Leave me later

by Collaredgreen

Summary:

“It’s like we’ve never met before”
“It’s not like we’ll meet again.”
OR
SLOW BURN WHOOOOO

Chapter 1

“One week till we’re sophomores in high school, biatch!” Abby threw her test in the trash, and entirely disregarded the teacher standing by the bin.

“Not when you got a D on your bio practice exam.” Priya casually fished the test out and held it up on display.

”Let’s see who else will fail-“ She stuck out her tongue and lunged at Priya.

”Found you two!” Suddenly, Miriam pulled  them apart and pushed them towards the lunch tables. 

“Come on, we have to find Tyler and Mei.” Her eyes searched around, but was ultimately forced to just wait for them after not finding them.

”Why the long face?” Abby playfully pushed her shoulder.

She didn’t realize she had been frowning. Honestly, why was she feeling like this, again? She took a minute to think about it.

”I’m a little concerned for Mei. She’s been so distant lately…” Of course, no one else had really noticed. It was a slight change, so only a lot of attention would let anyone see it. But still, Miriam felt pretty bad for saying it, like she was ostracizing Mei, or something.

“Relax, I’m sure she’ll tell us what’s wrong if we ask!” Abby smiled and slapped a brownie she always brought for Miriam and Mei down.

”Hey, I’m here! Sorry I’m late!” Mei ran over from a distance, completely out of breath.

”Where were you? You almost got your seat taken by a bunch of people.” Priya joked around and took a corner off their brownie.

Mei drunk some water and wiped off the sweat on her forehead.

”Ugh, just talking to the principal, you know.” She awkwardly smiled and split up the brownie for her and Miriam.

The entire table stared at her. She wasn’t the type to get in trouble, so did something happen.

”Hey, where’s Tyler?” Mei seemed entirely unaware of her friends concerns, and kicked back and ate her brownie.

”He’s with his other guy friends. Why were you talking to the principal?” Miriam lips curled into themselves.

”Oh, right…” Mei shrunk back, forgetting she had withheld information from them for the longest time.

”Mei?”

She sighed in response and cupped her cheek. There was the choice of pretending nothing was wrong, or revealing everything was wrong.

“I’m moving in a couple weeks…” A barely legible mumble escaped her mouth, but her friends heard it as clearly as water.

“What?!” They all collectively yelled. None of them were mad, just shocked.

”Why didn’t you tell us before?”

”What do you mean, you’re moving?” The three girls went crazy with questions, and Mei covered her ears so she wouldn’t get mad from the noise.

“I said what I said, guys. I’m sorry I couldn’t notify you earlier.”

She was still being stared at by them. They felt stupid for missing the obvious reason she had been so quiet for the past few days.

”When are you leaving, then?” Priya took her arm in her hands, and remained calm to not make her anxious.

”3 weeks…”

Abby and Miriam chose to follow in being calm and not riling up Mei.

”And why…?”

That seemed to have been a pretty harsh question on Mei. Her eyes tore up, but she rejected the comforts of her friends so she could respond.

”My mom doesn’t think it’s safe here anymore. She wants to go somewhere where we can build a new identity, or something.” Her cheeks burned red with emotional suppression. She almost instantly regretted telling her friends the secret reason her mother had told her.

Even if it wasn’t like them, she was expecting heavy backlash from everyone, but all 3 of them piled on top of her for a hug.

”So… are you guys going to say anything?”

”No, I don’t think we will.”

Miriam, who didn’t hug anyone, just blankly stared into space and held Priyas shoulder.

”I’m going to the bathroom, guys, one moment.”

She ran to the bathroom with tears welling up in her eyes.

She groaned and washed her face several times over, but a lingering feeling she didn’t know what it was remained. What made her feel so crappy about it? They could always just call, or send mail to each other. At hearing some girls enter the bathroom, Miriam retreated to a stall. Just in case they said anything important, she listened in.

”Did you hear about how Jerry likes Miriam-?” 

She stuck out her tongue in disgust and plugged her ears after hearing his name. She hated Andrew. However, silencing the voices from outside left her alone with her thoughts.

Why did Meis mom want them to leave? It didn’t sound like a real reason, and the timing of her moving felt quite unnecessary. Honestly, why didn’t she tell them earlier? Did she not trust them even after knowing them for so long?

*Knock knock knock*

She jumped when someone knocked unexpectedly. She was pretty sure there were several available stalls, so she felt pretty pissed about it.

”Miriam? Class started 10 minutes ago. Everything ok?” Abby spoke to her in an unusually kind and sweet voice, but Miriam only just then realized how long she had been thinking by herself. Just a guess, but Miriam suspected that Abby thought she was on her period.

