Sun Upon Dark Clouds

39: Margo’s Light

Noah was sincerely worried for her best friend as he refused to leave her after eating ice cream together. Even though the brunet knew that he must go home because he had to open up his coffee shop the next day, he did not feel like leaving. Aside from his little sister, Margo was the person that Noah cared for the most that he could not bear seeing either of them being unusually in pain or dejection.

“Go home, Noah. I don’t want a boy sleeping with me anyway,” Margo joked as she pushed the taller man out of her record shop.

“But are you sure that you are fine?” Noah asked as he held both of her wrists to stop her from pushing him.

“Noah, I’ve changed now. I’m strong now,” the purple-haired woman flashed a reassuring smile as she shook her hands off his grip. “I promise I won’t do anything stupid.”

Noah pressed his lips into a thin line as he looked at her in worry. He could not help but feel anxious in leaving her best friend alone, knowing that a lot of things happened today. It felt like a trauma for the brunet as he kept overthinking about what happened to Margo six years ago.

When Margo was 18, that was when her father died. She was not able to graduate high school even though it was her last year because she began to have depression after being left alone. Since all she had was sorrow, the purple-haired woman, who had jet black hair back then, almost committed suicide by cutting her right wrist with a blade that she bought after classes were over. Noah was glad that he decided to visit the younger woman to invite her for dinner as he was able to stop her from ending her life.

Ever since that day, Margo became one of the most important people to Noah as he never left her side until she was able to overcome her depression after a year. He was also there with her when she decided to cover the scars on her right wrist with leaves tattoo, which was said to symbolize happiness and life. He was also there when she decided to add more tattoos on her skin and dye her hair purple. Noah was basically the person who had been there by her side for the entire time.

“You promise?” Noah asked as he stared at her hazel eyes.

“Yeah, I promise,” Margo chuckled as she pushed the taller man out of the record shop.

A sigh left the brunet’s lips as he nodded and placed his hand on top of the purple-haired woman’s head, ruffling it. Noah trusted Margo to not do the same mistake as six years ago as he walked away, waving his hand to the purple-haired woman.

The purple-haired woman waved back with a small smile on her face before she went back inside the record shop to go back upstairs since she did not want to stay outside longer because of the cold wind.

***

The night routine of Margo was to play punk music on her record player while she would prepare to take a shower. Thanks to the presence of Noah earlier, the purple-haired woman was able to move on from the unpleasant events that occurred today as she stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom to brush her teeth while she glared at her cheek where the man slapped her; fortunately, the hand mark had already disappeared.

As Margo switched the shower on, she let the water trickle down her skin as she felt pain on her back for being thrown to the floor earlier. The purple-haired woman felt relieved as she remembered that the four men from earlier were sent to the police station and were most likely to be sent to jail since they had criminal records of the same crime. She was able to let out a sigh of relief, knowing that the people who caused physical harm to her were going to get punished.

He was a skater boy

She said, "See you later, boy"

He wasn't good enough for her

The purple-haired woman sang along as she got out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her chest while she wiped her wet hair with another towel. Margo headed to her wardrobe as she scanned her eyes through her clothes that were all dark in hue. The purple-haired woman did not have to think twice as she took an army-green tee shirt with an adorable turtle design on the middle and a pair of plain gray pajama trousers.

It felt like home as Margo let her body fall and sink on her soft bed. A sigh of contentment escaped her lips as she let her eyes close, enjoying the comfort that her bed gave her even though it was just a small single bed. As much as she wanted to fall into slumber already, it seemed like her body had already registered her night routine in her system because her mind was fully conscious. With a groan, the purple-haired woman pushed her body up as she moved to sit and lean her back on the headrest of the bed.

It was a part of her routine as her hand reached for the novel, which she had started reading, that was on the bedside table. Margo flipped the book open as she unfolded the page, which was the page that she left off. All she had to do was read until her eyes get tired for her to fall asleep. Though her night routine was not as fun and interesting as others who were at her age that would dress up in sexy outfits and go spend their night at a night club, the purple-haired woman was already contented as she at least had a peace of mind.

