The Meeting

Over the next few days Dawn got to know more and more about Pic. She had a tendency to say something, and then explain it after so that Dawn wouldn’t get offended. The first couple times she did it Dawn had gotten a little miffed. She’d interpreted the action as Pic not trusting her to understand what she was trying to say. She had since come to learn that it wasn’t because Pic didn’t trust her, but that she didn’t trust herself to properly articulate her thoughts. With that bit of knowledge in mind, Dawn found Pic’s tendency endearing.

Dawn had also learned a few other things about Pic. She was roughly the same age as her. While Pic had yet to give an actual number, Dawn was convinced that she was still a teenager. Dawn herself had told Pic that she was in high school. That bit felt like a lie since Dawn wouldn’t technically start high school until the end of the summer, but she wasn’t in middle school either. That transition period was confusing enough without trying to describe it.

She was very bad at starting conversations. Usually she’d either wait for Dawn to start a conversation or, more commonly, send Dawn a message that asks if she wants to talk but doesn’t actually bring up a topic. Either way, Dawn is the one deciding the topic. It was a lot of pressure each time. Pic threw herself into each conversation, that much was obvious. However, just because she went along with it and did her best doesn’t mean that she enjoyed it. But those few times Dawn started a conversation that Pic truly enjoyed were magical. They made Dawn want to find more topics that Pic loved.

She’d had friends before, but never like this. Never had she been in a friendship where she wanted to try so hard. She used to just go with the flow, but with Pic she wanted to control the course of the river. Take their friendship further and further. Dawn wondered if this was what having a best friend was like.

Dawn was broken out of her thoughts by her phone chiming. She reached over to her desk and held it up to check the message.

Pic: What are you up to?

Dawn started to answer and blushed. She had sat down to work on The Demonic Bond. She intended to add more detail to Reign and August’s time in the cabin, and had pulled up the picture that Pic had sent her to see if there was anything in there to include. That had been what led to her thinking about Pic in the first place. She definitely couldn’t tell Pic she’d been thinking about her.

Word: Not too much. What about you?

Pic: About the same.

Pic: When’s your birthday?

Pic: You know, if you wanted to tell me.

Pic: If you don’t, that’s okay.

Pic: I’m sorry, forget I asked.

Dawn smiled fondly. Only Pic could ask a question, and then talk herself out of asking it. Dawn waited a moment to see if Pic sent any more messages. Perhaps it was cruel of her, but she always found it adorable when Pic got like this. When Pic didn’t say anything more, Dawn responded appropriately.

Word: April 18th

Pic: Oh. Thanks.

Word: When’s yours?

Pic didn’t respond immediately. That alone was unusual. She always made a point to start responding immediately whenever Dawn said anything. Dawn started to get worried. Before that worry could grow too much, Pic finally started typing. The typing icon stayed on screen for a few minutes before Pic’s message came through. Dawn’s worry only grew. It should not take that long to type a date.

Pic: August eleventh.

Word: August 11th?

Pic: August eleventh.

Word: The August 11th that’s just a few days away?

Pic: Unfortunately.

Word: Okay then

Dawn waited a few minutes to see if Pic had anything else to say. When she didn’t say anything, Dawn shrugged and put her phone down. No sooner had it left her hand it chimed. Dawn smiled slightly and lifted it back up.

Pic: Do you plan on getting The Demonic Bond published?

Dawn hesitated. She desperately wanted to have it published. But the act of publishing it? Having people know her, Dawn Hampton, as an author? Being irrevocably linked to The Demonic Bond? She didn’t know if she could handle that. She wanted it, but going through with it was beyond her ability.

Word: In a perfect world

Pic: What is your perfect world like?

Word: You know, I’ve never actually thought about that

Pic: Really?

Word: Is that weird?

Pic: Maybe not in general, but to me yeah.

Word: So you know what your perfect world is?

Pic: I do.

Word: Tell me about it

Pic: You don’t want to hear about that.

Word: Yes I do

Word: Maybe it’ll give me some ideas on how to figure out mine

Pic: Don’t expect anything too special.

Word: It’s special to you

Pic: I suppose it is.

Pic: I’d live in a small house. Not so big that people in it can feel isolated. There’d be lots of books. Books on any and all subjects that interest me. I’d probably try and organize them, but I can already tell that’s a losing battle. I’d have a cat. She’d be very cuddly. The walls would all be painted in bright colors. Lots of pictures of my family on every surface imaginable. All in all, it’d be a home.