So first, she flushed the toilet to avert suspicion, and walked out.

”I’m fine, let’s get to math.”

Abby trailed behind her thoughtlessly.

”Girl, if you needed, I could’ve given you a pad…” Miriams face twisted in disgust at her statement.

”No, that’s not the problem!” She looked around in panic to try and respond better, “Nothing is!”

If suspicion was a currency, Miriam would be a billionaire. Abby cocked her eyebrow.

”If you say so…”

They completed the awkward walk to class, and the teacher was waiting for Miriam.

”You were late.”

Miriam sheepishly grinned, eyebrows knit.

“Because it’s your first time being late, I’ll let it slide, but you better not let it happen again.” His face was quite stern and scary, so she solemnly nodded and walked to her seat, across the room from Abby.

‘Calm down, calm down.’ She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths, but her peace was disrupted when a paper airplane landed on her desk from Abby. She looked over, and Abby nonchalantly worked on a worksheet, like nothing had happened.

“So sneaky…” She whispered to herself and opened the note.

Meis rooftop after class with the girls?

-A.

She looked back at Abby, who smiled coyly at her. Miriam shrugged, and Abby knew it was a yes.

 

”That was a particularly boring class.” Miriam laughed and rested her hand on Abby’s head. She had fully calmed down, and wasn’t planning on angering so sourly anymore.

”Well, that said, to the rooftop!” Abby’s eyes sparkled, and they began to lightly jog out of school.

”Hey guys, where we goin?” Priya and Mei caught up to them when they were almost out.

Miriam shot Abby a look, as if she was saying “you didn’t tell them?” 

“To your rooftop, Mei! Let’s hang out.”

Tyler popped out from behind them. 

“Can I join?”

The girls all almost fell over from the shock, but Mei obliged.

”Sure! Let’s do this!” They secretly ran up to the roof without Meis mother knowing, and all finally sat down.

”I can’t believe it’s already 4:00. My parents told me to get home by 5:00…” Priya checked her watch and pouted.

”Well, sucks for you, we can be out as long as we want.” Tyler smugly smiled and laid on his back.

”Asshole.” Miriam playfully teased Tyler and snickered. She also laid on her back on right, and everyone soon followed, in the order of Mei, Priya, Abby, Tyler, and Miriam.

”So what’s the order of business?” Priya asked, clearly getting bored.

”Let’s just talk about whatever we want. Meis moving soon, so let’s make the most of it!” Tyler spread his hand out to the sky, and Abby smirked.

”How did things go over with Andrew, huh?” She glanced at Mei, and she immediately rolled her eyes.

”You mean that guy I liked in freshman year up until a few weeks ago? Ugh, don’t get me started on him.”

And true to her word as always, Mei did not speak of Andrew. They all knew about the date they had, including Tyler. It turned out he was a horrific jerk, and absolutely wrecked Meis high spirits.

”I still can’t believe you’re moving.”

”Stop talking about it!” The entire group sat up and yelled to Priya.

”Well, we can’t just avoid it.” Her tone remained deadpan.

”I guess, but the fact she’s leaving feels so… wrong?”

Mei was almost a glue to the group. Her leaving would be like letting an airplane off the ground without a pilot.

”At least the sun is nice today.” Mei stretched her arm out to the sun, and everyone fell silent.

”Remember that 4*town concert we went to in middle school?” Miriam brought up something she felt would make a nice conversation.

”How could we ever forget?” Tyler spoke for the rest of the girls. They giggled and thought of Mei freaking out and her aunts coming to the “rescue.”

She gave a satisfied sigh, and that topic crashed and burned as well. As always, their conceptions of time got wonky, and an alarm beeped amidst the comfortable silence.

”Oops, it’s 4:50, I should be running home now.” Priya glared at her watch and got her stuff.

”Night, then.” Tyler stretched his limbs and curled up into a ball.

”Great idea. Math was pretty hard today.” Abby giggled and did the same, and minutes later, they were both snoring.

”So, Mei, how was your day?” Miriam twiddled with her thumbs.

”Good, how about you?” Mei turned to face Miriam.

”Well, bio and math was shitty as always.” She was entirely clueless that Mei was watching her, and looked up at the slowly dimming sky.

”What do you plan to do when I move?” Mei tapped her finger on her thigh, and Miriam still did not notice a single thing.

”Well, I’ll probably be lonely, for one.”

Miriam was closer with Mei than anybody else in the group. Priya and Abby were treated like a pair, and Miriam and Mei were, too. Miriam and Mei. Mei and Miriam.

“Oh…” Miriam looked over at her sad response, and Mei stopped looking at her and curled into a ball like the rest of her friends.

