❝ i think my life just flashed before my eyes. ❞

―

LALITA'S LAUGHTER FILLED THE ROOM.

Her entire face lit up as she laughed at the funny video that her best friend, Daonuea, had shown her. Daonuea couldn't help but smile. For as long as he had known her—which was his entire life—she had always had what he believed to be the most joyous laugh he had ever heard. The thing about Lita's laugh was that she never tried to make it sound cuter. She wasn't ashamed of her laughter, and Daonuea had always admired that about her. Lalita never pretended to be someone she wasn't—a task that Daonuea himself was still trying hard and struggling to accomplish.

"It wasn't that funny, Lita," Daonuea said, shaking his head at her.

Lalita only continued to laugh, struggling to get her words out between giggles. "It absolutely was!"

Daonuea shook her head at her again. Finally, Lalita's laughter came to a halt. Daonuea looked down at his phone to check the time.

He glanced back at Lalita. "What time did you say the she-devil was coming over?"

The "she-devil" that he was referring to was Lalita's friend Yasmine. Daonuea thought that the blonde girl was quite possibly the most evil person he had ever met. She was the queen bee for as long as Daonuea could remember, and it seemed like when she wasn't avoiding being in his presence, she was making fun of him. Daonuea wondered why people as nice as Lalita and her half-sister, Moon, could be friends with someone as cruel as Yasmine.

"She's not a she-devil," Lalita replied, causing Daonuea to give her a look. "Okay, she's the spawn of Satan."

"Exactly. What time is she coming over so I know when to not be here?" Daonuea asked.

"Around seven," Lalita answered.

Daonuea glanced back down at his phone. "It's six forty-five. I'm going to leave before she's here and inevitably makes fun of me."

"Dao..." Lalita tried to reason with him, but he had already grabbed his bag and was headed for the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Daonuea said before he placed his hand on the doorknob.

Lalita sighed. "Yeah. I'll see you."

Daonuea turned the knob and pulled the door open; his heart immediately dropped. Yasmine stood on the porch, her hand raised in their air to knock. Daonuea cursed under his breath. Yasmine looked him up and down, a judgmental expression on her face.

"Hi, Daonuea!" Samantha LaRusso greeted him from beside Yasmine.

Danonuea just smiled at her before he redirected his attention back to Yasmine. "Excuse me."

As he stepped out the door, Yasmine moved to the side, scoffing when he accidentally bumped into her shoulder. Daonuea didn't turn around and just kept walking down the driveway and made his way to his own home, a few houses down. Yasmine walked into the house as Sam followed behind her. The LaRusso girl closed the door behind her.

A scoff escaped Yasmine's mouth. "I don't understand why you're friends with him. He's such a loser."

Lalita crossed her arms. "He's not a loser. I've known him since I was a baby, Yas. We've been friends forever. I'm not just going to abandon him."

Yasmine furrowed her eyebrows. "Well, then that's quite unfortunate. Luckily, you have me here now—far better company than him."

"Yeah, lucky me," Lalita replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Where's Moon?" Sam questioned, looking around the living room.

"She's upstairs in her room," Lalita responded. "She's doing her makeup and trying to pick out the perfect outfit for the party."

"Then what are we still doing standing down here?" Yasmine asked, making her way upstairs.

Sam waited for a few moments to let Yasmine walk up the stairs.

"I think Daonuea's sweet," Sam told her, a soft smile on her face. "Your friendship with him is adorable."

Lalita smiled at the girl, her heart slightly fluttering. "Yeah. He's the sweetest."

Sam just continued to smile at her before she turned her head and began walking up the stairs. With a sigh, Lalita followed her. The two girls made their way into Moon's room, where Yasmine had claimed a spot on Moon's bed.

"Hey!" Moon greeted them both chipper as ever before looking solely at Lalita. "Did Daonuea leave?"

Lalita nodded her head. "Yeah. He had to get home."

"Lita, darling, I love you, but please tell me that is not what you're wearing to the party," Yasmine spoke, changing the subject.

Lalita looked down at her outfit. She had been hanging out with Daonuea all day and was still wearing her pajamas, made up of a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Why would I wear my pajamas to a party?" Lalita asked, confused by the statement. "It is not a sleepover, and I just didn't change today."

Yasmine shrugged. "You'd be surprised what people will wear to a party. Did you see that guy at the last one who was wearing those plaid shorts?" Yasmine scoffed. "Ugh, talk about disgusting. I want to throw up just thinking about it."

Moon and Sam giggled while Lalita shook her head and turned on her heels. She exited Moon's room and walked across the hall, where her own bedroom was. She searched through her closet for something to wear and changed before doing her makeup.

