After that counselor visit, I actually felt good. And Liora got a free class skip. Mostly I just had to repeat a few phrases in front of them. About how Carly seemed so dismissive and rude in the morning homeroom, she was death glaring at me during classes... and then I began with the political science class.
"She just started yelling," I'd choked out, faking a fresh wave of tears, "about how some people are just… fake. And they try to replace others who are gone. She looked right at me, like I was trying to replace someone. It was awful. I don't even know Carly!"
The counselor, a woman with kind eyes and a perpetually worried frown, looked at me sympathetically. Liora sat beside me, nodding in agreement, her arm draped over my shoulders in a surprisingly convincing show of comfort. It was all a performance, a carefully orchestrated scene, but the tears I'd shed in class had probably been genuine, a release of weeks of pent-up pressure. And now, the result was… acceptance. And popularity by association.
Later that day, the whispers about Carly intensified, but this time, they weren't about her grief. They were about her being "mean to the new girl."
But other sources claimed otherwise. They said, "Carly is going through a lot, and Lexi should understand." It's true, and I do understand... but...
It's complicated.
Lexi Hydroxide, the emotional wreck, had inadvertently become the school's new sympathetic figure. It felt wrong, every fiber of Aura's being screaming at the injustice to Carly, but Lexi just smiled sweetly and accepted the offers of friendship and the pitying glances. This act was working. And it was going to be exhausting.
One particular bit of conversation I remember well. Sylvia, a girl with silver powers suddenly pointed to a boy in a black hoodie, talking on the phone. "He's wearing that thing again."
"What thing? Who?" Liora asked, while in the middle of a reel on her phone.
"Carly's brother... that force physics hoodie."
I knew exactly what they were talking about for once. But Lexi didn't. "What hoodie?" I asked, acting curious.
"You'll see..." Sylvia said, as the three of us quietly watched, waiting for him to show off the hoodie in all its glory.
A painstaking five seconds later, he turned, and then... the hoodie. "May the Force be equal to Mass x Acceleration," in a capital, hollow sans serif font. I knew it well, thanks to my dad's extensive collection of Star Wars merchandise. As a kid, he watched movies 7 through 9 in the theaters as soon as they released. He didn't like them much, but found them not completely unbearable.
The early 2030s trequel trilogy of 10, 11 and 12 were a desperate attempt by the creators to continue the franchise, but it worked. They learnt from their mistakes with the sequel trilogy... In fact, he watched those three on three separate movie dates with my mom during their college masters. And 12 came out in the same year as Zinnia's birth: 2031. My mom doesn't particularly approve of the insane collection of merch, but I grew up with it in a way. Archie grew up obsessed with it, and I've been on countless sleepovers at Carly's house.
My memories flooded back. One time, Carly, myself and around three other girls were at a sleepover at Carly's, when Archie suddenly thought it was a good idea to slowly replace random items in her room with Lego Star Wars builds and minifigures. Let's just say, Carly was not impressed to find the Death Star perched up on her toy shelf.
"Ugh, Star Wars," Liora scoffed, pulling her attention away from Archie's hoodie and back to her phone. "Who even cares about that anymore? It's so... 20s. Like, did they even have holo-phones back then?"
Sylvia nodded dramatically. "Totally. My dad still has some ancient blasters on display in his office, but like, why? No one even watches those old movies anymore. It's totally irrelevant now. We have actual space travel, you know?"
I forced a confused frown onto my face. "Star Wars?" I asked, putting just the right amount of cluelessness into my voice. "Is that like... a really old movie? Like, black and white? Those kinds we learnt in history class"
Liora and Sylvia giggled, sharing a look that clearly said, "Bless her naive little heart."
"Yeah, Lexi, it's super old. It started in like the 1970s," Liora said, waving a dismissive hand. "Don't even worry about it. It's ancient history. Anyway, did you see who just followed me on Insta?"
I nodded along, feigning interest, while inside, Aura was reeling. "Ancient history."
It's true but... I half felt bad. I actually think the movies are good. I'm not a huge fan or anything, but I really don't hate it either. It would have sounded blasphemous to Archie, or my dad.
***
The bell rang, marking the end of the school day. I quickly shuffled my way out of chemistry class, not wanting to stay in this hellhole longer than I had to.
"Lexi," I heard someone call. "Lex, babe!"
I turned and looked around. Liora and Sylvia. "Hey, what's up?" I said, with a little too much enthusiasm, trying to pull off the 'perky new girl' vibe.
"Soo..." Sylvia began, fiddling with a loose thread on her backpack. "We were thinking... what if we meet up tomorrow?"
"OMG yes, that way we can get to know Lexi!" Liora chimed in, already pulling out her phone, probably planning a selfie strategy. "Where should we go?"
My mind blanked. Aura knew all the obscure, quiet bookstores and tucked-away coffee shops that served strong, bitter brews. Lexi, however, was supposed to be a creature of popular culture and brightly lit spaces. Plus, the truth was, Dad hadn't taken me anywhere on this side of town yet. My knowledge of the area was limited to the route from the safehouse to school.
"Um," I started, trying to sound casual, like I was weighing exciting options instead of desperately searching my mental database for a plausible location. "I actually haven't really explored this part of town much since I moved. What's... what's good around here?" I tried to imply I was just so new, so innocent, so ready to be shown the ropes.
Liora's eyes lit up. "Oh my god, you haven't been to the Mega Mall yet? It's literally the best! They have all the new drops at Fashion Forward."
"Or," Sylvia interjected, "we could just hit up The Daily Grind. Their holographic lattes are to die for, and it's super chill."
Both places sounded equally mind-numbing to Aura, but perfectly Lexi. "The mall sounds... great!" I forced out, opting for the more public, likely distracting option. Less chance of deep conversations, more chance of blending into the retail chaos. "What time?"
- tbc, and trust me. Is gonna be good -
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