Moondancer's Memories

by InfiniteDreams

Did I do something wrong?

Moondancer and her parents were sitting in the living room, as they had been for the past hour or so. They had been informed of what was happening, and sat her down for a long discussion. However, they weren’t mad at her as she was expecting, but more disappointed that she felt like she couldn’t talk to them. Moondancer was relieved to say the least, and now her life could finally go back to normal…hopefully. She had been sent home early today, since she was having a panic attack in the office. She wasn’t happy to be missing out on the classes, and she hadn’t missed a day since she transferred to Crystal Prep. But even she admitted that it would do her good to go home.

“So, you’re really not mad at me?” Moondancer asked her parents once again.

“No, of course not!” her mom replied, pulling her into a hug. “We’ve told you, sweetie. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yes,” her dad agreed. “And this other girl better be getting in big trouble. Or else you’re not going to this school anymore.”

Moondancer was quiet for a moment. “It’s been scary,” she finally spoke up.

“I know it has,” her mom said. “But please tell us if anything like this happens again. What if that girl actually did something to you?”

“I know, Moondancer sighed. “I should go to my room and do today’s-”

“Don’t worry,” her mom told her. “You have plenty of time for homework. Don’t you want to do something more relaxing?”

“It is, mom,” Moondancer replied. “I love it. I think I’m going to start.” She started off towards her room. Maybe she could also call Sunny Flare. It was 3:30, so school should be out.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Moondancer dropped her bag on the desk and sat down, picking up her phone. She dialed Sunny Flare and after a few seconds, she answered.

“Hey,” Sunny said. “So, Sour Sweet and I are just leaving school and you’ll never guess what’s happening to Indigo Zap.”

“Tell me everything,” Moondancer said.

“She’s getting kicked off the basketball team,” Sunny informed her.

“Really?” Moondancer said, a little too excitedly. She shouldn’t have been happy to hear about someone else’s problems, but Indigo had it coming.

“Well, just temporarily,” Sunny explained. “Only to teach her a lesson. She probably would have been expelled from school entirely if they didn’t need her so badly. It’s only for a month, but she’s absolutely distraught. And it’s lovely to see.”

“I can imagine,” Moondancer laughed.

“But she has been warned,” Sunny continued. “If she touches you even once, she’ll be expelled immediately. Oh, and her parents are really disappointed in her. The last thing I heard when they got in the car was that they were having a very serious discussion when they get home.” The 2 girls laughed.

“So, what are you doing now?” Sunny asked. “Don’t tell me you’re studying again.”

“I don’t know why everyone thinks I hate studying,” Moondancer said. “Like it’s just something to get out of the way. I love it.”

“Aww, great,” Sunny replied. “Well, in that case, um…I did have a few questions on today’s papers. Since you enjoy it so much, wanna help out a good friend?”

Moondancer felt her happiness disappear. She still had this problem to take care of…but not right now. Next time, though, she would tell them how she felt. “Oh, um…sure.” she agreed.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

After completing her homework, and just her own today, Moondancer felt a lot better. It was around 6:00 in the evening, and she had a lot on her mind. She still wasn’t sure what to do about her friends. She didn’t want to give up on helping them, but she felt like it wasn’t her responsibility either. Unable to make a decision, she decided to talk to her mom about it.

Moondancer approached her mom as she was cooking dinner in the kitchen. “Hi, mom,” she greeted. “Do you have a minute?”

“What is it?” her mom asked.

“Well, it’s just a- a question I had about friendship,” Moondancer explained. “So…did you have a lot of friends when you were my age?”

Her mom stared off in thought for a moment, then came to an answer. “No, actually. I struggled to make friends when I was young. People would approach me, but I was very anxious, so I usually avoided it. Until I went to college, I didn’t have that many friends and still then, I only had a few. I’m not sure how much I can help you.”

“You can,” Moondancer said. “So, these few friends…what did you do with them?”

“Oh, well, all sorts of things we enjoyed,” her mom explained. “Going out to the park, going for ice cream, just staying in and watching movies, all those types of things. You can do them alone, but it’s more fun with friends.”

Moondancer thought to herself. That did sound like she and her friends…sort of. “Do friends help each other?”

“Of course,” her mom replied. “That’s what makes you even closer.”

“Okay,” Moondancer said. She was starting to believe that she had been overthinking all this time, and it was just a normal friendship. “To what extent do you help them?”

“Well, of course if it’s not good for you, then you need to stop helping,” her mom said. “Or if the things they ask for put anyone else in harm’s way, or if it’s illegal of course.”

“Oh, okay,” Moondancer replied. “So, if they call you every day for the same thing then…”

“If you don’t mind, then you can help,” her mom continued. “But if you do, then you need to speak up and let them know. For instance, ‘hey, I’m not okay with doing this anymore’. Okay?”

