NOTE: Please try and answer all the questions I put at the end. I just really like hearing your thoughts and feedback. Comment here so I know you've read this please.

Smoothie Moves was a staple of Moorside. Legend has it that it was the first refreshment shop built. Resident Moorside student, Eli, is sure that his eccentric friend just made that up.

"This place is the best!", smiled Quinn, holding up her strawberry and pineapple smoothie.

"I know right? Strawberry and Mango smoothies are the best", said Azlan.

Quinn's eyebrows raised to the heaven's as she looked at the girl as if she had grown a second head. "Strawberry and Mango? You disgust me."

"What? That's the best combo!", argued Azlan.

Quinn shook her head, throwing her hands up in the air. "Abso-f*cking-lutely not, hun."

"Heckles yes, babe!", replied Azlan.

Quinn squinted her eyes at her best friend, seemingly seeing her in a new light. Suddenly, the music in the shop changed to music usually played in movies where characters were having a stand off.

The pair looked up and saw Yukishiro and Smoothie Moves' owner stood by the speaker. Yukishiro shrugged. "What other music can do this moment justice?"

After a brief moment, Quinn and Azlan shrugged, resigning to their fate. The pair glared at each other, trying to shoot daggers at the other through brain power alone.

Soon, a crowd had formed behind Quinn. The crowd began chanting loudly.

Only in Moorside, folks.

"Strawb's and pineapple go together well! If you don't like it, you can go to hell!"

Quinn smirked as her new theme song seemed to increase in volume the longer they stared at each other.

"Strawberry and mango is the way to go, strawberry and mango is the best, ho ho!"

Azlan grinned at her cheery chant. Things soon escalated, with each side shouting at each other.

"Oh no! We've started a civil war!", exclaimed Azlan.

"I ain't backing down, sister", said Quinn.

Azlan slammed her hands onto the table, her faces inches away from Quinn's face.
"Neither am I, girl."

"Wait, guys! What about Kiwi and Apples?", questioned Yukishiro.

Like moths to a flame, me to chocolate cake, flies to- oh you get the picture. Their heads turned around at the speed of light.

"Kiwi and... apple?", repeated Azlan.

"You sick b*stard", said Quinn, shaking her head.

______________________

Maya held out her hand in an effort to ring her doorbell, struggling as she tried to stop Bennett from falling over.
"C-Come on, Bennett... work with me here."

The boy's head flopped back, his mouth agape and his eye rolling. "Mmm... I d-don't f-feeeeeeeeel... g-g-good."

Maya nodded, smiling to herself when she successfully pressed the doorbell. "That'll be the alcoho-"

Maya was cut off by Bennett emptying the contents of his stomach onto her boots.

"Maya what took you so- oh", said her Uncle.

Maya looked up at her surprised Uncle.
"Hi, Uncle. This is Bennett."

Her Uncle stared at the boy, trying not to gag at the sight of vomit on his face. "Hi, Bennett. Cool. Cool. Ok, my niece has brought a boy home. I'm totally equipped to deal with that."

Maya screwed her face up in disgust. "What? No! It's not like that, Uncle. We go to robotics club together. He's a bit... drunk so I thought I'd sober him up before he goes home."

Her Uncle seemed to relax for a few seconds, before tensing up again.
"You want to bring a drunk boy into our house?"

"Maya's brought a guy home?", questioned a girl who looked only a couple of years older than Maya. "Nice one, Maya!"

Her Uncle's eyes widened as he stared at the girl.
"Yaz, enough of that! You're a rubbish Aunt, man."

"Yeah, whatever Mo", said Yaz, rolling her eyes. She smiled when she saw Maya. "When you're done with... this come to my room. I need you to help me pick out an outfit."

Maya nodded.
"Yeah, sure. Won't be long."

Her Uncle stared at Maya, then at the now drooling boy. He exhaled sharply, looking up for a few seconds before looking at Maya again.
"Ah, f*ck it. Come in."

_________________________

K375B stood in the middle of the room, her eyes glued on the sad teacher in front of her.
"Professor Harrow... how can I be of assistance?"

Professkr Harrow shrugged.
"Can you give my life some meaning?"

K375B's eyes turned silver.
"Searching for-"

"-No, no! Abort search, abort search!", interrupted Professor Harrow.

K375B stared at Professor Harrow. "Do you wish to abort the search?"

"Yes!"

"Very well", she said.
"Search aborted."

As the silence took hold again, Professor Harrow found himself chuckling. Maybe it was that sudden rush of adrenaline. Or maybe it had just dawned on him that he was speaking to a robot.

"Are you satisfied now, Professor Harrow?", asked K375B.

Professor Harrow nodded.
"I am, K375B."

___________________________

Yukishiro sprinted out of Smoothie Moves, unable to handle the horrendous scrutiny any longer. He's always been enthusiastic and bold, but that doesn't mean he doesn't get hurt.

He knew they didn't mean any harm. But seeing everyone giving him dirty looks just brought back memories of when he first came to Moorside. He was this strange looking kid. Moorside's youth generally embraced diversity, but the older generation weren't as accepting.

Isn't that common in any city?

Azlan rushed out, her eyes frantically searching for Yukishiro. Quinn followed shortly after, smoothie in hand.
"Leo? Leo!"

"Yuki where are you?", called out Quinn.

Just as Quinn was about to scream at the top of her lungs, Azlan slapped her arm. Before Quinn could question her, she noticed her friend pointing to a brightly coloured boy sitting on a park bench.

