Chapter Two - The Outlook

June 16th, 2012



                 Carla couldn't help but be surprised when Mallory had kept her word with wanting to spend more time with her. A few days after their first encounter, Mallory had appeared at Carla's doorstep with a big smile. It had taken Carla a moment to realize that Mallory had known the lady who had lived in Carla's home before her, and had known where her house was because of that.

"I'm sorry," the blonde said sheepishly as Carla let her into their house. "I would have phoned you or something, but I forgot to ask you for your number! I hope it's okay that I just invited myself over!" She slipped her sandals off and left them neatly on the mat at the doorway, next to Carla's sneakers. 

"Oh, I can give it to you now, if you'd like!" Carla piped up as she headed for the kitchen for a sticky note, Mallory trailing behind her. 

"Who is it, Carla?" Her father called from his room upstairs. 

"A friend!" She called back.

"A friend!?" She could hear him ask in exaggerated bewilderment. She snorted and didn't bother replying. She wasn't that unsociable.

"Wow, this place looks so different from when I was last here…" Mallory murmured as she looked over the layout of the living room from the seat she had taken at the kitchen table. It was still fairly unorganized and messy, some boxes still piled in the area, filled with old family photos and trinkets. "I'm so used to seeing…y'know, old people stuff? Like couches with flower patterns, stuff like that."

Carla laughed as she rummaged around in the kitchen drawer. Finally, she managed to dig out a stack of yellow sticky notes and a gel pen that probably still had ink. She scribbled on the paper to make sure. "Okay, here �"" She murmured as she scratched her phone number onto the paper with bright green ink, then passed it to Mallory.

"Thanks! Now I can let you know before I come barging in again!" She folded the paper into a tiny square and fit it into the pocket of her jean shorts. When Carla passed her a blank note and the pen, Mallory wrote down her own phone number without a word, and passed it to Carla. 

"So, what do you want to do?" Carla asked awkwardly, tossing the stack of sticky notes and pen back into the drawer. 

Mallory stared steadily at the table, seeming genuinely interested in the pattern of the wood. "Hmm…I don't know!" She gave Carla a sheepish grin. "What do you like to do?"

Carla struggled to recall her hobbies and interested, but her mind was blank. "I like to, uh…" She trailed off, squinting as she thought. "…read?" She could feel her face flush with embarrassment as Mallory giggled. "Sorry, I…haven't really had anyone over in a while." 

"That's okay!" Mallory replied, sitting up from her seat, neatly pushing it back in under the table. "I get it. Do you maybe just want to go for a walk?"

Carla brightened up immediately. "I'd love to! Great idea!" She exclaimed excitedly. She had planned on going out for a walk anyways, and although they had only just met, Carla already enjoyed Mallory's company quite a lot. 

"Awesome! Then let's get going!" Mallory exclaimed cheerfully, heading for the door.

#

According to Mallory, the bike trails at the edges of the town were called the 'Wildflower Trails'. It was fitting, with the many different kinds of flowers that bloomed at the sides of the paths. The ledge that Carla had taken to a liking to was their destination; it didn't exactly have an official name, but Mallory liked to refer to it as the Suntouched Outlook. The name was also fitting to Carla, despite the fact that she'd only visited the ledge at times where the sun had already set. It looked like a whole different place in the bright afternoon sunlight, and gave a beautiful view of the town below, and the ocean that it was nestled next to. 

"It's beautiful," Carla accidentally said aloud. Mallory plopped herself onto a bench that sat on the ledge, and flashed a grin at her. 

"Isn't it? This is one of my favorite places to go." She admitted, pushing back her bangs that hung in her face. "But with school and stuff, I haven't been able to come here lately, I really missed it." She stared out at the town in a fond matter, then turned her glance to Carla. "Have you been here yet?"

"Yeah, but only at night." Carla replied truthfully, settling herself next to Mallory on the bench. "It's great for stargazing."

Mallory nodded slowly. "You're right, that would probably be really nice! I've never gone at night, maybe I should sometime." She murmured thoughtfully.

"How about tonight?" Carla blurted out, immediately regretting sounding too pushy. 

Mallory hummed and stared off into the distance. "Well, I have homework, but…" She trailed off, deep in thought. "…but now I'm too excited to do that! We should definitely go out and look tonight!"

Carla felt a wave of relief as Mallory's hesitation left as soon as it had come. "Great! It looks amazing, you're gonna love it!" She promised the blonde. "But are you sure you're okay with not doing your homework…?" 
Mallory snorted. "Of course! It's just boring math anyways. I'll do it on Sunday." She huffed.

Carla shrugged. "Well, if you say so!"

#

The two explored the trails for a while longer before deciding to head back to Mallory's place. It was barely a block away from Carla's house, and Mallory pointed out that once school started, the two could walk to school together. 

It was a nice house, with a long gravel driveway, and a front yard with a towering oak tree and lilacs growing along the sides of the home. The smell wafted through the air as Carla and Mallory walked up to the door, where Mallory held it open for her. Carla reluctantly stepped inside, Mallory right behind her. She could hear sizzling and the chatter of a television from what she guessed was the kitchen, and something smelled mouthwateringly good.

"I'm home!" Mallory's voice rang out. "I brought Carla home with me, is that okay?"

A woman popped her head around the corner and gave Carla a curious look. She looked almost exactly like an older version of Mallory; if Carla hadn't already known that Mallory only had one younger sister, she would have assumed that the woman was an older sister. 

"Oh this is the girl who lives in Anabel's old house?" The woman asked with a smile. "Hello! How are you liking Sunflower Shores?"

"I-it's great! I love it a lot," Carla stuttered nervously. "It's nice to meet you!" She quickly added. Mallory's mother smiled warmly. 

