Chapter Text
White Lily Cookie moved through the now-empty halls of the blueberry academy.
She really never did learn, did she? She just had to mess it up again.
Absentmindedly, she crossed the building gates, heading in the direction of the oh so familiar forest she used to spend so much time in.
White lily plopped down on the ground, the terrain was dirty, wet, and cold. But she never really minded that, and couldn’t find the energy to care about it now.
A wave of dread washed across her, her breathing quickened, her hands shook and her eyes welled up with tears.
The awful conversation with the principal running through her head at full speed.
She just sat there, choked sobs escaping her.
The bell rings, and the students flood the entrance of the Main gates. Most were idly chatting with their friends, laughing about the most ridiculous things, such as how they had pranked a teacher or about the embarrassing thing the weird kid had done.
Pure vanilla cookie didn’t care much at the moment, his mind was elsewhere.
He had to find White Lily.
Their antics often led to them being called to the headmaster's office, to the point that their classmates made a betting game out of how frequently they would be requested that month.
But this was different.
This wasn’t just them sneaking into the library or taking laboratory equipment without permission, no, this was more serious.
There was also a different reason for his concern.
Usually they received the same punishment: a week of detention after school, helping the nice potions instructor organise the supplies, extra homework, or just being separated during their classes.
All of these things were hardly an issue and kind of became routine at this point.
But this time, she was missing the whole school day, and it greatly worried him.
Pure Vanilla Cookie finally arrived at his destination, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” The student entered the spacious room. Immediately greeted by the headmaster.
“Greetings, Pure Vanilla. What brings you here this time?” The tall man smiled at him sweetly.
“Ah- hello, it's about White Lily cookie. She was missing in class, and it's worrying me. Could I maybe know where she is?” Pure vanilla blurted out.
The Principal's demeanour seemed to change after hearing that. His mood seemingly curdling like sour milk (pun intended).
Blueberry Milk sighed. “I’m afraid that I had to expell her following this incident. She left the school over an hour ago, and I have no knowledge about her whereabouts.”
The principal looked apologetically at Pure Vanilla
“I truly am sorry that this happened, “ he said slowly. “I know that you two are very close, so it must be quite difficult news for you.”
He sighed, “But rules are rules, and if these are broken, then there should be repercussions, otherwise, the students will think this behaviour is perfectly acceptable.”
Pure Vanilla nodded slowly. ” Thank you, sir. Have a nice rest of the day.” He turned in the direction of the doorway.
“Before I forget,” Pure Vanilla gazed back.
“Do inform White Lily that it wasn’t my intention to be this harsh on her. I got caught up in the moment and let my emotions get the better of me. I should’ve handled it better, and I apologize for that.” He said softly.
“I will. Thanks again.” Pure Vanilla spoke gently before exiting the room, accompanied by the squeaking of the wooden door.
Where could she be! Despite wearing his usual calm expression on his face, Pure Vanilla was panicking internally.
Alright, calm down, Pure Vanilla, breathe in and out.
Panicking will only make things worse.
This did, calm him down at least a bit, although he was still feeling pretty unnerved.
Alright think.
Where would you go if you were white lily cookie?
Well, she doesn’t like a lot of people around her, so she wouldn’t have gone to the city.
The school is also not an option and the public library is closed today.
That’s when realization hits him
Right.
How did I not think of that?
He and White Lily would always head out to the forest just outside the city, and although these visits have become less frequent recently, they still withdrew there quite often.
“Lily.” Said cookie tensed up.
“A- Are you alright?” Pure Vanilla stood in front of White Lily cookie, looking down at her.
She looked like a mess. Her hair was tangled from the wind, her braid practically falling apart. And her school uniform was dirty from the mud she was sitting on.
The only answer she managed to give was a small headshake.
“Do you want to talk about it?” his voice remained soft as always.
Another headshake.
“That’s alright.”
Another pause,” Do you want me to stay? I can leave if you want to be alone right now.”
“Stay… Please.” She pleads, with a rasp in her voice.
“I will, don’t worry, I'm not leaving.” The Vanillian gently hugged her side.
White Lily finally gathered enough courage to speak up.
“The Principal expelled me.” She mumbled
…
Pure vanilla frowned
“I’m sorry, I should’ve stopped you.”
“Don’t be.” She replied firmly.
“It was my decision, not yours. Don’t beat yourself up over something that I did, especially since we both know that nothing you would’ve said or done would hinder me.”
Pure Vanilla recalled the conversation they had had not even half a week ago.
And while it was true that he had tried to stop her, he did feel like he could’ve done more to prevent her from getting to the portal.
“I-I just don’t know what to do now.” Her voice was raspy and she was on the brink of tearing up once more.
“How do I always manage to screw up everything?”
He combed soothingly through her long white hair. Moving closer to her
“Don’t worry, we'll figure something out. Everything will be alright, we're in this together.”
White Lily cookie held onto the other cookie like her life depended on it, which, to be fair, it kind of did, with the amount of times he's helped her get out of messes similar to this.
Neither of them spoke, but the silence surrounding them was more comforting than it was awkward.