Rising Shards

It had been approximately five minutes since Zeta had left with Stella to see her new apartment, and while Oka told herself she wouldn’t bug Zeta with her play anxiety, she was about at her fifth message asking Zeta for…something. Advice? Just venting? Begging for the kind of support only Zeta could give? Something along those lines.

“Hey, so this is Oka again, and as I mentioned earlier, I just am kind of feeling very anxious about this whole play rehearsal thing, and I don’t know since you’re you I feel like I can vent to you about that, but sorry if that’s bugging you, I know you’re busy seeing the new apartment with Stella, I hope it’s good, I’m just worried about going over my lines with the context of a full rehearsal, and I just am rambling at you sorry.”

She sighed as she put her phone away. Zeta’s going to think I’m way too clingy. I need to get in the zone without pestering her like that. I probably should have thought of that before sending all those messages.

Lillia was practically power walking to the play rehearsal. Oka trailed a bit behind as they headed toward the backstage area.

“Hey, so question,” Oka said. “Can you slow down a little? We’re early.”

Lillia slowed her pace a bit.

“I assume that wasn’t your question,” Lillia said.

“Well, it was a question,” Oka said. “Here’s the real question, am I still your wingman? I mean—”

Lillia stopped in her tracks.

“I wanna be a good wingman, so,” Oka said. “Do you still want me to use my wingman energy for Naomi, still? Or…”

“Why are you asking this now?” Lillia asked, her eyes darting back and forth. “You didn’t think to talk of this while we were in our room in private?”

“I did, but—”

“Or even over text?” Lillia asked. She checked every few seconds to make sure no one nearby in the hallway noticed them.

“I’m just kinda anxious about this whole rehearsal,” Oka said. “And we do talk about it in private, but I hadn’t heard an update in a bit. So having some clarity on how I can help you would help me take my mind off it.”

“I think your mind should be on the play.” Lillia said. “Even though I appreciate your help.”

“Right, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this,” Oka said. “Reading my lines over and over, having a plan in place in case I do something really embarrassing and have to flee, that sort of thing. And as I was thinking, I had an idea for something that could get you alone with Naomi today, but I didn’t want to waste your time if you’re focusing on Ko.”

Lillia stared off as she thought. “I don’t have an update,” She said. “I don’t know…if I prefer one over the other.”

“So you’d still be open to this really good idea about getting you alone with Naomi?” Oka said, eyebrows raised.

“…potentially.” Lillia said. “But tell me on the way, quietly. If we keep standing here, we’re going to be late.”

* * *

Kalei was hyped up for her beam chasers tryout, but potentially just as hyped up for a message she’d debated sending all day. She had it written out, ready to send to Nikki, but she wasn’t sure how it would go over. After getting changed, she decided she would send it, then immediately chuck her phone into her gym locker so she wouldn’t have to worry about her response.

“hey. going to beam chasers tryout. wish you were here.”

Aaaand sent. I’m getting kinda better at this.

Kalei hadn’t messaged Nikki as much as she wanted to since Lillia forced it, but she was now at the point where she wasn’t having a near ‘Zeta after getting spoiled on Tower of Hate and Love’ tier meltdown after each message. As she was mid-motion putting her phone in her locker, Nikki responded.

“youre gonna rock it dude, wish I was there with you too! You still gotta teach me how to play!”

Kalei practically fumbled her phone whipping it back towards her. Feeling confident going into her tryout, she sent one more message, this time getting her phone in her locker and making sure it was firmly shut before rushing to the court.

“maybe sometime soon we can hang out”

 * * *

With Rain away, Amara had found herself eating in the cafeteria more, instead of having tea parties in the garden with Rain. While none of her friends sitting at the table were on Rain-tier, they were entertaining in their own ways. Iris, for instance, had spent about five minutes patting her own head, squeezing her hair.

“What the hell,” Iris said. “I just realized something. What do you call these things? Hair balls?”

“Buns, I assume?” Amara said. The entertainment from Iris reminded Amara of the void dogs her family used for hunting excursions. They had about the same attention span, and the same single-minded determination when something really enticed them.

“I should ask Maia; she knows all about hairballs. Eh? You too, probably?” Iris said.

“Right, very funny.” Amara said.

“Where is MaiMai, anyways?” Iris asked. She let go of her hair and looked around. “She left kinda early this morning. Oh! I see her. I’mma go ask her about hairballs. Later!”

“Right, ta-ta!” Amara said. After Iris left, she scowled. “Ta-ta? Why’d I say that?”

“Because you’re foolish.” A voice from under her table said. Amara knew who it was, and barely reacted. She peeked down to find KJ face down on the ground, her typical pose when she wasn’t filming something lately. Since Rain was gone, Amara felt like a piece of her soul was missing, but she was able to not tell everyone about that all the time. KJ, on the other hand, was lying face down on the cafeteria floor.

"And you're ghoulish," Amara said, gently but forcefully kicking KJ’s side with her feet. “Oh, KJ.”

“Don’t ‘Oh, KJ,’ me.” KJ said.

“This is just kind of pathetic, that’s all,” Amara said. “What would Rain think if she saw you in this state of social undress?”

“Don’t evoke her name.” KJ said.

“That’s invoke,” Amara said. “You know what you need?”

“To find a deep crater and just wallow in its dust,” KJ said. “And maybe eat the dust. Because dust is all we deserve.”

“Er, no,” Amara said. She scooted her chair and the chairs near her away so she could yank KJ out. “Come on, it’ll make you feel better.”