The Album of Us

Chu

"That's so stupid," Krystal griped, rolling her eyes.

Amber smiled to herself. 'Stupid' was Krystal's favorite word. They'd been best friends since they were little and Krystal had been overusing it since she first heard it on an anti-bullying campaign on PBS. She said she liked the way it rolled off her tongue and worked for any situation.

"What's stupid?" Amber asked.

Krystal pointed to the couple she'd been glaring at across the park. She and Amber had walked to an ice cream shop together after school and were sitting on the grass in the oh-so-welcome sunshine to nibble away at their cones. It seemed the couple had ruined Krystal's view as well as her appetite.

Amber turned to face the couple in question and grimaced. "Ew."

"Right!" Krystal crowed, validated.

"They're practically eating each other's faces!"

"Yes! Oh my god! Why do adults do that?!"

"I don't think they're adults," Amber observed. They seemed to be wearing the uniforms of the Catholic school around the corner.

"Ugh!" She looked like she wanted to vomit.

Amber chuckled. "Maybe it's not so bad."

The look she got for that nearly singed the brows from Amber's face.

"What?" Amber shrugged. "It might be fun."

Krystal clearly had other ideas. "No way."

Amber smirked and Krystal gaped at her.

"No way!" She punched Amber in the arm.

"Ow!"

"You didn't!" She demanded. "Ew! Ew! Oh my god, please tell me you didn't."

"What?!" Amber asked, rubbing what would definitely be a bruise later. 

"If you kissed Henry, we're never going to be friends again," Krystal declared, a disgusted look twisting her pretty face. If there was anybody she actually, truly hated, it was Amber's other best friend, Henry. They took guitar lessons together on Wednesdays and Fridays and found they had a lot of things in common so Amber spent half of her free time with him.

"No. Ew. No! He's like a cousin or brother or something." She shivered at the very thought of their lips meeting, then shivered even more violently at the unwelcome visual.

"Then who?!" Krystal demanded, her ice cream completely forgotten.

Amber smirked at her. "For someone so disgusted by kissing, you're awfully interested."

That won her an eye-roll. "You're my best friend. We're supposed to tell each other these things," she explained, brushing a lock of long brown hair out of her dark eyes. 

Amber shrugged carelessly. "Eh. We've got to have some secrets or we'll get completely bored with each other."

Krystal gagged. "Sometimes you talk like you're so old."

"I'm not the only one! You treat museum trips like the arcade."

Bright spots of color appeared on Krystal's cheeks. "Museums are waaaay better than the arcade," she proclaimed. 

"Are you serious?!" Amber exclaimed hotly, nearly causing her glasses to pop off her small face, short hair sifting with the motion. She looked into Krystal's eyes and shook her head in disbelief. "You're serious," she wailed.