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THREE YEARS LATER
December 23rd
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CHAPTER TWO
NED
Ned's side split in two and his breakfast threatened to explode out his top escape hatch.
"Lena," Ned pleaded, holding onto his side to keep his spleen or whatever was on his left side from falling out and hitting the sidewalk. It'd freeze over in this weather and, knowing him, he'd stomp on it and shatter it to pieces. "Go on without me. I won't make it."
"Ned," Lena groaned, clearly not amused. She jogged back to Ned, arriving with her hands on her narrow hips. Her usual black curls were compiled into a bun on top of her head, apart from her curly bangs that she talked about regretting at least once a day. Lena had cool black skin and huge brown eyes, framed by the thickest lashes Ned had ever seen.
"We can still see the neighborhood sign," she said with the slightest lisp from her brand-new braces, which she fought against for a while until she realized she'd rather be a junior with braces than a college freshman with them.
"Yeah," Ned said, collapsing into the closest yard. "And it's mocking me."
"Ned, you didn't even try."
"What do you mean? We ran to the sign."
"We walked here. Not ran. You showed me a bunch of dog tiktoks."
"That you obviously didn't appreciate," Ned grumbled and laid on his back as he caught his breath. The sky was empty and gray, getting his hopes up for some Christmas snow. Ned always wanted a white Christmas. Lena kicked his sneaker in retaliation.
"You promised to go on morning walks with me during the winter break and we already skipped the weekend."
"Did you get it in writing?"
"Ned," she grunted and kicked his shoe again. This time, Ned feigned injury and curled himself into a ball as small as he could manage and, being 6'2, he was about as small as a stilt walker.
"Okay, okay. How about we start after Christmas?"
She rolled her eyes, not buying an ounce of Ned's bullshit. "As if you're going to awaken from your food coma before New Year's."
"Fine, then what if we wait for the Lunar New Year?"
"Which is when?"
"February." Ned grinned.
"I hate you," she lied and offered Ned her hand. Their fingernails matched with every other nail being green and red. Ned spent all yesterday watching the best Christmas movies at Lena's house while gorging on cookies and drinking enough hot coco to suffer chocolate hangovers.
In this neighborhood, Christmas lights and decorations outnumbered the people by nearly a hundred times. Caravans of people across town came to walk their sidewalks at night to take in the decorations. In the daylight like this, Ned could only dream of the exuberance.
"Come on," Lena grumbled. "Let's run back to my house."
"Can I talk you down to a brisk walk?"
Lena sighed, but matched his snail's pace. They discussed story ideas about the next project they wanted to start. Lena wrote while Ned drew the comics. They had never finished a project, but they were always optimistic about the next one. This trickled into discussing tonight's plans. Ned mention meeting someone later, but he didn't go into the details. If she could hear the nerves in his voice, she avoided pointing them out. Lena was the opposite of a pressure cooker. She never forced Ned to spill his secrets too quickly. She let him simmer until he was well and ready to serve.
As they approached her house, Ned spied Indie, and they shared a look. They were a mirror if a mirror showed your complete opposite. It delighted him to see Indie lounging on a beach chair, sitting underneath an umbrella and sporting a Hawaiian shirt.
Meanwhile, Lena looked like she needed to crawl back into bed.
"Hello, hello," Indie sing-songed. They pulled their round sunglasses down to get a better look at Ned. "How was the run?"
"Pathetic," Lena said as Ned shrugged.
"Not worth the hype."
Lena shoved him, but it just made him laugh. Ned glanced back at Indie. "What's with the setup? It's like forty degrees."
"Being cold is for the weak," Indie stated. They stretched, folding their hands behind their freshly bleached head, a stark difference from their natural golden tan. They had a shaggy mullet brought to the world by kitchen scissors.
"Your teeth are chattering," Ned pointed out.
Indie raised a finger. "Do not mock me, Ned Flowers. I have vital information to give you if you're sweet."
Ned pressed his hands together in prayer, bowing slightly. "My apologies. I'd never mock you, Indie. Not when you taught me everything I know."
"That's right, and you best remember that. Mrs. Helen is having a yard sale."
Mrs. Helen was the cafeteria manager from their middle school, famous for calling absolutely everyone Sugar and her ability to recite Shakespeare off the top of her head. Sometimes, she'd pay off someone's lunch debt if they didn't have enough money to eat.
Ned quirked his head. "Yeah, so?"
"So," Indie stressed, pushing their sunglasses back up. "Someone owes Sam a new bookshelf, and I figured the bookshelf that once stood in her living room would appeal to you—"
"Why didn't you say it was that one sooner?!" Ned gasped and pulled Lena in for a quick hug.
That bookshelf had a height chart carved in the side with every kid in the neighborhood present. They started it the same summer Indie moved into Lena's house and Mrs. Helen hosted the welcome party since she had a pool. It was the day that marked the start of this group's friendship. Their names were all over it. It deserved to be theirs.
Ned snuck an awkward side hug from Indie too and made a mad dash for Sam's house on the next block. Lena shouted after him. "Oh?! Now you're running! And hey! What about the comic? You promised to work on the thumbnails!"
"Later!"
His feet pounded against the cool sidewalk. Grinning, he bent his head forward and tried running with all his might. His heart pounded as he itched to see Sam as soon as possible.
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LENA
Ned completely disappears as he turned the next corner, but Lena's eyes lingered. She sighed with her entire body, but her anxiety didn't ease. It sat in the pit of her stomach, attracting more anxiety, like hovering fruit flies over a rotten banana.
"Did you tell him?" Indie asked her.
Lena refused to turn around so Indie couldn't see straight through her. Indie was an empathetic person by nature, but after living together for six years and being siblings for five, they just knew Lena too well. They can tell what she was feeling based on the smallest twitch.
"No," Lena admitted.
"Coward."
Indie glanced back down at their book until Lena smacked it to the ground and ran inside the house. Indie chased her through every room, throwing unwanted truths at her like flying daggers that struck true. "It'll be worse if he finds out from someone else! If you don't tell him, he's never going to change! If he's your friend, he'll understand!"
"I'll tell him! I'll tell him!" Lena shout back, but they both knew there was still a good chance she wouldn't. Lena had weeks to tell Ned she won a writing competition... without him. And it was for a short comic too. Lena wanted to compete with him, but he never got around to drawing over two pages and gave up... so she asked someone else for help.
And won.
Ned was an emotional creature. There was no way he wouldn't see this as a betrayal. But if Lena can't share her accomplishments with her best friend? What's the point? Are they even best friends? She tried imagining his reaction and thinking about the hurt in his eyes was devastating.
"Will you two quit it?!" Lena's stepmom, Janelle shouted from the kitchen.
"Take it outside!" Lena's dad agreed.
Groaning closer to a roar, Lena shoved by Indie for the backdoor and took off running without Ned or anyone. All she needed was BTS blasting in her ears and enough frustration to take her out of the neighbor today and hopefully one day as far as she could get.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hello friends! I haven't written a chapter faster in my life. I was so excited to draft after spending a month editing! Whew!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Don't forget to leave a comment about your thoughts! What are your impressions of Ned, Lena and Indie? How many projects do you have unfinished like Lena and Ned? Haha (please don't ask me, it's too many).
Also! Indie is nonbinary so please use them/they (which is their preferred pronouns) when referring to them.