Work Text:
It’s quiet on campus, summer night air like a peaceful blanket of calm on the world outside. Jewel sits with her back up against a tree, Pixie beside her. It’s nice, neither of them feel the need to say anything, just watching the sunset and the fireflies. She can hear laughing across campus, the sound stark across the white noise. It sounds like Peanut, she thinks she can hear Spot too.
“For you” they mutter softly, handing over a flower crown. She puts it on with a little grin, going back to staring at the grass around them.
“Pixie” She starts. “Do you think going to this school was worth it?”
Pixie hums, continuing on with the crown it’s making. “I think so, but I don’t really think you’re asking about me Jewel”
She looks down at her hands, back out at the grass again, then turns to Pixie.
“I missed you.” She’d only been away for a few years, L.A.L.A. Prep had been her chance to see everyone again and she’d done everything in her power to take it right away. She knew she might never get to see her friends again if she didn’t. Not like this anyway. No more quiet nights on the campus lawn by the big tree, no more study sessions dissolving into glitter fights, no more slumber party makeovers and solo flash mobs. Once she became Queen if she ever saw them it would be as her subjects, but they were more than a lowly concept to her. She couldn’t imagine a life alone without her friends, day in and day out of sitting on a too-big throne in a lonely castle. Much less a life married to some king she barely knew (the thought of the future made her stomach ache and churn in a way that she knew meant ‘bad’) fitting into the role of Queen that her mother once had. Pixie smiles at her.
“We missed you too Jewel, all of us. We just wish you’d stop being so worried. Student body president is an important role, but so is being our friend! So is being our Jewel. Don’t overwork yourself and end up crashing out”
Jewel laughs, burying her face in her knees as she giggles. “Trust me Pixie, student body president is easy work. I like planning and being in charge, it’s nice to know that things can go my way, how I planned them.”
They’re both silent after that, wind lightly rustling through the leaves overhead.
“Make a wish”
Jewel looks up.
“What?”
“Make a wish” Pix repeats, holding out a dandelion. “You close your eyes and blow it out. Then, you make a wish and the seeds carry it off to be granted.”
She takes it slowly, twisting the stem.
“Does that really work?”
Pix shrugs, going back to their crown. “I don’t know, but it always makes me feel better.”
She closes her eyes, squeezing them shut tight, clasping the flower in her hands tightly.
I wish I had the power to be the person I want to be
She takes a deep breath in, blowing out as she opens her eyes, watching the little white puffs of seeds fly everywhere.
“Do you feel better?”
She leans back again, watching the sun dip with a smile.
“Yeah, yeah I do”