”Are you sad that I’ll miss you or something?” She let loose a hearty laugh, and Mei giggled too.

”Absolutely not!” Mei rolled her eyes and went back to lying on her back, and rested her hands on her chest.

”But actually… do you promise you’ll miss me?”

Miriam bit her bottom lip and held tears back.

”Of course.”

“That’s nice…” Mei too, looked tired. She rolled onto her side, facing away from Miriam, and closed her eyes.

”Im tired from today. Wake me up in a bit, ok?” Gentle breathing filled the air, and her eye fully rested shut.

”Of course, of course.” 

Miriam finally turned to face her fully, and was left to watch with the night sky.

Chapter 2

Crickets chirped in the air, and Miriam woke up in a cold sweat.

“Mei?!” She shot up and looked around, and sighed in relief when she saw Mei drawing.

”You forgot to wake me up.” She giggled and showed her what she was drawing.

”Whoa, is that… me?” Miriam took the notebook into her hands and marveled at the accuracy. Mei had really improved at art!

”Yup, do you like it?” Mei reached over and took the notebook back, and continued to sketch.

”What time is it?” Miriam then drawled and blinked through her grogginess. It was dark.

”Like 9:00 pm. I was about to head back once you woke up.” She finished her final bit of shading and shoved her notebook in her bag.

”Then… wanna walk home together?”

”Dummy, we’re on the roof of MY house.”

Miriams cheeks flushed red. She guessed she was that groggy, to the point where she forgot they were on Meis roof.

”Alright, bye then.” She hurriedly took her stuff and hopped down on the ladder they climbed up, almost desperately.

”Wait, are you just leaving like that?” Mei angrily exclaimed and followed her for a short period of time.

What else did Mei want her to do? Her house was a lot farther away, and she didn’t have her stuff, even if she wanted to stay.

”Why have you been acting like this lately?” Mei yelled when she stopped following Miriam. “I get I’m leaving, but you can just SAY what’s wrong!”

She had no intention of hurting Mei. The tone in her voice, however, was all it took for her to know she had overstepped some boundaries.

”I’m going home. Good night.” Her voice had been reduced to a cowardly whisper, her stride a slouched march.

”Miriam Waxler! Come back here!”

Mei called for her, but did not step any further, so she continued walking.

Tomorrow was a school day. Mei was always early, so she could easily go to school just as early and talk it out. She didn’t feel like it this night.

Stuff like this had happened, considering they had been friends so long, but they always resolved it. That was their thing, to be friends even in rain and storm. Miriam and Mei. Mei and Miriam.

”Hey mom.” She entered her house and immediately headed to her room.

”Hey, sweetie! Where were you?” Her mother entered her room with a plate of chicken and roasted vegetables soon after she settled into her desk to study.

”I was just with friends. Sorry for not notifying you.” Her glum tone made her eyebrow knit.

”Everything ok?” Her mom set down the plate and put her hands on her chair.

Miriam simply nodded in reply. Her energy was totally drained, and she didn’t feel like speaking.

”Mk, I’m here if you need to talk, ok?” She pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek, and walked out, but not without subtly turning the photo of the entire family away from Miriams view.

‘She’s too great to be my mom…” She rubbed her eyes and collapsed into bed, and pulled out her phone.

The moment she checked it, her eyes lit up. A text message.

“Can u get the Bio w/s for me tmrw? thx <3”

Miriam groaned. It was just the same old from Priya, as always. She got out her notebook and checked for it, and sure enough, she had it completed.

”What the hell is that?” She squinted at the seemingly stray pen mark on her paper, but when she held it up to the light, she saw it was a drawing. It was a pretty, simple one of a red panda, clearly of Meis doing in the morning.

”God, I have to deal with that tomorrow.” She groaned again and rolled over in bed, not caring if she fell asleep in her school clothes.

But she couldn’t fall asleep. Mei was obviously angry at her, and she wasn’t really in the right headspace now. She could ask Abby and Priya for help, but she would have to reveal her problems to get there.

”You’re pretty loud in there, Meerkat. You need some tea?” Her mom popped her head in the room again sleepily.

”No, sorry, just itchy.” She forced a smile and sat still for the rest of the time.

‘I have to wake up early.’ She tried not to twitch from boredom, but boredom eventually brought her down into the light sleep she desired so much.

 

*Beep beep beep*

Miriam slammed the snooze button on her alarm.

*Beep beep beep*

She opened her eyes to slam the button again, but the time made itself clear.

”Shit!” She frantically took her bag, got ready, and ran through the door. It was surprisingly convenient to go to sleep in her everyday clothes.

