Over the weekend, as promised, I went out with my best friend along with Pandora and her best friend.
It was a nice, crisp afternoon in a park, and we were eating under a tree with all its leaves red atop one of the hills.
"Hey honey, did you make this food?" Pandora asked Hiro, who was stuffing his face.
"No darling, it was my cute sister. It's delicious, isn't it?"
I honestly didn't know what was going on. I glanced at Mestra, who seemed equally stunned. "Do you know what happened?"
She shook her head, pushing back her blue hair. "If only. Should we do the same?"
I scowled, and she let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, I didn't think so. I don't hate you, you know. If she's happy with you, then that's all that matters to me."
That talk said otherwise. I took a bite out of a sandwich. "Damnit, I can't even be angry at you with delicious food like this in my mouth."
"Well, they do say food brings people together, so delicious food would do it all the more, right?"
I sighed. "Well, I guess we can start over."
She nodded, giving me a smile. "Glad to be friends now Depra."
"Hey Mestra, isn't honey amazing?"
"No Depra, isn't darling more amazing?" They both started to laugh. I can't even begin to understand what those two talked about for their relationship to end up like this.
They had wrapped their arms around each other and started to sway back and forth, laughing as they ate their food. "Two peas in a pod," I said, taking a swig of water.
"Hey Depra, you should've introduced me sooner! This girl is great!"
"Yeah, how dare you keep him a secret Mestra! Trying to hog him all to yourself are you now!?"
Well, I guess that's the type of people those two are. "I honestly didn't know what to expect."
"I thought they were gonna hate each other," Mestra said, drinking some water. "Still, their carefree attitudes are almost contagious."
"Oh man, you should've seen us in our costumes Pandy. I was a cool, slick vampire while Depra was a rabid werewolf."
"I didn't think werewolf fit him all too well. He's too skinny."
Hiro laughed. "That's what everyone in our dandy club said. We had a nice time teasing him about it."
"Ugh, don't remind me, and besides, you made me get it in the first place Hiro!"
He shrugged. "I figured I could get a good laugh with the others."
I kicked him away from Pandora, who was laughing the entire time, and Hiro and I somehow managed to switch places.
"You're next to your girlfriend now, but have some public decency, alright? That means no handholding! This is a PG book we're running here!"
"How the fuck does that make any sense!?" He says the most ridiculous things sometimes.
Pandora was still laughing, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Ah, please, I'm dying, please stop!"
We watched her managed to calm down, and she took a couple deep breaths before nodding. "Right, that isn't the reason we're here today! We were supposed to come here to introduce our best friends to each other, but the shocking reveal that Mestra has been cheating on me all along has ruined everything!"
"Yeah, it's all your fault for approaching me that day."
"If I'm remembering right, you were the one who proposed a partnership, partner." I could see Hiro visibly start sweating.
"Nah, I would never! Even if that were true, it doesn't change the fact that you snuck up on me and spoke to me first!"
She rolled her eyes. "Why is it that I'm surrounded by immature people. Well, except possibly Depra."
"Whadda you mean 'possibly!?' I'm calm and collected alright?"
"Only because you're so negative, you negative bunny," Pandora teased, swirling the water in her bottle around.
"That isn't even a thing."
"Of course they are, they're over there by those people, see?" She pointed towards a nearby group, who were feeding black bunnies with white swirls all over their bodies.
"Those are just normal bunnies," I said, taking another bite out of my sandwich.
Pandora shrugged. "Fine, but when they come for you at night, don't come crying to me or my honey."
I still don't understand the joke. I shook my head, deciding to forget about their shenanigans for now.
We laughed, ate, and talked for a good while, until the food was all gone and out bellies were filled to the max.
"Ah man, I knew Luna's cooking was the best!" Hiro exclaimed, and Pandora frowned.
"You mean my Lun-Lun?" She asked, pulling out her phone and pulling up a picture. "Is this her?"
She showed us a picture of the girl, and to my surprise, it was Luna, along with three other girls, one of which being Pandora.
"HUH!?" Hiro exclaimed, practically jumping to his feet. "You're friends with my sister!?"
"Huh, so you're the older brother she talks about," Pandora said, putting her phone away. "She only ever says great things about you I��ll have you know. Kind of makes us jealous sometimes."
Something clicked in my brain as the realization dawned onto me. "Oh, so that's why you were at the beach that day."
She nodded, grinning. "Yep, I was hanging out with my Lun-Lun. Oh, she's so cute, I could just dress her up for days on end!"
"Ahaha," Hiro said as he collapsed back down. "She wouldn't tell me who her friends were, but to think you were one of them." He sighed. "Well, at least I know one of them. I'll figure out the other two eventually."
Pandora giggled. "Quite the shock, right?"
Mestra stretched towards the sky, yawning. "Well, what do we do now?"
We decided to talk a little bit longer, and by the end, I could feel myself never wanting it to end.
As Hiro and Mestra packed up, Pandora was sitting on the hill, looking over the people playing in the park. I plopped myself down next to her, and she gave me her usual sly grin.
"Sorry, but only honey can sit next to me."
"Whatever, I promised to be as close as I was that day, remember?"
Her regal purple eyes widened as she covered her mouth and started to laugh.
"Hey, what's so funny?"
She shook her head, her hair blazing orange as if set aflame. "Oh, it's nothing, I just wasn't expecting you to remember something like that." She removed her hand for me to see a smile that continued to thaw away my heart. "But I'm glad you did. You made me quite happy."
I felt her hand interlock with my own, and there was a sense of peace withing that simple action.
"Hey! This is a PG book! Censor that shit right now!"
And then there's Hiro, who brought about a different sort of peace.
I stared up into the blue sky and let out a grin.
I think I could get used to my life being like this, even if it was only a dream…