THE LUCKY ONE | Taylor Swift Adoption

ONE

Elle was walking home from school with her best friend, Maya. The rain was gently drizzling down on the two of them, which wasn't uncommon, but it was still annoying because it was the beginning of June, and the weather made it feel like the middle of November.

"Did you get the snacks?" Maya asked as she tried to keep up with her friend's quick pace.

Elle nodded. She'd been told to pick up snacks for them to eat while they made bracelets for The Eras Tour at Maya's house. With just four days left before they went, they'd already made well over one hundred bracelets between the two of them.

"What're you gonna wear?" She asked.

"I'll show you when we get to my house. My mum said it would arrive today!"

The girls arrived at Maya's house after a ten-minute walk and were greeted by the family's French Bulldog.

"Hi, Coco!" Elle got down on her knees, scratching the dog's head. She had always been a big animal lover.

Maya's mum, Diana, came out of the kitchen to greet the girls. "How was school?" She asked, stopping beside her daughter and petting her hair as she looked down at Elle stroking the dog.

"Fine," Maya said.

"Just fine?"

"We played sharks and fishes at lunch," Elle told her.

"Sounds like fun. Did you learn anything?"

"No."

"Okay then," Diana chuckled. She knew she wouldn't get much else out of the two girls. Kids never seemed to share much about their day at school.

"We're gonna make some more bracelets," Maya told her mum.

"More? Haven't you already made, like, fifty?"

Maya shook her head, "134." She'd been counting.

Diana let out an amused huff. "Alright, go on up. I'll shout you when it's time for dinner."

Elle stood up, giving Coco one last pet before making her way to the stairs. Maya followed her, but not before her mum pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. Elle noticed and looked down at the floor but continued up the stairs. She had always been a little envious of her friend; she had everything that she didn't.

Quickly shaking off the sad feeling, she dropped her lavender-coloured school bag on the carpet of Maya's room and sat cross-legged on the floor. She unzipped her bag and pulled out the snacks, setting them beside her. Maya opened her cupboard and pulled out all the things they needed to make bracelets: string, coloured beads, letter beads, and scissors. She set everything down on the floor before sitting down across from Elle.

Thirty minutes in, Elle began to grow frustrated. She was on her second bracelet, and it kept falling apart. Every time she attempted to tie the string together, she lost her grip, and the beads spilt all over the floor.

"I give up!" She said, pushing the beads away.

Maya looked up from the bracelet she was working on, her concentration broken by Elle's complaint. "I'll tie it for you if you make it again."