#like my mom that know both latin and botany just tells me 'yeah this plant is called 'whatever alba' bc its white

[minglana]

haateeee that in high school science classes they dont introduce you to like. the greek alphabet. bc i just found out (2 days before the exam) that ive been writing phi when i shouldve been writing ro in a formula. like. my contact w the greek alphabet is none. they just expect us to know these things bro😭

[artificialqueens]

And So We Run (ch.11) - Traumathicc

A/N: It’s time for a good ol’ trip to flashback city! In which Alyssa is a hard working single mother and Adore should definitely go see a doctor.

A relatively sunny day sometime in the beginning of April, approximately six years ago.

That’s how it had started.

It was a particularly busy day at the school, and Laganja had managed to sneak away from her mother/teachers watchful eye. She had crept down into the cellar of the schoolhouse and used a back door leading out into a relatively crowded alley. Then she’d just blended in with the crowd until she was far enough to run away from the streets and into the woods. It was relatively easy, seeing as this was far from the first time the young girl had used this escape route.

Because the schools teacher and her mother happened to be the same person, it wasn’t exactly easy for Laganja to make friends her own age. That, however, wasn’t exactly the only reason. The town was small, and everyone knew at least a thing or two about everyone else in the area.

This, of course, caused gossip and rumors to fly around town like flies on a hot summer's day. And Laganja’s mother happened to be the victim of at least half of them. Most of them stemmed from the fact that neither of the Edwards sisters shared a father, since all of them were either dead or had moved elsewhere. This unfortunate circumstance gave birth to the admittedly silly urban legend known as “Alyssa’s curse.”

The basics of it was that, in her youth, Alyssa Edwards had the misfortune of never finding love cast upon her by either an almighty god or a woodland spirit or some other junk Laganja had forgotten about. In some versions of the story it was because she had won the games. In others, like the one the blacksmiths kids down the street liked to tell, it was because the heavens wanted to punish her for being a “dirty whore,” whatever that meant. Whenever Laganja tried to ask, she would either receive a slap on the wrist or an awkward suggestion of a change in subject. The slapping usually only happened when Plastique was around to hear it, though.

And so, since their mother was apparently cursed, as the Edwards girls grew, whispers behind their backs and weird looks on the street became an everyday occurance. Plastique’s father, who was the town’s pharmacist at the time, once said that there is something about poverty that breeds superstition. Not even six months later he died of an undiscovered heart disease. Laganja guesses that it was then that her mother just sort of gave up on love and started devoting one hundred percent of her time to her children and her job.

That was an entirely different beast to tackle though, since many of the town’s mothers didn’t trust their darling children to a cursed “slut.” (Laganja had no idea what that meant either.) But persistence is a powerful weapon, and after many if’s, but’s and, as Shangela put it, ”A hell of a lot of work,” Alyssa had managed to win the trust of the town’s government and finally gotten the position as the full time teacher she’d dreamed of becoming since she started the job.

This was the pride that the Edwards family held on to. Their beacon of light after so many years of shame and mistrust, all over a stupid rumor based on coincidences. Understandingly, this caused Alyssa to begin prepping her daughters for the role of one day becoming teachers themselves. Shangela, who was fifteen, had already started helping her mother around the school, becoming an assistant of sorts. Laganja and Plastique, who were twelve and six respectively, weren’t exactly ready for that role just yet. So instead, their mother had them read virtually everything she could get her hands on.

One particular subject that Laganja fell in love with, however, was botany. She loved to take care of plants and watch them grow, their pretty shapes and colors unfolding with the help of her knowledge of their wants and needs. Her mother had even given her a small spot in their backyard where she could grow her flowers, but Laganja wanted more. She had found a small abandoned shed out in the woods one day, and had basically turned it into her own personal greenhouse. It was there that she spent most of her time, away from the town and it’s stupid gossip.

It was also there, out in the woods, that she would practice her dancing. Another hobby she’d picked up after Shangela had found an old taping of “The Swan Lake” in the school’s book and movie collection (it was much too small to be considered a library). She’d been spellbound by the women leaping across the stage in their fluffy, white dresses like angels. However, fearing her mother's disappointment, Laganja had chosen to keep her dancing a secret she was only willing to share with the woods.

And later, on that particular day in April, someone else.

She had picked a clearing where the sun shone down through the trees like a spotlight, and the green moss floor was coated in the blue dots of hepatica flowers. Seeing as she was already rather flexible, it wasn’t that difficult to get into position. The hard part was literally everything else. Luckily for Laganja, the moss was soft and broke most of her falls whenever she tripped over herself, which was something that happened more often than she would’ve liked to admit.

