✓ 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦┊z. herron

20

the sound of boot heels pattering against a linoleum hallway was the only sound that could be heard from almost a whole mile away. miami, who had her hair pulled into pigtails and was wearing a leggings, a my mommy is awesome! t-shirt, and a pink backpack was running down the hallway. she was excited to see audrey and maya. 

it had only been three months since miami had started preschool, but she already had plenty of friends, two in particular. 

running into the classroom, miami scanned the room with bright eyes and stopped when she saw the two small girls huddled together on the beige carpet. "guess what!"  she whispered, tapping both of audrey and maya's shoulder with her right arm while she was running by and settled down on the carpet in front of them. 

leaning forwards, miami was about to show the two girls the timer on her wrist when she paused, "wait," tilting her head, she thought for a second before withdrawing her arm, "this will be more fun!" 

"what is it?" audrey asked. 

"this," miami tapped the inside of her wrist where her timer was, "is a timer. my mommy said it counts time and it helps you find your soulmate!" she bounced in her spot.

"oh. that," maya said, "i didn't know what it was." 

"well now you do!" miami said, grinning at maya and audrey, "now that we know what it is, we're going to play a game!" 

"what game," audrey asked, intrigued. 

"shhh, come closer," miami gestured with her arm and waited for the two to lean closer, "the game is to not tell each other what our timer says!"

maya scoffed and leaned backwards, "that's not a game." crossing her arms, she looked away from the two excited girls. 

"yes it is!" miami said defensively, "it's a game and—" she paused and looked at maya's face, "are you going to do it or not?"

audrey elbowed maya, "come on! i want to play, it's more fun with more people anyways!"

sighing, maya said, "fine. i'll play. as long as you realize this isn't a game." both miami and audrey didn't put up a fight and they nodded their heads excitedly. "pinky promise?" maya asked, the two girls nodded again and held their pinkies out for the promise. 

after the three had finished stamping their promise, miami noticed audrey's father talking to their teacher. "isn't that your daddy?" she asked audrey while watching her teacher put her hand on audrey's father's shoulder sympathetically. 

audrey looked up and her face brightened, "daddy!" she cried, bouncing up and brushing off her skirt, "what are you doing here?" she ran over to him. her dad put his arm around her shoulder and knelt down and whispered something in audrey's ear. she tilted her head and put her arms around her father's shoulder and let herself be carried up. it wasn't until audrey had grabbed her backpack and reached the door did she turn and wave goodbye before letting herself be carried out the door by her father.

☁

adjusting the folded collar of her cropped long sleeve and the waistband of her fringed bell bottom jeans, miami surveyed her reflection in her mirror. smiling at her reflection and then moving her head from one side to another, miami forced herself to turn away from the mirror. 

miami was stressing over the fact that she was meeting zach's bandmates in almost 7 hours and she was scared that what she was wearing would make a bad impression. taking a deep breath, miami reassured herself that her outfit was good and before she could change her mind, she grabbed her jacket, her shoes, and her backpack and left for school. 

"so," maya said as she leaned against the lockers beside mine, "you excited for the meeting today?" she shifted around and pulled pulled the locker door towards her and fixed her hair in the mirror. 

rolling her eyes, miami scoffed, "excited? i'm so freaking nervous. i tried on at least seven different outfits today and i'm still not satisfied with this one," sighing, she then asked maya, "what do you think of it?" 

"it's awesome!" maya said, "i don't know why you're stressing about such a simple meetup, but there's nothing wrong. nothing bad is going to happen. got it?" 

sighing, miami slammed her locker door shut and headed down the hallway, "but my mind's going through so many different scenarios. everything could go wrong. i could knock a drink down onto someone's lap or i could just accidentally say the wrong thing." 

entering the history class the two shared together, miami headed for their usual seats—two seats in the middle of the back row. 

miami threw her backpack on the ground beside her desk and sprawled onto the wood, "i mea—" maya cut her off before she could say another word. 

"listen miami. you're going to do fine," maya reassured, "you're soulmates with zach. i'm sure they won't be harsh at all, okay? you'll do fine." smiling at her, maya put her hand over miami's hand, "nothing will happen." 

"okay," miami agreed, "nothing will happen. i'll just be my normal self when i arrive at starbucks and meet zach's bandmates and i won't stress over it for the rest of the day." miami nodded her head and smiled in thanks.

"speaking of arriving," maya said, "where is audrey? shouldn't she be here now?" the two looked over to the seat on maya's left, "it isn't her to be late or skip a class..." trailing off, maya suddenly stopped, "what if it has something to do with her dad?"

"i mean," miami stopped to look at the time on the clock before looking back at maya, "she didn't reply to any of our texts and—what if it is?" she looked wide-eyed at maya, "what if the drinking got worse?"

before maya could reply, the sound of heels clicking on linoleum tile signalled the arrival of their history teacher. maya shrugged and and whispered, "maybe. how about we try and visit her later in the evening." 

nodding her head, miami looked away from maya and focused on the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. 

— i know i've been really inactive but it's end of term and the teachers are throwing everything at us. i have a project but i managed to slip in time for updating this book. i might be able to update more during spring break :)