on events." Sunny said. "What seemed normal to Sugarcoat may have been special to Lemon."
"Was that the time I met you after band class?" Sugarcoat asked.
"Yeah!" She cheered. "You bought me a soda and cheered me up when I wasn't feeling too great."
"You said someone in your class was picking on you." She recalled. "You're one of the most musically adept people I know, it makes no sense. What could they have possibly come up with to insult you?"
"Well, that was around the time I was confirmed to have perfect pitch. The music teacher helped me find that out. I guess the other kids heard 'perfect' and aimed at anything I did wrong to prove otherwise." She shrugged. "So I'm not great with the recorder, so what? I can't be great at every instrument."
"This was after I bailed, wasn't it?" Indigo asked with a frown. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"You couldn't have known. Don't sweat it. Besides, I think you actually helped without knowing." Lemon glanced at Sugarcoat.
"How so?"
"Well, a few years prior. A certain jock got a scar on her forehead for sticking up for me." Sugarcoat said. "I never forgot that, you know."
"But you forgot sticking up for me." Lemon whined.
"That's not fair! I didn't go and beat them up or anything."
"You helped me a lot! I was getting some serious imposter syndrome."
"You couldn't have known what that was at the time."
"No, but I still have those feelings from time to time. I looked into it." She admitted.
"Lemon..." Sour said with a frown.
"I'm good! I'm in a better place, I promise. Listen, Sugarcoat, the reason I kept bugging you was because I knew you were nicer than you liked to admit. You talking to me that day really kept me from spiraling."
"You're exaggerating, all I did was tell you the most basic advice ever."
"I think it was a combination of you trying to help me and you opening up to relate to me." She said with a smile. "You didn't have to care, but you did and I appreciate it."
"You used to get picked on too, why was that?" Sunny asked.
"I-" She sighed. "I had a stutter for a long time. Speech therapy helped, but I can't stand remembering when I wasn't able to string together a coherent sentence."
"Is that why you blocked out that afternoon?" Lemon asked.
"Oh no, was I-"
"Yup. You were really frustrated with yourself. I don't think I've seen you more flustered since."
"Please, don't remind me." She sighed again.
"I never would have guessed. You've come a long way, Sugarcoat." Indigo said with a smile.
"Thanks. It can slip every once in a while, but not often."
"Okay, enough of the emotional stuff. Let's go get milkshakes or something." Lemon suggested.
"Please. Take the spotlight from me." Sugarcoat agreed as she, Sour and Lemon began walking together.
"We're an odd group." Indigo chuckled. "But I couldn't be happier." She put her arm around Sunny's shoulders as they followed after.
The shorter girl seemed to stiffen at first, but did not make any effort to shrug her off. "Odd? We're unique." Sunny corrected.
"Right. Right." She agreed.