Just a Pen & Paper

11. won't miss her

ftr: 2.25.2021 [12:28 pm, pennsylvania]

11 - WON'T MISS HER

miss • notice the loss or absence of.

/mis/ | verb

"And one day, your name didn't make me smile anymore."  -Unknown

*

Once Luna walked outside of the building, she spotted Grayson and Ramsha sitting on a bus-stop bench. If she had been feeling up to it, she would've sat down next to them as she waited for her bus ━ but she wasn't, not after Atlas anyway. So though it might've been a jerk move, she avoided them for all 3 minutes of waiting, until the bus arrived ━ even if it was raining and she was getting somewhat soaked.

          Luna sighed, stopping at Ramsha's voice when she was one step away from boarding the bus ━ turning slightly to see Ramsha easier. "Luna, can you hang out with us?"

     She didn't really feel like talking, so she put one foot on the stairs ━ with intent of boarding the public-service vehicle. Rolling her eyes in slight annoyance, she didn't have any idea why she stopped when Ramsha call out to her again. "Please?"

          When Ramsha realized that she hadn't yet persuaded Luna ━ she added on something that would change everything. "I found my pictures. If you come, we can have a look at them."

     Ramsha hadn't really been happy about having to show her photos, but if Luna still hung with her ━ it was a price she was willing to pay, though she'd end up paying more than originally thought.

               "Fine."

Ramsha fist-pumped into the air, hissing a little 'aww yis'.

          Someone cleared their throat. "Are ya gettin on or naht?"

     Luna turned around to face the heavier-set man ━ slightly rolling her eyes before walking away. He scoffed and then copied her, rolling his eyes.

          "So you don't mind him coming, right?" Ramsha drawled out the 'o' in 'so', hoping she say no.

          Looks like something was going well for Ramsha today, she got her wish. "No. Where are we going?"

               "I was thinking we'd eat at Naomi's."

Luna froze for a second, unsure of what "Naomi's" was.

          "You do remember, right?" Ramsha caught on. "That cute retro diner we went to! How you could forget?"

A facial expression crossed Luna's face, one that could be interpreted as recognition ━ as Grayson watched Ramsha and Luna with a modest glow of amusement.

          "Yeah." Luna nodded, not wanting to trigger a ramble from Ramsha. "Yep, I remember."

     Ramsha suddenly realized they could be at the diner eating, instead of still wasting time talking at the bus-stop. "Oh! Let's go eat!"

          Luna humorlessly chuckled. "I didn't know it'd rain today. I don't have an umbrella."

That was when both Ramsha and Grayson's heads snapped to Luna's clothes, noticing they were in fact soaked ━ only slightly dry from standing under the bus-stop roof. "So how do we do this then?"

     Grayson had been silently watching, until he suddenly thought up something ━ though he was hesitant to share it. "I could stay with Luna until you get the car. You pull can up to the end of the street, I'll share my umbrella with her. Plus, I have to text my driver not to pick me up right now."

Ramsha thought it over, an idiotic grin forming on her face before nodding eagerly. "Okay! Alright. Be right back."

     Luna and Grayson shared a confused expression, before Grayson asked Luna a question. "Can you hold my umbrella, for a little? I just need to text my driver."

     She nodded, looking up to unintentionally behold his subtly iridescent eyes. They were as though he was truly made from nature and he was, taking a color of sage ━ something you wouldn't be blessed to set your eyes upon unless it was from a certain angle. Beauteous if you approached them closely, they stole her attention ━ until she awkwardly pulled herself back to reality. 

         She snatched the umbrella from Grayson, only realizing that she did afterwards ━ sending him an apologetic glance. She might've been antisocial and not into people, but she could apologize when needed and appropriate. "Sorry. . . What's taking her so long?"

               He typed as quick as lighting, trying to finish as fast as possible so he didn't keep Luna holding his umbrella. 

     Ramsha pulled up to the end of the street where they had walked, rolling the window closest to them down. "C'mon. Don't keep my tummy waiting."

          Luna shook her head in subtle amusement at Ramsha's seemingly misplaced priorities, taking the front seat as Grayson took the back ━ claiming he was 'used to it with his driver'. On the road, Grayson didn't talk plenty ━ but he talked more than Luna would've pegged him to.

*

     "And they were roommates!" They had taken a booth after Ramsha ordered for them, since she came back she'd been talking non-stop. For the past minute she'd been telling them about a movie she saw, one of the many topics she kept bouncing on and then ghosting. "Gah! Don't you guys understand?! They were roommates!"