Pic: I don’t care what else there is, what else my life is like. As long as I have that, it’d be perfect.

Word: Wow

Pic: Well? Did that give you any ideas?

Word: A couple

Pic: What are they?

Word: Just a warning: they’re not as good as yours

Pic: I disagree.

Word: Fair enough

Word: As you already know, I’d be an author. A proper one. I’d have that as my career. And I’d like to meet a nice girl and settle down. We’d have a dog. A big one. And a big backyard with plenty of room for him to run around. We’d live a quiet life. Nothing too exciting. Of course, we wouldn’t let things get too boring either. A boring life is, well, boring

Pic: You’re not wrong. Boring lives are hardly worth living.

~θ~

Dawn stifled a yawn as she walked into the kitchen. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. Between talking with Pic and working on her latest project, both of which happened simultaneously, Dawn didn’t get to sleep until it was nearly morning. She managed a few hours before it was officially daytime and she couldn’t put off getting up and starting her day. Still, she didn’t exactly get a full night of sleep.

All these factors culminated in a very tired Dawn not noticing her mother sitting at the kitchen table expectantly. Dawn didn’t notice her when she walked in. She didn’t notice her when she opened the fridge and pulled some eggs out. She didn’t notice her when she was cooking them. She didn’t notice her when she finished cooking and moved them to a plate. She did notice her when she turned around and finally looked at the table.

“Hi,” Dawn said awkwardly. She still wasn’t sure how to act around her mother. “Want me to make you some?” she asked, holding up the plate of eggs for emphasis. Not that she needed to.

“No thank you,” Mia said carefully. She gestured for Dawn to sit across from her. “I need to talk to you.”

“Okay,” Dawn said, sitting down. “What is it?”

Mia cleared her throat. “Did Noah ever tell you how we met?”

Dawn frowned at the mention of her father. “He said it was at school,” she said, keeping her voice even. The same as she always did when she talked about her father. Otherwise she’d devolve into a sobbing mess.

“The Yardley Academy,” Mia said with a nod. She hesitated. “It’s a very good school.”

Dawn tried to keep her face blank. She really did, but a stronger person than her would have struggled to keep the dread off her face. “Dad had good things to say about it.” Dawn managed to keep her voice even, at least.

Mia cleared her throat. “They have a policy,” she said. “Children of previous students can attend for reduced tuition.”

Dawn wasn’t stupid. She was aware of several facts. First and foremost, she was still a minor and couldn’t actually fight her mother on this. But even if she could, there was another reason not to. She knew that, financially speaking, they were struggling. It made sense. Her mother’s job at the hospital could support her well enough. Perhaps, in different circumstances, she would have been able to support herself and Dawn just as well. But she hadn’t been expecting to have Dawn dumped on her with no warning. No one had. A very good education for a reduced cost and with the perk of lifting the burden of having to support her daughter for most of the year? Mia would be crazy not to take that route. Whether Dawn wanted it or not.

“When do I leave?” Dawn asked.

Mia blinked. She clearly hadn’t been expecting that. Whether she hadn’t expected Dawn to figure out where the conversation was heading or she hadn’t expected Dawn to go along with it was unclear. Dawn didn’t want it cleared up. After a moment to gather her bearings, Mia spoke up. “The twenty-fifth. You’ll have a few days to get settled before classes begin.”

Dawn nodded. She stood up, abandoning her untouched breakfast, and walked upstairs. Three weeks. She had three weeks before being shipped off. Dawn took a deep breath and pulled out her phone.

Word: What’s your least favorite genre?

Pic: For literature or just in general?

Word: Just literature, for now

Pic: Horror.

Word: May I ask why?

Pic: I’m a coward.

Pic: What’s yours?

Word: Probably history

Word: Don’t get me wrong, I can see the appeal to the genre, it just doesn’t appeal to me

Pic: Cute wordplay.

She didn’t want to think of anything. She didn’t want to think of her dad. She didn’t want to think of her mother. And, most of all, she didn’t want to think of the Yardley Academy.

897

It was safe to say that Eliza liked Word. She was patient. She was kind. Both those things became inherently obvious whenever Eliza forgot that Word might like to talk as well and started rambling. Well, as much as she could over texting. Sometimes Eliza got frustrated with how she only had the one way to communicate with Word, but she never actually brought up changing that. Word never said anything, so it was obvious to Eliza that she was comfortable with the way things were. Eliza would be comfortable with that as well.

