The story of how Pallene and Maya met, featuring:
a Very Serious crayon dispute
accidental friendship speedrun
and the beginning of “we’re a package deal now”
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Which meant shouting, laughing, someone crying in the corner, and at least one argument happening at all times.
Pallene sat cross-legged on the carpet, very deliberately ignoring all of it.
She had a paper in front of her.
It was supposed to be a horse.
It currently looked like… something that had gone wrong.
“…No,” she muttered, frowning at it. “That’s not right.”
“…Why do legs do that?”
Across the room, a tower of blocks collapsed with a dramatic crash.
Someone yelled, “IT WASN’T ME!”
Pallene didn’t even look up.
She reached for her crayon box.
The blue one was missing.
“Okay, this is the ocean,” Maya announced very seriously to absolutely no one in particular.
She was lying on her stomach, kicking her legs behind her as she coloured aggressively across the page.
There was no such thing as too much blue.
“And this is…” she added, scribbling faster, “like, a really big wave. And this is…”
Squinted at the crayon in her hand.
“…This is a really good blue.”
Maya glanced at the pile of crayons next to her.
Then at the crayon in her hand.
A shadow fell over her paper.
Dark braid. Serious expression. Holding a crayon box like it was evidence in a trial.
“You took my crayon,” Pallene said.
Then immediately clutched the blue crayon closer to her chest.
“It’s not there now,” Maya pointed out.
Pallene narrowed her eyes.
“That’s because you took it.”
“…Finders keepers.”
“That’s not how that works.”
Maya pushed herself up into a sitting position.
Pallene dropped down onto the floor across from her.
“That’s temporary stealing.”
Pallene looked genuinely offended by that.
“That’s not better.”
They stared at each other for a long moment.
Pallene reached forward and grabbed the crayon.
“Let go,” Pallene said.
“You let go,” Maya shot back.
Maya pointed at her paper.
“…That’s a lot of ocean.”
“It’s a big ocean.”
Still holding the crayon.
Then Pallene said, a little slower this time…
“I need it for my horse.”
“…Horses aren’t blue.”
“It’s not for the horse,” Pallene said, like that should’ve been obvious. “It’s for the water.”
They looked at each other.
“…We could share it,” Maya said.
Pallene squinted slightly.
Then held the crayon out between them.
“You use it,” she said, “then I use it. And we don’t steal it.”
Pallene considered this like it was a very serious negotiation.
They let go at the same time.
The crayon stayed in the middle.
Neither of them moved for a second.
“You go first,” Maya said.
“No, you said it was important,” Pallene replied.
Five minutes later and they were sitting side by side.
Close enough that their shoulders kept bumping.
Passing the blue crayon back and forth like it was a sacred object.
“…That doesn’t look like a horse,” Maya said.
“It’s not finished.”
“It looks like a dog.”
“Do you wanna add waves?” Maya asked.
Maya immediately leaned over and started adding lines.
“Like this,” she said. “So it looks like it’s moving.”
“…Oh,” she said quietly.
“See?” Maya grinned. “Better.”
Across the room, the teacher glanced over.
Two girls who had been arguing five minutes ago were now sitting together like they’d known each other forever.
Talking in quiet, focused voices.
Completely absorbed in the same drawing.
“Do you wanna sit together tomorrow?” Maya asked suddenly.
Pallene didn’t even look up.
“What’s your name?” Maya added.
No apology for the crayon.
Simply a shared blue crayon and a bad horse drawing.
A friendship that would last a lifetime was born.
