Cereza….
She heard someone calling her name in the distance. As she looked around, she found herself in pure darkness.
Cereza…. Come to me my dear.
"Mummy is that you?"
Her voice was shaking as she frantically looked around for her mother.
"Mummy! I'm here, Mummy! Where are you?"
The yells and the crying— they wouldn't stop.
Suddenly, she felt insanely cold and woke up with a scream.
"Jeanne, what the actual fuck?" She was covered in water and freezing in her bed.
"You're such a baby. What, you've never been splashed with water before?"
She grimaced at her best friend as she slowly got out of her messy bed.
"Did you forget, Cereza? Today is our first day at our new high school, Umbran High. After that huge fight with Valerie and her puppets, we got kicked out of our old school."
Cereza looked at her ceiling thoughtfully.
"She totally had it coming. They kept picking on me the whole semester. I tried ignoring her until she thought she could push my buttons." Cereza chuckled. "Did you see how black her eye got? I beat her ass pretty good, if I do say so myself."
Jeanne rolled her eyes. "Yeah, causing me to jump in so they wouldn't all jump you."
Jeanne leaned casually against the door frame, looking around the room where she let her friend stay. There were cat figurines on the dresser, crumpled letters in the bin (presumably to her mother), music posters of her favorite artists hanging on the wall, and her stuffed cat, Cheshire, right next to her pillow. Jeanne felt a bit sad at the reality, considering her friend was basically homeless. Her mother was in prison, and the town hated her due to her mother and father's bond. Though Jeanne's parents didn't allow it, Jeanne found a way to sneak her in and convince them to let her stay for a bit. Their reaction was what you'd expect from the Umbran Clan. It resulted in a huge argument between the three, which led to Jeanne getting financially cut off for defending Cereza and, in their words, causing "shame" to the Umbran name.
Jeanne had a somber smile as she looked at Cereza combing and brushing her hair.
Cereza was humming a tune to herself as she looked in the mirror when she noticed how sad her friend looked. Overwhelmed with concern, she asked, "Jeanne, are you okay?"
Jeanne waved her hand dismissively. "It's nothing, really."
Cereza stared at Jeanne through the mirror. In her heart, she knew something was wrong but decided not to push it further until a later time. Cereza understood how hard it was for Jeanne, though; she tried her best to make sure Cereza felt comfortable. The night of the argument, Cereza had been leaning on the door, her ear pressed against it as she tried to make out the words Jeanne and her parents were saying. She knew Jeanne's parents didn't care for her either, as they had made it apparent over the last few months by ignoring her and yelling at her for little mistakes she made around the house. Cereza felt like she and Jeanne were like Cinderella, and one day they would finally get that dream ending they both wanted.
After a shower and some nice warm, buttery toast, the two headed off to their new school in somewhat matching outfits. They both wore long-sleeve dresses, thigh-high stockings, and ballet shoes with a small heel. The only difference in their outfits was their respective colors and slight alterations to their hairstyles. Jeanne chose a beautiful royal red, while Cereza opted for jet black. Cereza wore her hair in a long ponytail with cat ears at the top, while Jeanne simply adorned the cat ears due to keeping her hair short. The two loved to match from time to time, while still keeping their own style intact.
Cereza looked down at the falling leaves as they walked, the beautiful colors standing out to her. "To be honest with you, Jeanne, I'm not too keen on staying here. Really, if I could just study and get my diploma on my own, I'd do it in a heartbeat."
Jeanne chuckled softly as she fixed the straps of her bag. "You must really love your alone time, huh?" She smiled and looked at her friend.
"But of course," Cereza stopped in her tracks and looked at Jeanne. "It's a bit odd trying to make friends with people when you know they truly don't give a fuck about you— always talking behind your back and causing you to get into constant fights."
Cereza looked down for a second, thinking about her past experiences. Every time I tried to make friends, they either just teased me behind my back or started fights with me around the school... Jeanne has always been there for me through and through—my best friend in the whole world. I hope to repay her someday for all she's done for me.
"Cereza, you know," Jeanne put her hand on Cereza's shoulder, "if you ever need anything, just talk to me, because you know—"
"'I'll always be there for you,'" Cereza smirked.
Jeanne beamed at her best friend as they laughed the rest of the way.