Besides, it’s not like things were bad. Eliza still got to talk to Word every day. Sometimes, most times, multiple times a day. She was glad. Those conversations had quickly become the highlight of her day.

It was amazing, really, how much Eliza enjoyed those conversations. Normally, she wasn’t one for talking much. She’d never had the opportunity before Word. She wasn’t good at talking, she knew that. And yet it came so easily with Word. She could go on for hours and hours about the stupidest thing as long as Word was on the other end. But at the same time, she could just sit and let Word go on for hours and hours. Everything Word said was completely enthralling to Eliza. Often, Eliza would just sit and stare at the words on her screen, imagining what they’d sound like if Word had said them in person.

Part of Eliza, most of Eliza, wanted to message Word right then and there. But she knew that she shouldn’t. Word had her own life to live, after all. She couldn’t be expected to drop everything just because Eliza got bored. Eliza should just leave her be.

Pic: What are you up to?

It would take someone far stronger than Eliza to ever leave Word alone. She had a way of sneaking into Eliza’s heart to the point where even the mere thought of not talking to her was suffocating. If she could, Eliza would happily spend the rest of her life with Word. But she couldn’t. So she’d settle for the next best thing.

Word: Not too much. What about you?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was barely anything for her to do, anymore. What few recreational activities had been open to and appealed to her were long gone. Eliza was left to just sit around bored out of her mind.

Pic: About the same.

Eliza looked around her room, desperate for something to talk about. She knew from experience that if she didn’t say anything it was almost guaranteed that Word would, but that would take a few minutes at least. Eliza didn’t want to wait. Her eyes landed on a calendar pinned to her wall. She shrugged. That was as good a topics.

Pic: When’s your birthday?

Eliza immediately worried that such a question might be too personal. She and Word rarely talked about things like that. More often than not, their conversation topics revolved around hypothetical discussions or their shared love of fictional worlds. While some personal information from the real world did tend to slip through, neither of them had ever directly asked something like that. Eliza was worried that she was making Word uncomfortable just by asking.

Pic: You know, if you wanted to tell me.

Eliza frowned down at her screen. That sounded too flippant. Like she didn’t care whether Word answered or not. She did care. She wanted Word to know that. But she also didn’t want to push her to talk about something she didn’t want to.

Pic: If you don’t, that’s okay.

There. That should make her point. Eliza was interested in the answer, but fully understood if Word didn’t want to answer. She managed to come across as both understanding and invested. Eliza frowned. All that just for a single question. She came across as invested, all right. Too invested. To a very unhealthy degree.

Pic: I’m sorry, forget I asked.

Eliza groaned and lay back. She just wanted to make conversation. Sure, it wasn’t her best attempt, but she wasn’t used to communicating with people. Surely that got her a pass? No. It didn’t. Because she’d pushed too far and made things weird. Then, to top it all off, she’d chickened out. Yes, definitely didn’t deserve a pass. She’d be lucky if Word ever spoke to her again.

“Well, for some definition of speak,” Eliza muttered bitterly.

Her phone buzzed in her hand. Eliza shot up like a rocket to see what Word had said.

Word: April 18th

Eliza blinked. She hadn’t thought Word would actually answer the question. In all honesty, she’d have considered herself lucky if Word even responded. Even though she’d been the one to ask the question just a couple minutes before, Eliza now had no idea how to respond. Not in a smooth and decidedly not awkward way, at any rate.

Pic: Oh. Thanks.

There. That was fine. At least now they could move on to a topic that Eliza wouldn’t immediately butcher.

Word: When’s yours?

Or that could happen. Eliza bit her lip and looked around the room again. This time she wasn’t looking for something to talk about, she was looking for something to avoid talking. She really didn’t want to even think about the answer to that question. That had always been a sore subject for her. But at the same time, she didn’t want to just leave Word hanging. She’d answered that question when Eliza asked it, so it’d be hypocritical of Eliza to not do the same.

Eliza typed out the answer, but didn’t actually send it. She really didn’t want to talk about this. Not any more than she had to. Although, she probably didn’t have to talk about this at all. She just had to say so. Word would understand. Eliza was sure of that. Except… Word had answered that question when Eliza asked it, so it’d be hypocritical of Eliza to not do the same.

Pic: August eleventh.

Word: August 11th?

Pic: August eleventh.

Word: The August 11th that’s just a few days away?

