Splitting Pearls

After Flo’s visit with me, she stopped avoiding band practices. While we played I could feel her eyes on me, though any time I looked over, her gaze was anywhere but. I began to accept that I had a serious case of wishful thinking. Then there was the way that she would say hello to me whenever we met and would be perfectly cheerful- perfectly Flo- but none of her greetings were anything but shallow. It was worse than back when she had refused to come to band practices at all. Her act had only one possible response: reciprocation. I stopped looking at her. I stopped giving more than greetings, just like she had.

Immature? Yes. But she started it.

One day in rehearsal, Rhea stopped us from scattering during break time. “I have an announcement,” she proclaimed from the front of the room. When Gus and Lionel kept heading in the direction of the stairs, she rolled her eyes and called Reed over.

The two ducked their heads together and whispered for a moment before Reed let out a piercing whistle. “There are doughnuts hidden somewhere in this house and none of you will get any if you don’t listen up,” he called over the ruckus that had started up as Rupert attempted to play the xylophone Gus had brought in a couple of days prior.

This got peoples’ attention.

Rhea stepped forward with authority that shouldn’t have been amusing but which absolutely was. It was the swagger, I think. What girl has swagger? "Alright, boys, prepare to worship me. I have a proposition. It is one which will, in the end, probably make us little to no money at all but which very well might expand our fanbase tenfold. Besides, we're going to see some fireworks!"

Lionel stepped forward, holding out his hands. "Wait a second. Back up. Reed, why don't you explain whatever scheme Rhea's got going on? Her explanations never help."

"No way. Reed, I love you and all, but you're not stealing my thunder here."

"Thunder?" Gus called out. "Rhea, really."

"Quit it! Flo, you explain," Reed offered with an indulgent smile.

I reluctantly fixed my eyes on Florence, who stepped forward. "Our friend Caleb came back to town. You guys might recall being invited to his welcome back party a couple of weeks ago. You might also recall the black licorice you all received as punishment for not attending."

"I've been meaning to talk to you two about that," Rupert called out. "Sending people black licorice to punish them for not making it to the party of someone they've never met before? Who does that?"

"I demand silence!" Rhea cut in. She even stamped her food and crossed her arms like any properly pissed off girl does.

"Thanks, Rhea darling," Flo said before continuing. "In fact, you might regret not having come to our party. Not only was it a fantastic hit, but it also was the birthplace of our latest scheme. And this particular scheme is actually working out. Allow me to explain. Caleb's parents have a mongo RV that they're willing to lend us as long as Caleb, Rhea, and I are the only ones who get behind the wheel. We are going to travel down the east coast and you lot are going to play a series of shows that Rhea and I spent the last week lining up for you. I'll be tagging along, selling the truckload of merchandise that we've ordered. As payment for all of my wonderful hard work, I'm going along to enjoy the final stop."

Rhea and Florence exchanged excited looks while the rest of us waited for the punchline. As much as I enjoyed those two, they could be awfully annoying when they were given too much freedom. "What is the final stop?" Lionel finally demanded.

"Disney World!" Rhea and Flo shouted out together. "Well," Rhea added, "that and Harry Potter World, of course."

"You do know that it's not called Harry Potter World, right, Rhea?" I asked, stepping forward. I was talking to Rhea, but it was Flo I was looking at. Did she really think this was a good idea? We were still not able to be in the same room as each other without majorly awkward looks and this terrible stifling quality to the air. Now we were expected to be cooped up in an RV for some road trip? I didn't care how mongo she said the RV was. It just wouldn't be big enough for that.

Rhea didn't bother responding to me. She rolled her eyes, took Reed by the hand, and managed to signal to the rest of the band that they were to follow her upstairs. All of them did without hesitation. Every one of us might deny it, but she always got her way with us. At least, she did whenever her demands weren't completely ludicrous.

And yeah, they pretty frequently were.

In this particular case, I would have expected at least Lionel to stay behind. All of them had to know that the last thing I wanted was to be left alone with Flo. It was too much. Besides, it was obviously not what she wanted. She was leaving, too.

Or not. Florence made it to the doorway and collapsed against the wall, blocking my exit. "Come sit with me for a minute." She said this in the quiet sort of voice that you didn't usually get from her- not unless she was especially tired or sad. Which was it this time? The skin under her eyes had a definite purple tint to it. That could be from either, though. I crossed the room and stood before, then sat. She gave a grim little smile.

"Flo, is everything okay?" This was not at all what I wanted to talk to her about, but I couldn't sit here with her looking at me like she was and not ask.

Suddenly tears were pouring down her cheeks. Later I looked back on those tears and was glad for them, though to admit that might make me look cruel. It was those tears that allowed me to scoot closer to her, to put my arms around her, and to hold her as close as I could. Her shoulders shook and the tears flowed faster and thicker, but the only sound from her was a gasping kind of breathing. I shifted so that I could pull her onto my lap but I stopped myself from actually doing it. I knew better.

After a little while, a knock sounded at the door. "Practice is over," I said through the door. "You guys go get ice cream or something. My treat. Wallet's on the kitchen table with my keys. Take your own damn car, though." Footsteps retreated and we were left alone.

Florence had by this time calmed herself enough to pull away and wipe at her cheeks with the sleeves of the sweater she wore. "I'm sorry about that," she said in a shaky little voice. "I don't know where all of that came from. I'm not even really sad about anything." I met her eyes, relieved to finally be able to without feeling like I was breaking some pact we had.

"Florence, come on. That wasn't nothing. What's been going on?"

She shrugged and inched away from me. I felt myself grow colder with the separation. "That's just it. Nothing has been. My whole life seems to have settled, and I don't like what it's become. I have classes, I have work. I do the same thing every day and nothing's ever any different. And then you came back and Marcus, you've been so cold. We used to care about each other, once. I miss that."

I could have kicked myself for the way I had been treating her. "Florence, come on. You're being absurd. Now, you know that I know better than to call a crying girl absurd unless it's really true because otherwise it would make things way worse, yeah? So you should trust me on this. Of course we used to care about each other. Flo, when I fell for you it was harder and quicker than I ever thought possible. And it was real. You know it was. That kind of thing doesn't just go away, and it doesn't fade. Yes, we used to care about each other. But that's not only in the past. I still care about you, and I know that you still care about me."

Flo's lip trembled and she bit it. I pulled her back against my shoulder. "I don't think you're just sad because you feel like your life is stuck, and I don't believe for a second that it's because of me. You're right, I haven't been such a great friend to you lately, but you must know that that's only because I wanted you to have your space."

"Marcus, it's okay. You don't have to explain yourself to me. I should be going anyway."

"What, have to meet your boyfriend?" I said before I could beat the impulse. Her expression changed immediately and Flo pushed herself away from me. "I'm sorry, that was out of line."

Flo shrugged, her face already a mask. The only emotion she didn't block was the upset radiating out of her eyes, and she would have stopped that if she could have. "Goodbye, Marcus."

She opened the door and I scrambled to my feet, managing to slam it shut before she could leave. "Wait. We're not leaving things here."

"Yes, we are. At least for now. Clearly I am not in the right state of mind to be dealing with this, and I'm starting to think that maybe you aren't either. We'll talk soon. I still want that. Just not tonight, okay?"

"What about the trip?" I said, knowing that it was the only topic that might get her to stay. "Do you really think we're going to be able to make things better enough by then?"

Florence shrugged. "We'll have to... and if not, I'll become suddenly, devastatingly ill the night before we leave or something. That's an issue for another night. I just want to go home. Okay?"

I stepped back. She left.