Harmony

Lily stared out of the train window with a grumpy expression. Her hair and headphones were hidden under her hood. Ever since her only friend moved to a different city, she went to school alone.

As always, she was listening to her favorite rock band, trying to shut out the voices of the chattering classmates nearby. Their meaningless conversations and laughter always annoyed her. She wasn’t interested in topics like Korean boy bands, the latest fashion, the lives of pop stars, or makeup. On the contrary, she was interested in horror, crime, comics, rock music, and art, but she felt that these interests didn’t connect her with anyone else. She could never engage in any conversation that was happening in her class. Because of this, even on the train, she would just hide in the corner and shut out the outside world.

As she approached her stop, she sighed. She zipped her black hoodie, adjusted the studded bracelet on her wrist, put on her skull-patterned backpack adorned with badges, and prepared to get through the crowd. Others always blocked the door, making it difficult to get on and off.

Then her gaze met that of one of her classmates.

Emma was a popular girl. Her attractive figure, pretty face, and long, dyed blond hair immediately captivated everyone, not to mention her unique style. She was both trendy and unique, often wearing pink or white clothes and shiny accessories. Although Emma herself was quiet, others adored her. She usually sat in the center of attention, smiling and nodding.

As always, this was the case, and Lily sighed. She found Emma just as boring and average as anyone else. She never spoke to her.

One day, Lily cut across the schoolyard, looking for her favorite secluded spot, as she did every break. It was at the farthest edge of the yard, next to the lilac bushes. She loved sitting there, drawing, and listening to music.

As she approached, she stopped. Emma was sitting in front of the bushes on the bench, wearing headphones, holding a sketchbook and a gel pen in her hand. Humming softly, she swayed while tapping her sparkling fake nails on the paper.

Lily watched indifferently. She didn’t want to be near the other girl, but this was the least crowded place in the yard.

She went to the bench, dropped her backpack on the ground, and sat on the other end of the bench. Emma looked at her and waved with a smile. In response, Lily turned away and took out her sketchbook. She wanted to keep working on her developing comic.

Emma stayed silent for a moment, then took off her headphones and spoke. “Did I do something?”

Lily looked up. “What?”

“You always look at me as if I offended you. Why?”

Lily shrugged and pulled out her watercolor paints from her bag.

After a few moments of silence, Emma spoke again. “What are you painting?”

“Nothing.”

“Can I see?”

“No.”

Emma gave up. She turned back to her own drawing, then took her phone and turned up the music volume, so much that it was audible even through her headphones. Before she could put them back on, Lily recognized the tune and looked at Emma with a astonished face. It was the music of one of her favorite rock bands.

“Since when do you listen to stuff like this?”

Emma shrugged. “For a long time.”

“I didn’t know you liked rock.”

“You didn’t ask.”

Emma put on her headphones again and continued drawing. Lily, however, leaned closer, sneakily peering at the drawing. She was shocked to see zombies in the illustration. Unable to contain her curiosity, she tapped the blonde girl’s shoulder.

“What’s this?”

Emma turned the drawing toward her. “Nicky is writing a zombie novel. She wants to put it on her blog and asked me to draw a cover for it.”

Lily was amazed. “Nicky? The one who always travels with you? The one who never stops talking about Korean guys and fake eyelashes?”

Emma nodded, then added gently. “Yes, her. In addition to all that, she writes horror novels and loves crime movies.”

“But…”

“And Clara collects skulls, has a stuffed crow in her room, plays the guitar, and yes, she also likes fake eyelashes and going to the mall.”

Lily blinked in silence. She had never thought that the girl who always annoyed her on the train could be similar to her in any way.

Emma smiled, seeing her surprise. As the bell signaled the end of the break, she put away her notebook and pen, adjusted her lip gloss, then stood up. She dusted off her pink, sparkling skirt and looked at Lily.

“Maybe if you talked to others sometimes, you’d find out they have things in common with you.”

“Okay, but when I look at you… These things don’t really suit you… It never occurred to me…”

Emma grinned. “One person can be interested in many things, Lily.”

The next afternoon, as the train headed home, Lily watched the group of girls. Emma was in the center, as always, and the others were chatting around her.

Lily’s eyes lingered on Nicky. As she watched the short, slim girl with big blue eyes, braided light brown hair, and a white lace dress, she couldn’t imagine her writing a zombie novel.

After hesitating for a while, Lily put away her headphones, stood up, and walked over to them. The girls looked at her with questioning faces. They were used to their classmate overlooking them, as if they didn’t exist.

Lily cleared her throat. “So… I heard you’re writing something.”

Nicky nodded and answered in a chirpy voice. “Yes. An apocalypse story.”

“Can I read it?”

Nicky blushed and nodded again. She had no idea if Lily was genuinely curious or just trying to make fun of her.

“If you’re really interested…”

“Yes.”

“…then sure.”

After a moment of silence, Emma spoke up.

“We’re going for ice cream, then we’re watching a movie at my place. Are you coming? You can see my pet spider.”

“What?”

“It’s very cute,” Nicky gushed.

Emma looked back at Lily and grinned. “So, are you coming?”

Lily nodded hesitantly and got off the train with the girls.

Stella Watson

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