Pic: Unfortunately.

Word: Okay then

Eliza breathed a sigh of relief. If that wasn’t Word letting the topic drop then she didn’t know what was. Eliza waited a minute to see if Word had anything else to say. One minute turned to two before Eliza decided it was on her. It didn’t take her long to come up with something to say. She’d already had plenty of time to consider it.

Pic: Do you plan on getting The Demonic Bond published?

Eliza was quite proud of that question. It was a topic that was interesting to both her and Word. Yet it was one that was very unlikely to backfire and steer the conversation towards topics Eliza didn’t want to talk about. She’d had enough of that for one night.

Word: In a perfect world

Pic: What is your perfect world like?

Word: You know, I’ve never actually thought about that

Pic: Really?

Word: Is that weird?

Pic: Maybe not in general, but to me yeah.

Word: So you know what your perfect world is?

Pic: I do.

Word: Tell me about it

Pic: You don’t want to hear about that.

Word: Yes I do

Word: Maybe it’ll give me some ideas on how to figure out mine

Pic: Don’t expect anything too special.

Word: It’s special to you

Pic: I suppose it is.

Pic: I’d live in a small house. Not so big that people in it can feel isolated. There’d be lots of books. Books on any and all subjects that interest me. I’d probably try and organize them, but I can already tell that’s a losing battle. I’d have a cat. She’d be very cuddly. The walls would all be painted in bright colors. Lots of pictures of my family on every surface imaginable. All in all, it’d be a home.

Pic: I don’t care what else there is, what else my life is like. As long as I have that, it’d be perfect.

Word: Wow

Pic: Well? Did that give you any ideas?

Word: A couple

Pic: What are they?

Word: Just a warning: they’re not as good as yours

Pic: I disagree.

Word: Fair enough

Word: As you already know, I’d be an author. A proper one. I’d have that as my career. And I’d like to meet a nice girl and settle down. We’d have a dog. A big one. And a big backyard with plenty of room for him to run around. We’d live a quiet life. Nothing too exciting. Of course, we wouldn’t let things get too boring either. A boring life is, well, boring

Pic: You’re not wrong. Boring lives are hardly worth living.

~θ~

That night, sleep didn’t come easy to Eliza. Her mind kept spiraling back to Word’s description of her perfect life. Halfway through, Word had started saying ‘we’ as opposed to ‘I’ like she started with. One single question kept repeating itself in Eliza’s mind.

Was she talking about me?

The thought made Eliza’s heart flutter. She wouldn’t mind spending her life with Word. She wouldn’t mind at all.

~θ~

Eliza was going through the motions. Scratch that, she had been going through the motions. All her life. She couldn’t rightly call what she was doing now as going through the motions as, other than talking to Word, she wasn’t doing anything at all. She just… was.

With her parents officially moved out and in their new home in the heart of New York, Eliza was all alone in the old mansion. That itself wasn’t a problem. Eliza was more than capable of taking care of herself. She had been for years, after all. Even so, she’d never been this alone. Her loneliness usually stemmed from parents that avoided her and that she had given up on. Never from complete and total isolation.

Eliza had never appreciated how big the mansion was. It was too large and imposing for her tastes. Whenever she walked around it, she wished for a smaller home. Something that felt like a home. Not the monument to extravagance that her mother insisted on. Eliza didn’t know how she was going to survive being there on her own for three hours, let alone three weeks.

Word: What’s your least favorite genre?

Pic: For literature or just in general?

Word: Just literature, for now

Pic: Horror.

Word: May I ask why?

Pic: I’m a coward.

Pic: What’s yours?

Word: Probably history

Word: Don’t get me wrong, I can see the appeal to the genre, it just doesn’t appeal to me

Pic: Cute wordplay.

Then again, three weeks wasn’t too long. Not with the right company. She could put up with it. And then, when that time had passed, she’d move on. Finally leave this prison behind and start the next chapter of her life at the Yardley Academy.

897

Dawn had been hard at work. As soon as Pic had let slip that her birthday was only a few days away, Dawn had begun planning. There wasn’t a lot she could do given the obvious constraints on her friendship with Pic. But there was one thing she could do. One thing that she was all but convinced that Pic would love. She could write. To that end, she had written a story for Pic. Nothing too fancy. She didn’t have enough warning for that. Still, she had a short story that she hoped Pic would appreciate.

