Dainty and Dauntless

Mates and foes:

They shared laughter, silly pats on the shoulder that left an itch, cracked lame jokes together and almost lost breath humoring each other, dreamed about the coolest lives and painted them. He thought the other fella was a fool, and the thought was mutual. They were two foolish friends.

🦋🦋🦋

*Months later*

The class reunion was planned on short notice and was confirmed after a few days. Apparently, many from the class of 2019 wished to reconnect with their fellows almost three years after high school, and the turn up was very positive. At least three quarters of the class had showed up for the meet up, many familiar faces showed up with grins and cheery noises.

Growth had been graceful on many, much so that the difference was overwhelming. Sera Williams had had a weight loss and her hair was longer now, despite her chubby cheeks not changing a bit. Compared to her friend Riley Jones, she was the shorter one at present. A cheery girl approached them with the widest smile and enveloped the two girls in a hug.

"Ayyy, how have you guys been? I can't believe you guys are hotter than me now," she looked from Sera to Riley who blushed hard. "Puberty, am I right?"

"Trust me Ramh, it's more than that," Sera chuckled.

"Ooo, come on tell me," Ramh grinned then whispered, "does it have to do with any persons in particular, maybe present here."

"what? No!," Riley was quick to chirp in. "We've barely been in touch with many guys from high school... but maybe you have a different opinion, right Mrs. Thorne?"

When Ramh fell silent and blushed, Sera and Riley squealed with joy. It was ironic that Ramh had fallen for someone so introverted.

Another girl tiptoed to the three girls who cheered when they finally saw her.
"How are my favorite twins?," she nudged Sera and gave Riley's cheek a soft pinch, then turned to make a goofy face at Ramh before bursting with laughter.
"Oh my God, i missed you guys"

"So did we, Eli ," Riley answered.

"Your twinnie too, where is Natalie?," Sera added.

Ramh scratched her brow and looked around, "Oh yeah, Natie, haven't seen her around"

Elise pressed her lips together and searched for an answer worth believing.
"Uhm, she had something—I mean, something came up and she had to cancel." Yup, she knew she hadn't done great with the excuse, and she was hoping for the girls not to press on the matter.

She looked from one girl's face to another and the next and got nervous; Riley made a little frown and Sera looked disappointed, Ramh looked to be digesting the information.

"And there goes her chance to see Ethan again," Ramh said with disappointment.

"wats up ladies?! If you don't mind, I would like to accompany you to your seats," a man's voice broke the silence.

"Garf! Just on time," Elise chimed and held onto his arm, then signaled to the girls to take the lead, then turned to him and took a deep sigh.

Garf laughed knowingly, "you've told them?"

"Yeah"

"Well, good job princess," and he gave her hand a pat before wrapping his around hers.
...

His deep sigh came forcibly, leaving his chest heaving a bit. Breathing had never been so complex. He struggled to steady his breath just as much as his body.
His teeth sunk into his soggy lips that he kept on licking. For some reason they were drying up fast.
His eyes were as thin as a line, the squinting made it look so. His gaze bore into the black hole that enveloped the whole forest.
He shuddered.