You Can't Be Missed If You Never Go Away

Steff found herself at the mall's music store, her headphones still on from walking around the various stores. She was never one to enjoy silence, unless there was a book in front of her; and the music beaming from the other stories was never much her style. She preferred bands who weren't in the spotlight, she felt like their music had more of a story to it, because the record companies weren't forcing them to produce a CD every year or so.

She scanned the selection of albums, searching for one that she didn't own yet. Steff reached out for the last CD by For the Fallen Dreams when another hand grabbed it. With a defeated expression, she turned to look at the person who she had to argue with to get it. She pulled her headphones off and stared dumbly at Kyra, not completely believing her eyes.

"Oh, Steff hey."

"What are you even- you don't like them."

"Yeah I know, I have no idea how you can listen to so much screaming. I was trying to get your attention but you had your music blasting. I see that you have them downloaded, why do you need the CD?"

"Jeremy introduced them to me while we were on Warped, and it's a habit."

"So what are you doing after you buy this?" the shorter girl asked as she held the album out.

"Um, drive home blasting it?"

"Well, I noticed you while I was with my girls and I figured we should try to be friends too. We are going to be seeing a lot of each other, we have to give it a shot."

"Sorry to break it to you, but we have nothing in common."

"The same two people brought us together, there has to be something. If we can both get along with the same people, why can't we get along with each other?"

"Fine," Steff started walking over to the cashier, she turned her iPod off and looked at the other girl, "I get that we need to be friends to make it through this, but I just, I can't stand what you did this summer. How you manipulated Jack... I don't see a kind person in there Kyraleigh."

"I'm just rough around the edges. Let me prove it to you: we'll hang out today, if we can't smile once, I'll drop it, okay?"

"Okay."

"We'll start out with a movie, so we can get used to being around each other."

The taller girl rolled her eyes, the F.Y.E. bag now in her hand. She was completely used to having Kyra around, but nothing in her body made her want to be friends with this girl. But she had to, for Jack; even if it went against every bone in her body that was screaming 'no! don't do it.'

They walked out of the theater, a foot between them as they headed for the Starbucks just outside the food court. Each of them had a different opinion of the movie, furthering Steff's believe that they couldn't be friends. As she sat down with her butter coated bagel and caramel frappuccino, the other girl continued to point out the negatives of the movie.

"And the storyline was so unrealistic," Kyraleigh was saying as the other girl tuned back into what she was saying, "I mean, if you heard those noises, you wouldn't go check it out!"

"It's a movie."

"So what, I want it to be realistic."

"Watch one based on a true story, watch a stupid love story."

Kyra sucked in her breath, "No love story is stupid, unless it involves horror like this one did. Ugh, the fake blood too, it sucked!"

"Girl, get over it. I found no harm in the movie, it was a good thriller-slash-horror. You need to stop picking things apart and just go with the flow, even if you don't want to. I would have watched a love story or whatever with you and not complained once -- at least not to you."

"Oh please, you pick things apart. I can see that you're always analyzing everything."

"Comes with being a writer," Steff argued as she squinted at the other girl, "I prefer it over not thinking at all." She shook her head, "Look, in order to get along we need to stop arguing and find something we both have in common."

"I agree."

"We don't have music in common, probably not books, and apparently not even movies."

"What else is there?"

The taller girl shrugged as she wiped the butter off of her fingers. She placed the green straw in her mouth and looked around the food court, examining all the people that walked past her -- taking in their clothing, make up styles, and hair cuts. Seeing how people truly are unique, as different as the next... Like the conflict she found herself in.

"I love animals," Kyra offered, "and you don't eat meat."

"Similar interests, but there isn't much to talk about. How about fashion?"

"We don't dress anything alike."

"But we both put interest in it, we both fussed over the fashion magazines that Kara took on tour."

The small girl smiled lightly, "That's true, we could find something to do with that."

Steff stared at her cup intensely as she thought, her eyes shot up to look at the other girl, "I have an idea, I have an idea!"

"What?"

"Create a maternity line."