And all the world is calm

Beau is in her favorite spot in the library, a secluded corner with windows looking out into the courtyard, studying when she sees her best friend approaching out of the corner of her eye.

“Did you start looking for a composer yet?” The blue-haired girl asks way too loudly, immediately receiving shushes from the nearby students.

“Jester I told you I’m gonna do it later today,” Beau says, pulling her AirPods out of her ears.

“Ok but technically you were gonna do it yesterday and also the day before that and also-”

“I get the point,” Beau interrupts, “I’m sorry I’ve just been super busy studying for my exam.” She was very stressed out about her upcoming Board of Certification Exam. She has been pursuing her degree in athletic training for all her four years of college now (with a history minor, just for fun), but getting a job in the real world means she has to be certified. Not only was she scared about not passing and what those implications for her future would be, but she was scared of her future in general. She was a senior now at the University of Nicodranas, and life is about to begin. Beau isn’t sure she’s ready for that.

“I know and you’re gonna do great Beau,” Jester replies nonchalantly, as if Beau being successful was the most obvious thing in the world. The girl continues, “But Professor Brenatto is going to be really upset with me if I don’t get all these details worked out before we start filming. She didn’t want you to be my executive producer but I vouched for you.”

Beau nods in response and says, “I promise Jessie I’ll get it done today.”

“Thanks Beau. I’m going to meet up with Fjord now to run lines,” Jester says, already skipping away.

“You know one day we’re gonna have to talk about the fact that you hired your crush to play the leading lady's love interest,” Beau calls after the girl, getting hushed by the other students around.

“Can’t hear you, skipping,” Jester responds, receiving even more shushes.

“Well then can we talk about how you cast the leading lady as the girl he had a one night stand with?” Beau continues, not caring about the dirty looks she receives from her classmates.

“Nope!” Jester yells simply and exits the library.

Beau smirked to herself, putting her AirPods back in and returning to her studying. It wasn’t long until her mind began to wander to Jester’s movie. Her best friend slash roommate had begun writing her screenplay entitled, Hello, Bees, about a year ago and she couldn't believe it was finally actually happening. The actors were cast, the cameras rented, and the crew hired. Beau even recruited her friend Caleb, an Computer Engineering Major who shared a history minor with Beau, to do the editing. That guy is a wiz with computers so Beau knows he’s the right person to create the special effects to meet Jester’s ambitious vision. All that was missing was the composer and the musicians to follow.

Minimizing her study guide, Beau searches Fiverr for a composer and sets the filters to locals only. The first few options that pop up don't seem quite right. Hello, Bees is about imagination and the importance of the people in your life who you love, so the music needs to fit that theme. Electronic pop and cinematic orchestral scoring don’t fit the bill. 

Then, she comes upon a group called The Orphanmakers. Beau had assumed they would be a metal rock band, but what she finds instead surprises her. Not only did they have a member who is a composer, but they are a flute, harp, and viola trio. Beau doesn't know much about classical music, but she has a feeling those instruments together will fit Jester’s vision. 

Just as she’s about to contact them, Beau has a thought.

What if these people aren’t musicians? What if they’re sinister criminals trying to rob or kidnap me? Before she can spiral on for too long, Beau stops herself. She knows it’s just her dad’s paranoia getting to her. Nonetheless, she creates an account under the name Traci. She sends a message to The Orphanmakers, requesting an in-person consultation so they can discuss the composition and recording process. Fiverr is a good way to find a freelancer, but this project is too important for only online communication. Luckily, the group is from the university too, so it shouldn't be too hard to meet up.

Beau gets back to her studies and grinds out a few more hours of work before she receives an email back from The Orphanmakers. It reads,

Hi Traci,

I’m Janet, the composer and harpist for The Orphanmakers. This project seems like a lot of fun. I do admit I have never scored for a movie before, but I’ve always been interested in it, so if you’re willing to take a risk on me, I would appreciate it. Could we meet up on Friday at 3:00? The Shorthalt Music Building has a conference room we can use. It’s straight to the left once you enter the building. The whole group could be there and we can discuss the technicalities then.

Best regards,

Janet

Beau laughs at the ending of the email. She had always been fond of puns with her own name and “Best Regards” was no exception. As a kid, she would end her emails with “Beaust-regards,” which in retrospect makes no sense, but to her 10 year old brain it was killing two birds with one stone. Actually, when she really thought about it Best Beau-regards would have made this most sense.

