Forgetting You Have No Name - II AU

Somehow I Keep Bumping Into You

“And you actually gave her your number?”

Payton sighed, sticking a fork in their pasta noodles and twirling it mindlessly, “Yeah, yeah, I did.” They glanced over at the marshmallow, who stared at them with a mix of judgment and confusion.

“Look, uh,” Payton trailed off, efforts to justify themself futile, “she… she was nice?”

“She was nice? Really? That’s all it takes?” Marcy frowned, “Payton, what if she was trying to scam you or something?”

“Wha- scam me?” Payton echoed in bewilderment, “I know you’re concerned, but where did that even come from?!”

“You gotta be careful with scammers, Payton!” April chimed in.

Payton narrowed their eyes at their friend, “Do you even know what scammers are?”

“Well, no, but I can tell they aren’t a good thing!”

Despite themself, Payton couldn’t help but laugh. They always found it oddly endearing when April used words she did not understand.

“Hah, uh, well, scammers are basically, like, people who make money illegally, usually by tricking people,” Payton explained to the apple, their mouth curving into a slight smile at the sight of their friend's expression changing to one of understanding.

“Oh, okay, I get it!” April nodded, causing Payton to chuckle softly.

Marcy’s eyes darted between waiters serving food to other tables, frowning, “They still haven’t brought out your food?”

“Not yet!” April confirmed, following Marcy’s gaze.

“You can have some of mine while we wait,” Payton pushed their plate of pasta across the table, accidentally clinking it against April’s glass, which shook slightly.

“Well, I don’t want you to starve,” Marcy frowned, only to be interrupted by Payton.

“Nah, I’ll still eat more. Besides, I’m not that hungry anyway.”

“Don’t you always say that?”

Payton rolled their eyes as Marcy began to spiel about their strange food habits, staring to the side. As they opened their mouth to argue, they paused.

“You okay, Payton?” April asked, taking a bite of pasta.

“...That’s the girl from last week.”

The other two’s heads immediately whipped in the direction of the brush’s gaze. Scanning the room for a brief moment, Marcy immediately noticed a lightbulb, just as Payton described, walking to another booth alongside a hand fan and a vial.

A silence fell over the trio, broken as quickly as it came by the sound of April sliding the plate back to Payton, who only eyed it briefly before turning their attention back to the bulb.

Suddenly, an idea popped into their head.

“I think I’m gonna say hi,” Payton mumbled, standing up before their friends could even protest.

They could faintly hear Marcy urging them to return to the table, but they kept walking away. Not that they understood why.

Payton didn’t understand why they stuck around that day to listen to that lightbulb ramble about… a show, was it? They didn’t know why they laughed at her lame excuse for a joke, and they especially couldn’t grasp why on earth they let her put her number in their phone.

Neither of them reached out after that strange interaction, but that wasn’t the point.

The point was that Payton didn’t know why they were drawn to Lila. Their brain was telling them that she was some sort of friend they grew up with, as they had with Marcy and April.