Pink Triangle

by Briny Rivers

Chapter 3 - Wind in Our Sail

Wallflower slumped across the counter, red-tinged eyes locked onto the screen of her phone. It was Sunday, which meant Uncle was out at church and she was out at work.

On Sundays, she worked for a measly five hours at a local nursery garden. It was unlike the usual big-box store she usually bought gardening supplies from, being much smaller and specializing in gardening. Wallflower never bought supplies from her place of work either, since her paycheck going right back to her boss left a bad taste in her mouth.

Normally, she would be pretty content working at the nursery. Nobody else worked her shift on a Sunday, and her little project plants were nice to tend to among all the other plants. But today, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a little hole and disappear forever.

Her eyes were fixed to her text messages with Aria. They were for almost the entire day. And still, nothing. Only Wallflower’s last message from yesterday. No stupid memes, no three dots, nothing.

Sure, yesterday was a disaster, but it wasn’t enough to completely destroy their relationship, right? Even on weekends, they texted each other somewhat frequently—enough for Wallflower to get her Aria fix—but ever since she ran out last night, nothing.

Wallflower knew she was overreacting. After all, why not just message Aria first? Maybe Aria was waiting for her to do as much? Or was she going through the same thought process?

No, she was too cool for that. Wallflower, on the other hand, was enough of a loser to worry about sending a measly little text. So much so she had been constantly feeling like she was about to throw up, so much so she nearly collapsed in the break room while ugly crying just because thought about the possibility of losing Aria as a friend, so much so she had tear stains on her apron after using it to clean her eyes, so much so—

The silence of the nursery was broken by the ringing of the door opening, the little bell telling Wallflower to stop being such a wuss and straighten up for the customer.

Thankfully, there was nobody actually buying anything from a tiny garden nursery at 11 AM on a Sunday. Instead, it was Ditzy. Smiling like always, not a single trouble on her mind. Wallflower was really amazed by how carefree she could always be, but a normal upbringing with loving parents probably does that for a person.

“Hiya, Wally!” Ditzy chirped, standing at the opposite end of the counter with a smile, “How are you?”

Wallflower forced a smile. “Hey, Ditzy,” she croaked, her voice still temporarily ruined by all the quiet crying. Of course, Ditzy would immediately pick up on that, and thus the questions would begin.

Ditzy cocked her head, her smile now replaced by a frown. “Uuhm..you look like you’ve been crying..can I ask what happened?”

Wallflower tried to not appear irked by her question. She knew Ditzy wasn’t the best at reading the room, so to speak, so she couldn’t be mad. “..I would, uh, really prefer it if you didn’t. Sorry.”

“Ohkay, I understand,” Ditzy nodded. Of course, she said she understood and immediately went back to prodding Wallflower. “Soooo..how did your night with Aria go?”

Wallflower knew what Ditzy struggled with. She really, truly did. There was something remarkably defective in their makeup as human beings that allowed the two to connect despite how different they were from other people, and Wallflower recognized that in Ditzy. But that didn’t stop her from sometimes wanting to examine Ditzy like a specimen and see what went on in her head—not that she would ever tell Ditzy that much.

“It went..fine. Like all the other times—that we’ve, uh, hung out,” Wallflower mumbled. Seconds later, she only then realized how suggestive ‘spending the night’ with Aria sounded. Before Ditzy could cluelessly prod her further about it, Wallflower quickly changed the subject. “Uh, where’s Roseluck? She usually comes with you to see me here,” she questioned, hoping Ditzy would follow the conversation.

“Oh, yeah!” Ditzy beamed as if she had an answer, before quickly returning to a slight frown, “Sorry, all she said was she had to deal with some family stuff at home, so she couldn’t come..”

“Oh,” It was all Wallflower could say, accompanied by a dismissive shrug. She had a lot more important things on her mind, like the hot magical purple siren she was crying over just moments ago.

Referring to Aria as a ‘hot magical purple siren’ would certainly serve as fuel to the fire that was Wallflower’s guilt over her emotions.

“So, uuuhm..” Ditzy began after a small silence, “Do you want to relax in the break room? Roseluck isn’t here, but I know you get bored without anyone here. And your boss isn’t here today, right?”

Wallflower actually cracked a smile. Slacking off in the break room was better with Roseluck with them, but it wouldn’t be so bad with Ditzy.

“Yeah, I guess we could,” Wallflower replied, taking a quick glance to the door. The windows looking outside showed an absolutely dead street, very rarely having someone passing by.

“..alright, sure,” Wallflower decided, taking her apron off. If anything, some goofing off on phones with Ditzy would help her feel better.

“Uhm, can I ask why there are stains on your apron?”

“…I would really prefer it if you didn’t, Ditzy.”

---

Wallflower’s legs felt like they were about to fall out of their sockets as she speedwalked. The school day was over, and the final bell had finally rang. She didn’t have band class with Aria today, and neither of the two had texted each other yet. Now, she was walking to their usual meeting spot.