“Yes, I think I got it,” Moondancer said. This was about the answer she had been expecting. Then she had another thought. “But what if they’re upset that you tell them no?”

“If they are your friends, they will understand,” her mom explained. “They shouldn’t even need a reason. Real friends would never push you to do something you’re uncomfortable with or takes too much of your time.”

“Thank you, this really was helpful,” Moondancer thanked her. She walked away, heading back to her room to listen to the rest of the newest Adagio Dazzle album. She had been excited for a while, but couldn’t really enjoy it until she got these thoughts out.

“Moondancer?” her mom’s voice stopped her. She turned around. “Why did you ask me this?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Moondancer reassured her. “You gave me all the answers I needed. I’m going to my room for a while, let me know when dinner is ready.” She continued up the stairs to her bedroom, hoping her mom wasn’t too suspicious.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The next day was Saturday. Moondancer got up and completed her morning routine, had breakfast, and returned to her room to call Sunny Flare. She didn’t have any plans for the day herself, so she thought some quality time with her friends would do her good.

“Hello Sunny Flare,” Moondancer said. “Are you with Sour Sweet?” she knew the answer already, though. It seemed that they were never apart.

“Yes, actually,” Sunny answered. “We’re just taking a walk together around our neighborhood. What is it?”

“Well, since it’s the weekend, did you want to do something together?” Moondancer asked.

Sunny’s tone changed, and suddenly she sounded nervous. “Oh, uh…well, actually-”

“I’m sick!” she heard Sour Sweet exclaim in the background.

Moondancer tried to put the pieces together. “What? Sick? Then what are you doing walking around the neighborhood?”

“I was feeling better for a minute,” Sour Sweet replied. “But now I am, uh…very sick again. Sunny, we need to head back.”

“Oh no, that’s a shame,” Sunny said. “Well, goodbye Moondancer, I’ll call you back.”

“Wait!” Moondancer tried to get her attention, but Sunny had already ended the call. That was very strange, to say the least. Especially their almost…panicked tone of voice. She felt bad that Sour Sweet was sick again, but then she remembered she had another friend. Sugarcoat! Perhaps she would want to join her and go out somewhere. Moondancer found her contact and called her.

“Hello, Moondancer,” Sugarcoat answered. “What do you need?”

“Good morning, Sugarcoat,” Moondancer said. “It’s the weekend, and since my other friends are…unavailable, do you have any plans? Or can we do something?”

“I’m not busy at the moment,” Sugarcoat replied. “I’m going to be working on the school project in the evening.”

“Great,” Moondancer said. “I have an idea.”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Moondancer and Sugarcoat walked through the plaza downtown, each of them carrying a bag from the book store. She was kind of glad to have another friend who loved reading and learning new things. The plaza was quite crowded today as it was the weekend, especially close to the café they were approaching.

“So, why didn’t your other friends want to come?” Sugarcoat spoke up, looking ahead to the café.

“Sour Sweet is sick, unfortunately,” Moondancer explained. “And Sunny is apparently…taking care of her. I would have gone to hang out with them and do some calm things, but she kind of just hung up. Something must have come up, she said she’d call me back as soon as she could.”

“And when was that?” Sugarcoat asked, still keeping her eye on the café.

“Um…2 hours ago,” Moondancer realized as she looked at her watch. “Maybe Sour Sweet needs something, right? And she’s just worried, she might have forgotten.” She tried to think of every possibility. It wasn’t like her friends would just not want to hang out with her.

“Moondancer, I don’t think anyone needs to be worried,” Sugarcoat said, pointing to a table outside the café. Moondancer finally glanced over and couldn’t believe her eyes. Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet were sitting there together, having food.

“Sour Sweet doesn’t appear to be sick,” Sugarcoat pointed out.

“I- I can’t believe it,” Moondancer stuttered, in shock. What were they doing out? Why didn’t they call her? “Sunny Flare said she was-”

“Well, the most likely reason is that they were lying,” Sugarcoat interrupted. “I think they’re trying to avoid you.”

“No, it doesn’t make any sense,” Moondancer said, trying to convince herself more than anyone. The 3 of them are best friends…right? Moondancer was just hoping to wake up from this dream. The 2 girls were talking and laughing, and Sour Sweet was obviously far from being sick. Moondancer thought back to the conversation she had with her mom the night before…and finally realized what was going on. She needed answers, now. Just as she was about to walk over, a voice called from behind her.

“Hey, Moondancer,” a girl called. Moondancer turned around and fear overtook her as Indigo Zap approached her. As she got closer, Moondancer noticed that her make-up was messed up. Had she been…crying?

