Reflection

Friends

Luna and the others exited the house, smothered in ashes.

"By the way everyone, there's an assignment for tonight!" Matilda called from the front door. "Write a poem and it will be presented tomorrow!"

All five of them nodded to show that they heard her so that she didn't have to repeat herself. Luna took a look at herself. She knew she was covered in ashes, but because of her black feathers, it was difficult to tell exactly where. Great, now I have to go take another shower. She coughed, expelling the ashes that went into her mouth.

Terence went off by himself, leaving the other four to decide on their own on what they were going to do now that class was over. The one to break the silence was Bomb. Clearly, he looked embarrassed.

"I don't know what happened. I was doing the poses, I was feeling all Zen, Matilda was digging it! Then I lost my grip on it."

"I'll admit, seeing you blow up was pretty cool," Luna consoled, although it didn't help Bomb much. She coughed again.

"Hey, so where are we going?" Chuck cut in.

"Huh?" Luna asked, confused, since no one had ever invited her anywhere, and whenever they did, it just turned out to be a mean prank.

"I'm sorry, 'we?'" Red added in a doubtful tone.

"Yes, 'we!'" Chuck confirmed. "There's a new happiness exhibit at the Museum of Happiness that I'm dying to see!" He looked very eager to go.

Luna's expression turned from confusion to disgust. She despised anything that was overly smiley, yet she secretly wanted to hang out with them. But Red wasn't having it.

"Uh, you know what? I mean, I got a, uh...I got a thing," he stammered, trying to find the right words. To everyone's surprise, Chuck freaked out.

"A thing?" he gasped. "Like a disease? Is it bird flu? Chicken pox? Cardinal sin?!"

"No, by 'thing,' I mean a desire not to hang out...with you," Red replied, assuring Chuck that he didn't have some kind of illness, much to his relief.

However, Chuck was also hurt upon hearing this, but did his best to hide it. "Oh yeah? Well, maybe it's for the best, you know? Because I got something, too. How did I forget? Even if you said yes, I probably couldn't have gone."

"I'm...busy too," Bomb agreed. "I have...a...business offer...deal that is, uh..." He was clearly not good at lying.

"Bomb, you're not good at this, buddy," Red spoke up, seeing through the large black bird's obvious lie. "It's charming up to a point, and now it's just sad."

"Red—" Luna joined in, only for Bomb to cut her off.

"It's a guy I know!" he claimed. "And he's opening up a brand new...luxury...class reunion." But it was no use. Red had already started leaving. Everyone waited for him to get out of earshot.

"I guess I'll be going too," Luna sighed. "I don't have any plans after all." She began to walk away.

"Wait!" Chuck called, stopping her. "Don't you want to come with us?"

"Yeah, you wanna go grab a bite with us?" Bomb suggested.

"Wait!" Chuck turned to look at Bomb. "What about your class reunion where everyone brings a business offer?" Luna couldn't tell if Chuck was genuinely curious or mocking Red's disbelief.

"No, no. Chuck, I was lying," he admittedly laughed. "Sorry if I fooled you."

"So, what do you say, Luna?" Chuck asked, brushing off the lie. "Wanna do something?"

"I...I don't know," Luna faltered. Her gaze was fixed on the ground.

"What's wrong?" Bomb asked concernedly.

"It's just that...no one has ever been this kind to me before," Luna confessed.

***

The three of them had agreed to go out for smoothies. Luna had strawberry peach, Chuck had banana, and Bomb had mixed berry.

"So, no one has ever been kind to you, huh?" Chuck asked after he took another sip.

Luna just shrugged. "Yeah, for the most part. I did have my parents, but they're no longer here." The looks on Chuck's and Bomb's faces turned sympathetic.

"Oh, we're sorry!" Bomb exclaimed upon hearing the news. "We didn't mean to—"

"No, no, it's okay," Luna interrupted. "It's not like you knew." She sipped on her drink.

"But what happened, if you don't mind us asking?" Chuck inquired.

Luna turned to look at them and sighed. "I never knew why, but when it came to bullying, everyone saw me as an easy target. I tried to fit in, but no one would let me, so...I gave up. I felt I was better off alone, away from everyone else."

"Well, you don't have to do that anymore!" Chuck declared. "Bomb and I are best friends, and we'll definitely let you join us!"

Hearing those words caused Luna to feel a mixed set of emotions. She was happy that someone was genuinely offering to be her friend, but after being so used to being isolated from the world, she didn't know if she would be able to change.

"Thank you," she said.

***

Later that night, Luna sat down at her desk, looking down at the piece of paper in front of her. I can't believe it. After twenty years, I finally have friends. Could it be...is my life really going to change for the better? She recounted what had happened earlier today, and smiled at the memory.

Turning her focus back to the assignment Matilda had given her, Luna took one of her black pens and began composing her poem.

When she finished, she climbed into bed and turned the lights off. It was a good thing she had washed the ashes off in the shower as soon as she got home, because by now she just wanted to go to sleep.

One thing kept bothering her, though. It was Red. She hadn't met him until today, and judging by everything that had happened, with him not wanting to socialize in or outside of class, he was just like her. Red also felt that he was better off alone. Luna wished for something to happen that would give her an opportunity to interact with him without him resisting.

I'll admit, that won't happen anytime soon.

A/N: Sorry for not updating in a while. The past few weeks have been a little busier than usual plus I wasn't too excited about writing this chapter. The next one will be fun though! Be sure to comment and vote.