How the Star Fell for the Moon | Layla

Four

[That same day after school. Lily is at "Topanga's" bakery with the school's debate team for one of their practices.]

"See you guys later," Lily says with a smile, as the rest of her teammates get up to leave the bakery. Her leg begins to bounce up and down while she contemplates whether or not she should follow through with the idea that's been stuck in her head for the majority of the day. Without giving it another thought, Lily approaches the counter and says to the barista, "hi, I'd like to order something."

"Okay," he replies, "and what would that something be?"

"Oh, uhh, yeah... well you see there is definitely a name for what I want to order; however, I-uhh, I guess you could say that I don't really know the name of that something. This is kind of my first time ordering coffee, and to be honest I'm not really sure if it's even considered coffee."

"I see," the barista says, raising up his eyebrows from the girl's confusion. "So far what I've got is that it might be coffee, but it might not be."

Lily's face lights up, as she remembers part of the order. "Tea! That's it! It has tea in it!"

"Fantastic," he replies with a smile. "What kind of tea?"

"There's more than one kind?" Lily asks, as her excitement quickly dies.

"The most popular teas are green, chai, herbal and black. And is this just straight tea, or is it a frappe, a latte, iced or is it something completely different?"

Lily's eyes slowly widen, as the employee lists out all of the different options. "All I know is that she likes extra foam on top."

"That actually helps-" the barista replies, before someone pats him on the shoulder, signaling that he would take over from there.

"I've got this. One grande chai tea latte with extra foam, double shot, almond milk instead of whole, with two dashes of cinnamon to top it of," he says, as he places the order on top of the counter. He continues over to the pastries, grabs one, and promptly puts it in a bag, which he then places next to the latte. "And we couldn't forget the bulochki. Would you like anything for yourself?"

"A hot chocolate would be nice," Lily replies. "How did you know what I was trying to order?"

"For the last four years you've come in here every Friday for the debate team's practice, and haven't ordered a single thing. The first time you decide to order something coincidently happens to be on the third day that Ayla hasn't showed up to order her usual, which she gets everyday right after school gets out. We could say it's from growing up in this place and knowing exactly what someone is going to order the second they walk through that door, or we could say the truth, which is that I'm not blind and I know something is wrong with Ayla and that bothers you, so you're on your way to go see her."

Lily blushes. "Mr. Matthews, Ayla and I haven't talked to each other in years."

"So I've heard. If that's the case, and you're not on your way to go see her, then I guess I'll just get rid of these," Auggie says, and he grabs a hold of the bag and drink to take over to the trash and throw away.

"Wait," Lily interjects, causing Auggie to stop. "It would be wasteful to just toss them, so I might as well buy them."

Auggie smiles and walks back over to Lily and sets down the bag and drink and starts to make her hot chocolate.

After she pays for everything she slowly heads up to the Matthews-Hart-Hunter apartment, becoming more and more anxious as she gets closer to their front door. A few calming breaths and seconds of awkwardly idling in front of their apartment later, she finally knocks on their door. Lily's nerves only get worse, when she is met by no immediate response, and finally gives up after a couple of more knocks.

She heads back to the stairwell half disappointed, half relieved, that no one answered. Once she gets to the stairs something in the back of her mind stops her from heading back down to the street, and instead she starts climbing up to the roof.

Once she reaches the door that opens to the rooftop, she isn't too sure how she feels. On one hand she hopes to see Ayla, so that she can make sure she is doing okay. On the other, it has been years since they have been together alone, and Lily had technically shown up to her house uninvited. Not expecting to find anyone on the other side, Lily opens the door, only to reveal Ayla leaning against one of the walls and looking out at the city.

"I left you guys a note on the kitchen table telling you that I needed some time up here alone to think," Ayla says without looking to see who had joined her on top of the roof, simply assuming it was one of her parents.

Lily is speechless, as she continues to stare at Ayla. She's there. She is actually there standing in front of her. It has been nearly four years since she has heard Ayla's voice talk to her. It has been nearly four years since she has spoke to Ayla, looked into her eyes, hugged her, laughed with her, breathed the same air as her, stayed up all night watching movies with her, been this close to her. It has been nearly four years since she has done anything with Ayla, and today's a day Lily thought would never come. Today's the day she might finally have the chance to take back a part of her back that she lost four years ago, her best friend.

With so many thoughts running through her head the only thing Lily can think of to say is, "A, it's me."

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A/N: Next: "I know what it's like to feel alone. If you ever need someone to feel alone with, please know that you have me. You always have, and you always will."
"How about tonight... you and me, alone together, say six o'clock?"