While Margo was reading an interesting scene in the book, she suddenly heard a soft thud coming from her right. Her hand that was about to flip the page froze as she furrowed her eyebrows and stared at her feet while waiting to hear the same thud to confirm whether she was just imagining to hear things or not. When around ten seconds had passed and she did not hear anything, Margo thought that it was either her imagining things or the song having a soft thud in the instrumental as she moved on and went back to read her book.

Suddenly, another thud was heard from the same direction but it was much louder this time. Margo swiftly folded the page that she was reading and shut the book as she turned to her window that had a lavender curtain draping over the window. The purple-haired woman was sure that the thuds were coming from the window as she slowly reached down under her bed to get her baseball bat.

The purple-haired woman jerked up as she heard another thud from the window while she got up from her bed and tiptoed toward the window with her hands wrapped tightly on her baseball bat. Margo let out a sigh to work up her courage as she leaned on the wall and slowly pushed the curtain for her to be able to take a peek out the window. Margo furrowed her eyebrows as she scanned her eyes around the dark area when she saw no one when a rectangle object was suddenly thrown to the window, making her flinch in shock. The purple-haired woman was about to courageously lean forward to see more when familiar long red hair came into sight, which made her widen her eyes in surprise.

“Nora?”

The red-haired woman took a step back as a grin appeared on her face when she saw the purple-haired woman’s face and waved at her enthusiastically. Margo dropped the baseball bat down on the floor as she completely pushed the curtain for her to get a better view and that was when she confirmed that she was not imagining things and Nora was actually standing down there with a clean scrub sponge in her hand.

***

The purple-haired woman was still confused about why the red-haired woman was at her place though she still let her in, of course. She watched as the shorter woman flopped down her bed with a pleased sigh with her arms spread like it was her own bed.

“Do you want a glass of water?” Margo asked as she stood next to her refrigerator.

“No, I want to cuddle,” Nora cutely replied as she shifted to the side for the hazel-eyed woman to have space.

Who was Margo to refuse?

A giggle left the red-haired woman’s pink lips when the taller woman lied down on the space next to her as she immediately lifted her arm and leg over her. Margo let out a chuckle as Nora leaned her head on her chest while locking the purple-haired woman’s body with her leg and arm.

“Why are you here, by the way? It’s late,” Margo softly asked as she stroked the latter’s silky red hair.

“Noah was being annoying,” Nora mumbled as she shut her eyes while leaning comfortably on the latter, feeling satisfaction as she recognized the pleasant scent of her shampoo.

“Why?”

“He just is,” Nora replied as she felt sleepy from the gentle strokes that the latter was giving her. “Also, I missed you.”

Margo’s heart skipped a beat as she smiled warmly at what she said. It felt like she won in life because even though Dylan was the person that Nora spent the whole afternoon with, at least she was the person that Nora ended up running to. The both of them felt comfort and delight to be in each other’s arms that they did not even want to move an inch and just stay like that forever.

Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” enveloped the room as the both of them stayed in each other’s arms awake without bothering to utter a word to each other. It just felt right even though Margo knew that little things like cuddling on bed did not mean anything romantic since they were basically just cuddling as close friends.

“Dylan’s still hot,” Nora blurted. “No, he’s hotter now than the last time I saw him.”

“Then date him,” There was bitterness in Margo’s tongue as she spoke.

“No, he doesn’t like oatmeal cookies,” She could feel the red-haired woman pout as she spoke with a hint of whine in her voice.

“Yeah?”

The red-haired woman turned her head as she looked at the latter’s face with a bright grin on her face. Margo could not help but smile as well at the cuteness of the bunny-toothed woman. Well, whatever she does looks cute in the purple-haired woman’s point of view, after all.

“At least you like them,” She tittered and leaned closer.

“Really?” Margo smiled as she stared at the white ceiling that had a small spot where the paint had already peeled off.

“Yeah. I’d date you if you were a boy since you’re hot too.”

The purple-haired woman was not sure whether to feel happy because Nora said that she would want to date her or bitter because Nora was straight and that fact itself meant that there was no possibility for the both of them to be together. Not wanting to ruin the mood with her emotions, Margo just let out a chuckle in response as she continued to stroke her red hair until they felt slumber pulling them in.