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Talon rested her head on the window next to her, earbuds filling her ear with the soft sounds of music. The plane had just taken off, and she was watching the glittering lights of the city. It reminded her of a large, blue canvas with little dots of paint on it. But, in all fairness, it was hard to get art and music out of her head anyways. She was almost always listening to it.
"Tal?" Talon's head shot straight up and out of her daze to meet the face of Karimah Leya, one of her closest friends from school. She took her earbuds out of her ears, the mellow music now changing into something a little more intense.
"Yeah?"
"We've been trying to get your attention for, like five minutes," Sparna chimed in. She sat on the edge across from Nicholas, a boy they hardly knew. He awkwardly smiled a her a little, and she smiled back a little as well, but then Talon changed her focus from him back to Sparna and Karimah Leya.
"Sorry," Talon apologized. "It's just that the lights are so pretty."
"They are aren't they?" Karimah Leya replied, looking out the window. "It's like a thousand fireflies scattered across the sky."
"More than a thousand," Talon said dreamily.
"Anyways," Sparna continued. "I've heard that in right now, in Rome, there's a huge music festival being hosted the same time that we arrive! Tickets are on sale now until today at midnight!"
Talon's eyes lit up. "No way!"
"Yes way!" Karimah Leya said.
Talon's heart skipped a beat, thinking about what she would be able to at the festival, but then it sunk. "But I don't have enough money."
Karimah Leya and Sparna smiled, and Karimah Leya started talking. "Actually..."
"Happy birthday!" Sparna continued.
She gasped. "Seriously?" The other two nodded. But she wasn't sure. "No, I can't let you do this, it's too expensive."
"Talon won't you just accept the gift?" Sparna asked, laughing a little. "Don't worry about the price."
Beaming, Talon nodded. "You guys spoil me. Seriously."
The other two laugh a little. Talon puts her earbuds back into her ears, the sounds of pop music now taking over her hearing, and pressed her face up against the glass. She couldn't wait to see Rome, and the festival and to get away from the small state of North Carolina.
Talon started to close her eyes, falling into her own fantasy.
***
Eira Novak flipped the pages in her book. She loved reading, especially classics. Arabella, or Bella, as she called her, sat right next to her, sitting back and not really doing anything. Eira's eyes went to behind Arabella to a girl with white hair, who was also staring at her. Eira uncomfortably turned back to the window, knowing that the girl was still looking.
