See You in the Morning

13 // Elegy

Lyla palms the cold carton of chocolate coconut milk ice cream, staring at the ingredients printed on the purple label. She has no idea how long she's been standing here in the aisle of Whole Foods, locked in a decision freeze completely unrelated to the frozen goods displayed behind frosted doors.

"Find any good vegan ice cream?"

Lyla glances up to see her good friend Pearl Nishimura strolling towards her with a shopping cart in tow filled with various foods and items.

Pearl is even more petite than Lyla, often passing for a high school student with her round face, deep set dimples and upturned onyx eyes. Friends since their freshman year in Rieber Hall, Pearl and Lyla shared a required class their first semester and spent many late nights studying for exams together with too many bags of M&Ms and trail mix.

Of her three housemates, Lyla is closest to Pearl. While both Charlie and Stella were sympathetic to her situation, Pearl's aunt had battled ovarian cancer for several years before the disease ultimately claimed her life. As a girl, Pearl watched her mother take care of her aunt with tremendous courage and compassion. Eventually, it inspired her to pursue a career in public health and medicine, a path that led her to become one of the top pre-medicine students in her graduating class.

Pearl's intimate experience with cancer meant that she understood the complexities that came with the devastating disease in ways others might not always understand.

Lyla throws Pearl a panicked look.

"Help, I can't choose! Last time Lucas had ice cream with organic tapioca syrup, he got a little sick – but I don't know what kind of sugar is in this brand, since it just says 'sugar'... Is it cane sugar? Glucose? I don't want to make him feel worse, but it's his birthday soon, and he really loves ice cream! He just started his new treatment, and I don't want to mess everything up. Maybe I should just buy sorbet instead?"

Pearl gently pries the pint of ice cream from Lyla's hand and sticks it into the shopping cart. She then reaches behind the glass door and fetches three more cartons, each different than the one before.

"Let's get them all, okay? That way, he can decide which one he wants to try if he's up for it," she says, smiling kindly. "We'll even throw in a sorbet. Mango sounds good, let's go with that. And you and I can eat whatever he doesn't want to eat."

Lyla wrings her hands and nods. "Okay."

Pearl gives her friend's arm a little squeeze. "Let's go."

The girls make their way to the checkout aisle, where they pay for various groceries – staples for their little house on Elenda Street, and a few other items for Lucas. Pearl commandeers the shopping cart once all the bags are filled, and Lyla follows her out of the store and into the parking lot back to her Audi.

They load the car beneath a hazy gray Los Angeles sky. Pearl slides into the passenger side while Lyla slams the trunk shut. Moments later, she climbs into the driver's seat.

Lyla exhales, suddenly feeling silly and childish for her momentary helplessness back in the store. She turns to look Pearl in the eye.

"I'm sorry," she says.

"What are you apologizing for? We get groceries together all the time," Pearl jokes, clipping on her seatbelt.

"For being indecisive, and just all over the place," Lyla replies. "I can't even do simple things like pick ice cream flavors these days. How am I going to plan his birthday party?"

Pearl shrugs with a smile. "I believe in you. And plus, it's just ice cream."

"But it's not just ice cream."