The thumping beat of Bruno Mars' 24K Magic blasted through the living room, the sound ricocheting off the walls of Kayla's cozy apartment. She danced wildly in the center of the room, twirling and spinning in rhythm to the song, her arms flung high above her head.
"Players only!" she sang, laughing as she nailed the high notes, her feet shuffling and sliding across the hardwood floor. Her oversized t-shirt swayed with her movements, and her loose hair whipped around her face. Kayla was a whirlwind of pure, unfiltered joy.
After days of pressure and sleepless nights grinding through Oliver's impossibly difficult coding assignment, she had finally finished it. And not just finished it — she nailed it. The lines of code had come together like a symphony in her mind, every detail aligned perfectly, and the final result was sheer brilliance.
Kayla could already picture Oliver's face when she turned it in. He wouldn't expect it. He didn't think she had it in her. Oh, how sweet the victory would taste when she smugly handed him the flawless results.
"Head to toe, so player!" she belted out, beaming, imagining Oliver's expression — a mix of surprise and hatred. She couldn't wait to rub it in his face. The intensity of his gaze on but this time in utter disbelief, would only fuel the flames of victory in her.
Louisa's bedroom door creaked open, and she shuffled out, her face showing every bit of her confusion as she blinked at Kayla's impromptu celebration. "Kayla… what in the world?" Louisa asked, raising an eyebrow, her voice still groggy from a nap. She tugged at the sleeves of her long-sleeved shirt, shivering slightly as the cool air from the living room brushed against her skin.
Kayla spun toward her, not missing a beat, and grinned wide. "Come on, Loui! Get over here!" she yelled over the music, pulling Louisa further into the living room.
Louisa hesitated, glancing at the speakers. "Kayla, the neighbors are definitely going to complain. We're going to get hit with noise pollution fines, or worse, the police might show up!"
But Kayla wasn't having any of it. She bounded over to Louisa, grabbing her hand before she could retreat to her room. "Forget the neighbors! This is a moment worth celebrating! Come on, join me. You can't say no to Bruno!"
Louisa groaned, rolling her eyes, but the corners of her lips betrayed her. She was this close to giving in. "You're making noise," she said, half-heartedly, her resistance faltering.
"Exactly," Kayla chirped, tugging Louisa to the center of the room. "And it feels amazing. So, stop worrying and dance with me!"
With an exaggerated sigh, Louisa finally gave in. "Fine, but only because you look ridiculous doing this alone."
A laugh bubbled out of Kayla as Louisa started moving stiffly at first, tapping her foot awkwardly to the beat. But within moments, the infectious energy of the song, coupled with Kayla's enthusiasm, swept her up in it, and soon they were both moving without care or worry, letting the music take over.
"Put your pinky rings up to the moon!" they sang in unison, twirling around the living room like no one was watching. They danced as if the world outside their apartment didn't exist, as if there were no assignments, no pressures, no Oliver.
Minutes stretched on as they danced like no tomorrow. They whooped and laughed, bumping into the furniture and nearly toppling over several times, but neither of them cared. The music filled the room and their spirits, and soon, they were both breathless from dancing and laughter.
Kayla collapsed onto the couch first, gasping for air and clutching her sides from the ache of laughing too much. Louisa plopped down beside her, just as winded, and leaned back with a contented sigh.
They lay sprawled on the couch, their bodies still buzzing from the energy of the dance, staring up at the ceiling as the song ended and silence slowly reclaimed the room. The only sound now was their steady breathing, still catching up from the joyful chaos.
"I haven't danced like that in… forever," Louisa muttered, a soft smile tugging at her lips.
"I needed that," Kayla agreed, her smile still wide. "We should do this more often."
Louisa gave her a sidelong glance. "Maybe without the fear of noise complaints next time."
Kayla snorted, shaking her head. "You worry too much."
They both lay there, their heads resting against the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling. Kayla felt a strange sense of calm wash over her. For a brief moment, all the weight of the world — the pressure from school, Oliver's cryptic challenges, everything — it all faded away.
At this moment, all that mattered was the afterglow of a good laugh, a wild dance, and the comfort of her best friend beside her. The only thing actually had to herself was Louisa.
Louisa secretly glanced at Kayla, wondering how to speak up.
"Kayla?"
"Hmmm?"
"Why did you break up with Andrew?" Kay was happy so maybe she could finally learn the truth.
Her heart leaped into her mouth. Did she know something? Slow panic rose in her eyes. Did she find out? Her mouth went dry.
"Why are you suddenly asking about that?"
