Alliyah

She frowned, as she took a tray out of the oven:

“Well, they were supposed to be blueberry muffins… I guess they’re blueberry cookies, now.”

She noticed Lamar wrinkled his nose.

“Well, they’re not for you. They’re for Rayne. I’m going over there to see if she opens the door.”

“Not with those yucky looking muffins.”

“They’re cookies now, keep up, Little, gosh.” She ruffled his hair, as he ate a spoonful of blueberries.

Her heart raced as she made her way to her girlfriend’s house on her skateboard. Yes, drivers deprecated, pedestrians protested, but she didn’t care. She never did, but that time even less because all she wanted was to hug her girlfriend.

She rang her bell from outside the building once and waited. No answer. She rang a second time and waited. No answer. She searched for the cats on the window but didn’t see them, either. She rang a third time and sat down on the stoop.

Alliyah stayed there as the sun went down. The golden hour passed and in came the blue hour. It happened so gradually, most people presumably didn’t even notice it. But she did. She always did.

“Alliyah? What are you doing here?”

Cleo frowned, looking at the girl depressingly eating some dry-looking cookies.

“Just… Eating my failures. Want one?” She held out the plate for her.

“Calling them failures doesn’t make them sound particularly appealing… But you know what? I’m trying to be a better person, so yes, I will try.”

She sat down next to Alliyah, tried a cookie, and grimaced as soon as she started chewing.

”Yes, you still suck at baking.”

They sat in stillness for a moment, looking at the blue city, as people walked their dogs, talked to pigeons, and drove luxurious cars.

“What you and I had wasn’t real.” Alliyah murmured, looking up at the sea of people. “But I still held a special place for you in my heart. For years, actually. But in all honesty, that space eventually was filled with people who treated me better than you.”

“That's fair. But just give me another chance. At friendship, I mean. I know we can’t be more, and I’m not even going to try, okay?”

Alliyah shrugged, still looking away.

“What’s wrong?” Cleo asked. “I mean, other than us. You were already upset before I got here.”

“I don’t wanna pass my bitterness on to you.”

“Not to brag, but I’ve been bitter since I was fifteen.”

“Okay, I just don’t wanna talk. I feel a lot, too much. It’d just spill all over the floor and make a mess that I don’t feel like cleaning up.”

She stood, pulled her pants up, and smoothed her flannel shirt before sticking her hands in her jeans' pockets.

“I should go. I have to be up early. Got a new job at an art gallery.”

Her heart sped a little within her chest, as the thought of how she only had that job interview because of Rayne hit her.

“Do you still draw?” Cleo got up, too. “I mean, besides designing after all.”

“Yes, I do. More so after being done with designing, though.”

“I still have that portrait you did of me in class.”

Alliyah gave a vacillating smile:

“Just wish me a good night, C.”

“…Goodnight, Smith.”

Alliyah balled her fists inside the pockets and clenched her jaw because once again she was reminded of Rayne.