If she wanted to make it to school around when Mei arrived, she had 3 minutes to sprint a 5 minute walk.

”Oh, Mi-“ Priya was whipped around by the quickly sprinting Miriam.

”Damn…”

Panting and sweating, Miriam opened the door to the school, and slowed to speedwalking and trying to find Mei. It would be perfect timing for Mei to arrive by now.

”Girl, what was that?” Priya walked up beside her and stuck out her hand.

”Sorry, I was in a rush.” She got the biology worksheet out of her backpack and stuffed it into Priyas hand.

”It’s 7:20, why were you in a rush?” She flipped through and neatly pushed the paper into her own locker.

”Hey, why do you need that? It’s due tomorrow.” Miriam nervously chuckled and tried to change the subject.

Priya returned her reaction with a cocked eyebrow.

“I’m doing it so my parents think I’m responsible enough for a later curfew. Why are you in a rush?”

Miriam furiously tapped her foot on the ground. She needed the perfect excuse as to not be interrogated by Priya and Abby.

”I’m-uh- I need to talk to someone!” Priya stood in place with her same, quizzical glare, but it felt like she was suffocating her.

”Is it that Jerry kid?” Priyas eyes gained an unexpected glow to them.

”Wait, what?” How the hell did Priya know about Jerry liking her? Well, not like she could complain. It was an easy access excuse.

”Oh… right, yeah, you guessed right.” She pointed finger guns at Priya and ran off to Meis locker on the other side of campus.

”Huh, I wonder what’s going on with her?” Priya shrugged and walked towards her homeroom.

”Mei!” She gasped exhaustively and leaned against Meis locker.

”Do you need something?” Meis eyes had a harder, darker glow instead of the light and sweet one she was used to.

”I just wanted to talk it over about yesterday, you know?” She was sure that she had messed something up somewhere.

”Can we talk later? I’m trying to finish up some work.” She slammed her locker door shut and walked to the cafeteria, where many other kids would be working and socializing.

”Wait, Mei, I am really sorry, I just want to talk about i-“ She slammed into the cafeteria door on accident while walking next to Mei.

When she simply walked past with no regards for her, Miriam hesitantly turned back.

”Hey, what happened here, Mir?” She was met by Abby and Priya, and Priya grazed the redness on her forehead with her hand.

”On my way to meet Jerry, ya know?” She glumly looked to the floor and sharply inhaled at the painful touch.

”He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy you’d bang your forehead for. Need a bandaid?” Abby took out a Hello kitty bandaid and stuck it on her forehead.

”Thanks. Just an unlucky day, that’s all.”

They didn’t bring up Jerry anymore, much to her delight.

”Im gonna head near the gym for PE. See you at lunch.” She scurried away to the gym.

’If I want time alone with Mei, I need to wait till second period.’ She stuck out her tongue in disgust. Second period was geography.

During PE, it was the same as always. She was an average pick for the soccer unit, and no one let her really do much. Lucky her.

”Ms. Waxler, may I see you after class?” The coach called her in after her unenthusiastic gameplay.

”Is everything ok? I heard from your counselors and other teachers that you haven’t been doing well lately.” He crossed his arms and made laser beam eye contact with her.

”Yep, just a little… tired lately.” Her arm twitched. This passing period was valuable time, and her coach was wasting it with a lecture.

”Its fine, I was given permission to let you stay for 5 extra minutes, if you want.”

”N-no, it’s fine!” Miriam began to feel something that wasn’t discomfort, but not comfort, either. More like a rushed feeling.

”Then you can go. I’m here if you need.”

She first slowly, then slightly faster, then eventually sprinted to geography. She wasn’t used to wanting to get to class.

”Oh, Miriam! Nice to see you, take a seat.”

Her geography teacher kindly smiled and pointed to her usual seat, next to Mei.

”Mei! Hi! I was just wonderi-“ Mei stuck her nose up and handed her the classwork. 

‘A worksheet? Gross.’ Her head unconsciously looked around the room for someone to copy off of, but the teacher clapped her hands together.

”Lucky you guys, I’ll make this partner work. Work with the person on your left. Meis mouth dropped slightly looking at her left. Miriam. She smiled and waved, and Mei sighed.

”Let’s work, then.”

She made a formal discussion, although sadness lingered behind her eyes.

”I was a jerk last night…” She pounced at the chance to talk when they filled in the last blank spot, and Mei finally looked at her.

”Sorry that I left so suddenly like that, I guess there wasn’t any excuse.” Her thumbs twiddled, and she looked down at them.

Mei gulped. Her apology was genuine, alright, but could her response be the same?

”My emotions got the best of me. Im sorry too.”

