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The cherry blossoms descended slowly from their trees as the train alarms rang in the distance. The loud ringing, despite its volume, was simply ignored by the two girls as they ran across the fields. The pair giggling and laughing as they eventually fell onto the bright grass.
It was such a beautiful spring afternoon. The sky was as bright as could be; the flowers were in full bloom and spring break was next week. It was almost as if nothing could ruin this.
Nothing.
The grass was soft underneath both of their heads as they both looked up at the sky.
“Hey, Joliet?”
“Hm?”
Joliet turned her head to the side, noticing Leland was already staring at her with those captivating, mismatched eyes of her that only she got to see.
“Do you think we'll get married someday?”
She heard her friend ask, her soft features looking even more angelic in the bright sunlight. At first, she thought Leland was joking, but there was no sign of humor in her voice. She could feel her cheeks heat up a little as she thought about the question, wanting to say yes; but eventually just laughing it off.
“I don't know...”
She muttered, the words feeling like poison on her tongue. Her friend's face dropped a little, almost seeming disappointed at her uncertain answer, but she quickly covered it up with a smile. The air around them felt awkward, uneasy, even. Neither of them liked it.
“You and your vague answers...”
Leland eventually joked, a poor attempt to brighten the mood that for some reason, worked. She then rolled over to move on top of her, both of her knees on the sides of Joliet's legs and her arms next to her head. She stared down at the other for a while, admiring her sharp features. Leland had always thought Joliet was a beautiful girl, her expression was always so stern whenever talking to somebody else, but when it came to her, she was always so tender. If she said it didn't make her feel something she'd be lying through her teeth.
"Doesn't matter though. I like it when you're indecisive too.”
She voiced, suddenly leaning in just enough she could feel her best friend's warm breath on her skin. It all felt so awfully intimate, and people would surely judge them if they saw the two like this, but they both didn't care. Unnatural or not, they both had each other; and that's all that mattered.
--
It had been a year since Joliet had jumped in front of that train. The kids at school somehow found out about Joliet's crush on her and harassed her into an early grave. When Leland heard about the news, she couldn't even cry. She was so shocked by the revelation that all she could do for the following hour was stare at the wall in front of her like a madman, until she eventually burst into tears.
Her father had managed to comfort her, he knew what it was like to lose a friend you had a special connection with; he served in the war after all. But it wasn't enough. She didn't want comfort. She wanted her best friend back. She wanted her wife back. She wanted Joliet back.
Nobody came to Joliet's funeral apart from Leland and her father. Her family had long condemned her for being in love with another girl. The thought of that alone made the girl sick to her stomach. Out of everything there is to hate in the world, they chose to hate love. It was disgusting. But Leland knew there was nothing she could've done. Joliet made this choice, and now she will have to live with it.
--
It was a bright spring afternoon.
The cherry blossoms fell gracefully from the trees and flew in the warm breeze.
Leland could hear the train alarms in the distance.
Except this time there was no way to ignore it.
No giggling, no laughing, no running over the field.
Just the ringing from the train.
That's all she could hear.