Her heart was nearly crawling out of her throat and out her mouth as she walked. They usually met right outside one of the exits, near the parking lot where Aria usually parked the van. The hallway felt like it was miles long, her fellow students blurring out of her vision as she walked. The dark pit in her stomach was growing more and more, threatening to throw her off of her equilibrium and send her head first into the tile floor. If that ever happened, she’d rather shatter into a million pieces than have to get back up.

The cold breeze bit at her skin as she stepped out through the exit, her eyes immediately scanning the campus surrounding her. The moment they settled on those familiar giant purple pigtails, her heart almost jumped out of her throat.

She must have made a really stupid noise, since Aria suddenly turned to face her. Her eyes widened as she looked towards Wallflower, her gaze momentarily faltering as they made eye contact.

“..Hey, Wallflower,” Aria hesitantly began. Upon noticing they were a little too far apart to have a conversation, she took a few steps across the snow to get closer. “..I—”

“I’m sorry for running out on Saturday!” Wallflower quickly blurted out, her words spilling from her mouth in a jumble, “I just—uh, it was really loud and..and I, it was loud when you guys were fighting and I really don’t like it when people yell and, and, uh I’m really really sorry!”

“Hey, hey,” Aria’s hand now rested on Wallflower’s shoulder, sending tiny shocks down her spine. “It’s..it’s fine, okay? Don’t worry about it, you dweeb,” Aria said with a tiny smirk, “You coulda texted me instead of waiting until today.”

“Uh, y-yeah,” Wallflower stuttered while rubbing her arm. “I was, uh..too nervous to..text you. I thought you’d be mad..or something. And then you weren’t texting me either, so I thought, uh..”

Aria rolled her eyes and took her hand from Wallflower’s shoulder, folding her arms and giving Wallflower a disappointed look that made her feel funny. “I wasn’t mad. Just..didn’t know what to say after all that. I’ll make sure we don’t yell anymore when you’re around anymore, though. We okay now?”

“Yes!” Wallflower quickly answered, the eagerness very obvious in her voice. The fact her relationship with Aria wasn’t ruined by her running out made her feel the odd yet exciting feeling in her stomach, not too dissimilar from how she felt when she felt guilty over her feelings for Aria.

Aria rolled her eyes, but she was clearly holding back a smirk. “Alright, alright, try not to be such a dweeb about it,” After a short pause, Aria frowned a bit. “I’m..sorry I called your sweater stupid. Y’know, when I was yelling at Adagio. It slipped.”

“Oh, gosh, it’s fine! I barely even remember what you all said, I wasn’t really listening..” Wallflower trailed off, an awkward silence soon forming after. Eager to keep things rolling, she broke the silence with an odd giggle. “Do you, uh..wanna hang out a little? As in, uh, right now. I mean, only if you want to but, I wanted to make up for when I ran out and I also just kinda wanted to but it’s really up to y—”

“Sure,” Aria bluntly interrupted, snapping Wallflower out of her rambling. “You got someplace in mind?”

Wallflower internally facepalmed as she recalled her original plan. Aria had made it a lot easier, thus negating the need to deploy her plan. But it was fine, she could still make it count!

“Uh, yeah! We could..go to a park nearby? For a bit, I mean. I don’t know how busy you are and if you should go home, but, uh,” Wallflower slowly trailed off. Surprisingly, Aria was simply watching her with a surprisingly patient expression—as patient as Aria could be, anyways. After a moment, Wallflower finally mumbled out, “..park?”

“Yup.” ..after a moment, Aria smiled. Just a tiny bit. “Pretty dweeby place to spend time at. Fits for you, though.”

“Yeah, I know..”

---

The two found a bench to sit on, now mostly wiped clean of snow and water thanks to Wallflower awkwardly wiping it down with her backpack. As they sat, Wallflower hugged her backpack in her lap—she unintentionally got her pants wet doing this—and dug around inside.

“Huh. This is..nice.” Wallflower could see Aria’s gaze was fixated on the scenery around them; the snow covered grass and trees and bushes, the gray-white clouds that preceded another batch of snow, and everything else that added to the atmosphere like the crisp breeze and the fresh smell of the air.

“Yeah, I pass this place when I walk to school..it’s really nice, but,” Wallflower paused as she continued sifting through her bag, “It gets kinda lonely. It’s really pretty all year round, though!”

“..Yeah..” Aria took a deep breath, seemingly taking in everything before turning to Wallflower rummaging through her bag. “What are you looking for?” She asked flatly, feigning disinterest as always. Wallflower always noticed when she did that.

“Just something I brought you..oh, here it is.” Wallflower pulled out something wrapped in tinfoil, offering it to Aria. Noticing her hesitation, Wallflower briefly panicked and blurted out an explanation, “I-It’s a sandwich! For, uh, you. I made it. As an apology.”

“Oh.” Aria took the tinfoil-wrapped sandwich, looking over it as if it was some kind of strange artifact. “I already said we’re fine, but alright.”

