Advice

14. sprained

~ funny little story- i got logged out of my account for like... a month. and i couldn't post anything. isn't that fun?!?! thank you so much for your patience :) ~

Lightbulb's POV

Two hours. Two hours late.

I've been sitting at the table for two hours with two cups of noodles. I should just eat. They might not be home for a while. I stir the salty broth with my fork, attempting to find any of the vegetables that would oh-so ruin my salty noodle eating experience.

After a thorough check, I deem it edible and I bring a fork-full to my mouth. The noodles are cold. Bleh. Reminds me of worms.

I swallow glumly and put my fork back into the cup. They've been gone for three hours. Must've been some kind of business call. Hm.

A sudden banging from the door shakes me out of my slump. I hop from my seat and jolt to the door.

"Who is it?"

"Take a guess."

A sudden smile crosses my face. "Oh my god the mailman!!!" I jump in place. "It's been years since I've seen you! How's the kids?!"

"Lightbulb. Open the door."

"Sure!" I swing it open. "Hey Painty, wazzup."

They're supporting a familiar green-haired figure by the shoulder, who looks entirely disgruntled.

"Someone," they eye the green, "told me they got into a car crash. I had presumed that meant they were in grave danger and needed help." They stepped inside, dropping the stranger onto my 'bed.' "When in reality she had just sprained her fucking ankle cause she tripped over a rock after CRASHING HER CAR INTO A TELEPHONE POLE."

"Oh fun! I finished the noodles btw. They're cold but I took all the vegetables out so it'll be fine."

"Is that why there's vegetables all over the counter?"

Forgot about those hahaaahah.

"I poured them out. I don't wanna touch those things!"

"Who's your girlfriend, Paintbrush?" A voice comments from the couch. The stranger shifts a leg over the other, leaning into the couch with a grin. "Wait- is she the bitch that had been arguing with that guy in the shop?! Oh my god, I think I'm gonna go insane...!" Her psychotic smile doubles in size as she cups a hand to her cheek.

"She's not my girlfriend. She's my roommate. And also, what's got you all smug?! You've just made me walk across town to get you just 'cause you had a stupid ankle sprain!"

I lean on the counter, swiping the discarded vegetables into the sink. "Come on, Painty. There has to be an explanation to all this... "

She slides her glasses off her face, moving them to an arm on the couch. "HAH! She even calls you Painty! Imagine that!" She covers her face with her hands, stifling a laugh.

"Would you shut it?! God, what is up with you today??" Painty points a finger at the woman, and she puts her hands back in a calm manner and recollects herself. "You owe me- no, both of us an explanation.

My ramen is cold because of you!"

Truly tragic...

"Yes, yes. I suppose I do." She clears her throat, sliding her hands to her knees. Her manic disposition from only a minute ago was completely dissolved. "I'll start from this morning.

I had found out last night that Fan had been coming home early before winter break; which of course I was ecstatic over. He's my boyfriend, of course I'd be- anyways whilst you," she points to me, "and that old guy were arguing, I got a message from him.

He's switching majors."

Painty's eyes widen. "Excuse me?"

Can someone please fill me in on who Fan is.

She was fuming. "The dumbass switched his major! He's doing journaling now!! Midway through the school year! I told him that it would affect his graduation timeline, but he wouldn't let me talk!"

Bro, it's heating up in here. Where's the thermostat?

Her eyes gloss over. "I just want what's best for him. He's not thinking straight. I just want everything to be okay. I love him so much."

Painty moves to sit next to her. She leans her head into their shoulder, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Hey, Test, it's okay. I promise."

"It's not okay. It's not." She positions herself upright again, wiping her tears with her sleeves.

"Do you know what I saw on my way home? When I crashed my car?"

"...what."

"Fan. In his car. With a woman."

...

DAMMMNNN.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Painty jumps from their seat.

"YEAH NO SHIT." She tightly grips her knees, raising her shoulder in defense. "When he locked eyes with me, he acted like everything was okay. He even smiled at me" She pauses, taking a breath.

"She was an older woman. Light colored hair. Guess they probably dyed their hair together. I'm just some throw away girl, I guess." She twirls a strand of green hair around her finger.

The barista grabs her glasses, repositioning them on her face. I notice a tiny crack in the corner of the left lens.

"And of course," she continues, "I hadn't expected to see him, let alone with a woman, so I accidentally let my car swerve and hit the telephone pole. Thank god you called me Paint', I probably would've just wallowed on the sidewalk for a few hours."

"Yea, of course." A bittersweet smile crosses their face, before quickly being replaced with a frown. "I think we should call Fan."

Testy's head shoots up in shock. "What? Why?!"

"I- This doesn't make sense. There's no logical excuse for any of this. We have more questions than answers."

"I mean-" she grimaces, "yea, I suppose you're right. I just don't think he'd wanna talk with me. He clearly isn't thinking logically."

"Testy, please." I intervene, slowly waking over to sit next to her. "We both want to help you. I promise, we'll patch everything up, okay?"

She eyes me blankly before releasing a sharp breath. "Alright. If you think it's for the best, we can go for it."

"Yayyy!!!!" I smile, letting my feet bounce against the floor. "Oh, hey, wait." I stuck my hand out in front of the woman. Her eyes go wide. "I'm Lightbulb by the way. Painty's roomie. You're sitting on my bed."

"Uh." She nods, and meets my hand. "Nice to meet you, I guess. My name's Test Tube."

I shake her hand. "Yup, yup. Testy it is."

"Lovely."

~ thanks for reading!!! can anyone tell that this entire fanfic is just me throwing random crap into a google doc and calling it a day. man this is the life. anyways TYSM FOR ALL THE LOVE YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING 🫶🫶🫶🫶 :) ~
~ why are my chapters so silly? who gave me that right? that wasn't in the constitution. 12/18/2023 ~