It was strange. For the first time she could remember, Dawn wasn’t nervous about someone reading her writing. She always had been in the past. She could still scarcely believe that she even posted The Demonic Bond with how nervous she had been. And yet whenever she thought of sending something to Pic, all she felt was excitement.

The night before Pic’s birthday, Dawn fell asleep with a smile on her face. She was looking forward to this.

~θ~

Word: It’s your birthday!

Dawn wasn’t expecting a reply immediately. She knew that people, apparently, had lives. Because of this little complication, Pic couldn’t drop everything to text some random person she met online. That was true on an ordinary day, and doubly so on her birthday. Dawn wasn’t expecting a reply immediately.

If there was one thing that Pic was good at, it was defying all of Dawn’s expectations.

Pic: I’d noticed.

Word: Any big plans for today?

Dawn sat back and waited for Pic to respond. This time she was expecting a swift response. Pic had already proven that she was free enough to do so, after all. Again, Pic defied all of Dawn’s expectations.

Pic: No.

Word: Why not?

Pic: I just didn’t have the chance to plan anything.

Dawn read that and shrugged. She wasn’t one to judge on a lack of planning. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually planned something. She was more of a spontaneous person. And speaking of spontaneity…

Word: I’m sure you have a bunch of plans for today, even if none of them are big plans, so I’ll keep this short. I wrote something for you. It’s not much, but I hope you like it. Happy birthday!

Before Pic could say anything in response Dawn sent her a link to the story.

All her life, Dawn had been impatient. Her father called it spontaneous, but she knew that was just a nice way of saying impatient. Several times, that impatience had come back to punish her. Unfortunately, this was one of those times.

Pic: No.

Word: No?

Pic: No. Not today.

Dawn frowned. That wasn’t good. She’d never seen Pic this upset. Actually, looking back on it, she’d never seen Pic upset at all. This was new. More than that, this was her fault. Dawn was sure of that much.

Word: Oh. Okay

For the first time since their friendship began, Pic didn’t respond.

~θ~

Word: What’s your favorite color?

~θ~

Word: Superspeed or flight?

~θ~

Word: What are you up to?

~θ~

Word: What’s your favorite song?

~θ~

Word: I’m sorry

~θ~

Dawn had messed up. She knew that much. She didn’t know how, and that was the worst part. She longed to apologize and make it up to Pic, but without knowing what she did wrong she couldn’t manage to do more than craft a halfhearted apology that would do more harm than good. There was nothing she could do but wait for Pic to act. The situation was out of her hands.

~θ~

Dawn was in a funk. She couldn’t muster up the motivation to do anything. She couldn’t write, she couldn’t read, she couldn’t do anything. All she could do was sit and alternate between staring longingly at her phone and unsuccessfully ignoring her phone’s very existence.

She hadn’t realized just how big a part of her life Pic was until she wasn’t anymore. Not until Dawn would reach for her phone to ask Pic a question or share something that happened or even just say hello. Each time she did that, she had to force herself to stop, reminding herself that she shouldn’t, couldn’t, push Pic. She knew that would only make things worse.

It was crazy to Dawn just how important Pic had become to her life. She barely knew the girl. In most respects Dawn didn’t know her at all. She didn’t even know her name! Not that she didn’t want to. But she never knew how to bring that up at the best of times. And it was far from the best of times.

Dawn had lived her life for years without Pic, and only a few weeks with her. It should have been easy for her to go back to how things were. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t even hard. It was downright impossible. Dawn couldn’t function without Pic.

It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Dawn had been in this situation before. She’d lost the only person in her life that cared about her and she cared about in return. That loss had nearly broken her. The only way Dawn had begun to pick up the pieces was meeting Pic. She didn’t think she could manage that again. Not with someone else. Dawn needed Pic.

~θ~

Dawn was right. She couldn’t recover on her own. Not enough to truly live. Somehow, Dawn managed to go about a somewhat normal routine consisting of eating and sleeping, but she could never remember choosing to do those things. She just did it all automatically. She was going through the motions. Had she been more aware, Dawn might have considered what she was doing as even more monotonous. But she wasn’t, so she didn’t.

The only time she managed to do something that deviated from the routine she’d, apparently, established for herself was the night before she left for school. She was going to be gone for a few months at the very least, so there was something she needed to get done. She needed to pack.

