Just like me - Game Gyaru Fanfiction [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 25: Kinder than a basket of puppies

Arina sat in the corner of the room, head down and mercilessly scribbling across the sketchpad on her knees.

A slightly crude and rushed drawing of Daniella, mermaid tail and all. Her face tinged with confusion and sadness. In a little speech bubble next to her, the phrase: "Why did you say no?"

Arina pressed her head against the sketchpad, clutching the pencil.

She flipped the page and started a new drawing. Minutes later a new scene fell upon the page; a prom room, millions of blinding lights shooting down from the ceiling in every direction, muted rainbow streamers that wound around every surface like vines, and in the center hanging from the ceiling, a disco ball spinning so fast shards of glass rained down like bullets!

The tip of Arina's pencil snapped, she stopped for the first time since Daniella left. Alone, the silence crept up on her, she could hear her rapid heartbeat, she could feel the trembling in her hands, her vision started to flicker, blinking her eyes open and closed, her sketchpad fell to one side, she quickly threw her arm to the side to catch herself from slumping over. 

"W-why i-s t-this h-h-happe-en-ing?" Arina choked, she couldn't quite remember why but she was laying on the ground now. She clutched a hand over her heart, it was beating a mile a minute but that wasn't the root of the problem. The dark pit in her stomach, fuzziness in the head, this wasn't something physically caused, it was a mind problem.

"Hellooo? Anyone in here-? Oh shit!" A voice pierced through the silence, Arina opened her eyes to see a figure rushing towards her.

"Bri-anna?" 

"Arina! What's wrong? Are you okay?" Before Arina could answer, Brianna lifted her up by the torso and leant her back against the wall, inspecting her dazed expression.

"I-I don't- know...!" Arina slurred panicked, unable to look into Brianna's eyes anymore she threw her head into her knees. "I-I j-just I can't- I can't breath, shit, I-!"

"Oh..." Brianna sighed, Arina felt a warm hand brush across her shoulder. "It's okay, you're just having  panic attack. Can you try and look at me?" 

With effort, Arina pried herself from her ball shape and shakily opened her eyes to see Brianna's proud smile. 

"Hey, there you go! Now, I'm going to take a few deep breaths in and out, okay? I want you to follow with me. Just focus on me." 

Arina followed carefully as Brianna breathed in and out slowly, she sat in awe as her mind began to clear, her once locked and rigid bones became loose and relaxed a little. 

"T-that helped... Um, thank you." Arina smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." 

"It's alright, happens to all of us sometime or another." Brianna grinned casually. "What happened?" 

"It's really stupid..."

"I won't laugh, I promise." 

Arina took a deep breath, then explained what happened with Daniella. Brianna's eyes sparkled and her smile was that of a giddy child.

"Anyway I just don't know what to do- Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh!" Arina huffed as Brianna giggled uncontrollably.

"No no no! I'm not, uh- well, you see... Oh for god sake I hate being the best friend. Look, it's not for me to say... But I think Daniella would really appreciate if you went with her. "

Arina groaned, pulling at her hair. "I KNOW! I know... I want to go with her, I just- prom is scary..."

"It's not all that bad, sure it's loud, and bright, and full of like, tons of people... But there are snacks!"

"I do like snacks... Would they have cookies?" A knowing smile crossed Arina's face that Brianna couldn't quite decipher.

"Um, I dunno probably." She replied with a shrug, Arina let Brianna's words trail off as she envisioned the night of the prom... Showing up in her pretty pink dress, Daniella wearing something even prettier... Walking in the room is dark yet the coloured lights are blaring, the chatter of people is so loud, yet even it's drowned out by the music, base beating so harsh you can feel it in your throat-!

"Woah, hey, stay with me! Arina? You good?" Brianna shook Arina out of her trance, her eyes had begun to glaze over again and her hands were clammy and shaking. 

"Sorry-"

"I-it's okay." Brianna gave a crooked smile.

"I-I don't know if I can go, besides, there's probably like a million other people Daniella would rather go with, she's like really popular. She can find someone else."

"No, no no NO!" Something sparked in Brianna, jolting up she shook her head frantically. "You're the only one she wants to go with, I PROMISE." 

"But why?! Surely she'd have more fun with someone who actually wants to go, what makes me so special?"

Brianna looked as if she was about to explode, biting her tongue she rubbed her temples gently. "B-because she- SHE-! A-AND YOU-! UGH I HATE BEING THE BEST FRIEND."

Arina's face twinged with confusion but before she could form any kind of reply Brianna pulled herself together with a deep breath and continued. "Look, if you REALLY don't want to go, that's okay... But maybe we could do a little practice, to get you familiarized with it, that could make it less scary." 

"Alright, sure, what do you have in mind?"

"Well, let's pretend you're going and talk about it. Like, oh! What are you going to wear?" Brianna asked excitedly, clapping her hands together.

Arina blushed a little, "Well, Daniella bought me this really pretty dress... It was really kind of her. She's, um, really kind to me actually, I don't know why. She's like, kinder than a basket of puppies." Arina giggled. 

Brianna once again looked as if she was about to explode, though not from frustration this time. 

"Alright, well that's the most adorable thing I've ever heard." 

"Shut up. And don't tell her I said that!" Arina groaned, immediately regretting her show of affection. 

"I won't." Brianna smiled back, "I have an idea! How about tomorrow you come to school in that dress so I can see, I'm awfully curious." Brianna finished in a slightly schemey tone of voice. 

"Um, okay, I guess I could do that..." 

"Brilliant! Well, glad I could help. I'll see you tomorrow." Brianna winked goodbye and just like that she was gone. 

Arina was left alone in the room once again, picking up the sketchpad still strewn on the floor she flicked through to the prom page, stifling a laugh. "Maybe, prom wouldn't be so bad after all..." She turned a page back, running her fingers over drawing Daniella's long curly hair. 

Arina smiled. "No, not if she's there..."