°°°

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the great adventure

- Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

[21] rekindling friendships

"I need to talk to you," were the first words I'd heard from Mia's mouth as she dragged herself into the back room at the diner, an exhausted sigh leaving her lips. Her hair was in a loose pony tail, multiple loose hairs falling everywhere. Her face rid of any make up and she was in sweatpants with a pullover.

"Yeah, what is it?" Worried, I set my book down and directed my entire attention towards her. The rattling of David cleaning a couple dishes filled the air as she tried to form words.

Biting onto her lip, Mia looked around. "I-I... Can we go somewhere we can talk, uh, alone, I guess?"

I nodded my head and got up. Mia was really starting to worry me. We made our way to the roof - no one was really allowed up here, but we didn't care. Mia, Flynn, and I'd been up here many times before without letting any of my parents knowing of, thankfully. Usually, we'd bring a twelve pack of drinks and some food. But today this was different. Definitely more important than the other times being up here.

"Alright," I said, sitting down and beckoning her to come lay her head in my lap. We used to do that a lot when she'd be upset. Especially when her parents used to argue all the time. It'd worry her a lot, like any child would be. She used to think they'd get a divorce, but eventually they had worked things out somehow. Which was great.

She gently sat down, then leaned back to rest her head in my lap. "Okay," I said as I began to play with the loose strands of hair, the thick curls wrapping itself onto my fingers, "tell me what's got you so troubled."

I felt her shoulders drop as she sighed, her fingers playing with a loose thread from her pullover. "Flynn and I kissed." I felt my heart momentarily stop, processing the words. Happiness bloomed in my chest, the happiness spreading onto my lips in a smile.

"When did this happen?" I asked her calmly. I gazed down at her. From the side view of her face, I could tell this was really worrying her. She wasn't smiling or even showing signs of happiness. Instead, only worry and concern.

The sunlight made her light freckles contrast against her dark skin. "A little bit after my grandmother's birthday party. We'd finally come back home and then Flynn showed up not long after. Then he started acting weird - you know how he always jokes around and is a huge goof ball? Yeah, well he wasn't. He was more nervous and awkward." If her skin was lighter, her blush would've been a dark shade of red that'd blot her cheeks.

"So he kissed you? Then you kissed back?" The answer was clear that she, indeed, did kiss him back.

"Yeah," she threw her hands over her face. "But we're friends. I mean, we've been friends, like, a while...and now what's gonna happen? Is it gonna be thrown away over a kiss?"

"No, it shouldn't be. You two can make it work." I said. "First off, how did you feel about the kiss?"

Mia glanced away to look at the other buildings close by. "How did you feel when you kissed Clarity?" I felt my cheeks get hot and I wish I had Mia's skin so my blush wouldn't be so obvious.

"Um," scratching the back of my neck, I racked my brain to try to find the right words to explain exactly what I'd felt. But it was hard to describe things when you enjoy them so much that you can't find the correct words you'd like to accurately fit. "It felt calming but then the total opposite, you know? It made my insides freeze over and shatter inside. It felt like everything had been intensified around us..." I cleared my throat, embarrassed and red faced. "But it can happen differently for everyone, of course."

Mia bit her lips, yanking at the end of her dark curl. It was a habit of hers I'd always noticed when she would be nervous or very thoughtful and troubled. "Yeah. I mean, I-I kinda had this mini heart attack, you know, from shock and stuff. I mean, he's cute, and I'm into him...just I don't know if I'm ready for a serious relationship."

She listened carefully as I spoke. "That's fine if you aren't ready for a relationship. I mean, just be straight up honest with him and let him know that you don't want anything serious right now. If he really likes you and cares for you, then he'll understand and know to not do anything, right?"

"Yeah, you're right." Mia sighed softly. She seemed to relax a bit more, the small crease on her forehead was gone and her eyebrows weren't so drawn closely together anymore. "Thank you, Nolan. I really needed to let that out."

"It's fine," I smiled as she snuggled up closer to me, sitting up to rest her head on my shoulder. "Anything else you want to talk about or do?"

"Well, some cheese fries do sound really nice right now."

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I watched as Clarity's eyes were filled with happiness as she gazed at all the music she adored. Her lips were pulled into a half smile, and she ran her finger along each record on the display. Clarity and I were back at the record shop. Mallory was up at the front, scribbling down something I didn't care enough to look into. George, the boy who had been reading the Harry Potter series and seemed to have a small crush on Clarity, was no where to be seen.

"Mallory," said Clarity, playing with the loose strands from her pony tail. Many loose hairs had fallen out because of the wind this afternoon, but she still looked perfect.

"Hmm?" came from the font. I glanced over to see her stop writing and glance our way. "Yeah? Everything alright, guys?" She walked her way towards us.

"I was wondering if you had any Twenty One Pilots records or anything," Clarity said, unaware of the grin that formed on my face.

