The last 2 weeks had been pretty uneventful for Lightning Dust, as she was no longer allowed on the basketball team and Indigo Zap had been strangely busy. She was always vague about it, though, saying she had ‘something to take care of’. It had been a couple weeks since they actually did anything together, and it was the middle of October now.

One Friday, Indigo had sent her a message saying she had ‘amazing news’, but that she had to tell her in person. They agreed on meeting at the park that evening, and maybe Indigo would finally tell her what’s been going on.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Indigo was in the park near the playground, waiting for Lightning to show up. It was 10 minutes after the time they had set, and Lightning was usually on time. Indigo glanced around searching for her, it wasn’t like she could miss her. There was no one else in that area of the park.

Finally, she spotted Lightning just across the field, and ran over to her. “Hey, there you are!”

“Hi, Zap,” Lightning waved. “Come on, now! What’s your amazing news you’ve been waiting to tell me?”

“Well, it may seem a little…weird at first, but hear me out,” Indigo said.

Lightning looked a bit confused. “Alright, I’m listening.”

“I am joining a band with my friends!” Indigo announced excitedly. She waited for Lightning to congratulate her, but her expression stayed the same.

“Uhm...why?” Lightning asked simply.

Indigo kept her smile. “Well, I've gotten close with some of the other girls at school, and they all want to do this. It's gonna be a music group called The Crystals, and it's gonna be my main focus for a while. I'm not going to be playing basketball for a while, it takes too much of my time."

Lightning was quiet for a moment, trying to understand what was going on…Indigo had other friends? Who were they? But the biggest question was… “You're quitting basketball?”

“Yeah,” Indigo replied, still looking happy.

“Zap, you’re kidding!” Lightning exclaimed. “What about your basketball career?”

“Not right now,” Indigo said. "My friends need me for this."

Lightning couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “But you’re amazing,” she said. “You have so much potential! You’re really gonna waste your life being in a band? It’s not gonna work out, they never do.”

“Just because Over the Rainbow didn’t!” Indigo argued. She noticed Lightning wince at those words, but continued. “This is what I wanna do, and if you’re not gonna support me…then we can’t be friends anymore.”

“Zap, you don’t mean that,” Lightning laughed. “Stop being so dramatic.”

“You know what?” Indigo raised her voice, glaring at Lightning. “I’ve not wanted to say this, but I think it needs to be said. You’re a crappy friend, Lightning Dust! You only care about yourself and your own success!” she shouted. It was a good thing no one else was in the area, because they might get worried now. Indigo looked like she was about to cry.

“Yeah, so what?” Lightning replied casually. “You do, too.”

“Well…” Indigo started, trying to find a way to defend herself. But Lightning was right, they were very similar in that way. She stuttered a bit, then came up with an answer. “We are not talking about me right now!”

“Yeah, we kind of are,” Lightning said. “And you’re totally right, we don’t need to be friends anymore. Because I don’t support you!”

Indigo looked shocked, taking a step back. “What?!”

“You’re making a big mistake, Indigo Zap,” Lightning continued. “And you’ll see that I’m right! Just don’t come back to me when your stupid band flops.”

“I never would!” Indigo shouted. “I HATE you! And our friendship was the only mistake I made, believe me. I have other friends and you don’t, so just be alone forever!”

Lightning never looked away from her. “I’m better off alone anyway,” she responded. “Just remember what I said.”

“I don’t!” Indigo turned around to leave. “It was stupid!” she stormed off towards the park exit. Lightning looked after her for a second, then started in the same direction.

Indigo didn’t look back, trying to slow her heart rate. This girl wasn’t going to make her cry. As she was nearing the city, she heard footsteps behind her. Knowing no one else had been in the park, she whirled around to face Lightning one more time. “What?!” Indigo yelled. “I got nothing left to say to you!”

“I’m uh…going home too,” Lightning explained.

Indigo stepped to the side of the path, motioning for her to go first. “Well, you go right ahead, don’t let me stop you.”

“I’m not,” Lightning said, before walking ahead. She was…well, she wasn’t fine with losing Indigo as a friend, but she was sure she could find someone to replace her. It was Indigo’s loss, not hers.

“You know what?” Indigo called, stomping to catch up with Lightning. “I was excited to tell you! Now you’ve gone and ruined the best day of my life! You suck-” before she could get her words out, Lightning had reached up and slapped her in the face.

Indigo cried out in pain, but quickly recovered, anger overtaking her. “Oh, don’t you start with me!” Indigo grabbed Lightning and threw her on the ground. Thinking she had gotten her revenge, she prepared to walk ahead, but Lightning had grabbed her foot and pulled her down too. It was on!

The girls wrestled around in the grass for quite a while. They were both very strong, and they weren’t going to give up easily. Indigo coughed harshly when Lightning delivered a punch to her stomach, causing tears to stream down her cheeks. Indigo found the strength to punch Lightning hard in the face. Lightning fell back on the grass, dazed and seeing stars.

Indigo collapsed next to her, both girls out of breath. They laid there for a few moments, weak from the fight.

“We gotta stop…” Indigo spoke up between breaths. “No one’s gonna stop us.”

“Yeah,” Lightning choked out, looking over to Indigo.

“You okay?” Indigo asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lightning replied, though she wasn’t really. Physically, she was still dizzy and in pain, but she couldn’t help but laugh. They had really gotten into a fist fight over Indigo joining a band. She looked back at Indigo, who was still catching her breath. “Are you okay?”

“Actually, yeah,” Indigo replied, struggling to get to her feet. Eventually she came to standing, and reached her hand down to help Lightning up. “I’m…kinda sorry,” Indigo said. “I mean, you really thought you were somehow giving me helpful advice, didn’t you?”

“I was,” Lightning said, wincing and holding one hand on her head as she got up. They stood for a moment. “I care about you, Zap.”

“Yeah, I know,” Indigo smiled. “You’ll make it home okay, right?”

“Yeah,” Lightning replied, despite feeling dizzy. She was not going to accept help. “Bye, Zap.”

“Goodbye, Lightning,” Indigo said, walking out of the park and down the street. Lightning looked around, then sighed. She really was alone now.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Lightning reached home safely, entering the house and slamming the door behind her. Her dad noticed she was home, and came into the living room.

“Don’t break the door, Lightning,” he was about to scold her, but noticed her state. She was a disaster. “Are you okay?” he approached her.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she lied, not wanting any sympathy. “Zap and I just got into an argument, okay? We’re not friends anymore so it won’t happen again. We're definitely going to be avoiding each other from now on.”

“You had an argument?” he asked, surprised. He knew how close Indigo and Lightning had been.

“Yeah,” Lightning answered. “That’s kind of what started all this. I’m going to my room, see you later.” She didn’t wait for any reply, and walked up the stairs. Once she got to her room and locked her door, she could finally let herself react to what had happened.

She looked in the mirror in her bathroom, noticing how ruffled her hair was. She didn’t have many visible injuries, but her clothes were covered in dirt and grass. No wonder her dad had worried about her.

After changing into her night clothes, she sat down on her bed, replaying the events in the park. She had done the right thing, and Indigo would regret not listening. Bands were a waste of time and ended in tragedy. She had seen it for herself. Indigo would have to learn it for herself, though. She and her friends weren’t going to get anywhere.

No, she’s not going to make me cry…

⚡⭐⚡⭐⚡⭐⚡⭐⚡⭐

Author's Note

I don't THINK this qualifies for the 'violence' tag. I read about it and I'm pretty sure if it is not a main part of the story, then it's not needed, but I still have no idea what I'm doing 😂 please let me know if I need to change anything, and feel free to share your thoughts!! <3