Starring: Aaliyah | Julie Aaliyah thought to herself. Maybe if she sent her mom a text now and went to the nurses off she could go home early, save herself from any more embarrassment and wallow while she watched the magic school bus with some ice cream. That was until a voice interrupted her isolation. Startled like a deer in headlights her head shot up and realized it was none other than the red streak known as Julie.
“Oh no she’s here to ask me to stay away from her, of course! It’s only natural for her after that performance” or at least that’s what she thought before she asked to sit next to her.
Her cheeks were stung red as nervous sweat began to slid down her spine.
“Uhhh…Y-Ye—yeah mi casa es tu casa right?” her years of Spanish finally paying off
“That was the worst joke ever, you fool!” Aaliyah still could not detect any hostility from the freckled beauty.
“I don’t usually eat lunch here it’s either at a table or in the bathroom—” she tried to pull those last few words back into her mouth, but she couldn’t. Her tongue was moving faster than her mind could account for. Her laugh was quite smooth and natural, hopefully she was laughing with Aaliyah and not at her. Another question fired from her bandolier,
“Uhm no I don’t think so?” but it was no use, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“The bathroom?!” Julie exclaimed horrified.
“That won’t do… you have a reserved seat at our table from now on.” she smiled softly towards Aaliyah with a worried tinge in her blue eyes. Has she really been such a distant ice queen that people would rather eat in the bathroom than to approach her?
“Actually there is something…I just, I don’t know. I’ve never been good at making friends that aren’t in my “lane” and even then, they’re not my friends. I’m just a brain to them, you know the ace in the hole” she continued,
“I just always looked up to you guys since the beginning, you and Chanel. You’re not like the other girls, you don’t follow anyone and you guys shine on your own. And here I am a nerd who can’t even manage to look at you guys let alone say more than two words to you. So yeah if you want to leave now you can it’s fine. I’ll probably go home next period anyways.” To her surprise Aaliyah felt much better after venting, although she wasn’t sure if Julie wanted to hear all that.
As her new friend spoke Julie kept her eyes concentrated on Aaliyah’s face while she unpacked her lunch from her bag. It was a small box neatly wrapped in a flower patterned handkerchief which after a few movements of her hands revealed a plastic container filled with freshly cut fruit.
“That’s very sweet of you to say Aaliyah. But it does sadden me a little that you feel that you don’t think that you can come talk to us whenever.” She bit her lower lip in thought before she continued
“From now on you sit with us, ok?” “Chocolate milk?” she asked holding up the brown carton
The redhead eyed the carton for a few seconds before offering a tight smile
“No… no that’s okay” she smiled as she held up her glass bottle filled with ice water.
“Got to stay hydrated you know? Also I’m lactose intolerant”A reserved seat at the table of Queens?! She was definitely dreaming, this was all too surreal for her. A seat at that table was like trying to get a reservation at Dorsia, you had to know someone. She pinched her skin to make sure she wasn’t dreaming or concussed herself like she usually did. Aaliyah could feel a slight discomfort in Julie, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Whatever was the case she did not want to ruin her already cruddy reputation. If she wasn’t perfect enough already, her lunch bag and handkerchief combo sealed the deal. There was no one that prepared and aesthetically pleasing with boxed lunch outside the Japanese. And here Aaliyah was stuck with her tried and true brown paper bag that looked like it had seen better days.
Julie’s reply added pressure to Aaliyah’s chest, she was never good at conveying emotions or speaking her mind without coming off bad.
“No no no! That’s not what I meant! It’s not you really it’s me” she couldn’t have picked a more cliché line if she could. Aaliyah was already breaking up with her first gf when they weren’t even dating.
“What I mean is I don’t think you guys are too intimidating or that others fear you like they do Miss Colombia, but…there’s just no spot in that crowd for people like me” she pleaded, trying to take the heat off of them and place it on her instead.
“Of course! I’ll sit with you guys from now on. Do you guys wear pink on Wednesdays? Can I only wear jeans or track pants on Friday?” she asked. Aaliyah retracted her hand faster than light spilling some of the milk on her clothes without noticing,
“Oh..oh I’m sorry I didn’t know!”Julie let out a small surprised sound as the milk splashed on her skirt
“Oh no need to worry…” she searched her purse for some napkins and started to dab at the dark wet spot.
“And no, no plastic rules for us.” she couldn’t help but laugh at how flustered Aaliyah became as she tried to hold her own in their conversation. Maybe she did put out a intimidating aura? She made a mental note to ask around about that.
As they sat there enjoying their lunch in the sun Julie surveyed Aaliyah for a little bit
“You know… you really have gorgeous hair.” she said as her mind was already going at the speed of light thinking of ideas of what to do with it.
“I just think you need help with…” she paused choosing her words carefully
“Styling.” she said finally.
“You should come over some day! Chanel is the best when it comes to hair. Would you be down for a little makeover?” her eyes sparkled. This was something she was passionate about and it really showed when she spoke about it.
Aaliyah was just as horrified as Julie was by the splashing lactose drenching her threads, luckily for the two of them she wasn’t deathly allergic.
“Well that’s a relief” she laughed candidly,
“Oh did I say that out loud? I didn’t mean to. Sometimes I do that so just ignore me” she said trying to nip her rambling in the bud before it could get any more out of hand. Things were finally starting to settle between the two and the space for her to get to know the red queen was finally starting to reveal itself. Hopefully the game of 21 questions wouldn’t be to painfully awkward.
Her cheeks turned bright red once more as the compliment caught her off guard,
“Thank you, sometimes I never know what to do with it, so I just let it hang. I’m sure your red hair is more coveted though, now that people are past gingers not having souls anymore” she had an awful habit of putting a foot in her mouth when speaking. Her inexperience was clearly shining through.
”Okay breathe Aaliyah, she just invited you over her house and a makeover with Chanel. This is some Tyra Banks shit. Don’t screw it up!” Aaliyah did her best to compose herself,
“Of course! I would love too. I’m sure my mom would love this. Are sleepovers still a thing?” curious as to know if slice of life tropes existed in real life as well.
“We’ll make it a thing.” Julie said with a wink as she popped a piece of strawberry into her mouth.
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mickilennial