Packing should have taken a lot of thought and effort. She should have considered every item she could find and decided whether she needed to bring it with or not. She couldn’t even find the motivation to do that much. She just started grabbing things at random and throwing them in her bag. It was when she was halfway through that it finally happened. The thing she’d been simultaneously praying for and dreading. Her phone chimed.

Dawn dropped what she was holding, she wasn’t paying enough attention to know what it was, and dove for her phone.

Pic: Hey.

Dawn wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. Part of her wanted to cry in relief. Part of her wanted to laugh. A very large part of her wanted to read that single word over and over again. Every fiber of her being wanted her to respond. So she did.

Word: Hi

Pic: Whatcha doing?

Word: Absolutely no idea

Pic: I’ve been there.

Dawn wasn’t sure what to make of this conversation. Was Pic just going to ignore that anything had happened? Because Dawn could do that. She wasn’t sure if it was the best idea, since the whole thing had been her fault. She should be held accountable for what she did. But if Pic didn’t want that, Dawn wouldn’t argue. She’d go along with it.

Pic: I hate my birthday.

Dawn closed her eyes when those words sank in. And when the implications of that statement hit her, she sat up straight and stared at the screen in horror.

Word: And I acted like it was a good thing

Pic: It was a safe assumption to make.

Word: I shouldn’t have done it

Pic: No. You shouldn’t have.

That, Pic calmly agreeing with her, hurt Dawn more than it should have. More than if Pic had been screaming and yelling. But Dawn deserved it.

Pic: I shouldn’t have ignored you.

Word: You had every right to

Pic: No I didn’t. You did nothing wrong.

Word: Yes I did! I pushed when I shouldn’t have!

Pic: You had no way of knowing that I’m broken.

Dawn’s heart panged at the way Pic described herself. Dawn knew from her own experience what being broken was like, and hating a day was far from it. Very very far from it.

Word: You’re not broken

Pic: I am. In more ways than you know.

Word: Then tell me

Pic: No.

Dawn read the word and immediately started panicking. All she could think about was the last time Pic had said that. The last time Dawn had pushed her. She frantically started typing out an apology, but Pic beat her to the punch.

Pic: If you knew, it would ruin our friendship.

Word: Pic. You’re my best friend. Nothing could ever ruin that

Pic: I wish that were true.

Word: It is. Believe me, it is very true

Pic: Maybe I should put that to the test. One day. Not today.

Word: I’ll pass that test

Pic: I’m sure you will.

Word: I will

Pic: Listen, I have to get going. Talk to you tomorrow?

Word: Anytime. I’m always free to talk to you

Pic: Dangerous power to give me. I’ll talk to you later.

Pic: Oh, and Word?

Word: Yes?

Pic: Pink, flight, talking to you, and La Vie En Rose.

~θ~

The trip to the Yardley Academy was uneventful. She spent most of the commute talking to Pic. Things between them were still a bit shaky. Dawn was definitely more hesitant with what she’d say, and Pic kept details about her personal life even more vague, but it was progress. Progress Dawn was ecstatic about. The only reason Dawn wasn’t still talking to Pic is that her phone had died. Luckily, she had a place to charge it. Her dorm at the academy.

It was a decently sized room, if a little bland. There were two beds on opposite walls, a desk next to each bed, and a large shared wardrobe between the desks. Other than that, it was empty. Dawn was sure that, given time, she’d add her own personal flair to it. As would her roommate. The door creaked open and Dawn immediately turned to face the newcomer. Her breath caught at the sight of her.

She was shorter than Dawn, but since Dawn was taller than most people her age that didn’t mean much. She had long black hair that seemed to flow down her head. The best way Dawn could describe her green eyes would be to call them sharp. They contained an intelligence and maturity rarely seen in someone her age, and also made Dawn very aware that this girl could likely cut her down with just a glance. In short: she was beautiful.

“Hi,” Dawn said awkwardly, hoping the other girl hadn’t caught on to why Dawn had been staring. She cleared her throat and held out her hand. “I’m Dawn.”

The girl blinked and shook Dawn’s hand. “Eliza.”

897

Eliza woke up knowing it would be a bad day. For one, she’d had more bad days than she could count. Especially since her parents left her. But this one was going to be even worse. It was her birthday.

In the back of her mind, the deepest, darkest corner that she tried to pretend didn’t exist, Eliza had harbored a hope. The hope that, despite being across the country, despite having never acknowledged the day, despite all evidence to the contrary, her parents would still show up. That they would march in with cake, presents, and spend the whole day pampering her. She knew it wasn’t going to happen, but she’d had hope. A quick check showed that her hope had been in vain.