Lost in the thoughts of her strange childhood mind, Beau takes out her phone and sends a text to Jester asking about the place and time. When her friend has no issues, she replies to Janet confirming the meeting.

With her producer duties being fulfilled, Beau packs up her laptop and heads back to her and Jester’s apartment for the night. The meeting with The Orphanmakers was only a few days away. She didn't know exactly why, but Beau felt anxious about it. It wasn't a nervous anxiety though, it was more anticipatory. She chalks it up to the excitement of her best friend’s movie finally coming to fruition, but her mind still races impatiently at the thought of the meeting soon to occur. 

SHIT IT’S 3:05 , Beau yells at herself. Time had completely gotten away from her in the library as she was researching the historical influence of Ancient Egyptian feminism on the modern day. Shorthalt Hall was a ten minute walk away, but Beau knew she could run it there in five. She quickly packs up her stuff and sprints to the arts side of campus.

Shit shit shit what if they ARE criminals and now Jester is there all by herself and - Beau cuts herself off again. They’re literally just musicians I need to calm down , she thinks, pushing open the doors and bumping into a few wandering students on her way. She makes a left and all but leaps into the room, completely out of breath and leaning down into her knees.

“Beauregard?” Is the first thing she hears, but it’s not from Jester. It’s a voice that’s familiar, but distant in her memories. Beau immediately looks up and is met with multi-colored eyes, one blue-green and the other purple. Eyes she thought would only live in her memories for the rest of her life.

“Yasha?” Beau replies in shock, and jumps onto the conference table to get to Yasha.

“Beau get off the table what are you doing,” Jester says, not understanding her usually composed friend’s reaction, but Beau doesn’t care. She lands and perches in front of Yasha, bubbling with excitement.

It’s only then that Beau begins to comprehend the other people in the room. Jester is at one head of the table to the right, and two others are sitting on the sides of the table. One is a rather tall man with long pink hair, and the other individual has wild purple hair combed back. The one with the purple hair mutters, “See this is why we shouldn't allow non-music majors into the music building.”

The other man simply replies, “I thought we were meeting a Traci,” recognizing Beau from their Eastern Cultures class sophomore year. Beau isn’t paying them any attention though, she’s too occupied with Yasha’s presence.

“You go to University of Nicodranas?” Beau asks. She realizes it’s a stupid question, but is still too in shock to form truly coherent thoughts.

“Yeah I’m a double major Music Composition and Performance. I can’t believe you go here too. And that we haven't crossed paths yet,” Yasha responds, staring at the girl in front of her.

“I mean 60,000 kids go here, I'm not too surprised. I can’t believe you’re here in front of me. After you moved my dad confiscated my phone and then TJ destroyed it accidentally, so I had no way of contacting you.”

“We had to sell my phone after we moved, and there was barely any service in Xhorhas anyways, so I don't know if you would have been able to reach me regardless.”

“I think you mean Beau-regardless,” Beau replies, reminding both of them of one of the many Beau puns they used to make. “I’m really happy to see you Yasha,” Beau says.

“I’m happy to see you as well,” Yasha responds. The room sits awkwardly for a few moments until Jester breaks the silence, “Ohhhh Beau is this your friend that moved away in sixth grade?” She sounds innocent enough, but when Beau meets her friend’s gaze she sees the mischief in her eyes. Not only had Beau told Jester all about Yasha, but in retrospect, Beau now considers Yasha to be her first real crush on a girl. All of which Jester knows. 

Before Beau can respond, the person with the purple hair says, “Oh I get it now. Yash has told me about you before. Pleasure to meet you. The name’s Mollymauk Tealeaf and you can use whatever pronouns you please for me. My passion is the theatre, but I play viola with these lovely folks,” As he finishes his spiel, he extends his arm out to Beau who is still perched on the table. She slides off and takes the hand.

Yasha’s other friend introduces himself, “I’m Caduceus. Caduceus Clay. I am our resident flutist. I sat behind you in Eastern Cultures, but it’s a pleasure to officially meet you.” He nods towards Beau and she nods back.

“Oh, I remember you. Uh yeah, I’m Beau but I guess you already got that. Also I used Traci in the emails since I’m pretty wary about meeting people from the internet,” Beau says, answering Caduceus’s earlier statement.

Yasha chuckles lightly and says, “And I used Janet for the same reason, since your dad always lectured us about strangers online.”