”You had every right to be angry.” The two girls tried not to make too much noise, but they both wanted to yell and scream with sadness and anger and happiness.

They finished up their worksheet, and the teacher began a lecture, but they couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of the night before. If they were honest, they would both say how stupid they were to be so angry at a tired conversation.

”Alright then, class dismissed.” The teacher organized some paper and allowed the class to leave.

”Hey, Mir, by the way, I heard there was a fireworks festival happening in a few days. Wanna come with? Abby and Priya can’t make it.”

They walked rather quietly towards the cafeteria.

”Sure, I’ll go.”

Mei gave a satisfied grunt, and they saw everyone at the table they always sat at at lunch.

”Hey! You two!” Tyler waved to them from the table, and they picked up the pace.

”You two seemed angry at each other this morning, man! Something happen?” Abby shuffled inside her backpack and pulled out her lunch, but no brownie.

”Brownie?” Miriam pulled out her best puppy dog eyes, but Abby just shrugged.

”Sorry, my parents don’t want me bringing those to school anymore.” She began sucking on a juice box and looking through her math notes.

”Why were you two angry at each other? What the hell did I miss in the single day where I hung out with some guy friends?”

Miriam puckered her lips awkwardly and sat there. How should she respond? Well, thanks to Meis quick thinking, she didn’t have to.

”It was just an argument over a brownie. It was pretty dumb.”

”Alrighty then.” Tyler looked doubtful of their answer, but he bought it, and proceeded to take a huge bite of his peanut butter sandwich.

Miriam nudged Meis side with her elbow, as if she was saying, “Did you try inviting him?”

Mei nodded, so she relaxed her face and got to talking.

”Do you guys wanna hang out later today or something?”

Everyone shook their heads. Strange, the only extracurriculars they did were on mondays.

”But we don’t even have an-“ Miriam got a cracker shoved in her mouth.

”We have other things.” Tyler flipped through a comic book and licked his fingers.

Abby looked in her notebook and casually pulled out 2 movie tickets.

”Use these before they expire tomorrow. Call us if you need anything.” She threw a peace sign.

”What-?” Mei too, ended up with a cracker stuffed in her face.

Miriams eyebrows raised in suspicion. Awfully kind act of them.

She looked at the tickets, then Mei, then herself.

’What the hell?’

Chapter 3

Notes:

Sorry for the inconsistencies, I’m waiting on art school decisions. Wish me luck
update:accepted! thanks for the support or something

“Spider-man 2, huh?” Miriams eyes darted between Mei and the tickets. Tyler had given them money for snacks.

”So, I guess it’s just us two now, then…” Mei awkwardly pocketed the snack money and flipped through. “I’m gonna buy some popcorn. Want anything?”

”Nah. Knock yourself out.”

Miriam took the courtesy of saving her and Mei good seats near the back, where they could throw popcorn at each other without too much trouble.

”Don’t throw popcorn.” Mei set down two boxes of popcorn instead of the usual one.

”Alright then…” Guess Mei was still not at her peak of satisfaction with Miriam.

’Did I do something else?’ She thought. Miriam had clearly done more than just leave unexpectedly.

”The movies starting, huh?” Her eyebrows raised and she plastered a smile on her face.

Mei simply shushed her, but a small grin flickered from her mouth.

”I heard that Tobey Maguire was good in this.”

Mei didn’t seem very interested in him. Actually, she hadn’t been interested in anyone expect Robaire, but even that phase ended a little over a year ago.

“You’re still coming to the fireworks with me, right?”

”No doubt on it.”

The people in front of them shushed them, forcing them to actually watch the movie for a bit.

It was stupid, anyways. They hadn’t even seen the first Spider-man. Who was Doc Oc and what was he doing?

”Do you wanna get out of here?” Mei side eyed her and looked rather bored once the popcorn ran out.

”Absolutely.”

Miriam stretched once they exited the theater. Her back hurt from constant bad posture in the seats.

”Why’d Abby have to get us tickets for these? Is she trying to make us die of boredom?” She snickered.

”Who knows, wanna go get pizza?” 

The theater was next to an absolutely great pizza place. They took a usual order of one slice of cheese and one combo.

”Anyways, how come you’re moving, like, for real?” Miriam slumped back after a few bites of pepperoni pizza.

”I’ve already said it, Mir. My mom believes we need a new identity to stay safe. Who knows why.” Her saddened expression was truthful, and Miriam finally took it.

“Sleepover with the gang?” She was really moving, making Miriam feel obliged to spend every bit of time with her possible.

”Sorry, but I don’t feel like it.” Mei lifted her purse onto her shoulder and walked out of the restaurant after only a few bites from her pizza.

