Page 155 of Introvert

A moment passed, but then London smiled.

"Anyway, who cares about him? I'm here to give you this," she said.

In her palm was abracelet. The beading was agorgeous mix of darkblues, purples, and pinks. There was a heart charm in the center, and when I looked closely, I saw that it had a name on it.

"Lorora," I read.

"It's our couple name," London said, and I smiled so hard it hurt. "Who says only romantic ships can have those?"

"It's beautiful."

Tears were in my eyes and hers as well.

"I love you, London. I'm going to miss you so much, and I'm so glad to have you as my friend."

"Oh hush," she said, dragging me into one of her bone-crushing hugs. "This isn'ttheend, Aurora. It's only the beginning."

As she leaned back, I sniffled.

"Friends are never really far apart."

"Because we carry each other in our hearts?" I asked.

"I was going to say we can always talk on the phone," she said, "but let's go with yours. It'ssappier."

I was laughing andhad just gotten finished hugging London again, when something black streaked into the dressing room. The shape, I realized, was a dog, one that I knew. And she was fast.

And mischievous.

Onyx barked once, startling me, then she took the friendship bracelet London had just given me and made a run for it.

"It's okay," I said to London. "I'll get her."

As Igave chase, I vaguely registered how odd it was that Felix's dog would be here in a concert venue that clearly stated a no pet policy—which I thought was pretty terrible. But they said it was for the safety of the animals, so who was I to judge?

But anyway, yeah, it was odd.

I ran as if my life depended on it, trying to catch Onyx, knowing my 10minutes was probably up, and I had to get out there for the performance. But I couldn't just let her go. That bracelet was important to me. London made it. Plus, if the venue wasn't dog-friendly, I didn't want Onyx to end up in trouble or hurt. Luckily, she seemed to be slowing down. She stopped and sat in the wings of the stage area, and I smiled in relief.

"You're fast," I said, petting her midnight black fur. "Did you enjoy making me chase you?"

Onyx panted up at me with the bracelet hanging from her mouth.

"Can I have that back, please?"

I held out my hand and was shocked when the dog dropped the piece of jewelry into my open palm.

"Thanks, Onyx. You're such a smart girl."

I couldn't wait to tell Felix about this.

But as I looked up, I got the feeling he already knew.

Felix was walking towards us with a small smile.

"You're not going to believe what your dog just did," I said anyway.

"Did she bring you here?" he asked.

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