“Yeah he’s still just as annoying as he was back then in case you were wondering,” Beau says looking back at Yasha. The girls stare at each other, taking each other in and observing how they’ve changed over the years. Yasha has retained her height on Beau and then some, she notices. And she got an arm sleeve tattoo of flowers and vines. Beau never thought Yasha would be the type to get one, she was always so gentle in her ways. Beau was eager to learn more about how her friend has changed in their years apart, but Jester brings them back on topic.

“So the movie,” the girl says, beginning to describe the plot and other aspects of her film. Yasha is taking notes as Jester describes her vision, but Beau is just looking at Yasha, not listening at all. After about an hour or so, Jester laid out all her plans and Yasha has thrown out some ideas she has for the scoring. They call the meeting to an end as everyone begins to pack up their things.

Beau pulls Jester aside and says, “Hey, you can head back to the apartment, I wanna talk to Yasha some more.”

“Ooooh okaaaay have fuuun,” Jester says sing-songy and wiggles her eyebrows. Beau rolls her eyes at her friend’s teasing and turns around to Yasha.

“I can’t believe you’re real,” Yasha says once everyone had left the room.

“Yeah I really thought I had lost you forever.”

“Did you stay out of trouble for me?” Yasha says with a grin, remembering their final conversation.

“I would say yes but in fourth grade I promised to never lie to you so…” Beau replies trailing off with a mischievous smirk.

“Well you couldn’t have gotten in too much trouble, you made it here after all.” Yasha says, gesturing around the room.

“Yeah only because my dad sent me off to the Cobalt Soul Academy after I got caught stealing,” Beau says as she takes a seat on the table.

“You started stealing things?” Yasha questions, following Beau and sitting on top of the table.

“I mean is it technically stealing if it was from my dad?” Beau asks, pausing for a moment to read Yasha’s expression. She didn’t receive the look of disappointment that she was used to from so many others. Instead, Yasha seemed genuinely concerned, and a bit curious.

“Me and my uh… my girlfriend Tori started pawning off his wine at half price to keep the money for ourselves. When the cops caught us we spent a night in jail. My dad bailed me out and sent me off to the Academy. I never saw Tori again.”

“Beau that’s horrible, I’m so sorry,” Yasha says, grabbing her friend’s hand for comfort. She hasn’t seen Yasha in almost 10 years now, but Beau still feels the same rush of emotions at the contact. Her pulse immediately begins beating faster and Beau looks down to their joined hands.

“It is what it is,” Beau says with a shrug, “I hated it there at first, but eventually I got a teacher who understood me better. They pushed me and I pushed back, but it worked. They got me here so it all worked out I guess.”

“It did. If that’s what it took to get us to meet again, albeit much later, I’m glad things turned out this way.”

“Me too,” Beau replies, looking at her phone, “Shit I have a study group with Caleb in 20 minutes, can we hang out sometime?”

“I would like that very much,” Yasha says with a smile.

“Here gimme your phone,” Beau says and Yasha hands it over. She quickly types in her number and makes her contact name “Your Shithead.” She hands the phone back to the taller girl and begins to make her way out of the room.

“I’ll text you later,” Yasha calls after the girl who is already barreling down the hallway. When she notices the contact name, she can’t help but laugh and smile, her heart warming at the fond memories of their shared childhoods.

Only one more hour , Beau thinks to herself. It’s been one day since she reunited with Yasha. Both girls were busy on Saturday, so they agreed to meet up for coffee on Sunday at noon. She woke up at 6:00am for her early workout with Fjord, and she hasn’t stopped thinking about Yasha since.

She’s in her favorite library spot, not focused on her homework at all. She stares at a blank google doc, her leg shaking vigorously as her eagerness builds and builds and builds. She checks her phone every few minutes, hoping to see a text from Yasha but also anxious that a text would mean she was cancelling.

It’s finally 11:50, and the Concord Coffeehouse was a 15 minute walk away. Beau knew she could make it there in time, she could probably even be a few minutes early, but she decided to show up fashionably late as to not look as eager as she felt.

Gotta keep my cool façade somehow , Beau thought to herself, though Yasha was always able to see through it.

