Short stories

Lip Sync

The library was quiet, only the sounds of paper rustling and the fading conversation of two girls walking towards the exit could be heard.

"Are you taking any classes in the summer, before you transfer next fall?"

"Girl, I need to because if I take a break, I will fall off the planet and lose all motivation."

"I hear that." Their voices disappeared behind the closing door.

Finley Jordan Baker looked after them with interest before looking over at their twin sister. "I can't do this anymore, my brain is about to explode!" Finley flopped back in their chair while pushing homework and books away from themself. Their over exaggerated groan of agony was almost too loud in the hushed campus library.

"We haven't been here five minutes, Fin." Hadley Quinn said without so much as a glance in their direction. She flipped through her physics textbook with ease. There was silence from across the table for exactly two minutes before Finley couldn't take it anymore. They tapped an annoying, rapid beat with a pencil near Hadley's textbook. Finley could tell the exact moment she decided to indulge in the procrastination. She pushed her book to the side and stared with a blank expression, hardly blinking.

"Soo," Finley smile and rested their chin down in hand. "Wanna play a game?"

Breaking her silence, Hadley asked what game.

Finley blew the fringe of short hair away from their face before leaning in. "One where we choose a stranger and come up with backstories for them." They continued before Hadley had a chance to respond. "Ooo! Or we could do what we used to do with movies."

Hadley barked out an amused laugh and said with a sly grin, "We can't exactly mute people. Although, pretending to know what they're saying could be fun."

With a subtle bounce in their seat, Finley let out a small whoop of excitement, earning various annoyed looks from those actually studying. "I'll go first." Looking around until they spotted two people in what looked to be a heated argument, Finley took a few moments to think before leaning closer to Hadley. "Look, the highlighter color looks so good on our nails! I have a great idea, do you wanna do your toes?" They said in a comically high voice. In a lower voice than their normal, Finley continued, "No! Feet should not be accessorized, they should be allowed to be who they are."

Hadley laughed with a shake of her head. "Plausible, I guess." She looked around before settling on someone laying on the ground, using a backpack as a pillow while talking to friends. "Ok, here we go," She cleared her throat before speaking in a different voice. "Oh my god! This semester is killing me already. I can't walk to my car, someone carry me."

Finley laughed before looking at her, impressed. "That was good, but i can do better! See that guy outside? The one on his phone?"

"Yeah." Hadley stared at him for a moment before looking back at Finley.

"Ok well, he's on the phone with his girlfriend, right. She's saying 'you're such an asshole. Yeah? Do it and pack your shit when you get home.' That's why he's waving his arm around like a lunatic. See, what he's saying is that he's with a friend right now and that he'll be home when he feels like it. You can tell that he's a bumhole because his shirt says "hoes mad", and the girl there next to him certainly doesn't look like 'just a friend'. I hope his girlfriend actually says that to him, she could do so much better."

Hadley didn't respond with anything other than a laugh. She didn't know where they came up with this stuff. Now that she thought about it, maybe it was time to pry and see if there was something more hidden behind their humorous words. She decided she'd do that when they weren't somewhere quite as public. With that decision stored in the back of her mind for safe-keeping, she looked around.

Spotting a girl talking to a guy with a guitar, sitting outside, she gestured to them. "I bet she's saying, I like your guitar." She glanced at Fin. " And he's saying, thanks, I do not know how to play it." Her attempt at humor felt limp. Hadley realized she had gotten a little too serious after her mental questioning, she wanted to lighten the mood. She clarified, "He probably bought the guitar to pick up chicks. But see, he's actually an awkward kind of guy and this is his first time using it in public. So, of course he panicked and told her that he actually doesn't know how to play it."

Finley looked at her with faux pity. "Oh Hadley, we'll make a comedian out of you yet. But since it's not your career path, maybe we should get back to studying."