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As Marcy’s eyes fluttered open, she realized the sleeping bag nestled right next to hers was empty. She sat up with a jolt and peered out the window. It was still dark outside. They were having a sleepover that night, and now her friend was gone. Concerned, she turned on her phone flashlight and looked around her room. No sign of Anne. She tiptoed out the door and walked down the hallway of the castle.
“Anne?” she let out with a croak. As she scoured the dimly lit halls, she spotted a familiar face out the window on the balcony. “Anne! What are you doing out here? You scared me!”
“Marcy! Oh, uh...I just needed some air. It can get uh, really hot in your room so yeah.”
Marcy grabbed Anne’s shoulder, turned her around, and looked into her eyes, only to find that Anne was crying. “Hey, hey, hey. What’s wrong?” Marcy asked as she rubbed Anne’s back in circles like her mom had done for her when she was scared.
For a long moment, Anne didn’t answer. She just sobbed into Marcy’s shoulder. The comfort was nice. She breathed Marcy’s familiar scent of ocean breeze and daffodils. “I’m sorry, I just....” She paused for a brief moment. She was embarrassed to be crying in front of her childhood friend. Marcy shot her a warm smile. Anne took a shaky breath and continued. “It’s my mom’s birthday today. I miss her. I don’t have a way of letting her know I’m okay, and I’m scared about how she’s dealing with me being gone. I miss her so much and I just want her to be able to tell me that everything’s going to be okay. I’m sorry you had to see me like this. Let’s just go inside and play a fun little game of never have I ever or something.”
“You don’t need to apologize. I know how you feel. And we are going to get out of here. I promise.” Marcy grabbed Anne’s hand and squeezed it. “So, uh, if you were back home, what would you want to be doing today?” Marcy asked as an attempt to console her best friend.
“Hmm...Well, I’d wake up at 7 AM and meet my dad downstairs. We’d make blueberry waffles together and put way too much powdered sugar on them. He’d pour some tea and then we’d put everything on the tray. We’d wake up my mom and give her breakfast in bed, and I’d give her presents. Then we’d go to the museum, like we always do on her birthday, and head to the butterfly exhibit. We would sit in there and Mom would point out the different types of butterflies. She loves the blue ones the most. Then we would go home and have ice cream cake and throw a little birthday party at the restaurant. That would be the perfect day.”
Marcy stared into Anne’s eyes as she described her blissful dream. Had her eyes always been such a pretty shade of brown? Marcy’s stomach fluttered. “No, Marcy. I’ll figure out what these feelings mean later. Right now I need to help my friend.” She thought.
“I have somewhere I want to show you. Come on!” She took Anne’s hand in her own and dragged her outside the gates.
“Marce, what are you doing? It’s like four in the morning!” Anne yelped. Marcy’s smirk let her know there was no way she was getting an answer. Her eyes wandered to meet Marcy’s beaming smile. Her excitement was so contagious that Anne decided to just go with it.
They darted through winding roads, hand in hand, heading to the mystery place. Anne watched as Marcy’s eyes glimmered in the moonlight. The sight was breathtaking. The ache in her heart had resided a bit, and she decided to just enjoy the moment.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in awhile. I missed you so much, it feels so good to be able to hang out, just the two of us. Ooh, we’re almost there!” Marcy exclaimed in excitement. She looked down only to realize her and Anne had been holding hands the whole time. Her face heated up,letting go, worried she had made Anne uncomfortable.
Anne’s stomach dropped at this. She wasn’t sure why, but she really liked holding hands with Marcy. She ignored it, hoping whatever this destination was would distract her.
“Aha! We’re here!” Marcy gestured to a beautiful glass dome, with white ornate wood accents, ingrained with little carvings of butterflies and flowers. It was pretty rundown, covered in ivy and weeds, but it was charming in a quaint way. The way the rising sun reflected on the glass was thrilling to gaze at. “It’s a butterfly garden! You were talking about your mom loving butterflies and going to the butterfly exhibit at the museum, and I figured you would like it here. If not, it’s totally okay, I was just thinking that-”
“It’s perfect,” Anne interrupted.
Marcy beamed at her and pointed to the door. “Come on in!” She turned the knob. “After you, m’lady,” she giggled. Anne took a step into the dome and looked up in awe. Butterflies swarmed around them, ones of all different types and colors. She couldn’t brush a smile off her face. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt that happy. There was a warm feeling inside her she couldn’t ignore. An unfamiliar feeling, but a welcome one.
The two girls sat down on a bench and watched the butterflies flutter around the room, landing on all types of fauna and flora.
“I like to come here when I’m having sensory overloads, or any type of stress for that matter. It’s so peaceful, and hardly anyone comes here. It’s a nice escape from the world. I love it here, but it’s hard having all that responsibility, you know?”
“I totally understand that. Thank you so much Marce. This means more to me than you could ever know.” Then, Anne did the unthinkable. She cautiously put her arm around Marcy’s shoulder, worried she would think it was weird or something, but Marcy just glanced at Anne and smiled. Pink dusted the girls cheeks as they glanced at the sunrise illuminating the glass.
“It’s so pretty in here, isn’t it? Especially at this time of day,” Marcy spoke quietly.
“It really is. Hey, what type of butterfly is that?” Anne queried in hopes to make conversation so she didn’t have to sit in the silence and ponder her feelings.
“Oooh! That’s a zebra swallowtail. I’m sure you can guess how it got its name,” Marcy joked, “And that one over there, that’s a crimson patch.”
Anne smirked. “You’re such a dork. It’s adorable.” She sunk into the bench after she had realized what she had just said. She didn’t think she liked Marcy in that way, but now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe that’s what the warmth was. Maybe that was why she loved Marcy’s hugs so much. And maybe that was why she stayed up at night sometimes thinking about her smile. “Oh my gosh. I, uh, didn’t mean it like that. Well, maybe I did, I dunno. I really like you Marcy.”
Marcy pressed a kiss to Anne’s forehead. “I like you too, Anna-Banana,” she laughed. She let out a yawn, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep on Anne’s shoulder. Anne sat there, cheeks red, frozen for a moment. Before she could process the previous events, a butterfly landed on Marcy’s nose. She tried to hold in her laughter, as to not wake up her sleeping friend. She looked so peaceful, she couldn’t bear to wake her. She then felt a tickle on her hand.She looked down and noticed a butterfly had landed on her too. A blue one. Her mom’s favorite. She looked at it and smiled. At that moment, she didn’t care about calamity boxes, or Sasha, or confusing feelings. None of that mattered. Because that little blue butterfly was a sign that everything was going to be okay.