Shattered Vows

October 1st

Who is she to impress?

"No," she sighs, raking a hand through her curls. She bunches them up, watching them fall back down over her shoulders with gravity.

"Are you sure," Fay drawls, turning back towards her wardrobe. She swipes her hands through the assortment of clothes, clucking her tongue as she fingers through her shirts. She grabs at one shirt, offering it up between them.

"Be thankful I am even coming," Jules says through a fixed jaw. Fay raises her hands defensively, a smile flitting across her edgy features.

"You can be scary when you wanna be, Moreno," she chuckles, addressing Jules by her last name. "Don't worry, you don't need fancy clothes."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jules sighs, rubbing her temples. One thing Jules has yet to understand is the underlying subcontext behind everything Fay says. As if her words express one meaning while her eyes and actions convey an entirely different message. It is hard work keeping up with her dual meanings.

"Nothing to concern yourself with," Fay titters. Swiping her phone off of the desk, she shoves it deep into her back pocket.

Her hands clutch the frame of the window, wrapping her fingers around the base of it, pushing the glass pane upwards enough so they can shimmy themselves through. Jules watches with fearsome eyes as Fay lowers her frame through the window space. Her Converse connects with the peeling white trellis conveniently settled against the brick wall next to their bedroom window. Scaling down it with ease, she glances back up at Jules with a wicked smile.

"Why can't we just use the front door?" Jules mumbles, sticking her head out the window to glare down at Fay. Their bedroom is on the second floor of the restored building. One misstep means falling like a ragdoll to the unforgiving earth.

"It's more fun this way," Fay mutters back up to Jules, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Hurry up before Nonna catches us."

With an erratic breath, Jules grips her fingers onto the window frame. Latching her foot onto the trellis the way Fay had instructed, her knuckles turn white with their shaky grip. Each footstep down is followed by a sober breath as she pinches her eyes shut. Only does she release the breath she's been holding when her shoes hit the grass, her timid blue eyes flying open to find Fay's wild green ones.

"Never. Again." Jules bites. Fay's laugh choruses against her eardrums as she skips away from the Peace House, following the sidewalk path towards the park.

With a heavy roll of her eyes, Juliette speeds up her pace, trying to catch up to Fay. Juliette's long legs are nothing against Fay's quickened steps. Despite having the height advantage. As if Fay can't contain herself from seeing Kahlil, she virtually runs in the direction of the park.

They reach the outside court just as the game starts to turn intense. With the sun beating on their backs, the boys are stripped of their shirts. Their toned abdomens are on show to the girls, muscles straining as Kahlil passes the ball to Nico with an unimaginable amount of strength.

Nico catches the basketball with ease, dribbling with his left hand as his right hand directs the rest of his teammates into a formation. They watch in amazement as the ball splices through the air and back into Kahlil's waiting hands, who jumps at the same time he releases the ball. It soars through the atmosphere and into the net with a satisfying swish.

"Yeah! That's my baby!" Fay hoots. Her voice is loud and reaches the ears of the best friends, who both turn to look in their direction.

Kahlil's grateful smile meets Fay's chants.