Analyzing both Luna and Grayson's faces, she gave in ━ sighing exasperatedly with the conclusion, they were helpless AND clueless. While they quickly glanced at each other, looking back at Ramsha coming up with a conclusion of their own ━ she makes no sense.

          Ramsha flagged off the topic, shifting slightly to Grayson. "So how's Zea doing?"

     "She's doing fine, wants me to bring you guys over. Now that I don't have the parental units trying to control my friends, you guys should be able to visit without a problem." Grayson satisfied Ramsha's interest, but left Luna feeling confused and feeling more clueless than Ramsha had already made her.

          It really seemed like Ramsha understood her as a person, because she leaned towards Luna who was sitting on the same side as her in the booth ━ and explained. "Zea is technically Grayson's personal maid. But she's basically his mom, regardless of blood."

Only that bit of information was needed for Luna to match the puzzle pieces with what Faija said and explained to her last time. Grayson on the opposite side of the table, hadn't taken notice of Luna's discomfort at not understanding what was going on, so he chose to observe her more in order that he'd catch even small things.

     A waitress, who the trio recognized as Pandora, walked up to the booth with one big tray holding two plates and another plate in her other hand. "Fancy seein' y'all here! Sweet potato pie! What ever in the world did you girls do to get him, here?!" Once she placed their plates down, she exaggeratedly gestured with her hands; voice loud and drawn from the heart, with a hearty laugh. Whenever she got loud, which was always, her southern accent was really heard, again always.

          "It didn't take much, surprisingly. He didn't have a problem going at all." Ramsha started to ponder and wonder over the reason he could have willingly came as she spoke the sentence. "Actually, why did you come?"

     She looked at Grayson, angling her head on a tilt. "I don't know. I didn't feel like going home. I can finally hang out with you guys freely." It wouldn't have been impossible to believe such an excuse, except he had a slight-pink tint to his cheeks. Since Ramsha wasn't dumb, she knew something was odd, but he didn't usually admit he enjoyed their company so it could've been that. Before she could ponder on it longer, Luna's phone DINGED!

          While Luna was checking her phone, Pandora decided to make herself scarce. "Let me know if y'all need anything. K, sweets?" She earned a nod from Grayson, which she interpreted as her time to go. "Bye."

━

- unknown -

[how's life with your father? do you regret choosing Rafael over Ximena yet?]

sent/seen

━

Luna had planned on responding with a short and simple 'no', but realized that a stranger should not know about her living situation. Ramsha crashed her train of thought. "What's wrong?"

          Luna shooed her hand, two sets of eyes watching her intently. "Nothing."

          "I doubt, if you're making a face like that." It was Grayson who spoke up this time, low and quiet.

          She just sighed, deciding it wouldn't hurt to tell Ramsha. If Grayson happened to be there, so what ━ of course, this showed she trusted him, even if slightly. "Someone asked about me choosing my dad over my mom."

     Ramsha leaned her head slightly, features softening in sympathy. "I'm sorry, it'll get better soon."

     But, there was an unknown familiarity about the action, about her voice, about her features ━ all at once in that specific manner. It brought forth a reaction from her, as the embodiment of chills gently brushed it's finger down her spine ━ before starting again. Goosebumps, her hairs slightly stood all while she was having a déjà vu moment. Scientists could say it was due to a seizure within the temporal lobe, but none could match cause for hers. No, hers was caused by a past where such situation had taken place; of course, she didn't know this. "It's fine, I don't and won't miss her." Luna lied, hiding her hurt ━ telling the lie so well, that she believed it.

          "Okay, enough of this. Let's eat!" Ramsha clasped her hands together in excitement before saying her prayer, and then eating.

          Ramsha had gotten a 'Lunchtime' meal which consisted of a meaty burger, fresh curly fries which were now slightly cold, and a strawberry milkshake in a retro milkshake glass which she was sipping on ━ she had ordered the same thing for Grayson and Luna.

          Luna was busy dipping a curly fry into her vanilla milkshake when her phone started ringing. She mumbled and groaned, while Ramsha and Grayson darted their eyes to her. "What now?"

- DAD - 

> Where are you? It's 8:24 pm right now. - LUNA -

> I'm eating at a diner with friends from the group. - DAD -

> Okay, what's the name of the diner? - LUNA -

> It's called Naomi's. I'll be home by 10:00. Okay? +1971

━

[A/N]: There are some references throughout the book to lighten up the mood so, iykyk. Thought that I should go ahead and appreciate the people that do read my book, or I have noticed read my book. So for this chapter, I want to thank MidnightMoon8888 for reading some of my chapters AND voting! Thank youuuuu❤!