The traditions around graduation here in town were, for the most part, much the same as any other public school. Long lines, the march to our seats and the wait for our name to be called. Add to that a whole host of curious, yet anxious gazes towards myself through the process I settled in to be one bored girl.
"Hello!" came a feminine toned voice next to me. Causing me to unintentionally turn in its direction
"Greetings… did you still need an invitation? I have a few left." thinking that was the reason for her friendly greeting.
"No, I decided to put on my brave pants and say something. Most folks around here want to but, just aren't brave enough. And here I am rambling to the school's most introverted goddess. Sorry." Her last words caused a soft blush on her freckled cheeks.
I surveyed her for a bit. Taking in her strawberry blonde hair, bright electric blue eyes framed by her bespeckled pale skin. She looked rather lovely and rather earnest from first glance.
"No, really, I am nothing of the sort. I am sure most consider me a gray area. I am still rather young to be worthy of friendship since it would be like being friends with a younger sibling, and I know that turns most off. A proper introduction then, right, I am Helixii Niamh Hart and it is a pleasure to meet you. You?" extending my hand as I spoke for a handshake should she take the introduction.
"Alexis Renee Dupont, and the pleasure is all mine. I love your accent by the way. And those people are fools, they just fear what's different and what they don't understand. When we moved here a few months ago, they did not give us that warm welcome either. But I propose we give them a good shock and be friends?" There was a question in her voice as I gripped my hand in the shake before letting go before it got awkward.
I couldn't help the bright smile that started to form on my lips. This was a rarity. There were very few people who managed to speak for such a length of time. Mother did always say that I would eventually have an encounter that would allow me to make a friend, granted I wasn't quite ready to give her props just yet.
"Let's indeed. Shall we put on a good show then?" My tone was conspiratorial as I spoke to my new friend. "Are you and your family planning to attend the gala for my birthday? If so, would you like to accompany me to my dress fitting? We can have her make something for you as well while we are at it. Madame Lavigne is a goddess of design. She's made every gown I have ever worn, from high tea parties that my mother demands to help us keep our roots, to seasonal outfits for welcoming the new seasons as a family." There was a hint of nervousness in my fovice I worked to continue speaking. I really did hope this was a normal friendship beginning. At the fitting she would be exposed to the kind of life I live as well as the eccentric personality of my mother since there was simply no way she would miss a fitting.
"Umm, sorry if this is an unconventional start to friendship but I find it might be best to take you into the deep end rather than having you run away screaming when you become entangled with my mother's personality. Speaking of mothers you should invite yours to the fitting. They can bond and hopefully approve of the friendship while they are at it. And get her a lovely gown as well. What do you think? Oh goddess, now it's my turn to ramble on." A hint of blush tinting my cheeks as I finally managed to shut my mouth to keep more questions and ideas from flowing out and into the air.
"No, no, you are doing fine. And I am grateful. I think all of that is a great idea. Your accent..is your family British? My mother is French. I bet they would love each other as much as they would love nothing more than watching their daughters play dress up models in a well reputed tailor shop. It's a friend's date. I will text my mom right now and let her know. Just send me the address. Do you want to take my car or…?" She held out her phone as she spoke. Typing into it, I am guessing to her mother. I worked on doing the same into my own phone.
"I have a driver if you don't feel like driving. She already knows the way and it's a perfect chance to get to know one another without having to worry about the road." I supplied it to her. The downside of being under sixteen was the illegality of me driving anywhere without an experienced driver. Granted I wasn't sure that I wanted to learn at all since it would give me more time to do really anything else.
We exchanged numbers and information and both our mother's confirmed the mother-daughter date for later that day. Graduation practice continued and we were forced apart by the silly alphabetical ordering of the seating. Thankfully she was placed in front of me so we continued to chat quietly earning more than a few looks of curiosity from around us. A few flashes of envy from both the female and male population as we passed on our way to our home room, which we apparently shared.
Since moving to town Alexis had been trying to make friends only to find that the ranks of the school, though a part of the upper crust, were as tightly closed to newcomers as my own family had experienced. They had closed ranks on them just as fast as they had on us. Now, realizing their own folly they were suddenly trying to say hello to the both of us through the remainder of the day. I had expected it to go painfully slow, but with her companionship it was over faster than I would have imagined.
