Chlaughan

Galantis

VAUGHAN

Thursday, 3:13pm

After school, I sit at the counter, trying to get my homework done. Ella sits across from me, working on hers as well. She has her airpods in and she is listening to music. Her pencil taps to the beat of the song on her notebook.

"Can you not?" I snap. Ella stops, and I'm surprised that, for once, she didn't try to fight me on it,"You've been spending too much time with Chiara. Her kindness is rubbing off on you." I add.

"What's wrong with that?" She questions.

"Oh, nothing, I love Chiara, but..I don't know..I," I stop talking at the sight of Ella's smirk. "Did I say something wrong?"

Ella's eyes widen and her smile grows. She shrugs and looks back down at her work. What was that about? Whatever, probably more girl stuff.

My mom walks in with groceries and signals us to help, so we get up and unload the trunk of the car. Ella and I are bringing in the bags as her eyes trail off to the street. Chiara's car pulls up to the curb. I didn't know Chiara was coming, I think to myself. Though I guess it makes sense, they want to spend as much time together as they can.

I help put away the groceries with my mom while Ella and Chiara are hanging out upstairs. She's so lucky she got out of putting stuff away, I should invite Liam over more often. I'm here doing boring old chores while they are blasting music on a speaker and having fun. It's my turn to have fun, I think, as an idea pops into my head. I race upstairs to Ella's room and barge in. My eyes scan the room for the speaker, which is still blaring music. As soon as I spot it, I grab it and run for the door.

"Hey!" Chiara yells, getting up from the bed.

"Bring that back here!" Ella joins in, also getting up.

I run down the stairs, through the kitchen where my mom is standing, looking back at the girls who are chasing me. I open the front door and run out into the yard, despite the pouring rain. Ella and Chiara stand at the door, contemplating whether or not they should get drenched by the rain simply for a speaker; which is still blasting Galantis. Ella starts to turn around to head back to her room when Chiara races out the door, heading straight towards me. She grabs the speaker from my hands and sprints for the door, only to find that Ella has locked us out in the pouring rain. She bangs on the door.

"Ella we are soaked out here!" Chiara tries. I see Ella laughing through the window.

"Might as well make the most of it." I say, taking the speaker back from Chiara's hands. I place it on the doorstep and walk further towards the street; I look up at the cloudy sky and put my hands out to embrace the rain. Chiara laughs and walks over, doing just the same. I look her in the eyes and start singing the words to the song playing.

"Picked up a dandelion; you had me mesmerized, so pretty." I sing along to the words, and I notice the biggest smile on Chiara's face I've ever seen. She looks radiant...and beautiful.

"Just when I start to like it, you just get up and leave; in the breeze." She joins in singing; her drenched hair falls onto her shoulders, and she's dancing...horribly. Our laughter and voices echo through the empty street. Chiara is usually a pretty anxious person, but she doesn't seem to be fazed by the fact that we are belting a song in the middle of the pouring rain... in public. It's nice to see her so... free. We continue to dance around the street for the duration of the song, copying each other's moves at certain times. This is one of those moments that you never want to forget. One of those moments that you wish you could have a video of to replay over and over. The song is slightly muffled by the rain tapping rapidly on the pavement; but I am not focused on the sounds of the rain, or the song playing through the speaker. I'm focused on her. We seem so close in this moment, yet she is so out of reach. I'm moving in a matter of months, so no matter my feelings towards her, they will be useless by the end of the school year. Not that I feel strongly about her...that's weird. But right now, she is whole, and pure, and free.

I laugh at her questionable dance moves just as the front door opens. Ella stands in the doorway with her hand covering her mouth; she's hiding a smile. Ella holds out her hands that hold two towels. We grab them and wrap ourselves up, drying off before going inside. I really didn't want to go back inside yet, but it's cold. I'll never forget that Chiara is afraid of the cold.

My mom makes all three of us hot chocolate as we sit on the couch. The girls giggle together on one end while I watch the TV on the other. Since we came inside, Ella has had this inevitable, smug look on her face that I can't figure out. She keeps glancing over at me, then back to Chiara then to me again. Does she know something?