She remembers what that first year of middle school was like. In elementary school, things were different. It was just her and Yasha, doing whatever they wanted, without a care in the world. They played pretend at recess some days and in the dirt on others, and nobody gave a shit either way. Not in middle school. Middle school was eat or be eaten. Beau decided she would be the big man on campus, but that meant sometimes Yasha would fall behind. Her friend was always quiet, but the transition into becoming pre-teens exacerbated their differences. Beau was loud, constantly got in trouble, and became one of the popular girls. Yasha was quiet, kept to herself, but never truly left Beau’s side.

Beau vividly remembers their conversation when Yasha told her about the move.

Yasha was pushing Beau on the swing set in her backyard when she decided to break the news.

“You know Beau you don’t have to be friends with those girls. I know you don’t actually like them and I know you hate when they play dress up in you,” Yasha said.

“I don’t not like them,” she responded looking at the moving ground below her.

“I just want you to be happy.”

“I’m happy when I’m here with you.”

“But what about when I’m not here.”

“Even if you’re not next to me you’re always with me in spirit.”

“No Beau you don’t-“

“Yash you’re my best friend I-“

“I’m moving to Xhorhas.”

In that moment it felt like Beau’s world shattered to pieces. She instantly regretted all the stupid hours spent with her other friends that could have been spent with Yasha. The pain and anger started to build inside her, but she wasn't mad at Yasha, not even as a scapegoat. She could never resent Yasha, but she could resent herself.

Beau is pulled out of her memories when a car comes to a screeching halt a foot away from her. She hadn’t even noticed she was jaywalking. She lifts an apologetic hand to the screaming and honking man in the car and breaks into a sprint towards the coffee shop.

She does attempt to recover her cool as she reaches the front of the store. She takes a few moments to breathe and smooth over her hair before pulling open the door. The smell of roasting beans and sweet muffins fills her nose as she scans the room for her friend. She eventually notices Yasha at a booth in the far back, next to a window looking out into a greenhouse. 

She strides up to the table in her usual swagger and slides into the seat across from Yasha.

“Hey sorry I’m late-"

“No you’re not,” Yasha interrupts with a grin. Beau is used to people being vaguely annoyed with her tardiness, but the girl across from her just looks entertained. She continues, “I see you haven’t grown out of being fashionably late.”

“What?” Beau says unconvincingly. They stare at each other at a stalemate for several moments until Beau concedes, “Ok fine maybe I still show up late on purpose to look cool and pretend like I wasn’t sitting at the library for an hour just watching the seconds tick by.” She shocks herself with her own vulnerability. She forgot how easy it was to be her true, somewhat dorky, self with Yasha. Yasha however, does not look surprised.

“You know in my high school orchestra we had a saying. Early is on time. On time is late. Late is fatal.”

“Damn we’re jumping straight to fatal? Did you go to a branch of the Cobalt Soul Academy too?”

“No, but somewhere just as strict I’m sure.”

“What was it?”

“I went to the Dolorav Preparatory Academy. They were very rigid in how things were run. Boys and girls had separate classes and could only meet during lunch and the occasional school dance. We had a strict uniform, if your skirt was a centimeter too short, you were suspended for the day.”

“Oh my gods they sound like even bigger assholes than the monks at my school.”

“Your teachers were monks?”

“Yeah they had like this hippie philosophy to learning that combined the mind with the soul it was weird but effective. I still rebelled whenever I could though.”

“I’m sure you went against the man as much as possible,” Yasha begins.

“Oh Yash, I am the man,” Beau interrupts with a joking arrogance to the statement.

Yasha continues, “But would it surprise you to find out that I did some rebelling myself?” She asks with a mischievous grin.

“You, Yasha Nydoorin, goody two shoes extraordinaire, rebelled?”

Yasha nods and Beau was genuinely shocked at this revelation. Even back in kindergarten, when neither of them could understand the consequences of their actions, Beau was the troublemaker and Yasha was the example kid. She is caught wondering what possibly could have been so bad that it made her gentle and demure friend fight back. 

“Well you know I think there’s a… fundamental issue when you separate boys and girls. They don’t take certain things into account,” Yasha says looking down at the table, picking at the placemat. It’s then that the waiter decided to come and take their orders.

Beau orders a Green Protein Smoothie for herself and Yasha orders an Earl Gray tea. Beau laughs at the fact that they chose to come to a coffee shop, and neither of them ordered a coffee.

As soon as he leaves, Beau looks back to Yasha ready to inquire more about her high school days. What did she mean by issues separating the genders? Did she have a secret boyfriend that she would sneak off to go meet? Or did she have a secret girlfriend? Maybe she wasn’t in any relationship at all and the girls were receiving a lesser education? All these thoughts are running through her head as Yasha begins to speak, “So what about you? What have you been up to in the past 10 years?” 