”Wait!” Miriam followed after her. “Seriously, are you still mad at me? You’ve actually been acting weird. I’d rather you just say it.”

”Nothing is wrong, and I am not mad at you.” She had become firm, unmoving with her words so suddenly, and Miriam couldn’t take it.

”I get we’re all upset, but we just want to spend time with-“ She grabbed Meis jacket sleeve, and when it came off, red showed, and it wasn’t her pandas hair.

”Mei… is this why?” Her grip shifted from Meis jacket sleeve to wrist.

”I understand you might be concerned, but I am fine. I’m going home now.” She shifted her arm so she could leave, but Miriam didn’t let go.

”You are NOT fine. I can either let Priya and Abby know and get you help, or we will do this the hard way.”

Mei was tearing up by now. She wiped her eyes and pulled her jacket sleeve back on.

”Don’t tell anyone.” She finally pulled away and walked in the direction of her home.

Miriam swallowed thickly. She felt so ignorant, especially for letting her friend go through so much without noticing. Actually, Mei had been wearing short sleeves for the past few days…

”Wait.” Mei had been wearing short sleeves for the past few days.

”Shit shit shit” Miriam started a run to Abby’s home, where she guessed Priya would reside at this time.

 

*Ding dong*

”Who is it?” Their eyes snapped onto each other. “Oh, hey girl!”

“Uhhh, Abby, is Priya here?” Her foot tapped on the floor.

”Yes. Do you need something?”

Without warning, Miriam grabbed Abby’s collar and dragged her to her room, presumably where Priya was. She was right, of course, but Abby had become visibly frustrated about getting dragged by her collar.

”Miriam, shouldn’t you be at the movies right now?” Priya read a magazine on Abby’s bed with some chips.

”It ended early. Can we all sit down for a second?”

First off, Priya was confused as hell. How would a movie at the theater end early? Well, no time, because Miriam made all of them sit down for a quote on quote “serious conversation”.

”What happened?”

”Mei, uh…” Miriam started. After the first word spilled out, she didn’t feel like she had the right to tell them. “Actually, you know what, it’s nothing.”

Priya and Abby stared at Miriam. Now Mei wasn’t the only one acting weird! She urgently came to Abby’s house and paused everything for… nothing?

”No, tell us!” They both urged, but Miriams lips were sealed.

”Its fine, it’s really nothing.” Her posture slouched.

”Wait, is it about the fireworks?”Priya shifted closer. “Do you need us to come with you?”

Great question.

“I don’t know, guys… Maybe you should go instead of me.”

Abby was baffled. She was almost sure that Miriam would jump at the chance, but apparently she wouldn’t, or couldn’t, patch up the holes in their current relationship.

”That’s complete bullshit. We’ll help you out of this mess, but we can’t fix the entire fucking thing for you.” Abby raised her eyebrow and pouted.

Miriam guessed she was right, but if she was Mei, she would be the last person she would want to see, too.

”You will go see the fireworks with her and tell her how you feel and listen to how she feels.” Man, Abby was scary when she was serious.

Miriam raised her arms up innocently.

”Alright, alright, but I wont guarantee it’ll work.”

They both relaxed. At least she would be going.

”But you should talk to her now. She clearly needs you.”

“Why would she even want to see me? I acted like shit.”

Everyone in the room sighed. Priya and Abby didn’t even know how to react anymore, but Priya stepped up.

“What did we say, Miriam? She needs you.”

Chapter 4

Miriam had decided she would deliver. Her talk with Priya and Abby had given her a great idea, actually.

”So first, I’ll be talking to her in the morning in the bathroom for maximum privacy!”

The next day, she didn’t arrive early. Had she even come to school at all?

”No worries, I’ll just send notes or whisper with her in class.” She told Abby before heading to the gym.

And just like that, Mei sat across the room from her, somewhere even a paper airplane couldn’t reach.

”I dunno, maybe lunch…” She chatted with Priya during the passing period. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was seriously losing hope.

And, like a pattern, she didn’t show up to their lunch table.

”Hey, it’s fine, maybe she’s just sick, or something.” Priya patted her shoulder and 

Sure, Miriam nodded, but guilt welled up in her chest like a knot, not wanting to tell them she was, in fact, at school.

”Can you guys save my seat? I’m going to the bathroom.” Maybe if Miriam looked hard enough on the way, she could find Mei.

She couldn’t hear anything reminiscent of Mei in the halls, obviously, but the bathroom was different. She could hear her.

”Mei!” She burst through the bathroom stall and locked eyes with Mei, who was just eating her lunch. (Thank god for that.)

”What are you doing here?!” They exclaimed to each other in sync.