"It's just that… it's like…." Louisa didn't know how to say it. Rather she didn't want to. She chewed her fingernails.
Kay flipped over now on her belly, elbows perched up on the sofa, making Louisa do the same and their eyes met. She saw the hesitation in Louisa's eyes but she urged her, "It's like what, Loui?"
"It's like you don't tell me anything anymore. It's like… we've drifted apart these past few years." She confessed.
"Loui, you know that's not true." She looked away from her best friend. A lump in her throat, wondering how she could face her.
"Then why does seem as if you are hiding something from me? Before you always told me everything but now it's like I'm just going with whatever you throw at me and I don't even know where you are headed!"
"Did someone," she asked cautiously, brows furrowing slightly, "say something to you?"
"No, but why would you think that?" Kayla shook her head in negation signaling she meant nothing but Louisa didn't quite believe her and probed at her.
She didn't want to text Andrew, Kay's ex, because when they broke up Kayla was a mess. She cried for days, not leaving her room and just listening to Lauren Spencer Smith's songs on repeat so the breakup was terrible.
Those events left Louisa with a big hole in her chest because she didn't know how to comfort her, so she could only be a shoulder to lean on.
"You know that's not true. We aren't drifting apart."
"So why didn't you tell me about dropping out of Cybersecurity and your break up!? Did you think I would stop you?" Louisa tried to keep her voice down but she felt frustrated. Was she a bad friend? Wasn't she enough for Kayla?
"Andrew made you happy, super happy and you were so full of life and then all of a sudden you guys broke up and you didn't tell me why and I had to find out you broke up with him from Andrew's teammates! Teammates for crying out loud, Kay!" Faced with such accusations, Kayla felt the guilt gnawing at her.
She should have told Louisa everything but she couldn't. It was just too much for her. So it was better to lie. Better to protect her.
Both their necklaces were dangling from the position they were in. She reached out and tucked a strand of Kayla's hair behind her ear. Then she held her locket necklace in her hands. "This is my heart and you are literally the key to my heart, Loui." Louisa also held her key necklace.
"Open it." She said and Louisa obliged. The locket opened and inside was a picture of both girls, younger versions. At this time, Louisa's hair was still chestnut in color and she had bangs. Kayla's face was more rounded and puffy and she also had curtain bangs.
"This space or void or distance you are talking about, doesn't exist. There is no such thing as a gap between us. You and I are bonded for life. You are my sister, Loui. My twin and I've known each other for years and you think I'll take that for granted?"
Shame. Raw shame washed over her but she smiled through it. The overwhelming emotions she nurtured made her heart tighten. A strike of pain hit her.
Louisa stared at the girls in the picture and although unconvinced Kayla would never lie to her so maybe she was just being self-conscious. Maybe it was because of how inadequate she thought herself to be that's why she did this. She didn't want to be left out of Kayla's life and she was worried about her best friend. This dancing was the happiest she had seen her in the past year.
"God we looked so terrible with those bangs!"
This was the outing she was looking for "But our beauty still shone. We could make even rags seem like something from Milan Fashion Week." Kayla flipped her hair beaming with pride.
"These two girls with big dreams. Remember when I wanted to be an astronaut, Loui?" She laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea. What was she thinking back then?
"I really wanted you to be an astronaut. You said you'll pluck the moon and the Venus star and give it to me!"
"I said that? What the hell?" She grimaced, closing her eyes with a shudder. "That's something out of a romance novel! Gosh, I was so dumb back then!"
"Hey!" Louisa hit her shoulder. "I thought it was really sweet."
"Of course, you would think that." She rolled her eyes and Louisa snickered.
"Why were you dancing? What were we celebrating?"
"Oliver. The asshole professor told me to write a very hard code in three days which I completed all by myself!" Harry also helped her. Reminding her every ten minutes to get to it and with so much pushing, she achieved it.
"Wow! So amazing! You are like so smart! My best friend is the smartest woman alive!"
"Hogwash!"
"What's a celebration without ice cream and a good ol' movie?" Louisa asked and Kayla agreed.
"So what do we watch?" They scanned the catalogue and Kayla wanted Harry Potter but was instantly rejected by Louisa holding the vanilla ice cream tub.
"How about the babysitter's club?"
"Sounds good to me. It's been a while since we've watched that. That was like ages ago." They were so old now, however, Louisa suddenly smiled, "Doesn't matter we'll grow old together!"
"Yeah." She smiled back before turning her attention back to the movie.
She should tell her. She should explain it to her but how would she start? She glanced at her friend and her heart ached. If she told her, she wouldn't be able to handle it after she had been through before. This was for the best.