Meliora - Emanate - 18

[lady_mab]

Liala Darcy

Every day so far, my twin has, without fail, appeared in the doorway to the classroom once the final bell rang and we would leave together.

It is an unspoken tradition that, until today, has never been broken.

I wait, five minutes, for the rest of the classroom to nearly empty, and when I look up, he is not there. And for a moment, I'm confused and betrayed.

What I do see, however, are three girls. Lio might not be standing there waiting for me, but Bri, Trisha, and Catalina are.

"Ready to go?" Bri, standing in the middle of the trio, asks.

"Yeah, just a moment." I shove the rest of my things into my bag and sling it over my shoulder. It's a Friday, still within mid-October, so we are going out for coffee and to entertain the idea of costumes for Halloween.

I join their number, grinning at the warmth that floods through my chest at how easily they have accepted me. It's thanks to this class, possibly even this game, that I am able to hang out with them.

"Lionel?" The call comes from the hall behind us, but I don't recognize the voice. There's not too many people that would call out to my brother, anyway. Most know that he wouldn't respond.

I still hesitate, though Trisha turns to look at me. The corners of her lips pull in concern.

"Are you going to turn around?" she asks as the stranger calls for Lio a second time. Are you going to respond to your brother's name, is what she means.

A shrug and an apologetic smile are all that I can manage. They don't understand that I am used to this, that it's a toss-up if people even recognize the fact that they're addressing me and not my twin. We're rarely apart, so it's generally not a problem.

I'm halfway through turning around when I hear the approaching student pull up short with a soft gasp. It's a girl I don't recognize, and for a moment, I wonder just when Lio managed to make a friend with someone without me knowing about it.

Her bright pink hair is pulled into a side braid that drapes over one shoulder, and there are a scattering of mismatched clips peeking out from the strands. "I'm sorry," she says as soon as my gaze lands on her. "I thought you were Lionel."

"It's an easy mistake," I say.

"You must be Liala?"

Still, I smile because I'm not my brother and I know how to be polite. "I am. Is there something I can help with? I can let him know that you were looking for him...?"

The girl blushes, and she holds her hands out in front of her to wave off my request. "Oh, no, it's nothing important. I was just--" Her gaze jumps to the girls behind me, and I suddenly realize what she's trying not to bring up.

If she's asking after my brother, then it can only mean that it's regarding the game that we're participating in.

My suspicions are confirmed a moment later when a bright, cheerful voice calls from one of the classroom doors. "Jun! Hey I was just about to call you--" Zoné appears at the girl's side, towering over her by at least two heads.

Lio mentioned that Zoné was participating, so this girl must be his partner.

Zoné's pale green eyes jump to me, and his grin doesn't even falter. "Lia, nice to see you! How you've been?"

He says this like we didn't just have class together an hour before. It takes a moment before he reads something on my face and follows up with, "I haven't really had the chance to talk to you since before summer break. Lio doesn't answer whenever I ask how you've been."

"Oh." I don't know how to respond to that.

Behind me, one of the girls makes a curious sound.

To his credit, his enthusiasm doesn't falter. "This is Jun," he says, and the girl at his side inclines her head politely -- though there is still some of the lingering embarrassment. "She just moved here from China!"

Jun follows this up with a fond roll of her eyes, so clearly this isn't the first time he's introduced her like this. "It's very nice to meet you."

I nod automatically in response. "It's nice to meet you too." I step aside and indicate to the girls behind me. "This is Trisha, Bri, and Catalina. We're in calc together."

There's a mixture of greetings and waves. Catalina, stars in her eyes, says, "I love your hair."

Jun beams and fiddles with some of the pink strands. "Thank you. I need to get it redone."

"Where do you get it done?"

"I did it myself a few months ago before leaving Beijing. Ah, but I did just recently meet a hairdresser who offered to redo it for me. I was considering dyeing it back to black, or at least something more natural looking, but..."

Catalina steps forward and fiddles with the tail end of the braid, fixing the way that the loose strands fall around Jun's face. "I think it's absolutely wonderful!"

"It certainly makes finding her in a crowd considerably easier," Zoné agrees, and his casual statement is rewarded with laughter. "Oh, yeah, did Ayu ever find you?"

"Ayumu?" I tilt my head to the side, remembering the way that he had casually approached me earlier this week with what seemed like a peace offering for a war I was unaware of. "Yes, he gave me an autographed headshot of Hideki for some reason..." My cheeks warm, especially at the jealous gasp from Trisha behind me. "He said to thank Lio for him, even though we have a class together."

Zoné's grin doesn't falter, but his hand twitches at his side. "Lio helped him out with something."

I remember my brother mentioning Ayumu and his phone. He never said what it was about. "It's about what he found--"

Something flickers in Zoné's expression, and this time the smile does dim several notches. Jun twists around to look at him, but he doesn't return the stare. "Yes," he says, simply, and then the grin is back. "Well, we'll leave you to your afternoon! Enjoy your Friday. We should all hang out sometime!" He says this all in a rush of energy, running all the thoughts together.

I don't know if he means the two of us, or the cluster of us standing in the hall -- or if he means me and Lio and him and his friends. I wonder if Jun is part of his clique, or if they are just partners of convenience for the game. She doesn't seem like she would fit in with a rag tag bunch of misfit boys, but then again, none of them really seem like they would be hanging out together in the first place.

"I'd like that," I finally say before the silence can stretch on too long. "I'll see you in class on Monday."

Zoné gives me a salute by touching his fingers to his brow and then glances down at Jun. "Ready to go?"

She smiles at Trish, Bri, Catalina, and me. "It was nice meeting you," she says politely, and then follows off after Zoné down the halls.

"What an interesting pair," Bri says, speaking up for the first time since we left the classroom.

"They're participating as well," I find myself explaining. "In Meliora." I turn back to look at them, waiting for some kind of answer to a question I don't even know how to ask.

Bri straightens her shoulders, glancing down the hall as if she could still make out the mismatched partners. "Oh, I see." She visibly brightens. "There's more students than I thought. Perhaps we should all hang out at some point."

The warmth that I felt before, when they waited to collect me from the classroom, returns to blossom in my chest. "I'd like that," I repeat.

I like being a part of something that lets me make these kinds of friendships.