”I asked you first!”

They almost burst out laughing. How did they manage to say that almost simultaneously? But, the occasion was quite serious, and they couldn’t laugh and relieve the tension in the air.

”Mei, I wanted to talk to you about… yesterday, anyways.”

Mei looked up while chewing her sandwich, which Miriam assumed she had packed herself.

”Didn’t I say that I don’t want to talk about it? Just talk about it with Priya and Abby, they know, don’t they?” She snorted.

”I didn’t tell them.” It was the truth, of course, although not the whole one. “Please talk to me. I want to help you.”

Mei sighed, regretful of things that Miriam, and even her own mother, would never know of.

”I’m angry.”

Miriam gasped very slightly. Angry? Last she had seen, Mei was still one of the most calm and composed people she knew. And why would she presumably hurt herself when she was angry?

”Im sorry, I didn’t mean to, I was just trying to stop it!” Her voice completely broke, and Miriam took her into a gentle hug.

”Was it your panda?” She whispered into her ear. Mei hiccuped and cried into her shoulder.

”Yes…”

She was honestly… shocked. Mei was her best friend, and she wasn’t able to see anything, not even this.

”Thank you for telling me.” Cause what else was she supposed to say?

Mei pulled herself away and sat for a moment.

”Well, the fireworks are today… want me to invite everyone else?” Miriam stuck out her hand invitingly, but was pretty quickly rejected by her.

”They said no already.” Before Miriam knew it, Mei had taken her backpack and exited the stall. ”But you better be there.”

”To where?” In a normal case, that

would’ve been considered a stupid question, but she seriously wondered. There as in the fireworks or when she needed her the most?

Mei didn’t answer, and the bell rang. Time to go back to class.

”Where were you? That was seriously long.”

”Just…peeing.”

Abby raised her eyebrow and continued moving.

”Well, I hope your finished, cause we have math.”

Miriam groaned. She’d forgotten to do last classes homework with so much going on.

”Do you want to copy off mine? We still have a bit of time.”

She shook her head. She felt bad about getting so much help from everyone even though the problem wasn’t hers to begin with.

”It’s fine, I can probably put something together.”

She couldn’t. The teacher had probably been pretty lenient before, but it was almost the last straw.

”If this happens again, I’m going to have to take a lot more points off.”

Miriam pursed her lips and nodded before stiffly walking back to her seat, earning confused glances from Abby. She had the chance to copy, but she just embarrassed herself.

”Do you- do you need the work?” Abby handed her the worksheet, but was rejected again.

Guilt piled up throughout the class time. It wasn’t the kind she felt when someone died, but it was a burning feeling in her cheeks and chest that simply grew with time.

”Please turn in your worksheets before class ends.” 

Her guilt disappeared before she rushed to finish it sloppily.

”Thank you.” Her teacher and her said to each other before she rushed out the door. Her ears were probably red.

”You good, girl?” Abby came up behind her and pushed her away from the direction of their houses.

”Why are you pushing me? The park is that way.” Abby smiled and continued pushing her to arrive at a cafe.

”Spill the tea.”

This would be hard to avoid. The fireworks would start in 2 hours, and that was much too long to hold her off for.

”Meis fine, just sad she’s moving.” Miriam’s was talking faster than normal. She still had to go home and get a picnic blanket.

”Alright… Wanna have some cake? Or coffee?”

”No.”

Abbys face contorted in surprise. Usually, this was the cue for Miriam to stay and buy her something in return for the brownies she gave her.

”Sorry, Abby, but I have to pick some stuff up from home.”

She sighed in relief. At least Miriam didn’t hate her.

”Alright then, bye.” They awkwardly parted ways from being in the cafe for such a short duration and having a weird conversation.

She rushed home for the picnic blanket, and no one was home, of course.

”Where is it-?”

She shuffled through a bin with many random objects in it. She was pretty sure it was in there! However, her heart almost stopped when she instead found a photo. It was one she’d never seen, of her as a baby with both her mother and father.

”I have a couple hours to spare… anyways…” She stared at the photo in awe, not talking.

For the first bit of time, she had no thoughts on it. She had never seen herself as a baby, and she just assumed no one ever took a picture.

After a while, her heart ached. She wasn’t sure if she should miss her father or not. But he was probably happier now, with his new family halfway across the world.

She couldn’t bear to look after that.

”Alright, to the park.” She sniffled and moved on.

’I wonder how moms doing…’ At the same time, the thought of her father brought an onslaught of concern for her mother. Was the office treating her right? 

“Mir! You’re finally here!” She looked up to see Mei waiting for her near a ledge. Guess that’s where they’re would watch from.