“I know, but..I already made it for you, so. I wanted to give it to you! Regardless of, the uh..reason I made it.” Seeing Aria was a bit confused, Wallflower hastily reached over and swiftly pulled the tinfoil off enough to reveal the sandwich. Turkey, mayo, and lettuce.

“Thanks..” Aria mumbled, looking at the sandwich with hesitation.

“..Is, something wrong? Oh, are you vegan or something? Geez, I really should have asked, I’m really sorry—”

“No, no. Nah. It’s not that. It’s just..” Aria sighed, her gaze moving to look at Wallflower out of the corner of her eye. “Just don’t say anything, okay?”
Upon receiving a hesitant nod in response, Aria returned to the sandwich and slowly opened her mouth. Where normal teeth were on humans—incisors, canines, etcetera—was razor sharp shark-like teeth. They were about as big as normal teeth and interlocked with each other as one might expect. By the looks of it, they were the only type of teeth she had instead of the varied types in human mouths.

“Woah..” Wallflower stared in awe, much to Aria’s dismay.

Aria retorted with a flick to Wallflower’s nose. “I told you not to say anything, dweeb..” She grumbled, her tone making Wallflower flinch a little. She only ever spoke like that to other people, but never Wallflower.

“—Sorry, uh..I wasn’t trying to be rude,” Wallflower blushed, a nervous laugh escaping her, “I think they’re cool! I’ve never seen your teeth before, but they’re..really cool, actually.”

Aria squinted, her face scrunching up a bit in the way that made Wallflower feel dizzy. “Cool? Not scary, or freaky?”

“No, no! Well, they might be scary, but..I’m not scared. I think they’re nice, they make you look..kinda badass.”

“Badass?” Aria snorted. Seemingly rid of any insecurities about her teeth thanks to Wallflower, she flashed a toothy grin. “You think so?”

Wallflower nearly fainted then and there. Thankfully, her blushing could be waved off as a byproduct of how cold she was. “U-Uhm, mhm! Yup! Badass!” The word felt a little odd in Wallflower’s voice thanks to her rarely saying anything profane and Aria noticed it too. They snorted and snickered together for a moment, leaning against each other as they tried to regain their composure.

“Hah, anyways..” Wallflower huffed out, just barely able to sit back up and calm down, “..could I, uh, touch them? Your teeth, I mean..”

Aria composed herself soon after, sitting up straight and looking at Wallflower with a confused yet entertained expression. “Touch them?” After a moment, she simply shrugged. “Sure. Why not.”

Wallflower was faced with Aria baring her teeth, seemingly given permission to touch her teeth. They were all interlocked, the sharp triangles looking ridiculously sharp even when her teeth were closed like this. Not to mention how they were very taken care of, white and glimmering perfectly.

“Okay..” Hesitantly, Wallflower reached over with a finger to try and touch them. Sure, she wanted to touch the sharp tips, but now she was more fascinated by how perfect Aria kept them.

Suddenly, Aria jolted and chomped at Wallflower’s finger, causing her to retract with a yelp and look over her index finger to see if Aria had bitten it clean off. Thankfully, she was only bleeding a little.

“That’s what you get for being weird about my teeth. I could have bitten your hand off, so be glad I like you,” Aria snickered, before licking at the teeth that caught Wallflower’s finger and had a smidge of her blood on it. “Not bad.”

Once again, Wallflower nearly fainted. Her cheeks were beet red and she was steaming, but Aria was thankfully oblivious to this and was now paying more attention to the sandwich.

Aria, seemingly devoid of any insecurities now, tore into the sandwich right in front of Wallflower. She ate it in a way her teeth might suggest, chomping and gnawing at it and barely chewing before swallowing. The sandwich was gone in what felt like seconds, which was thankfully enough time for Wallflower to compose herself.

“Thanks for the sandwich. I’ll accept your apology for the second time now,” Aria said while wiping her mouth of crumbs, “I gotta go now. ‘Dagi and ‘Nata are probably wondering where I am, and I gotta walk home.”

She stood up from the bench, hoisting her bag with her. Before walking off, she turned to face Wallflower. “Don’t avoid texting me this time, alright? Seeya tomorrow.”

And with that, Aria was walking off. Leaving Wallflower behind, heading home to a house that had warmth and friends and food and all manner of expensive things. All Wallflower had to return to was a cold, nearly empty thing that was supposed to be home and looked like a home but never felt like home.

“..it’ll be fine.”

Wallflower looked down to her still lightly bleeding finger, the tiny jolt of pain from being bitten by Aria now nothing but a memory.

Raising it up to her mouth, she licked the drops of blood from her small wound.

“..yuck.”

Author's Note:

I struggled in the middle of this chapter, but somehow got it done for this weekend despite slacking on it for a few days. Great! I won't say the weekends are my official update periods, but I do prefer updating during them.

The sirens having shark teeth is very, very, very appealing to me. Special thanks to my friend who told me to have Aria bite Wally, you know who you are.