"I'll go", whispered Azlan.
The girl approached Yukishiro, a frown on her face when she noticed the tears in his eyes. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

Yukishiro jumped, but Azlan's hand kept him grounded.
"Hey, Leo..."

Yukishiro smiled weakly.
"Hi. I'm sorry. I just needed to get out of there."

Azlan nodded, taking a seat next to him.
"We didn't mean to upset you."

"No, I know. It's just... seeing everyone look at me like I'm a freak...was hard."

Azlan frowned.
"You're not a freak. You aren't defined by what you drink."

Yukishiro scoffed.
"I'm so dramatic, aren't I?"

"No", replied Azlan. "Look... you tried to understand my Usher's Syndrome. I'd like to try and understand you."

"Me too", said Quinn, taking a seat on the other side of him.
"If you're cool with that."

Yukishiro contemplated this, before nodding, his eyes focused on the tree ahead. "I move around a lot. In Japan, I was so much more aware of my culture and my history. When I came here... things were so different. What I thought was normal suddenly became weird. I couldn't understand why. I just wanted to...", he said, letting his words trail off.

"To fit in?", questioned Azlan. "I can relate", she said. "Not exactly. But my Usher's Syndrome means that my hearing and sight deteriorate at a much faster rate than others. I just wanted things to stop. To slow down. I just wanted to be normal."

Yukishiro frowned.
"See? You have real problems! I can change myself to fit in. You can't. I shouldn't be so dramatic."

"Hey!", said Quinn. "Just because you can do something doesn't mean you deserve to do it. You shouldn't have to hide your identity."

Azlan nodded.
"Yeah! We've all got different struggles. All we can do is help each other through it."

Yukishiro stared at the two girls, completely stunned as to why they care so much about him.
"You guys are amazing."

Azlan and Quinn grinned.
"Tell us something we don't know", said Quinn.

Yukishiro smiled.

"Wanna go back in and finish our drinks? Tell you what, we'll give kiwi and apple a go", said Azlan.

"We will?", questioned Quinn.

Yukishiro laughed.
"You don't have to try it. But... it'd be wrong for us to leave when a war is going on inside."

The trio stood up and the girls linked their arms with Yukishiro's.

_________________________

Bennett stared at the blank walls in Maya's room. One wall in particular, the one that wasn't plain, caught his attention.

On the wall closest to her bed's headboard were multiple framed certificates. Attendance awards, creative writing competition awards, highest achieving student awards. A permanent display of her brilliance.

Bennett thought about it, and he decided that he'd never want his parents to be like this. He didn't want reminders of the things he missed. He didn't need things to remind his sister about the strict household they were forced to live under.

He might as well have waved a red flag around next to a bull.

Bennett's inspection ended the minute Maya opened the door.
"Sorry I took so long. We ran out of bread so my Aunty got some more."

"Bread?", questioned Bennett.

"I read that eating bread and drinking water helps sober you up", said Maya.

"Couldn't use that brain of yours to think of something?", he questioned, bitterly.

Maya frowned, but continued to make her way to the bed. She held the glass of water out and placed the plate of bread slices next to him.
"I'm sorry you have to stay here. My Aunty's coming over and she's, well, she's not keen on me being around boys."

"Oh", said Bennett. "She's like that then."

"She's not bad!", she said, defensively. "She's just...worried about me."

"Your other Aunt seems ok", said Bennett.

"Yaz?", asked Maya, a smile on her face. "She's literally like my big sister. It's weird to call her my Aunt but she doesn't mind me calling her Yaz. The Aunty downstairs is a distant relative."

"Then why do you care so much about what she thinks?", asked Bennett.

Maya sighed.
"It's complicated. My family's approval is a really big thing for me."

Bennett stayed silent.

"Anyway, eat up", said Maya. "I'll bring up a jug of water for you to have after you've finished that one", she said, pointing to the full glass of water.

As Maya stood up, Bennett called after her.
"Wait. Why... why did you bring me here?"

Maya shrugged.
"Your parents have always seemed... worried about you. I guess I just didn't want them to worry."

Bennett frowned.
"So you did it out of pity?"

Maya shook her head.
"No! I did it because you looked sad, ok? I didn't want you to be alone like that. I was just looking out for a friend."

"We're not friends", said Bennett.

Something in his tone showed he was merely stating a fact as opposed to be angry about it.

"What does it take to be a friend then?"

Bennett was stunned.
A question that complex couldn't be answered without a lot of deep thought. Curious, he asked the same question.
"What does it take to be a friend then, Maya?"

"You have to care about them and love them through everything. You have to recognise that it's a partnership, not a dictatorship. You have to be there for them through the good and the bad."

Hm. Maybe it wasn't as complex as he thought.

______________________

Hi.

Eli is DoodleYeet's character in another one of my books. Seeing as it's set in Moorside I thought it'd make sense that there would be some mixing. This won't happen a lot though.

I know this was a lot longer but that's one of the reasons why I break the chapter into sections. That way, you can read each interaction and feel more comfortable to comment. Well at least I hope you're comfortable enough to comment.

Yukishiro hasn't been in many of the chapters a lot but he is still a very important character and his storyline is very relatable. Azlan and Quinn are the kind of friends we all need.

Professor Harrow needs someone to encourage and support him. Will the club members pick up on his sadness?

We have a little more of an insight into Maya's family life. Is Bennett jealous perhaps?

Silas wasn't in this chapter, but he'll be back!

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

hopefulfirebird

agathokakological_05

italllic