Through Everything

Chapter 7

"Who am I?" asked the voice which Luna recognised in a heartbeat.

"Jia!" 

Jia pulled away her hands away and let out a short laugh. "Look who's ambidextrous!" teased Jia as the two walked over to their table on which they scribbled 'L & J 4ever!' among the dozen other doodles on the edge of the table.

As they ate their lunch, Jia eyed Luna. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Luna took a big spoonful of lasagne and rolled it around her mouth. She wanted a bit more time to go over the entire scene once more. She wasn't known for her shyness. But somehow, she always felt 'weird' when she kept things from Jia. Even so, once the morsel in her mouth had lost its taste, she swallowed the morsel and began.

"So, about the school fete-the one that is going to raise money for the football finals...."

Jia nodded and took a sip of her apple juice.

"Well, I thought we could run a stall together-the two of us." 

Jia raised an eyebrow.

Luna continued. "You know, we could spend some time together. Just the two of us. And we'll be raising money for the school as well. Kinda a win-win situation."

Jia's face lit up. "Okay, I'll admit it. You got me on the 'just the two of us' part."

Luna's eyes twitched. She was glad that Jia was onboard. But if Jia dwelled on the 'just the two of us' part for long, the next phase of her plan might not be a complete success. Luna moved her spoon around the edges of her lasagne, trying to decide what to say.

Jia kept her apple juice aside. "Luna, I'm stoked that the two of us now get to spend some time together at the fete." Luna looked up at Jia, who returned her look with a big smile.

"You know I don't like sappy feelings." said Luna, fidgeting with her choker.

"I know..." began Jia. "But still, with all of my never-ending Head Girl duties, I always blame myself for not being able to spend any time with you." She put her hand on top of Luna's. Luna looked up at her. "You mean a lot to me, and I don't want anyone to get between us."

Luna pulled away her hand and frowned. "Way to ruin a good moment, Jia." 

Jia stared at Luna with the same expressionless face that she had when she saw Luna hitting Ivy. Luna shook her head and blinked a few times, bringing herself back to reality.

"You know she's harmless." said Luna, taking a sip of her apple juice.

"I'm not taking any chances." said Jia, making zig-zag patterns with her fork on the almost empty plate. The last thing she wanted was to have another standoff with Luna.

"She might surprise you, but only if you give her a chance."

Jia didn't answer.

"Alright." said Luna with a sigh. "I can take a hint."

Luna took her phone out and opened HillSearch. "Okay, got it."

Luna pushed her lunch tray to a side and placed her phone on the table. She turned it towards Jia.

"Look at this. I've found this cool website where you can create digital mind maps and organise ideas and jot down things."

Jia examined the various virtual sticky notes and shapes arranged around a large circle, which had 'Ideas for the fete' written inside it.

"I thought we could use it to you know; get inspiration and organise our ideas so that we can pick the best ones."

Jia nodded, her lips pulling themselves up into a smile.