Beau wants to change the topic back to Yasha, but knows that it always took a lot for her friend to open up. She doesn’t want to push her on their first day reunited. She knows they will hang out again, and the mysteries of Yasha's past will soon come to light. She just has to tell herself to be patient and trust that Yasha will tell her everything when she’s ready.

The two long lost friends spend hours in their booth catching up. They talk about their new friends, friends that became old friends, the classes they took in high school, the classes they have taken here at university, and just about everything else in between. The only topic that isn’t broached at all is either of their love lives. Beau feels like that’s a topic for another day, as getting into her time with Tori would dampen the mood. She didn’t want to spoil the happy feeling that came with finally spending time with Yasha again. 

By the time they finally stop chatting to catch a breath, Beau looks around the shop and notices everyone else is gone. She looks at her watch and sees that it’s 3:55. They had been here for almost four hours and the place is closing in 5 minutes.

“Shit Yasha this place is closing,” Beau says gesturing around the room.

“Oh wow I didn’t even realize we had been here so long.”

“Me neither,” Beau replies, as they sit at the booth, not wanting their day together to be over. Beau continues, “I missed you so much. I think, and don’t hate me for saying this, but at first it hurt like hell when you left. I felt broken. But then I got better, I thought I had moved on. Now I’m realizing I never really did, there’s been a you sized hole in me and I’m really glad you’re back in my life,” Beau says, not making eye contact with Yasha. Her eyes would render Beau completely useless in the mushy state she was already in.

“First off, I could never hate you Beau. And second, I feel the exact same way. I thought I could shove other people into your spot, but they never fit quite right. I’ve missed you so much,” Yasha says, grabbing Beau’s hands on the table. When they make eye contact again, Beau loses all her breath. It is literally only them in the coffee shop right now, but Beau swears they’re the only people in the entire world. She is completely lost in Yasha’s eyes until her own eyes start to drift lower. She’s staring at Yasha’s lips and she swears Yasha is staring at hers.

Of course this is the moment that the waiter with the worst timing shows up with the check.

“Uh sorry ladies but we’re closing in two minutes.”

Beau rips her gaze away from Yasha and grabs the check. Even though the waiter completely ruined their moment, she still tips him 20%.

“Wait where’s my check?” Yasha asks, but the waiter has already left.

“It’s no biggie Yash I got it,” Beau says, pulling out her credit card.

“Beau you really don’t have to-“

“Please let me. My dad sends me $50 a week to try and repay for all the neglect or whatever,” she says nonchalantly.

“Beau that’s not funny,” Yasha replies, genuinely concerned.

“I know, but if I don’t laugh about it I’ll just be sad. And that’s no fun.”

Conceding the argument for now, Yasha sighs and follows Beau out of the building.

“I had a lot of fun catching up with you Beau.”

“Same here. When can I see you again?”

“This week is a bit busy for me. I have quite a lot of practicing and homework to do.”

“We can do homework together!” Beau suggests, almost shouting with excitement.

“I can’t exactly bring my harp to the library.”

“I can come to the music building. It’s no biggie I can sit on anything.”

“You know we have chairs right?”

“Yeah but y'all have like the super uncomfy stiff ones.”

“No those are just the cello chairs.”

“You guys have specific chairs for every instrument?”

“No just the cellos have a special chair, you know, nevermind,” Yasha laughs. The back and forth banter reminds them of their younger days, when Beau would be antagonistic on purpose just to get Yasha to talk more. 

Yasha begins again, "Ok so a study date tomorrow night? I practice in Shorthalt 113.”

Beau barely registers the room number as her brain only focused on the word “date.” She knows people use 'date' all the time casually, heck Jester does it all the time, but something about Yasha saying it makes her heart start to beat faster. 

“Yeah yeah yeah cool cool cool tomorrow that’s good with me,” Beau manages to stutter out.

“Alright,” Yasha says looking entertained by Beau’s flustered reaction, “See you then,” she says walking off to her car in the parking lot and waving goodbye. Beau walked here and doesn’t really feel like walking back, but she doesn’t want to ask Yasha for a ride just yet. She might short circuit if she spends one more moment with the girl. So she strolls back to her apartment, lost in thoughts of Yasha, but not acknowledging how deep those thoughts go.