3-17-26
Pinku shares her feelings with Amata
Amata groaned. The pattering of Pinku's steps on the sopping wet grass drew in closer and they closed their eyes.
“Hey!” Pinku shouted, waving her arms in hopes of catching their eye. “Hey, do you hear me?”
Amata let loose a sigh before shouting back. “Whaddya want?”
Pinku ceased her sprinting to catch her breath, palms planted on her thighs. “Rude!” She called out indignantly. She huffed and straightened her back to step closer.
Amata leaned back on the bathroom's brick walls and took another drag of their cirgarette, making sure to blow it in her direction.
“Double rude!” Pinku protested in between coughs and wheezes.
“I didn't ask you to come out here,” Amata answered flatly. “Seriously, what do you want?”
Pinku stood a healthy six feet away from the front of the smoker and crossed her arms. “Is it a crime to see you now?”
Amata scoffed, choking on their breath of tobacco. “Since when did we ever care about what is or isn't a crime around here?”
Pinku rocked back and forth on her heels and moved her hands to her hips. “Every time Heliotrope gives us shit, you come out here and suck down half a pack.”
“So?” Amata replied.
“So, he's never gonna let up, you're gonna smoke yourself blue in the face, and you're gonna get cancer and kill yourself!” The girl’s arms animated the air, flying as she explained and her palms slapped back down to her thighs firmly.
The petraphine raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you care about whether I live or die? Afraid you won't have anyone to nag?”
Pinku clenched her fists and grit her teeth. Their partner in crime dared to be so frustrating at times. Especially when…
“I care about you. I care about what happens to you, Amata.”
Their face softened into something less accusatory, but no less inquisitive. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that… Well I just… Damn it, I love you more than just another member of the gang. I like you more than just a friend.”
Pinku looked defeated but earnest. Her voice shed any strain and her truth poured forth. “I think I love you, okay? And… And if you don't feel that way about me back, then fine, I won't make this awkward between us. But damn it, I can't just keep it in anymore. Every time you do something risky or reckless, it eats me, I can't just sit back and do nothing. You're gonna get yourself real hurt one of these days and I'll never live it down.”
The stony hand that held the dying embers of the cigarette now trembled, shaking off dusty missives into the thick air between the two. Amata cleared their throat, bringing up thick ash-tinged mucus with it. They lowered the butt, watching it fizzle out before flicking it into the dew below. “I'll be okay,” They managed to say in a low and quiet tone, solemn and sober. “You know, it's funny.”
Pinku cocked her head, hands letting go of the tension almost imperceptively. “What? What's funny?”
“I always thought you were just really mad at me. Like you couldn't stand me. I just tried not to let it hurt me.”
Pinku rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Well, you're right about one thing. I can hardly stand you and your antics.”
A smile curled on Amata's lips. “And yet you put up with me. Fuck, you even chase me around just to tell me off. You've got it really bad, huh?”
Pinku's wide eyes turned to slits that cut into Amata's eye contact. “Watch it, don't flatter yourself.”
Amata simply gave a weak smile and shoved their hands into their pockets, thumbing the contents. Keys. Gum wrapper. Lighter. Half empty pack of smokes.
Pinku huffed and averted her gaze to the pines lining the horizon. “I do get angry ‘cause I care. If I didn't feel anything, you could go to hell for all I care.”
Amata laughed. “That's very reassuring, thanks.”