Mallory pursed her dark lips. I noticed a little bit of lipstick was smeared on her upper lip. "No, I don't think so. Well, wait... The only thing I have is a CD of their newest album, not a record but-"

"It's fine," Clarity said happily. "I'll take it." Nodding, Mallory walked away to get the CD while we went to the cashier to wait on her. "Oh, did you want anything?" Clarity directed her attention towards me. Her hair was probably the messiest I've ever seen, but I seemed to like it that way. Her gray eyes looked different today - they were lighter with tiny splatters of darkness in her eyes.

I shook my head. "No, I'm alright." She paid for the album, said bye to Mallory, then followed me out the door. Once we were in the car, Clarity asked if she could put the CD in my radio and I agreed.

Immediately, their music began to play. I knew the song right away. HeavyDirtySoul blasted through the speakers. Clarity tapped her fingers on her lap, her lips soundlessly singing the words. I looked back to the road, and mumbled the words to the song just like she is.

"You like this band?" She seemed surprised that I'd been singing along once she noticed I knew the songs.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Well that's cool," she said. After the next song was over, she asked if we could go eat something. I wasn't that hungry since Mia and I had eaten cheese fries not long ago, but I agreed anyway. It'd been about two hours or more since Mia had confided in me. I felt glad that she could talk to me and give her the advice she needed. I just hoped that Flynn would understand, which I figured he would. He's a very understanding and nice guy. Clarity had come not long after Mia had left. If Mia had known of my plans with Clarity, she would've stayed so she could meet her.

Clarity decided to go to a bowling alley since she claimed that place made the best fried pickles, and I decided to try it for myself. The fried pickles were one of the best I've eaten, so I had to agree with her. Currently, we were in the arcade section. Clarity claimed she sucked at bowling and she'd rather just chat and use up the money we had on games to play. I was perfectly fine with not bowling because I sucked at it and didn't want to embarrass myself more than I usually did.

Clarity's patience was wearing thin with the claw machine. As soon as the claw would grasp the certain stuffed animal, it would fall right at the last minute. Claiming the game was rigged just to eat up all the quarters, she gave up on it.

I chuckled to myself and tried also and had the same luck as her. She rolled her eyes teasingly as I came towards her, empty handed, at the air hockey table. "I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up for getting a cheap stuffed animal."

"Well, if you could actually do it yourself..." I trailed off, shoving quarters into the table and it turned on.

She shoved my shoulder playfully, a small smile on her face. "Says the dork who can't do it either. So...be quiet, be prepared to get your butt kicked in some air hockey."

°°°

"I think that was probably one of the most laid back days I've had in quite a while, actually," said Clarity, her hands playing with a small rip in her jeans. "Usually I'm out with Rick and Nina or someone else, like, partying or something. It felt like to, you know, just chill back and stuff."

I kept my eyes on the road as she talked. The sky was a deep bright orange color with light sprays of pink and blues. It made me think of the sky as canvas and someone had just lightly painted it with delicate hands. It was actually really beautiful. "Well, I guess if you enjoyed today so much you should do it more often - be laid back."

The hole in her jeans was getting bigger the more she played with it. I tried not to notice the way her bottom lip curves outwards when she purses her lips in thought, instead I focused my eyes on the road. "I don't know though..."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd miss it. The partying and hanging out with friends. Because I've done it so much, and I enjoy it. Don't get me wrong I like the simple days where I can just hang around too," she said, propping her feet on the dashboard casually. "I can do both, I think."

"Yeah, I -"

My phone went off, telling me I was getting a call. Clarity grabbed the phone for me to check who it was.

"Clarity - my phone!" I said, trying to reach for the phone but she pulled her hand away.

"Hold on," she grinned, pausing to look at my phones screen. The grin slowly slipped away from her lips. "Man, you're screwed. It's your mom."

I held my hand our for her to give me my phone. She slapped it back in my hand and stuck her tongue out at me, reminding me of a small child. Before I answered the call, I returned the action back at her. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Her voice was worried. "I tried calling and texting you earlier, but you didn't answer. Your dad and I are super worried. We almost called Morris to go looking for you, but decided to call you just one more time."

"Sorry my phone was in the car. I was hanging with a friend." I explained, keeping my voice even. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Who? Wait - Nolan, hold on." I heard my mom explain to dad quickly what happened before she further questioned me. "Okay. I'm back. So who are you with?"

I glanced at Clarity who was watching me. "Um, you don't know her."

"Her? Ooh, I gotta meet her then. Bring her over! I think we'd like to meet her and have a chat." said my mom and bid me a goodbye before I could say otherwise.

"What was all that about?" asked Clarity, watching me as I kept a good grip on the wheel.

"I hope you don't have any plans later," I said, "because my parents would like to meet you." It wasn't that I was worried about my mom or dad being upset with me, I was worried Morris might eventually meet her somehow. By seeing her, he'd know exactly who she was, what she did, and exactly how we'd met.

We were screwed.