“What are you doing?” Sugarcoat asked Indigo as she stepped in front of Moondancer. “You can’t cause any damage to her, and you’re in enough trouble.”

“I know, I’m not going to!” Indigo exclaimed, seeming surprised that Sugarcoat would say such a thing. “Why would I want to hurt her?”

Moondancer was lost for words for a moment, but then she spoke up. “Because you said that was exactly what you would do?!”

“Oh, right,” Indigo admitted. “Well, uh…I just wanted to say that…I don’t- ugh, here.” Indigo took a paper out of her pocket and handed it to Moondancer. “My parents made me write it.”

Moondancer opened the letter and read it, Sugarcoat looking at it as well.

Moondancer, I’m sorry for asking for your help so I did not get kicked out of school.

Moondancer stared at Indigo, unable to believe that she couldn’t just own up to her actions. She was so immature. “Indigo, I think you did a little more than ‘ask’ for my help,” Moondancer said.

“Well, whatever,” Indigo replied. “Just accept it! I said sorry, okay?”

“It’s the best you’re going to get,” Sugarcoat told Moondancer. “Let’s leave it.” she looked back to Indigo. “What are you doing here at the shops anyway? Shouldn’t you be at the basketball game, or watching at least?”

“Yeah, not till later,” Indigo explained. “First, I had to track you down and give you that letter or I’d be grounded.”

“Well, alright then,” Moondancer laughed. “See you, um…later,” she waved awkwardly as Indigo took off. At least her parents were good people. She watched as Indigo got in a car and they drove off, and as she was just starting to wonder how they had found her…she remembered Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare. Moondancer quickly turned back towards the café to see what they were doing now, but they were nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, where did they go?” Moondancer asked.

“Maybe they finished,” Sugarcoat said. “Or they saw you and didn’t have an explanation, so they’re hiding.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Moondancer thought aloud.

“Well, if they’re helpful to you in anyway, just ignore it-”

“No!” Moondancer shouted, cutting Sugarcoat off. “I’m sick of this! I mean, are there even any real friends in Crystal Prep? Or does everyone just want to gain something from someone else?”

Sugarcoat waited patiently until she had finished. “For most people, it’s the second,” she replied casually.

“Well, what about you?” Moondancer asked her.

“Think about it,” Sugarcoat started. “Am I gaining anything from my friendship with you, related to school?” Moondancer thought for a minute, but couldn’t come up with anything.

“You see?” Sugarcoat continued. “I was told to make more friends, but I genuinely enjoy my time with you.”

Moondancer calmed down a little, realizing she was right. “Well, thank you.”

“Now, let’s keep shopping because no matter how much fun we’re having, I need to get home by this evening.” Sugarcoat told her. Moondancer smiled, and they continued down the path to the next store.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

It had been a long afternoon of shopping and fun. They had decided to stop in at the café the other girls were at and get some food. Moondancer had gotten tomato soup, her favourite. It always comforted her, and she was very anxious today, but she had pretended she forgot about it. She hadn’t, though. It was about 7:00 now, and she had finished her own school project and now she was on her computer. She tried to give Sunny a few hours in the evening to get back to her, but when nothing ever came, she decided she’d waited long enough.

Moondancer picked up her phone and dialed Sunny Flare.

“Hello?” Sunny’s voice came from the other end.

“Hi, um…” Moondancer started, then looked at the clock. “It’s been 9 hours since you said you’d call me.” There was a pause.

“Moondancer!” Sunny laughed weirdly. “I am so sorry about that. You see, right after that happened, Sour Sweet…threw up! All over the sidewalk. And then I got her home to rest, but before we walked in the door, she…passed out! Right on the doormat. So, we had to uh, take her to the emergency room. It was awful. Long wait. She needed me to be right there with her. And then she was sent home, but she needs to rest tomorrow too. So, I’m sorry. I really just forgot.”

Moondancer wasn’t sure how to react to that chaotic story, seemingly put together at the last minute. “Oh…so you didn’t go anywhere else today?”

“No, why would we?” Sunny said. “She was very sick, let me tell you. and if we were going out, we would have called you, silly.”

Moondancer’s suspicions were confirmed. Sunny was outright lying. She felt tears coming, and did the only thing she could. “Okay. Bye Sunny Flare.” She hung up and put down the phone, collapsing back on her bed. She stared up at the ceiling, deep in thought. A few tears escaped her eyes, as she took a deep breath to calm down. Maybe…there was still some reasonable explanation.

What’s going on with my friends? Do they hate me? Did I do something wrong?

🌙✨🌙✨🌙✨🌙✨🌙✨

Comments

[Zerocool7785]

Moondancer cut everryone but Sugarcoat out. I also csn't believe this story had no reviews it's great.