Supernova

Chapter Seventeen - What Happens in the Dark

Provisional licensing exams were being held the upcoming Monday, so Kaminari was throwing his super dope dorm party the Friday before. There was going to be a class movie night, and then the non squares that wouldn't narc would head up to his room for an afterparty. That way, we could have some class bonding and still have the weekend to recover and get ourselves right. I was the only one who seemed to think it was a terrible idea, but it was also my fault it was happening, so I was going to paint on a good face and lie my way through the entire thing.

Kaminari was also turning out to be even more of a headache than I expected. He had his arm around me and his mouth to my ear an awful lot, and genuinely seemed to believe that I was a co-host of this party. He was asking me all kinds of things like what mixed well with whatever was in the bottles and seemed very concerned with who I wanted there.

"I wasn't going to invite Midoriya, because it doesn't really seem like his scene," he said in one of these conversations. "But I will if you really want him there."

"Ugh." It was not as much a word as a sentiment. I shook the image of the naïve little green haired boy and that stupid tote bag from my dad out of my head. "Please don't."

"Alright," he then said, looking me up and down. "I get you."

Oh brother.

I didn't know what movie they were putting on, and I didn't care to know. The couches and chairs had been pulled over in front of the wall with the projector. I ended up in a spot between Kaminari and Momo, on the other side of which was Todoroki, so I was actively leaving her alone aside from a few side glances in their general direction. Kaminari seemed to enjoy this too, because he put his arm around me almost as soon as the lights went down, and I lay my head on his shoulder so he wouldn't try to kiss me.

I was watching the other students more than I was watching the actual movie. I couldn't see Bakugo, Kiri, Sero or Mina, but I could see Momo and Todoroki leaning into each other, laughing gently at the same things. I could also see Tsu down at the end, offering some of her snacks to Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, both of whom accepted them. And right in front of me was Midoriya and the brown-haired girl that sat with us, laying on their stomachs side by side, looking towards each other when they whispered. Her eyes were very soft, and her pupils were dilating more than usual. Midoriya had a tint over his cheeks that was so apparent, even in the dark. I understood. And more than that, I felt a little bad.

When I saw the brown-haired girl get up and head to the kitchen, I leaned into Momo's ear. "What is her name again? And how would you say it friendly?"

When I got into the kitchen, she was leaning down into the bottom shelf of one of the open fridges, and there were the sounds of bottles and the like hitting each other.

"Uraraka-san," I told her from the doorway.

She gasped and the sound of clinking stopped. She stood up and turned around, closing the fridge slowly, her hands free. Her eyes looked a lot like Midoriya's did. Like I was going to bite her. I smiled at her and stepped into the kitchen, letting the door fall closed behind me.

"You like Midoriya," I said. "That's why you're so weird around me."

"What?" She took a step back, and surprised herself when her back hit the counter. Her face became red quickly. "No, it's not like that."

"You're a bad liar," I told her. She brought her hands to her cheeks, pinkies extended.

"I don't want any trouble," she told me meekly.

"Oh my god, that's not what this is," I told her, halting my walk and raising my palms out in front of me. "I don't like him, just for the record."

"Oh."