Just as she had been about to get up from her fifth fall that afternoon, someone had sneezed. Loudly.

This had caused her to jump up and let out a shrill scream that had sent a few birds flying like their lives depended on it. This, in turn, made the hidden figure reveal themselves from behind one of the rocks beside the clearing. She was a young girl, probably Laganja’s age, with dark brown twin braids and an oversized flannel shirt that she had tied around her neck like a superhero cape.

The two girls had stood in complete silence for about ten seconds, just looking at each other, both of them sort of dumbfounded. Then the younger one had said: “How do you dance like that? It’s pretty… I mean- my name is A-“ Then she had sneezed again.

Laganja, not seeming impressed, had replied: “I’m pretty sure this is an invasion of privacy.” And turned her back on the girl. The other girl had then said “Wait! I’m Adore! I’m a year younger than you so you don’t know me from school, but I want you to know that what Harper and Emelie and Jacob and Fritz are saying is all bullshit! My mom, all of my friends, even Ben thinks so! And I’ve never heard him use a bad word! Not ever!”

This made Laganja turn around. She wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to deal with Adore, but somehow, she had to get rid of her. “Well then, you and Ben should learn to mind your own business and stop talking about things you know nothing about!”

“But-“

“I’ve heard enough! If you want to go pick on someone… pick someone else!”

Adore had taken a step back. “I didn’t come here to attack you or anything…”

“WELL, I’M FEELING VERY ATTACKED RIGHT NOW!!” That last part had come out maybe a little stronger than Laganja had originally intended. However, Adore hadn’t started crying like Laganja feared, instead something that sounded like a snort had escaped her throat.

“What’s so funny?”

“Sorry! It’s just that… You look like a really pretty princess… and you just shouted like that… those two don’t go together at all!”

Laganja had, in some weird way, wanted to feel insulted by Adore’s remark. But the fact that she apparently looked like a princess in the other girls eyes somehow made her face turn bright pink.

”I’m… pretty?”

The reply had come out quiet, like a whisper. Not that Adore had heard it, because she’d started sneezing again.

”Sorry! I think I’m allergic to something here. Maybe it’s the liverleaves?”

”Liver- Oh! You mean the hepatica?”

”Hepatiwhat?”

”The blue flowers!”

”Oh! They have more than one name? That’s cool! My mom always calls them liverleaves, though… I can’t wait to tell her about this! It’s awesome!”

”Well, they also have a latin name, Anemone Acutiloba.”

”Wow! You know so much! And you can dance like that, too? Maybe you are, like, a real princess!”

”Please, did you even watch me? I fell like five times!”

”Yeah, but you did that- that thing with your legs… it was so freaking cool!”

Laganja just let the conversation carry on. Partly because it was really hard to get Adore to shut up, but mostly because something about her made her feel… warm. It was like coming home to a place you didn’t recognize but had missed every day of your life. Eventually, they had sat down amongst the flowers, and their small talk had turned into an hour long conversation. Adore had started picking the hepatica leisurely sometime in, and as the sun turned from yellow to orange, she’d gathered a full bouquet.

”I want you to have this” She’d smiled at Laganja as she held it forward. “Because it looks like your eyes.”

Laganja hadn’t known what to say to the girl before her in that moment. She’d just smiled and graciously accepted her gift.

As they’d begun their walk back home and the lights of downtown had become visible from the treeline, Laganja had suddenly stopped Adore and asked: “Wait… What were you even doing spying on me in the first place?!”

Then it had been Adore’s turn to blush.

“I saw you dancing a few weeks ago… but I didn’t know how to talk to you! I was afraid you’d… well…”

“So you’ve just been… watching me dance?”

Adore hid her face in her hands. “I’m sorryyyyy~”

Then. Laganja had laughed. Loudly and genuinely for the first time in what felt like eons.

“Adore! I’m… I’m glad you like my dancing.”

Adore had looked up, her face still red.

“And I just want you to know, that you’re welcome into the woods with me… anytime.”

“Does that… make us friends?”

Laganja suddenly felt very dumb for never even having considered the possibility.

“I guess… I guess it does.”

Adore’s face had then proceeded to light up like a christmas tree.

“This… is… AWESOME!! I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone else! Joslyn and Trinity and Ben and Chris and Milk are all going to love you! And I have to take you to meet my mom! A-and aunt Tammie! And-“

“Woah! Slow down please! It might take some time for me to get ready to meet all of those people!! Also did you just say Milk?”

And from that relatively sunny day in the beginning of April and forward, Adore and Laganja remained friends. Even though both of their mothers had been less than happy about their disappearance together, and both of them had come down with hay fever later that week.