Two-Sided Love

Chapter 28- New Friends?

9:12 P.M, Iris's house; Auriana's room

There was an awkward silence as Opal and Auriana hung out on their bed. Opal was petting Amaru, avoiding eye contact with her.

"Could I— I mean...could we talk about this?" Auriana nervously asked. "Oh! O-Of course." Opal cleared her throat.

Auriana inhaled, taking a moment to pick one of a million questions she had inside her head. Finally, she picked one.

"Why do you like him?"

Probably one of the boldest questions she could've asked. Opal felt herself become tense. She straightened her postured and inhaled sharply. "Umm..." she rubbed her neck, taking a moment to think about this. "He is nice- nice to me. Me. He is nice..." she cleared her throat, glancing quickly at Auriana who looked at her with a concerned face. Furrowed brows and a slight frown, she almost appeared disappointed. Opal looked down as she relaxed, her voice becoming more soft as her anxiety started to dial down. "...He is honest. I know that he isn't happy with who he is and what he is doing, I know it. I know he isn't proud too..."

"How are you so sure?" Auriana asked gently, shaking her head a bit.

Opal paused, the memory from the carnival flashing inside her mind.

"Opal, I don't know what sparked that feeling that I got when I first saw you, but it hasn't left me since. Battling you always scares me, because I'm afraid I'll hurt you. And even when I hurt Iris, I was terrified. Terrified that you'd lose trust in me."

Her cheeks flushed pink as she moved her hand from her neck. Those words still made her heart flutter.

"He is regretful. Disappointed...I know he wants to change."

"I don't think he is. I think he is tricking you." Auriana said, her voice trembling slightly. Amaru curled in her lap, his ears twitching down.

Opal nodded. "I understand."

"This is what villains do, Opal. They trick us by acting like your friend. They develop a trustful relationship and then they betray you."

Opal bit her lip, looking down. The sad thing was that she kind of believed Auriana...is this what Mephisto was doing? Tricking her?

"Okay," she replied quietly, her voice breaking slightly.

Auriana sighed. She saw Opal as her best friend, and it was hard seeing her this embarrassed. She didn't agree with going behind her back, but in a way...she understood. There was that slight spark of innocence and regret that Mephisto had but Praxina didn't. She leaned over and gave her a hug, patting her back as Opal slowly and awkwardly hugged back. But it felt good. She needed it.

"I wont mention this to Iris or Talia—"

Opal sighed, "Oh, thank goodness."

"...But promise to stay safe? And be careful?" Auriana's eyes went large with plead. Opal nodded, "Of course."

.

Auriana had band practice with Talia and Iris since she hadn't been practicing, and since Opal was all caught up she decided to use her free time and head to the smoothie bar.

With Mia fluttering on her shoulder, she carefully made her way inside. The cold breeze from the air conditioned inside hit her. She shivered a bit, rubbing both her arms as she walked up to the counter where Nathaniel was.

"Opal! Hey, how are you?" Nathaniel asked with a charming smile whilst cleaning a smoothie blender. "Nathaniel? Oh. Hi." She carefully sat down at one of the bar stools and slid her arms on the counter. "I'm okay. Could I get one strawberry and pineapple smoothie please?"

Nathaniel nodded, "Sure thing!"

As Mia flew around the bar, Opal sat with her overwhelming thoughts. She wasn't sure if Auriana was going to tell Talia and Iris or not, she might've just said that to ease her anxiety...

She sighed as she fiddled with her hair while her thoughts began swallowing her whole. As she became more and more overwhelmed, she considered taking her smoothie to go. Her anxiety was just too high.

"Excuse me?" A voice behind her squeaked. Opal turned, her eyes going wide. She squinted, making out three figures in front of her.
Three teens, two boys and one girl. The girl, the tallest out of the three, had dark golden skin, big puffy black hair that had a part dyed rainbow colors. She wore piercings around her nose and ears and dressed in a off the shoulder cropped tee and low rise jeans. One boy had light, caramel like skin with short black hair and a shy expression on his face. He wore a white shirt and jeans with a simple jewel necklace. The other had dark skin as well and short bleached curly hair.

"Hi! We're— well we— we are....uh..." One of them giggled nervously, still squealing out of excitement. "You're Opal from Lolirock, right?" Another spoke.

Opal mentally sighed. Fans are just what she needs right. She furrowed her brows and shook her head quickly, seeming concerned.

"We...are your biggest fans!" They exclaimed. "We LOVE you, and the rest of the band! We started listening to Lolirock a few years back, but when we found out they casted a disabled girl, we were shocked!"

Opal's heart sank for a moment. Were they serious right now...? Were they viewing her as just as disabled girl?

"See, my friend Klean over here has a prosthetic leg. His was amputated when he was fourteen due to cancer. So it really meant a lot to us to see some diversity in the music industry."

Her sunken heart suddenly warmed as her cheeks dusted pink. "Aww, really? I'm...I'm flattered." She chuckled out, even tearing up a bit.

"Not only that, but your music rocks! Im Aisha, by the way. You know Klean, obviously, but this short-stack is Clay." The girl, Aisha said as Clay rolled his eyes. "And between you and me, I'm your biggest fan out of the three of us." She winked.

"Hey!" Klean exclaimed.

"Aww, haha. You three are the sweetest. You know...I don't usually do this, but..." Opal opened her wallet and started digging. She pulled out a few VIP tickets, handing them to the three. "How would you like to come to our next show?...for free?"

The three gasped, their jaws nearly falling off. "What?! Are...are you being serious?" Aisha said with disbelief as she slowly took the tickets, gripping onto them roughly.

"Of course!" She smiled, her heart feeling warm and happy, she hadn't remembered the last time she met fans this sweet.

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" Clay jumped up and down, hugging his ticket. "This means more than you can imagine, seriously." Klean smiled as Aisha handed him a ticket.

"I'm glad—" Opal suddenly got a text, and once she read it she knew she had to go. "It was nice meeting you three, and I can't wait to see you at our next show!"

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Published on December 24, 2022.

Happy holidays everyone!