BLUSHY! turning red

three!

"IS MEI OKAY?" libby asked miriam, who was trying to get the pink stain off her shirt by their lockers. they had a free period after what happened, so the two weren't very productive.

"i don't think so. her mom is literally insane, so..." miriam pointed out.

"april called her a dog last night," libby giggled, "she said she needs to be put down."

"i don't blame her! going into a market because your daughter has some weird maybe sexual fantasy about a random boy is not cool." miriam said, chewing on a tootsie roll libby gave her.

"they weren't sexual." libby stated.

"what were they then?" miriam asked.

"uh, well...they were in anime style. also, they were mermaids." libby explained.

"oh lord..." miriam said, leaning her back against the lockers.

a silence filled the air, and miriam took a deep breath through her nose before she broke it, "hey, uhm, i didn't mean anything bad about that note. it just seemed like both of you were so awkward, and i was wondering if something happened."

libby looked away from the little mirror in her locker and at miriam, as she closed up her pink lip gloss and placed it in her pocket, a dark red blush forming on her face.

"me and mei aren't together. im not like that." libby stated.

"n-no! i wasn't...saying that you're like that! i-i-i was just saying you two were so nervous! a-and i thought you two were like...together!" miriam explained horribly.

libby stood with her hands behind her back, "but...why would you think that?"

miriam didn't really know how to respond to that. the truth was, she really didn't know why she thought that.

"miriam, i'm not a lesbian." libby stated, and then shut her locker and walked away from the conversation.

••••

LIBBY HAD CHOSEN TO SKIP GOING TO THE DAISY MARKET THIS AFTERNOON. she said her goodbyes to priya and abby after school, who were beyond confused why she wouldn't hang out with them, and then walked home. her walk home wasn't that long, but it felt like the longest walk of the century. her mind was flooding with thoughts and worries.

why would miriam even think that? is it because of how i dress? did i do something wrong? do i look like a lesbian? maybe i need to change my style. does everyone else think i'm a lesbian too? i don't kiss girls. i don't wanna kiss girls. i wanna kiss aaron z.

libby kicked a pebble around the sidewalk as she was deep in thought. she was so deep in thought she even passed her house. she rushed back to her house and up the stairs, opening the door and slamming it shut.

"jesus! you gave me a heart attack!" april exclaimed from the kitchen, as she was preparing dinner, aka, getting the chinese takeout ready to eat.

libby didn't respond, instead, she lifted up her overall pants and began unlacing her high top converse. once she slipped them off, she tried her best to run past the kitchen, but she was stopped by april.

"hey, hey, hey! slow down, speedy gonzales! where are you off to in such a rush?" april smiled, holding her sister's shoulders with such care libby thought she was going to start sobbing and screaming right there.

"why are you here so early?" was the only thing libby managed to say.

"i took a day off. the last thing i wanna do right now is listen to someone complain about us not having a 'caramel macchiato.' also, devon and i. i just needed a relaxing day. and i had one!" april smiled, showing off her very white teeth. libby was always jealous of her teeth. they didn't have a gap like hers.