Temporary✔️

| One

"Caught between a strong mind, and a fragile heart."

__________

"YOU KNOW he does that to spite me."

Emery huffs, peeking through one blind to spot her lost soccer ball. Her neighbor, awful as he is, displays it proudly in the window directly across from her's, as he's done for the last twelve years. She finally tears her eyes away from the nostalgic sight.

"Obviously it's working, Em." May crosses her arms, looking up once to see her expression. Emery's eyebrows dip up in disbelief.

"Absolutely not. I don't even mind anymore. Just shocked he still has it." Emery shrugs, taking a quick second look, and heading towards her desk. She slides some school work from the drawer.

"Of course he does, it's the trophy representing his first success in pissing you off." May chuckles with a shake of her head, finding humor in the childish rivalry.

Emery scrunches her nose, turning away from the math to give her friend a hard glare. Sighing, she continues her work, brushing back the midnight locks that occasionally block her sight.

Having done work for the past hour, Emery couldn't find herself being able to focus. She pushes herself from her chair, being sure to keep a steady hand on the wood furniture. Iron deficiency is horribly inconvenient, she thinks.

She slugs over, feet pattering on the glossy floor. When she reaches her bed, duvet wrinkled and uneven when May couldn't find the right spot, she crawls on. Her friend takes a break from her own studying, resting her head on the bed.

They lock eyes at the same time. "Are you going to the festival? It's next Friday." Emery asks, contemplating the question herself.

May answers without a second thought, "Everybody goes to the festival, Em. So, duh." May turns over, so she can stare at the ceiling or Emery. May doesn't ask the question in return.

"I mean, I don't know if I'll go this year, May. I'll be pathetically alone." Emery groans, throwing herself back into the soft embroidered pillow, a delicately stitched, blue E.

May takes in her answer, thinking she was joking. When it's followed by silence she springs up, parting her rosy lips with a jaw drop.

"What? We've gone every year, and it's our last year. Surely you'll want to ride the wheel with Ethan." May tries to reason, which only get a wince from her very uncomfortable friend.

"He's not going. Baseball game." Emery pouts, hating that her boyfriend won't be able to attend their tradition one last time.

"That sucks, but we can still go. We'll ride the wheel and you can pretend I'm Ethan. Just don't kiss me. Please." May makes a pained face, imitating a gag. Emery scoffs.

"Perhaps, but it just be that much worse to look at the spot Ethan and I won't be able to ride on." Emery sighs, thinking it weird that she never heard of a game coming up.

"Oh please, Emery! I'll love you forever." May attempts a hug, but Emery puts distance between them with her palm.

"Hey! You already said you would love me forever before, you can't add another condition. Will I never be enough for you, My Lord?" Emery takes on a British accent, holding her chest in mock pain.

May takes it on as well, "You are evermore, My love. But I ask of you this one thing, it will make me decidedly happy." Her accent falters, her laugh almost ruining the play.

Emery gives her a conflicted look, "Yes," She sighs, "I will attend for you, you persuasive woman." She finishes, ending the strange scene they had free-styled.

"I'm very convincing, aren't I?" May's voice is back to its smooth manner. She perks an eyebrow in Emery's direction. Emery knows better than to fuel her ever growing ego.

"Don't you have practice, M?" Emery smirks, having a quick glance at the computer screen, which displayed 6:47.

May's eyes fly open, wider than usual, at her revelation of the time. She trips over herself twice trying to collect items that miraculously found their way from the bag. She scrambles to grab pointe shoes, leotards, and other things Emery couldn't name.

When she's done, her honey golden hair sags in a poorly wrapped bun. Having no time to worry about that, she rushes out the door sending a quick goodbye to Emery, and running across the lawn. From her window, Emery has a laugh at her flustered friend.

May's life was surrounded by ballet. It was her passion and her motivation. She hasn't missed practice in eight years, and that streak wasn't ending today.

Emery lets the silence sit for a while. It was quite easy for her to drown thoughts with silence, just sit and think nothing. She contemplated picking up a book, but decided against it when she enjoyed just laying there much more.

She hears a splat against her window. A thick, wet sound smashing into her solitude.

She thinks it no coincidence that it comes from the window across from Harven's. She gets up, slowly, and makes her way to the window. She's almost doesn't want to know, and considers retreating to her bed. Be brave, she thinks, it's not a human heart or anything.

Right?

Removing the lace curtain, she finds a white spot stuck to the glass. Her eyebrows furrow, opening the window to inspect further. She inches her hand towards it, grabbing the wet form.

When the many possibilities of what was on it hit her brain, she drops it one story down, into the grass, where it makes a dull plop this time.

Leaning out the window, she lifts her head towards the mirroring house. Of course Harven is there, she sighs, looking mischievous as ever.

"What did you throw, Harven?" Emery asks in a hard voice, loud enough to carry. She narrows her eyes.

Harven feigns innocence, looking each way out the window. His mouth sits slightly parted.

"Me? I certainly didn't throw anything. And I thought this neighborhood was civilized." He shakes his head, in mock disappointment.

Emery lets out a shocked sound, "It is civilized, except for you. Was that wet toilet paper?" Emery asks. She wonders why he would do something so childish. Why torment her still?

"Wet toilet paper? That's disgusting. You must confront whoever did that." He nods, the smirk so evident on his face. He can't even hide his amusement at her face and she is fuming by the second.

"I will never understand your despicable ways, Harven Aller. Long as I live, I will never." She shakes her head, eyebrows still in their upset form.

"Good, I'll forever be unexpected to you." He says. Emery shuts her window, done listening to that boy. She closes her curtains, so he can't see her, either. College couldn't come soon enough, she thought.

Harven's annoyances are like Emery listening to a song over and over again. Once it was funny, and now it's like never ending madness. It stopped being funny when her ball disappeared. She scored her first goal with that ball. He took it like it was nothing.

Well, to him it was nothing. He's a self centered jerk.

Emery, trying to forget about it, picks up her violin. She begins to strum, playing a quick tune, which brings her peace. She doesn't realize how long she plays, until it's dark outside. The moonlight streams through her sheer curtains, spilling over the floor. She decides to retire for tonight.

Though it's late, she enjoyed her playing time. Nothing made her forget everything around her like her lovely instrument. It let her daydream about whatever she wanted and get lost in the melodic sounds, eyebrows relaxed.

She was glad her neighbor probably wouldn't try stealing a violin. War would be raged, then. Nobody touches Violetta.

Emery falls into a sound sleep, still hearing the soft echo of music.