A Year At The Opera

Chapter 17: Minor Mendings And The Laws Of Attraction Part 2

A/N: SO sorry this took so long but I hope you enjoy this!!! Meant to upload this a few days ago but I've been insanely busy with school. Anyway, here's the chapter!!

WC: 5600 words

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Svetlana

It was a beautiful sunday morning in Athea. Wilting leaves covered practically every inch of the park, obscuring the footpath. The sunlight bounced off the leaves at just the right angle to make Embrace Park radiate a warm, golden glow. The breeze was just cold enough that Svetlana didn't feel the need to grab her jacket when she left the house.

Svetlana found the group waiting outside the park doors, looking around impatiently.

"Hey!" Svetlana waved at them.

They shot her a smile and she ran over, standing next to Sean. Britney seemed to be missing today but Valerie and Leo were finally here.

"What's happening?" Svetlana asked. "Why are we standing outside?"

"Door's locked." Sean walked over to the gate, grabbed it by the metal bars and shook it. It stayed closed.

"Riley's probably just running late." Waverly prompted. "She should be here soon."

"Riley?" Svetlana asked.

"Yeah, Val's girlfriend. Her dad owns the park so she's the person responsible for opening the place up every morning." Sam explained.

"Ah, okay." Svetlana said. "Excited to finally get to know her."

"Yeah, well she can't stay today." Valerie huffed, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms.

Leo, who was standing next to her, stepped away and took out his phone.

"Excited to at least meet her then, I guess." Svetlana shrugged.

The group stood by the door for a good ten minutes with occasional looks to see where Riley was so they could get in. And eventually, Riley did arrive from around the corner and Valerie's frown instantly vanished.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Riley apologized as she ran over and hugged Valerie. "Alarm didn't go off."

"It's okay, babe." Valerie smiled, pulling her even closer.

Riley unhooked a set of keys from her belt loop and tossed them to Sam. Sam caught them and quickly opened up the gates.

"Here." Sam held out the keys and Riley tried to pull away but Valerie hugged her even tighter. Riley stuck out a finger and Sam gently put her finger through the key ring.

"Come on, let's head in." Waverly said.

"I'll catch up." Valerie replied.

Leo put his phone back in his pocket and followed the others inside, Svetlana tagging behind last.

And so they were finally inside, and the Park looked even better than the last time Svetlana was here. Where the leaves were only slightly yellowing the last time, now they were fully red and covered every inch of the path. The leaves crunched satisfyingly under their feet. And so, for thirty minutes, they walked. They talked about their weeks, recounted their days. They walked in pairs of two: Waverly and Sam at the front, Leo and Valerie in the middle and Sean and Svetlana at the back.

Waverly talked about how annoying her mom was being.

"—And she keeps complaining and I can't fucking take it anymore." Waverly sighed. "I keep telling her to either shut up or just leave him but no, when has that woman ever listened to reason?"