Scribbles & Prompt Responses

The Hive at Night (Project Athena - September 2023 challenge)

            If I had to say, Sophia started changing towards the end of middle school. Before then, and especially before boyfriends, we were in and out of each others houses every day after school. Or at least, most days when we weren't practicing at her aunt's dance studio. Her younger cousin liked to follow along with us. Sophia told me she was a real pain but it never bothered me. Maybe because Inés like to read almost as much as me.

It was really sad what happened to her. Their families were on holidays together in the mountain and Inés wandered off. She was missing for three days before the found her, or what was left of her. It was pretty gross.

I told Sophia how sorry I was but she just brushed it off, like it had happened to a stranger and not the girl who tagged along with us. I wanted to do something for a memorial but she said, "I don't know why you care about that whiney little brat anyway."

When I asked my mom about it, she said sometimes people hide their sadness and guilt with anger and I should just give Sophia time. So, I tried not to let it bother me but it seemed like Sophia was truly glad Inés was gone. She certainly wasn't kind about her aunt closing the dance studio since neither of our families could afford the same number of classes without the family discount we had been getting.

Then Manuel came on scene. He was a couple of years older than us and used to bring his sister to ballet class. He would wait in the coffee shop across from the new studio to walk her back home. She complained it made her look like a baby but he ignored her indignation. Sophia took notice of the book he was working from and elbowed me.

"Offer to tutor him in French. Tell him we can practice our conversational skills together." Sophia pushed me into him.

"Excusez-moi," I said automatically. He stared blankly for a moment then waived his hand to send me on my way. "You could have at least said, pas de problem or ce ne'st pas grave." I turned on my heels and walked away.

"Wait. You speak French?" he reached out to stop me leaving.

"Of course, she does. Total brainiac." Sophia interjected. "If you ask nicely, we can both help."

I watched in shock as she turned into a total flirt, all giggles and accidental touches, and Manuel lapped up the attention. Within a week they were hanging off each other at every opportunity and I became the third wheel. I was a good enough friend to cover for her when she went out on dates. I was a better friend for not letting her copy my homework, even if she told me I was being stingy.

Anyways, it was kind of strange how her dad got this weird sort of anemia and then Manuel's sister got it too and had to stop coming to dance. That's when Sophia started skipping classes and almost got cut from the year-end performance. I don't know what kind of fast talking she did to get back on stage but she couldn't hide being relegated to the back row and I got a solo instead of us doing a duet as usual.

Her Mom was livid when the instructor explained why. Manuel standing there in a suit holding a bouquet of roses became the target of her anger. I also got my fair share of blame for helping Sophia hide what had been going on. Her grounding included losing her phone and having her computer use monitored so we kind of lost touch when I was sent to my Grandmama's for the school break.

Spending the summer on the small farm in the south of France kept me pretty isolated so it wasn't until the third bizarre attack made international headlines I heard the news from home. All the after-hours clubs were being shut down and ride-sharing services were being closely monitored. These precautions did not stop another young couple from getting butchered in a public square.