Across the Hall (girlxgirl)

three

• N a y a •

For the life of me, I couldn't take my eyes off the curly redhead Gabe practically tackled- Ember. She looked so small on the floor but once she stood up I was surprised to see that she was at least 175 centimetres tall, only slightly shorter than me, but the most striking thing about her was her eyes. One was a beautiful light blue, while the other was swirling hazel, I had never seen anyone like her before and her mysteriously quiet vibe only drew me in.

She completely threw me off base and I could tell by the way I couldn't shut the fuck up. She had me rambling on about such stupid shit, I had word vomit and couldn't even stop myself. Also not only was she beautiful but she was intimidating as fuck, especially after I'd watched her completely kill it at the rehearsal without a second glance.

When we walked in she was already playing the harp and nobody dared to say a word as we took our seats, it was like she didn't even notice that there were all these people staring at her, all under her spell. The harp, the piano, the violin, the flute, she was everywhere, playing everything as though it was her sole purpose in life, going under a trance every time she played and she took us all with her. I couldn't take my eyes off her.

God, she was talented.

"Naya you better be daydreaming about scoring some goals." Coach Kim called out as I took a little longer than necessary to tie my shoelaces.

"Sorry Coach!" I called out as my friend and vice-captain, Jordan, snickered next to me.

"So what's her name?" Jordan teased as I rolled my eyes.

Jordan and I had been friends since the beginning of high school and they were one of the only people who hadn't been weirded out when I came out so I wasn't surprised when they came out the following year. However, they came out as lesbian and non-binary and fully embraced their more masculine energy in the process, their brown hair was cut short as it fell onto their forehead and they were always dressed in fashionable clothes.

"She doesn't exist." I shot back, not about to reveal my soft side to my friend who would never let me hear the end of whatever it was I was feeling towards the redheaded stranger- it was probably just curiosity.

"You sure about that?" They grinned, their blue eyes giving me a knowing look before they glanced behind them to the bleachers where Sophia, my latest sneaky link, sat.

"Fuck." I groaned as I stood up, Jordan following as we began the warm-up jog. "She's not supposed to be here."

"Does she know that?" They laughed as I rolled my eyes, Jordan was forever making fun of me, my chaotic love life and, an aversion to all things romantic.

"Sorry, not everyone has what you and Ayen have, and not everyone wants it." I pointed out as we jogged, referring to their South Sudanese girlfriend who had been in London for the last two weeks for the model season.

"I should be saying sorry to you, I'm dating the most beautiful girl in the hemisphere and you're happily sneaking through windows." They shot back as I pushed their arm, throwing them a little off balance.

"You ass, I told you that in confidence!" I laughed as they joined in, laughing along before Coach Kim interrupted us.

"IF YOU CAN TALK YOU AREN'T RUNNING FAST ENOUGH!" Her voice boomed across the field before the team, captains included, picked up the pace.

* * *

By the time practice was over we could barely walk, almost all of us staying behind to stretch a little longer after the drills Coach Kim put us through and by the time I was loose enough to walk back to my car I found Sophia waiting for me at the edge of the field. We were in dangerous territory at this moment, sure Sophia was fun but only when it was casual and I wasn't looking for anything more.