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“And how the hell can you joke about me having a heart attack?”
You couldn’t help yourself, you pleaded, “But Charlie called me and sai–“
“Do you think I care what Charlie said?” she grounded out. “You just about stopped my heart by coming into our house like that and scaring everyone.”
Silence. You felt the tears streaming down your face, warm trails left behind. You couldn’t handle it anymore, you ran out of the house and got back in your car, driving to your apartment.
~
The trip out of the palace was solemn. It seemed everyone was acutely aware of their mortalities, specifically yours. As you leaned your weight and walked with Midnight, you felt the need to fill the silence.
“Don’t worry guys, it’ll take more than that to-“
“Please don’t.” This one came from Lightbulb. She hadn’t spoken much until you all crossed the threshold from the palace to reality.
“…Sorry.”
“Stop it.” She turned and gave an exasperated look. “Don’t you know how much I care about you? How much we care?”
“…” You opened your mouth to respond, but couldn’t find the words. You felt a heavy weight pulling down on your heart. Lightbulb shook her head.
“Seeing you get shocked like that, hearing your screa-” She sobbed. Bishop patted her on the back and shook his head as if to get rid of a distressing thought. He looked at you and sighed.
“We’ll talk about this tomorrow, I need to get her home.” He and Lightbulb turned and walked down the street to his car, getting in. As Bishop started it up and slowly pulled out, he lowered his window and waved to the group as they turned down a side street.
Eventually after the majority of the group left, it was you and Midnight. You peeled your arm off of her shoulder and turned to face her.
“Well, thanks for the help.” You looked away from her, not wanting to see her disappointment. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Shut up.” You looked at her and saw her rolling her eyes. “We’re going to your apartment after I stop by mine to get a blanket and pillow.”
“But aren’t you busy tomorrow?”
“I just nearly lost my best friend, whatever I had planned doesn’t matter.”
~
After you got home after that verbal dressing down from your mom, you crumpled up the write-up slip and tossed it onto the table, and jumped immediately into bed, passing out as soon as your head hit the pillow.
You woke up to your phone vibrating on your chest. Blearily unlocking it, you saw it was from that group chat.
“Palace hunting tonight? Y/N?”
Shaking your head of the last dregs of sleep, you quickly responded with an affirmative and got out of bed. A nearby clock showed it was nearly 10. Just a couple hours and you’d be in the Metaverse with your friends. You could hardly wait. Palace hunting was honestly the only time you felt truly happy.
Grabbing a towel, you went into the bathroom to shower and get changed. No matter what, you were gonna make sure that tonight would be a good night. Especially after a day like today.
The Liberal Lens: Finding Life in the Moment 
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