"That's good! Moving is always hard, it's good that you've gotten settled." She came out from behind the corner. She was holding a pot of…something that Carla couldn't identify, but smelled great. "So where are you from? Why move here? I heard you're from the big city! It must be a big change, hm?" 

Carla struggled to find the words to answer her questions, but luckily Mallory swooped into the conversation. 

"Stop interrogating her, mom! You'll scare her off!" She laughed, standing at Carla's side. Her mother playfully rolled her eyes and ducked back into the kitchen.

"I'm not being that pushy. Just curious! We don't get a lot of kids moving here." 

"Yeah, yeah," Mallory huffed. She turned her gaze to Carla. "Let's go up to my room!" She suggested, then turned to the stairs, Carla cautiously trailing after her, glancing over at the copious amount of family photos that covered the wall. She felt a dull pang of jealousy, but quickly pushed it away.

Mallory's room was clean and bright. The walls were a girlish pink, and had several posters covering them, depicting bands and movies that Carla vaguely recognized, and a large picture of some dolphins in the ocean. Her bed was made and still had a pile of stuffies that sat atop several folded blankets beside her pillow, which had a cartoony flowery pattern. Her window was wide open, and the curtains swayed gently as the summer breeze blew through it. 

"Your room is so clean!" Carla observed with slight surprise. Her room was usually a mess, with her floor covered with dirty laundry and belongings everywhere. She was glad that they had never gone into her room when Mallory was over.

Mallory laughed as she plopped onto her bed. "It's not always like this, you're lucky!" She exclaimed. "I just cleaned it last night. Give it a few days, it'll be back to a disaster in no time." 

Carla huffed, and settled next to Mallory as the other girl motioned for her to sit. "Honestly I don't even bother trying to keep my room clean. Somehow it always ends up getting messy again within a day!" She laughed. "It's honestly really impressive. I don't know how I do it."

Mallory smiled brightly, tucking her legs beneath her. "I know what you mean!" 
The two sat in silence for a beat, until Mallory hummed quietly, turning her gaze to the open window. Carla couldn't help but admire how her hair waved gently from the wind that crept through. 

"It's weird," Mallory began, her voice quiet. "I've only known you for a few days, but it already feels like we've known each other for longer." The girl then froze up, and quickly glanced back at Carla, who gave her a wide-eyed stare. "Gosh, I didn't mean to say that out loud! Sorry, that is weird, isn't it?" 

"No, not really," Carla replied steadily. "Honestly, I'm glad you said it first. I think I feel the same way. Isn't that strange?"

Mallory laughed, relieved with Carla's reaction. "Yeah! It's cool too though," She giggled as she sat up. "Maybe we're soulmates!" 

Carla snorted at the cheesiness of the bold statement. "Soulmates, huh?" She then considered how fast she had gotten attached to Mallory, how she had shared more about herself with this girl than she had with anyone. How she had opened up as though it was nothing. She let out another short laugh. "Sounds nice!"

#

Time passed by like a flash at Mallory's house. Much to the delight of both girls, they had very similar tastes in books and movies, and Carla could barely keep track of time as they both chattered excitedly about their favorite characters and scenes. The two sat on Mallory's carpeted floor, with books and movie cases scattered all around them.

"Can you believe they're making it into a movie?" Mallory exclaimed with a big grin as she held the novel in question to her chest. 

Carla let out an uncertain hum. "Well, I don't know…" She trailed off. "You know what they did to the movie for 'The Caterpillar Princess'. It may as well have been its own separate story, they changed it so much. The characters didn't even look close to how the book described them!"

Mallory nodded seriously. "I know, right? It was so disappointing… But the trailer for this one looks so good! The characters look exactly how I imagined them!" She tapped her feet on the ground excitedly. "I really, really have high hopes for this one!"

Mallory's excitement was contagious, as Carla couldn't keep a grin from appearing on her face. "I'm hoping it's good too!" She exclaimed. "Maybe we should go see it together when it finally comes out!" 

Mallory's eyes lit up. "That would be awesome!" She then gave her window a sideways glance, and gasped. "Oh gosh, it's so dark already!" She said, getting to her feet. Carla glanced at the window as well, where the once bright summer day had changed to the cool, clear night. "Do you think we should go pretty soon?"

"Yeah, this is the perfect time!" Carla grinned, and Mallory extended a hand to her. She clasped her hand gently, as Mallory pulled her to her feet. 

#

Carla had forgotten to grab a sweater to shield herself from the night air, so Mallory lent her one. It was light blue and a little tight on her, but she didn't want to refuse the generosity of her new friend. The walk to the Wildflower Trails felt peaceful to Carla, as the two girls walked through the suburbs, streetlights guiding their path. They continued their chatter, giggling and laughing as they went along. 

The trails were dark, but Mallory's mother had given them flashlights to help them through them. However, Mallory kept tripping over loose tree roots and uneven ground, always laughing good-naturedly as Carla would catch her before she hit the ground. When Carla helped the other girl up a third time, she decided that it wasn't because of the dark, but because Mallory was just a ridiculously clumsy person. 

The Suntouched Outlook was definitely a whole different place during the night. As they settled down on the bench and flicked their flashlights off, the two girls gazed at the soft lights of the town below, and the bright stars that hung in the sky above them.

"It's beautiful," Mallory breathed. Carla glanced at her, and in the darkness she could see the wonder in Mallory's eyes as she gazed up at the night sky. Her pale hair glowed slightly, and her eyes reflected the crescent moon that gave the world around them a gentle, barely noticeable light.

"I know, it always is." Carla replied with a smile. 


But somehow, it seemed even more beautiful that night.

Author's Note

here's the next chapter!! i finally managed to finish it during my spare today! it's mostly just the two getting to know each other, but i hope you like it!!