Page 3 of Sugarplum

“Why do you listen to that kind of music?” Melissa asked without taking her eyes off the road as she honked at an incoming car.

“Why not? Don’t you ever get tired of listening to the same genre over and over? No matter how good the artists are, it’s so dilapidating.”

Melissa switched on her turning signal and swerved to the left side of the line. “Well excuse me, Mozart. We can’t all have the same tolerance and open mindedness that you do towards different things.”

“I know that,” Julie stretched her legs in front of her and sighed. “But people should. There’s too much out there to simply stick to one genre. Listening to different genres, reading different genres, literally doing anything that will expand your horizons makes you a more well-rounded person, capable of more mature thought processes, and capable of being very emotionally intelligent and accepting of the foreign other.”

Melissa shrugged. “Maybe. It’s not that I don’t agree with that statement, but think about it. Isn’t it better to know quite extensively, everything there is to know about a certain topic rather than learn sparsely about other topics?”

Julie took her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed thoughtfully. “I suppose it depends on who you ask. In theory, it seems like a great idea, but realistically, isn’t it better to have one toe in every lake out there? Even if you never truly excel at one thing, I’ll bet it’s still cool to be really good at several things.”

“Isn’t it better to dive right into something rather than stand on the edge, and let yourself be content with a simple graze?” Melissa retorted.

Julie made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat. “Of course, it’s great to immerse yourself in something completely, but I still think there’s simply too much in the world to just stick to one.”

“Okay, okay, chill. This is way too heavy before lunch. I need some food in me before I can further debate my point.”

“Or, you’re going to lose.” Julie interrupted cheekily.

Melissa reached over and pinched Julie. Julie yelped in surprise and pushed her hand away. “You’re supposed to be driving. Besides, I didn’t say anything wrong.”

“You do know that I’m driving, right?”

“Yes?” Julie’s voice was laced with confusion. “I have indeed noticed that, Nancy Drew.”

“Which means I can easily pull the car over to the side of the road and kick you out,” she continued in a saccharine sweet voice as if Julie hadn’t said anything.

“Ah, but you’re not going to do that,” Julie pointed as she smugly crossed her arms over her chest.

“That’s very confident for someone who’s two seconds away from having to hitchhike back home.”

“You forget, lunch is on me today because your ass is broke,” Julie pointed out as she watched Melissa’s facial expressions.

Melissa’s lips turned into a thin line, and she looked like she had to call on every inch of will power inside of her not to shove Julie out of the moving car right that second. She gave her an annoyed smile. “I hate it when you’re right.”

“Even more because it happens more often than you’d like to admit?” Julie quipped.

Melissa waggled a finger at her. “Hey now missy. Just because you’re my best friend and I love you to bits, it doesn’t mean I won’t snatch your purse and shove you out of this moving car anyway. Just remember that.”

“Aww, but you love me,” Julie said in a sing song voice. “I love you. You love me.”

Melissa’s eyes widened as she tried to cover her ears. “Dear God, no. Please stop.”

“We’re a happy family,” Julie continued to sing, loudly and very off key. “With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you.” She leaned over and placed a wet kiss on the side of Melissa’s face. Melissa pretended to be disgusted as she wiped it off. A smirk was tugging on the corner of her lips though as she tried not to nod along. “Won’t you say you love me, too?” Julie wailed as she flung her arms out dramatically.

“Never, and if you ever sing that song again, I’ll pretend we never even met,” Melissa said mildly.

“I know plenty more. Don’t forget, I have a little niece who’s teaching me all the ins and outs of kids’ songs. I’m very in with the kids right now.”

“I don’t think that’s even a thing,” Melissa commented.

“It so is, and you’re totally jealous.”

“Yeah, because it is my lifelong dream to have little kids hanging off my legs and arms, all while screaming into my ear drums, and eagerly pushing their snot and bacteria into my face. That’s living the dream alright.”

“It’s not all like that, you know. Kids can actually have very interesting insight, and they can make me laugh no matter what. Plus—”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Melissa said as she fiddled with the knob and turned the radio way up. She began to jump up and down in her seat all while teasing Julie who laughed from her seat at Melissa’s antics.

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