Old Friends

The house was lively when Yani woke up. She could hear her mother and sister having breakfast, which meant that she couldn’t- not if she wanted to avoid conversation with them. She dressed in slacks and a silvery shirt. June had helped her find it at a vintage store just a few months ago, and wearing the color helped Yani feel closer to Imon.

She snuck out the front door, but as she was walking to the train station, her stomach’s growls grew too loud to ignore. She looked around, spotting a cafe. It caught her eye with a colorful banner that displayed its signature dish, a seven pudding flight in all the colors of the rainbow. Taffeta Purin… Wasn’t that the new place that June liked?

Yani ducked inside, hoping to find a quick bite for breakfast. Instead, she came face to face with June, and who she had to assume was Kohl. His dark hair was almost as striking against his pale skin as June had described it.

“Yani?” June stopped in her tracks, her ice cream crepe going unnoticed as it melted in her hands.

“Um. Hi.” Yani responded, dumbfounded. Here were the results of blowing off a friend, come to bite her.

“Hold this.” June passed her crepe to Kohl, who immediately ate the ice cream that had started melting down the side. “What on earth have you been doing? I’ve been so worried about you!”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Yani sighed. “Could we… Sit down somewhere a little more private? I have something I’ve needed to tell you for a while.”

*

“Oh, Yani, I’m so sorry.” June sighed, holding Yani’s hand across the table. It was comforting in a way that only an old friend knows how to be. “If I were you, I'd have no idea what to do.”

“Yeah, but you wouldn't have to be me. Because your parents aren't complete psychopaths.” Yani sighed. She had devoured the breakfast sandwich with rainbow-swirl bread that June had been kind enough to treat her to. Yani tried to protest, but they both knew it was less about the money, and more to show that she forgave her. “I felt like I couldn’t talk to you, because talking to you was normal. And none of this is.”

“You’re right. It’s not. And this might sound insensitive, but… Is there a reason you can’t just straight up tell them no? Or even just run away? You could stay with me, and I wouldn’t tell anyone, I swear.”

“I don’t know… Maybe I’m just a coward, but I feel like there’s something stopping me. I could name a million different little reasons, but in the end, I’m just scared. I don’t know what my future would look like without this life. Before this, I liked my life. A part of me feels like if I just wait long enough, I might get it back. Another part of me feels like I want something completely different, but I don’t know what. And if I got that, it would mean leaving all of this behind.”

“Well, you’re not allowed to leave me behind again. But if you feel like you want a new life, you can tell me, and I’ll do what I can to help you get it. You deserve it.” June’s eyes flicked to Kohl leaning on a bench outside. He had stepped out to give them some privacy, for which Yani was infinitely grateful. “Everyone does.”

“You do too, June. Even if it’s a big change. And the opposite of mine.” Yani wiggled her eyebrows, laughing when it made June blush. This was nice. She felt normal, for the first time in what felt like forever. Everything had been moving so fast, and it still was. But even so, she had a friend. She would have to remember that next time.

*

Yani and June said their somewhat teary goodbye, and Yani promised, under the very serious threat of ice cream in her hair, not to leave June in the dark again. She boarded the train feeling confident about her future, even if there was no real reason for it. A warm conversation with a friend could just do that, she supposed. And maybe June had a point about running away, but she filed that idea away for desperate times. That was when you were supposed to save the desperate measures for, after all.

She didn’t feel desperate right now, exactly. Holographic advertisements played in the center of the train car where no one was standing, trying to convince her to buy hair products or watch the latest romantic stage show. When an advertisement for Tinsel, that pop star Terra liked, played, some girls near her took videos of it, hoping to tag Tinsel with messages of how excited they were for her album. If they were lucky, maybe they’d even get an automated response from her brand management account.

Yani pulled out her notebook. She flipped through the rough notes she had taken on schematics, hardware requirements, and even a few design notes. This was for her god, after all. If anyone knew how to best represent her, it would be Yani. As she looked through, she pulled up files she had downloaded for the ride, double checking her work and adding little asides for whichever of Terra’s friends ended up helping her.

Before she knew it, she had arrived at Terra’s station again. It was a little strange, being in a part of the city she had only been to with her alone. She couldn’t say she liked Terra, especially after the way she had treated her older sibling, but even Yani had to admit she had some charisma working in her favor. Yani had judged her so harshly at first glance, but Terra had been kind to her anyway. She had even made her laugh on the walk over, just a day after the worst news of her life. That took a special type of talent, something completely unrelated to her neuroscience studies.

Yani could admire it, especially since it didn’t feel like it was something she possessed. June was the exception, but Yani had never excelled at making friends. The only person she felt that she could reliably bring happiness to was Imon. She felt at least a little out of place everywhere except at the edge of her worshipwells.

Before she knew it, Yani was back in front of the Cygnus household’s front door. As she raised her hand to knock, it swung open. Terra was already standing there, grinning. And behind her, with a hand on her shoulder, much to Yani’s shock, was Trip.