Soon we were on our way to my family's black sedan. It wasn't an unexpected sight in town though it was unusual at the school with expectation of myself. Most students liked to drive themselves to school and show off their new toys and have the great debate about who was the very best.
I slid into the back seat of the opened door and Alexis sat down next to me. We both caught the small smile on the driver's lips as she went to settle into the front seat.
"So how about a question game to get to know each other better. I'll ask first. Favorite colour?" I braved to ask.
"Green. It's the color of nature and Earth. I am a nature nerd. Our greenhouse is my favorite place in our countryside home. What about you?" She admitted.
"I am shameless enough to admit that it is the same colour blue as your eyes. It makes me think of the vibrant sky filled with energy and life covering the whole of the world. Granted, not as vivid, it would be wonderful if it was." I spoke frankly with a soft tilt of my head. It was the truth, though a somewhat uncomfortable one.
"Aww, that is so sweet. It would be a pretty great color if the sky was." She was quiet for a moment before her facial expressions changed to a look of excitement, "Oh, idea! Lets get dresses that match each other's eye colors! We can do a lovely shade of green with golden accents for me and do the electric blue with hints of silver on you. Then we can match the accessories but in the respective colorings in the same hairstyle." Her head swayed from side to side as she spoke with excitement about the idea.
"That would be rather lovely. You seem to have an eye for fashion, I love it. It means that I now have a reason to go shopping since I am rather hopeless without someone's guidance. I am in your care in that regard now." My words were spoken with an equally excited and bright smile. I could understand why people have friends after meeting Alexis.
"Okay, next question since it is my turn. Do you have any siblings? I am an only child personally, much to my dismay." She offered.
"Yes, I have one sibling, a younger sister. She is by far the more social one of the family. Mother has friends we see occasionally but for the most part it's my sister's friends we hear about. Though none of them have been brave enough to come to our home, she has been to theirs several times and on several outings. My birthday party will be the first time we are having a more open event at our home. Normally, if we have a party, one, I refuse to attend and, secondly, it's for my sister and her friends, and thirdly, it's at an event venue. Her name is Meracella, or Cella for short and she is currently twelve years old." I answered more than she'd asked in an attempt to be both frank and open about myself and family. From my limited understanding that was the best way for friendship to be built with strong foundations.
Her smile became brighter as I spoke. I suppose I was doing the correct things to build the friendship. "So she's not a mini you? I expected she would be."
I shook my head, "No, she's much the same but easier to get along with I am told. I take more after our mother in most regards and she takes after our father from what we have gathered from our mother's stories."
Her held tilted softly to the side, "What about your father? I hear about you mom but not so much about your father."
"He's dead." The words left my lips as soon as she finished speaking. My eyes snapping down to my hands that had started to fiddle with themselves. "He died when I was young and shortly after my sister was born. It's a bit shaky on the 'how', but I know…" I had to pause a moment, "My mother really loved him. While she might be a bit of a flirt, she's never dated after he died. And from my understanding the death of her soulmate was the death of all notions of that sort of love."
"I am so sorry. I didn't know. She looked a bit stunned as she mulled over the next bit of words, "My parents are divorced, thankfully. Neither of them was unselfish enough to truly be in a relationship with the other. I have never been more relieved than the day they told me and I quote, 'We are getting a divorce before one of us ends up dead or worse,' Luckily, they are great parents, just terrible spouses for one another. Now I have one mother, 2 moms, and one father. It's rather lovely, lots of birthday gifts."
Her words ended up pulling chuckles from both of us at her last bit. "Woah, that is a lot. It must be complicated. I adore that."
"Let us see, it is now my turn. What is your favorite type of food? I will offer up that I am partial to Indian to the point of it being an easy bribe for me. Though, Greek is a very strong contender and thus comes in second." It being my turn to ask, I felt it wise to stay to the surface level before delving too deep into one another.
Her eyes went wide as I mentioned food, "By the Gods, you are a foodie too. I know this friendship was fate herself. I adore both of those foods, we have to go out sometime. I grew up on French because of my mom, though her wife is Indian and it has long since become my favorite as well. You will have to come over for dinner. I get as excited about food as I do shopping. You are in good hands my friend."