Eliza sighed and retreated back to her bedroom. At least in there she could pretend that she was alone by choice. She curled up on her bed and told herself that she was too old to cry.

Eliza hated her birthday.

~θ~

Word: It’s your birthday!

Eliza read the words and grimaced. She was very aware of just what day it was. She couldn’t not be. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, telling herself that Word wasn’t being malicious. She had no way of knowing that Eliza hated the day. She wasn’t intentionally rubbing salt in the wound.

Pic: I’d noticed.

So maybe Eliza’s response had been a bit more terse and hostile than she intended them to be. She’d been having a bad day. But that didn’t mean she needed to take it out on Word.

Word: Any big plans for today?

Eliza didn’t even try to suppress the bitter laugh that welled up inside her. No. No she did not have any big plans. She wanted to, but she didn’t. She couldn’t.

Pic: No.

Word: Why not?

Because there was no one to plan them with, Eliza thought bitterly. Because I’m all alone. Because I was left alone with no friends or family to spend today with. Because there was no one to follow through with any plans. Because there was no one to plan them with.

Eliza shook her head, forcefully stopping her Spiraling thoughts. She just wanted to focus on Word.

Pic: I just didn’t have the chance to plan anything.

Eliza closed her eyes. Because there was no one to plan anything with. Because I’m all alone. Because I was left alone with no friends or family to spend today with. Because there was no one to follow through with any plans. Because there was no one to plan anything with.

Eliza groaned at that. It was too late to stop her mind from repeating her thoughts. She reached up and rested her hand over her heart. It didn’t feel any different from the rest of her body. Her breathing, while slightly faster than usual, was still at a steady rate. She was Spiraling, but it was a relatively mild event. Not exactly nice, given the thoughts going through her head, but not something new. She was fine, if a bit irritable.

Word: I’m sure you have a bunch of plans for today, even if none of them are big plans, so I’ll keep this short. I wrote something for you. It’s not much, but I hope you like it. Happy birthday!

Eliza blinked. She was fully expecting to go the whole day ignored. Or, in the best case scenario that she could come up with, being treated as if it were any other day. She’d had hope for even better, but she knew all along that her hope was in vain. It wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t expecting any special treatment. And here someone was, treating her like she was special. Actually acknowledging her birthday. Someone who put effort into doing something just for her.

It was too much.

Eliza couldn’t handle it. Not yet. Not on that day.

Pic: No.

Word: No?

Pic: No. Not today.

Word: Oh. Okay

Eliza immediately felt bad. Word had tried to treat Eliza like she was special. Had acted as though it was an important day. And all Eliza could do was withdraw and push her away. She didn’t let Word continue to be nice to her. She didn’t know how.

~θ~

Word: What’s your favorite color?

~θ~

Word: Superspeed or flight?

~θ~

Word: What are you up to?

~θ~

Word: What’s your favorite song?

~θ~

Word: I’m sorry

~θ~

Eliza’s heart panged with every message that Word sent her. She should do something. Say something. Anything. But she couldn’t. She didn’t know what to say.

Eliza had pushed Word away in a fit of… what? What had she been feeling at the time? Overwhelmed? Loved? Like someone actually cared about her? All of that, to some degree. At least, that’s what Eliza thought it was. She didn’t have much experience with feeling like that, so she couldn’t fully trust herself to identify it.

She pushed someone away because she thought that they cared about her. Eliza laughed bitterly and wrapped her arms around her legs.

“I really am broken, aren’t I?” she asked aloud. No one answered her.

~θ~

Things for Eliza had gone from bad to worse. She didn’t even know that was possible. Because she was an emotionally stunted idiot she’d lost the only bright spot in her life. She was all alone. Again. But this time was so much worse. So much worse. Because now Eliza knew what it was like to not be alone.

Before meeting Word, Eliza had been living in darkness. She didn’t like it because she knew that she was missing something, but she didn’t know what it was. Then she met Word. She was still living in darkness even with Word in her life, but it wasn’t complete darkness. There was a light in her life. One that made everything better. And then Eliza, being the emotionally stunted idiot that she is, extinguished that light, plunging her life back into darkness. But now it was infinitely worse. Because now she knew what she was missing.

Eliza was missing Word, and she didn’t know how to get her back. She didn’t know if she could.

