𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 & 𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 ━ girl meets world²

10│FIRST LOVE

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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ғɪʀsᴛ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ꒱


❝ IF I FALL IN LOVE WITH
SOMEONE AGAIN SOMEDAY
I'LL REMEMBER TO LOVE
YOU TAUGHT ME HOW ❞

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Needless to say, the events of the afternoon made for a very awkward departure once Miya and Jonah returned home. They stood silently outside of their respective apartments for a few moments, neither one quite knowing what to say. Jonah's eyes were downcast as he fiddled with the wire of his headphones. Miya stood frozen, steps away from her door, with her hand on the knob, her gaze focused on the solid panel of wood that stood between her and her escape route.

As they stood there, unsure of how to proceed now that their easy friendship had become. . . complicated, the other sounds of the apartments around them began to fill the space. They could hear the water moving through the pipes as someone on the floor below turned on the tap. Music played softly from the third apartment on their level that was down the hall from theirs. Underneath it all was the steady, distant noise of traffic outside. Although the extra noises helped, not even the laughter that came from upstairs could ease the tension between the pair.

After several long, uncomfortable minutes, Jonah finally mumbled, "well, see you, I guess."

The brunette startled at his unexpected words. "Uh. . . um, yeah. See you."

With that, she wrenched the door open— having previously unlocked it upon her arrival— and fled inside to the familiar safety of her home. Once inside, she dropped her backpack and lunchbox in the kitchen on her way to her destination: Juliet's bed. There, she flopped face-down with a groan of embarrassment. The motion of smushing her face against the pillows caused her bangs to be pushed messily off her forehead, but she couldn't be bothered to fix them. She couldn't believe she'd been that stupid!

Actually, scratch that— she was that stupid; her grades were enough to prove it. She didn't know what she'd been thinking (or, truthfully, hadn't been thinking.) It was just that Jonah had always stood up for her. He'd been her champion since day one, cementing their friendship with his assertiveness when it had come to Alyssa and her friends; he'd even nicknamed them 'triple A' so they could trash-talk them in code. From there, she supposed, it had been simple enough to mistake his kindness for reciprocated feelings.

Miya remained in that position for hours, oblivious to the passage of time as the sky darkened outside of her mom's bedroom window. All she could do was replay the disastrous events of the day. In fact, she had half-convinced herself to not even bother writing to Maya to get a forged excuse note; her mother's punishment would be a welcome distraction from her current mortification.

Eventually, enough time passed where the sound of her apartment's door opening and closing registered faintly as Juliet returning home from work. There was the distant rustle of bags as the older woman set her things down before she called out: "Miya? Honey, are you home?"

The Asian girl let out a muffled 'mmph,' which she wasn't sure was loud enough for her mom to hear. There was the clicking of heels as Juliet crossed through the kitchen to reach her room, then her voice sounded much closer than before. "Miya? Why are you sitting in the dark?"

She guessed her mother turned on the light to see better as, in the next moment, the bed dipped under Juliet's weight. There was concern in her tone when she spoke next. "What's wrong, darling? Did something happen at school?"