Lalita crossed the hall and entered Moon's room once again. A satisfied smile appeared on Yasmine's face when she saw Lalita's outfit.

"Much better," Yasmine complimented.

Lalita didn't respond. She just took a seat at Moon's desk and pulled out her phone to text Daonuea. She wanted to see how he was doing after his little run-in with Yasmine.

"So, the party starts at eight, but I was thinking we could get there at around eight forty-five or nine," Yasmine began to ramble. "That way, we're not losers who show up right when the party starts."

Moon finished doing her makeup and turned around to look at her friend. "Sounds good."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "That sounds like a plan."

Lalita continued typing the text message and then read it over before she pressed send. She stared down at her phone as she waited for Daonuea to reply.

"Lalita?" Yasmine asked, but the girl did not respond. "Earth to Lalita!"

Lalita lifted her head, glancing up at Yasmine. The blonde girl stared at her as if she were waiting for her to say something. Moon and Sam kept their eyes on her before they both shifted their gaze to Yasmine.

"Sorry, what?" Lalita asked.

"Weren't you listen to me?" Yasmine questioned.

Lalita shook her head. "No. Sorry. I was distracted. What did you say?"

Yasmine rolled her eyes in annoyance. "We're showing up to the party at around nine."

Lalita nodded her head. "Okay."

"Okay?" Yasmine asked.

"Yeah," Lalita replied. "What did you want me to say? How's this?" Lalita cleared her throat. "That's such a genius idea, Yas! Wow, you deserve an award!"

Yasmine rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Lalita felt her phone buzz slightly in her hand. She looked down, reading Daonuea's reply.

It's all good. We still on for our Lord of the Rings marathon tomorrow?

A small smile appeared on her face as she typed back a response: Of course we are! See you then.

────────────

At eight fifty-five, the four girls pulled up the party. Yasmine made sure that she walked in the door first, having declared herself the leader of the friend group. The other three girls trailed behind her. Lalita and Moon had their arms linked together as they stepped through the door. Instantaneously, they were greeted by the host of the party himself—Kyler Park. Lalita couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

Recently, Kyler had taken an interest in pursuing Sam, and for reasons Lalita didn't understand, Sam was actually interested. To make matters even worse, Yasmine and Moon were actually encouraging Sam to take Kyler up on his interest.

When Sam smiled at Kyler, Lalita rolled her eyes. She really didn't understand the appeal. Sam could do so much better than Kyler. Lalita bit down on her cheek as she watched Kyler start flirting with Sam. She bit down even harder when she saw Kyler tuck a strand of hair behind Sam's ear.

Moon nudged Lalita in the side with her elbow. "Lita, let's go get something to drink."

Moon didn't wait for an answer. She pulled the girl away and led her toward the kitchen. It wasn't until they stood in the corner of the room near the back door that Moon let go of her sister's hand.

"How long?" Moon questioned.

Lalita furrowed her eyebrows. "How long? How long what?"

"How long have you liked Sam?" Moon whispered.

Lalita's eyes widened. "What?"

"It's so obvious that you like her," Moon replied. "So, how long has it been?"

Lalita shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't like Sam. She's my friend."

"Lita, you know I can see right through you," Moon told her. "You're my sister. There's nothing you can get past me."

Lalita sighed. Moon was right. From the moment that they were born—Lalita was born just three months after Moon—to different mothers, Moon seemed to know everything. They may not have been twins, but they sure did have an unmatched bond and intuition.

"Okay...maybe I like her a little bit," Lalita said, holding her index finger and thumb close together. "I just don't understand what she sees in Kyler. He's...he's...he's just gross!"

Moon chuckled at the girl. "You're honestly not wrong, but for right now, I think we need to let it run its course. I have a strong feeling that it will not last long."

"Is this one of those spiritual intuition things that you get? Like when you said that you had a feeling that we would become friends with someone new and then, like, a month later, we became friends with Sam?" Lalita questioned.

Moon nodded her head. "Exactly. Now, what do you want to drink?"

Lalita sighed as Moon made her way over to the kitchen counter. She really hoped that Moon was right and that whatever was happening between Sam and Kyler would not last long.

She walked over to the counter, standing next to Moon, and scanned the different drinks. Lalita had never been much of a drinker, but she didn't think one drink could hurt. Besides, it was a party, and she wasn't the one who would be driving home.

After getting their drinks, the two sisters made their way back into the living room. They danced along to the music and took several pictures on their phones to post to their social media pages later. The girls had even taken some with Sam and Yasmine.

Lalita was dancing alongside Moon when she heard Yasmine yelling their names.

"Moon! Lalita! Get in the car!" Yasmine yelled over the music. "This party is getting boring."

