a little bit of black with a little bit of pink

Paper rings

"Why is the donut so small?" Jennie asks, tilting her head and trying to study it more carefully.

Lisa laughs, head thrown back. "It isn't a donut, silly!"

"Oh." Jennie blinks. "Then what is it?"

"It's a paper ring! I don't have any money to buy a real ring so I made you one out of paper," Lisa says, bashfully holding out the paper ring to Jennie. Jennie holds out her hand, letting Lisa slide the ring onto her fourth finger gingerly. The ring is far too big to fit onto her small five-year-old finger, but her heart only warms more at that fact.

Or, four times Lisa gives Jennie a paper ring, and one time she doesn't.

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The first time Jennie lays her eyes on Lisa, the blonde girl is smiling more widely than Jennie has ever seen anyone smile. She's laughing on the swing, an older girl helping to push her.

Their happiness sort of captivates Jennie, and she doesn't notice how long she's been staring at them before the blonde girl spots her and immediately says something to the other girl — presumably for her to stop pushing her, because she dismounts from the swing as fast as she can and runs over to Jennie.

She's a little taller than Jennie, eyes full of energy. She's wrapped in a thick winter coat, making her torso look gigantic as compared to her legs, which are only covered by a pair of jeans. Fur-lined boots sit on her feet, and Jennie already wants to be her friend.

"Hi! Do you want to play with us?" the girl asks, and Jennie can only stare at her and nod.

The girl's smile widens, and Jennie wonders how a smile so wide can widen even more. "Great! My name is Lisa, it's nice to meet you," the girl — Lisa, Jennie commits the name to memory — exclaims, and after a few moments of slightly awkward silence, Jennie realizes that she's supposed to speak.

"My name is Jennie," Jennie replies, and as an afterthought, "it's nice to meet you too."

Lisa's gloved hand takes hers and drags her over to the swing without hesitation, gesturing for her to sit on it. "I'll push you and Rosé at the same time! Rosé, get on the other one!"

The older girl, presumably Rosé, gets onto the other swing and gives Jennie a small smile. "Hello, I'm Rosé, Lisa's friend."

Jennie gives her a small smile in return. "I'm Jennie."

"Sorry about Lisa, she can be very energetic," Rosé whispers conspiratorially, and Lisa makes an indignant noise from behind them.

"I'm right here Rosé, I can hear everything you're saying!" Lisa says, sticking out her tongue.

Rosé sticks her tongue right back out at Lisa. "That's the point."

Lisa slaps Rosé's arm lightly. "Stop and let me push you and Jennie on the swing!"

Jennie looks over at the benches sitting on the outskirts of the playground, spotting her mother talking to a blonde woman, who Jennie thinks could be Lisa's mother. Before she can say anything, Lisa is pushing the swings, and Jennie's having more fun than she's ever had in her life.

It only takes a year before Lisa's sitting in her bedroom and they're playing with Jennie's new Nintendo-64 that her mother bought her as a gift for getting full marks on all the tests her private tutor had made her sit for.

After they're done with their sixteenth game of Mario Kart 64, Lisa puts down her controller and reaches for her bag, taking out an item that she holds carefully in her closed fist.