Tacenda | 7DS

Chapter 2

"I know it's not much, but we promise to completely ignore him-if you want."

"I think we should."

"W-what?" She sniffed, wet face peeking over her wet hands, "r-r-reallyy?"

"Yeah, we promise. Girls pact."

*****
Almost every morning was a girl morning. After they left university, Ellie and her best friends would meet every day. They'd made a joint decision to have a gap year before launching into new projects and travelled back to their home village. Currently, they were laughing in a dainty café across town, slurping on their milkshakes as Elaine concluded her tale of Ban trying to give their neighbour a cooking lesson. 

"Oh! Elizabeth," Diane said chirpily, pigtails brushing her orange top as she turned to her friend. "how was your audition yesterday? "

Elizabeth almost choked. 

"I-it was-err- yeah, great."

Diane smiled, "what did you have to-?"

"If it was great, why didn't you call us after and tell us about it?" 

Damn Elaine.

She sat to the right of Elizabeth, blonde hair gracing her shoulders, wearing a warm white dress that rested above knees. Generous amber eyes regarded her-they were sceptical. She was the observant one, noticing the smallest details that were normally neglected. As much as she loved her friends, Elaine was the hardest to lie to, which made this more difficult than it needed to be.

"I was tired. The audition process is different this year; it's harder," the silver-haired girl explained, sounding casual, "I'll know in two weeks if I've made it to the second round."

With a dubious nod, Elaine sank in her seat, eyeing Elizabeth over the top of her drink. It looked as if she'd accepted her answer, but Ellie knew better than that. Diane jumped up, amethyst eyes gleaming in eagerness, her smile widened, "What are the stages? What do you need to do?"

"For the first, we're in partners. We have to make our own scene or something...not sure about the second yet."

"Who's your partner?"

Elaine? Seriously?

"I-I don't know their name."

Diane giggled, shaking her head and resting her elbows on the circular table, "Silly, you need to show us to him."

Elizabeth nodded, mentally sighing in relief and turned her head to the view of the street outside the window. People stood nearby, admiring the graffitied walls that most likely was Harlequin's doing. The guy sometimes ventured into the roads at night alongside all his paint and equipment, only returning at dusk. He had to have been overnight as new designs were sprinkled over the top few bricks on retail shops opposite. Elizabeth edged her face closer to the window to see a painting of a tree on the wall of the alleyway. It was the most intricate drawing she'd seen, springing out against the brisk Autumn. The trunk was the colour of pine, its branches leading to a beautiful lavender canopy that extended over the bricks. As always, at the bottom right, penned in gold, was the word King-the name Harlequin used for his art. Nevertheless, his friends called him King too.

To answer Diane, she'd ask someone to pretend to be her partner to cover it up for her friends. Maybe that boy from earlier could work...or a girl? Diane and Elaine never needed to know it was a boy-

How did Diane know it was a him?

 "How'd you know it's a guy?"

"Huh?" She frowned slightly, eyebrows knitting together and fiddled with strands of her hair, "What did I say?"