”Do you want to get food? I saw some hot dog stands.”

Mei spread out the blanket.

”No, it’s fine. It’s getting dark, anyways. And I have some dumplings I brought.”

Dumplings were nice. She could handle some dumplings. Miriam and Mei both collapsed onto the blanket, curling up to stay warm.

”30 minutes until we start! Please stay warm and get yourselves food!” Somebody distant announced.

Half an hour… Would she have time to pry something out of Mei, or would she remain despondent?

”I know I told you this, but if you’re angry, talk to me about it.”

Mei nodded and turned to face Miriam.

”Are we still going to talk when we’re older? Like, in college, and when we get jobs.”

“Of course, it’ll be a lot harder, but we can still text!”

They both giggled. It was hard to imagine that Mei had, what? A week and a half? What felt like a lifetime of friendship would surely disappear after that.

”Let’s meet up every month or year or something, then.”

Actually, why were they thinking about this so early? It was much too soon to be thinking about the future like this.

Mei gasped suddenly, shocking Miriam. 

“The fireworks!” She pointed to the sky and smiled widely, an action that made Miriam smile, too. “Let’s worry about this tomorrow. These are really pretty.”

Miriam, once again, hugged Mei. It was cold, of course, and they both needed comfort somehow.

”Are you sure you’re not angry?”

Mei shook her head.

”Not now, I think.” She then broke away from the hug and pointed to some neon green fireworks. “Look! Those look like you!”

Miriam chuckled. Everything green, to her friends, was pretty much associated with her.

”And that looks like you.” She pointed to a red firework in return.

“And that…” She pointed to an empty space in the sky. “…looks like me in a week.”

Notes:

should i draw them on my tumblr

Chapter 5: New a/n!

Hey everyone! So, I was reviewing this and holy shit was i a bad writer lolz.

HOWEVER, I have decided I will be continuing this work, despite the death of this fandom. See you all next week!!!

Chapter 6

There are two reasons why people like fireworks. Firstly, because they’re shiny and gorgeous and whatever you want them to be.

Secondly, because they never last.

Miriam stared at Mei, still pointing at the firework, both of them unsure of what they meant.

”You don’t need to remind me that you’re moving, you know that, right?” Miriam awkwardly chuckled.

Mei’s eyebrows knitted together sorrowfully as she out her hand down. “I don’t know, I figured I could humor myself.”

They sat down on the picnic blanket again, watching the fireworks go by.

”Mei, how long have we been friends for?”

”Third grade. I know, isn’t it shocking?”

Miriam pursed her lips, leaning on Mei’s shoulder. “How long do you think it’s going to be before we stop talking?”

”Mir!” She scolded. “Don’t say that!”

”No, I’m serious!”

Mei scrunched her nose and looked down at Miriam. “I don’t know. It’s usually, like… six months? Maybe a year, if we’re good at texting.”

”Oh.” Miriam whispered, an ounce of hope leaking into her chest. “So what, everything would be fine if you came back in six months?” She laughed. “That’s fantastic.”

Mei didn’t want to crush her with the knowledge that she probably wouldn’t even be able to visit, much less come back fully. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Miriam gave a false sigh of relief, because even she was smart enough to know that Mei was probably not coming back.

The fireworks ended a few seconds, much to their disappointment.

”Do you just want to stay over today, Mir? It might be a bit dangerous for you to go home alone.”

“I’m good, thanks. I don’t want to bother your parents.”

”They love you, you’ll be fine.”

Miriam could beg to differ. She knew well that her parents were definitely not the most fond of her. A lot of it might have contributed to how she dressed, instantly getting her stereotyped as a “girl-liker” by half the population and douchebag by the other half. They weren’t wrong from the first statement, but it still hurt.

”You should just come over to mine at some point.”

Mei’s gaze saddened slightly, not expecting to have had her invitation rejected. “Sleepover tomorrow?”

”With everyone or just us?”

”I don’t know. It’s your house, isn’t it?” Mei sighed and got up. “I need to pack my picnic blanket up, Mir.”

”Are you mad at me?”

”No, why would I be mad at you?” Mei’s brow scrunched in annoyance.

”I don’t know, you’ve been acting all pissed at me lately!”

”Great, except I literally haven’t!”

”Look, Mei, I don’t want to fight!” Miriam yelled.

Her face twisted in disgust, her voice slowly raising. “Neither do I, what is going on with you? I just want to at least have a good time before moving, can you let me do that?”

Miriam out her hand to her chest. “Me? Ruining it? Great, thanks!”

”All I asked was that you get off the picnic blanket!“ She took the blanket away. “Whatever, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” She scowled and walked away.