11 months ago

It was cold out.

The streets was chilly, despite it being the middle of June. Bek pulled her sweater tighter, adjusting her headphones. Bright pop music threaded through her ears, putting a skip in her step. The sun was hidden behind the grey clouds, the wind whipping her hair in her face and biting at her exposed shoulders.

She hummed as she opened the front door, kicking off her high-tops with one swift move. Her mom shouldn't be home til 10, due to her work at the hospital. She dashed up the stairs, swinging her bedroom door open as she slung her backpack off her shoulders. Bek stopped in her tracks, frozen.

Her mother stood by her bed, holding up a little black notebook, her face stony. "Bek." Her voice trembled with anger. "Your teachers called me today. Said you're falling calculus." "I told you to stay out of my room!" Bek tried to rip the book from her hands. Her mom held it above her head. "I told you, this nonsense is a waste of time! You can't spend your life writing stupid little songs, that's not going to get you into college!"

"I never wanted to go to college!" Bek shouted, emotions bubbling over. "I've told you this, but you never listen to me!" "I am your mother Bek, and this behaviour needs to stop before-" "Before what, Mom?" Bek laughed bitterly. "You kick me out? You're already two seconds away from it, aren't you?" "Watch your tone, young lady!" "No! I'm tired of you treating me like some extension of you that you get to dress up and make miserable just because you are too!" Her mother looked shocked. "How dare you speak to me like that, I am your mother-"

"I don't care!" Bek exploded, stalking over to her dresser and stuffing clothes in her school backpack. "I don't care anymore about your stupid rules, because you never cared about me, did you?!" "Bek, you aren't listening to me-" "You never listened to me, did you?" She shot back, grabbing her guitar picks and throwing them in the front pocket. "Stop trying to act like you care, Mom! Because it's really not working!" "Sweetheart, please-" Bek grabbed her guitar case, slinging it over her shoulder as she stormed down the stairs. Her mom followed, anger switching to desperation. "Where are you going!?"

Bek slammed open the front door, marching to her thrown-aside bike and pulling it up from the ground. Her mother caught up just as she mounted it, pedalling off down the road. "Bek, wait-!" The wind drowned out her mother's words as Bek started to cry.

-

Day 280
Dear Graecie,
I DYED MY HAIR :D

-

"Bek?"

Bek glanced over to the window where Soup was poking her head out, the sounds of friendly bickering floating through the air. Bek would be lying if she said her heart didn't start fluttering. "What are you doing?"

Bek glanced back up at the sky, a clear inky black sea of stars. "It's really loud, huh?" Soup snorted, climbing out the window and taking the spot next to her. Bek refused to acknowledge the heat creeping up her face. "Yeah. Ayngel's trying to stop Magic from strangling Krow. It told her High School Musical was a shit movie." "For once, Krow's not wrong." "I'll tell Magic you said that." Soup smirked. "You wouldn't." "Yeah, I won't."

The two stared up at the sky, a peaceful silence falling over them despite the bickering below. Bek considered reaching for her hand, dismissing that thought immediately. That could really only end badly. 

"My brother loved stargazing." Soup blurted out. Bek turned her head to face her, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't know you had a brother." "None of you asked." She chewed the inside of her cheek. "His name's Luke. He's really smart. He had a telescope in his room, and I always woke up in the middle of the night to him clanging around, looking at the moon and all that shit." "He sounds great." Soup's smile dimmed. "Yeah. He was."

"You know, my mom always wanted me to do something fancy like that." Soup looked at her, curious. "Stare at the sky all the time?" Bek snorted. "Yeah, stupid right? But that's what she wanted. That, or I be a nurse. Neither of which seemed appealing."

"Is that why you left?" Her voice was soft.

Bek stared up at the stars, refusing to let the tears pricking at her eyes fall. "...Yeah. I mean, I guess I always wanted to be famous, you know? Ever since I was little. She never thought I was capable of that." She plastered a smile on her face. "So I left. And hey, now I have a chance and a new family. That's something, right?"

Soup stared at her for a moment before she smiled softly, turning back to the endless abyss above them. "Yeah. You're right."

Soup's fingers intertwined with hers. Bek didn't move away.