Close Friends Stick Together

In the morning, I woke up and took the bulky bandages off. It would stand out underneath the blazer of my uniform and it stopped bleeding, so it would be fine as long as I don't scratch it or anything. Sonata was still asleep, so I got myself undressed quickly ready to put on my uniform. That is, until I heard the door creak open.

"Hey Adagio, I'm about to leave. So if you want I could take..." Aria started saying until she noticed my lack of clothing.

We both blushed crimson red and she slammed the door shut. I got dressed quickly and slowly opened the door to see her leaning against the wall with her uniform on. Her face was still crimson red and she was pinching the bridge of her nose, oblivious to my presence. I cleared my throat to get her attention. She shot up and looked towards me,

"So...Uh... anyway... Would you like me to take Sonata? I'm about to leave soon." She said so quickly that I could barely comprehend what she was saying, and of course avoiding my gaze the entire time.

"I would appreciate it, but she still has to get dressed and eat." I replied casually.

"R-Right. It's no problem, I'll take care of her." she stammered.

If she continues to act that way, especially once school really starts, It's going to be one heck of a ride... I thanked her and was about to head to the bathroom to continue getting ready, until she stopped me.

"By the way," she whispered seriously. "What are those scars on your wrist?"

"I... They're..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

She probably thought something was wrong. I looked down, hiding behind my hair and covering the scars with my hand. They were ugly marks. Tears pooled in my eyes, threatening to spill out.

"I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get too personal.", she said frowning at my reaction.  "I just wanted to know who hurt you is all, so I could maybe figure out how I can deal with them. I knew you had one on your arm, but I didn't know if you accidently hurt yourself or..."

She growled as she said that, most likely from what happen at the foster home. Realizing that's what she thought it was, I nearly cried tears of joy.

"It was the women from the foster home, or rather, hellhole as I would put it. She did have sharp nails after all," I said under my breath, hoping it would give off the impression that I was sad and didn't want to talk about it.

She looked at me with a concerned look and asked,

"You're lying to me, aren't you?" She didn't take the bait. That might have worked with Sonata, but Aria is much sharper than that. "Who's the kid that hurt you? I'll deal with them."

She suddenly turned towards me and smiled.

"I took enough of your time. If I don't hurry, I'll be late." I said, waving her off and went into the room before she could question me further.

I smiled sadly to myself. If only she knew, the demon who inflict such wounds on me, is myself. I went to the bathroom and continued to get myself ready. Brushed my teeth and hair, used the bathroom, et cetera. Once I was ready, I headed out the front door to see Aria waiting for me there. I blinked at her. * * *

We fell into a comfortable silence and walked side by side until we reached a park.

"Hey, want some ice cream?" I asked pointing to a stand.

I began pulling her to it, without waiting for a response.

"Don't you think it's getting too cold for ice cream?" She asked.

The leaves of plants were already tinged with brown and red and the air seemed to already bite at your skin. She stopped at the stand, then looked towards me.

"You’re kidding, right? There's never a wrong time for ice cream. Anyway, what flavor do you want?" She eventually gave in.

"* * *."

After we got our ice cream, we sat on a bench, looking at the sun setting in the sky.

"Hey Adagio, wanna play 20 questions?" She suddenly asked. "I mean, we don't know much about each other so I thought... "

I smiled and responded,

"Sure, I'll play."

"Alright, I'll go first then. Where do you come from?" She asked.

* * *

After reassuring her that I was just kidding and she believed me, I urged her to ask her next question.

* * *

In an attempt to comfort me, she placed her hand over mine, to which she interlocked and gave me a bitter but sweet smile.

"What do you regret the most?", she asked looking at me.

I averted my eyes in thought.

"It's hard to say. There's too many to count." I responded honestly.

"Well, what's the most recent thing then?"

She started to rub small circles with her thumb onto my hand. I couldn't hold back the blissful sigh that escaped my lips. Fortunately, she didn't seem to notice. I wanted to choose my words carefully as to not make her dig further into my dilemma.

"Sometimes... “ I paused for a minute, realizing that it would be difficult to tell her directly but keeping it vague so she wouldn't question it. After a full minute of silence had passed, I continued. “I regret * * *" I answered.

The motion of fingers against my skin stopped and she got up.

* * * she started to walk quickly in the direction of the dorm, ignoring my pleas for her to wait. With a quick sprint, I managed to catch up with her and grab her arm, making her stop abruptly and glare at me.

"I didn't... mean it like that!" I exclaimed in between breaths. "I'm grateful for everything you, Sonata, and * * *. A home, clothes, food, and more. I'm really happy that I met you two, trust me. It's just... maybe if I went to another town... then maybe someone would've-"

"Adagio, I get it." She interrupted.

I breathed out a sigh in relief. Sonata and Aria were truly the only fri- no, sisters that I've ever had. I would've hated myself if I lost her to an misunderstanding as trivial as this.

"Listen... I'm sorry, my temper tends to get the best of me sometimes." She apologized, looking away in shamefully.

"Don't worry about it." I said extending my hand to her. "Let's just forget about it and go home, okay?"

She took my hand and smiled at the offer, and we started to walk back.

* * *

We were all lined up side by side in front of * * *. This assignment was supposed to be training for the * * * exam since I didn't do it with the rest of the class. In other words, I was behind everyone else right now.

"Alright class, for this assignment, * * *. Though it is a easy task, it requires complete corporation from you and your teammates, so work together. You will be spilt into teams, so listen up. Team one will have * * *. Team two will have * * *. Team three will have * * * The first team to complete the task will have the exclusive right to pass." The teacher explained.

"Now that snooze fest over here explained all the boring stuff..." Aria said teasingly. "You make pick a flag color if you don't already have one."

Me and * * * were the only ones to step forward and our flag.

"And with that... You may begin!"

* * *