~θ~

Eliza looked around her room. It was completely barren. Not that it had much in it anyway. What few possessions of hers had been left behind when her parents moved had been packed away long ago. She’d been living out of a suitcase in her own house. The room was completely unchanged to how it had been for nearly a month, yet looking around it now, it looked even emptier. It was finally starting to sink in that she was leaving.

Eliza was leaving.

For as long as she could remember, Eliza had wanted nothing more than to leave this house. And now it was happening. And Eliza couldn’t enjoy it. She’d been looking forward to this day for so long and she could barely even acknowledge that it was happening. She didn’t want to. To do so would be to acknowledge that she was moving forward with her life. And leaving things behind. There were plenty of things that Eliza would gladly leave behind without a second thought, but one that she didn’t want to. One person she wanted by her side forever.

She didn’t want to leave Word behind.

She couldn’t leave Word behind.

Eliza took a deep breath and sat down against the wall. She pulled out her phone and tried to figure out what to say. She’d been trying to figure it out since she’d pushed Word away, and in the end she could only come up with the most basic and detached opening. She could only hope and pray that it was enough.

Pic: Hey.

Word: Hi

Pic: Whatcha doing?

Word: Absolutely no idea

Pic: I’ve been there.

Eliza shook her head harshly. She wasn’t going to do this. She needed to talk to Word. Actually talk to her. She needed to stop making small talk and have a long overdue serious conversation with her. She needed to stop convincing herself to do it and just do it.

Pic: I hate my birthday.

There. It was done. Eliza had told Word exactly what was wrong with her. Well, one piece of that puzzle. Eliza sat back and waited for Word to respond. She just hoped that Word wouldn’t be too freaked out. She didn’t think she could survive that.

Word: And I acted like it was a good thing

Pic: It was a safe assumption to make.

Word: I shouldn’t have done it

Pic: No. You shouldn’t have.

Pic: I shouldn’t have ignored you.

Word: You had every right to

Pic: No I didn’t. You did nothing wrong.

Word: Yes I did! I pushed when I shouldn’t have!

Pic: You had no way of knowing that I’m broken.

And wasn’t that the whole problem? Eliza was broken and couldn’t be what Word needed. What Word deserved.

Word: You’re not broken

Pic: I am. In more ways than you know.

Word: Then tell me

Part of Eliza wanted to. Part of her wanted to tell Word everything. She wanted it so much that it hurt. But actually telling her would hurt more. She wanted to tell Word, but it would hurt too much.

Pic: No.

Pic: If you knew, it would ruin our friendship.

Word: Pic. You’re my best friend. Nothing could ever ruin that

Pic: I wish that were true.

Word: It is. Believe me, it is very true

Pic: Maybe I should put that to the test. One day. Not today.

Word: I’ll pass that test

Pic: I’m sure you will.

Word: I will

The sound of a doorbell reverberated through the house. Eliza groaned at it. It was time for her to leave. The corner of her mouth twitched. She was finally leaving.

Pic: Listen, I have to get going. Talk to you tomorrow?

Word: Anytime. I’m always free to talk to you

Pic: Dangerous power to give me. I’ll talk to you later.

Pic: Oh, and Word?

Word: Yes?

My name is Eliza.

Eliza had the words typed out. She had her finger hovering over the send button. She wanted more than anything to actually send the message. But she couldn’t. Word had said that nothing Eliza did or said could ever change their friendship, but she wasn’t going to test that. Not yet. Probably not ever. Eliza much preferred things the way they were than risking them getting worse. Again.

Pic: Pink, flight, talking to you, and La Vie En Rose.

~θ~

Eliza stifled a yawn as she walked through the halls of her new school. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. She had been too busy talking to Word and squealing in excitement about talking to Word to actually sleep. That was fine, though. Eliza would choose Word over sleep any day.

Eliza tracked down the dorm room that she’d been assigned and held up her key. She was about to try and unlock the door when she caught sight of the light shining under the door. She shrugged and assumed that was her roommate. She pushed the door open and saw someone inside.

Her hair was, well, calling it blonde was a bit of an understatement. With the way the light was shining it was a soft golden color instead. Her eyes, a soft brown, were immediately locked onto Eliza. Eliza wasn’t sure if it was normal for people to stare at others as long as this girl was, but she didn’t say anything.

“Hi,” the girl said, her voice cracking slightly. She cleared her throat and held out her hand. “I’m Dawn.”

Eliza reached out to shake Dawn’s hand. “Eliza.”