Lalita and Moon exchanged a look before shrugging. They followed Yasmine outside and down the driveway to the car. The three girls sat in the car, waiting for Sam, who was still inside.

"Where's Sam?" Lalita asked. "Is she leaving with us?"

On cue, Sam came running down the driveway. Yasmine rolled down her window and stuck her head out, her blonde hair blowing in the breeze.

"Hurry up and get the car before I leave without you!" Yasmine shouted at her.

Sam giggled as she ran up to the car and opened the door. She sat in the back seat with Lalita and then closed the door. Yasmine started driving before Lalita even had the chance to put her seatbelt on.

"So, what's with the rush?" Moon asked. "We were having fun."

Yasmine glared at her. "I was bored, and last time I checked, I was your ride home. So it was either you come with me or I left you bitches there."

Moon turned her head, looking at Lalita in the backseat for a moment before she looked away. Lalita pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked to see if Daonuea had sent her any more messages. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw that he had sent her a picture of a cat sitting upright in a chair like a human. Thought you might get a kick out of this, he had typed underneath the picture. Lalita replied back, sending him a series of laughing emojis.

"What's so funny?" Sam asked.

"Oh, it's just this picture that Daonuea sent me," Lalita told her as she held her phone out in front of Sam.

Sam giggled. "Oh my God, I've never seen a cat sitting like that before!"

Lalita continued laughing. The sound of the laughter from the two girls filled the backseat. Moon turned her head, wondering what had sent them into a fit of giggles. Lalita held her phone out in front of her when she noticed she was looking at her. Moon let out a laugh the second she saw the picture. Yasmine looked in the review mirror, trying to see what they were laughing at, but had no luck.

The blonde girl turned her head to the side to catch a glimpse of the photo. But Lalita had turned her phone back around, obstructing Yasmine's view. Yasmine rolled her eyes and pulled out her own phone.

"I don't think you should be on your phone while driving," Sam warned her.

Lalita nodded her head in agreement. But Yasmine did not listen. She continued to look down at her phone, not paying attention to the road in front of her.

"Yas!" Moon screamed suddenly.

Lalita's body surged forward, followed by the sound of a crash. Her phone flew out of her hand, landing on her feet. Lalita leaned back. Her eyes widened at the sight of the car that was parked in front of them—the car that Yasmine had just hit.

"Oh, my God," Yasmine said in shock.

"Yasmine, we told you that you shouldn't be on your phone!" Sam shrieked out.

"What are we going to do?" Moon panicked. "Guys, what are we gonna do?"

"We have to call the police," Sam replied.

"We can't!" Yasmine shouted at her. "My parents will kill me!"

"What the hell are you doing?" A man's voice yelled.

Lalita let out a scream as she turned her head to see a blonde man slamming his hands onto the window. The four girls in the car screamed in fear as he kept hitting the front passenger window before he moved to the back, where Lalita sat.

"What are you doing?" the man asked and then moved to the back window. "Open the door! Open the door!"

As he slammed his palms against the window, Lalita screamed. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted as far away from the window as she could. The man started pulling on the door handle, trying to open it. Sam grabbed ahold of Lalita's arm tightly, pulling her closer to her.

"Drive!" Sam shrieked. "Drive!"

Yasmine placed her hands back on the steering wheel. As she pressed the gas pedal, the tires screeched. Lalita's heart was beating so fast that she couldn't breathe. Sam continued to hold onto her arm, loosening her grip. Lalita looked down at her arm, seeing light red marks from Sam's fingertips.

"Lita, are you okay?" Sam questioned, looking down at her arm. "I'm so sorry about your arm. I didn't mean to. I was just—"

Lalita shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It's fine."

Lalita sat up, struggling to breathe. "I think my life just flashed before my eyes."

"What do we do?" Moon asked, panicked. "What are we going to do?"

"We aren't going to do anything," Lalita responded. "There is no we! She's the one who hit the car!"

Lalita pointed at Yasmine. The blonde looked through the rear view mirror, scoffing.

Lalita held up her hand, watching as it shook wildly. Sam glanced at her and reached for her hand. She placed one hand on top of Lalita's and the other on her palm. Sam applied light pressure to her hand from either side, trying to ease the shaking.

Moon glanced up, looking in the review mirror at the two girls. She couldn't help but smile.

— EMILIA'S NOTES

khaeng-allen sisters supremacy!! giving moon the justice she deserves and giving her more screen time. really bringing out mean yasmine in this fic too whewww...

lalita and daonuea's friendship is so cute. spoiler, there's a lot in store for them...

also super excited to continue this fic because it's going to be different than anything else i've written. i can't wait to continue the lalita/daonuea/sam relationship.