Alyssa stares at Haven.
"You know what I mean? When you- I- do you like girls?" the brunette asks.
Alyssa nods, and Haven's eyes light up.
It's the middle of their maths class. The two are turning in their seats to talk. Haven groans and slumps in her chair.
"What time is it..? I wanna go home.." she mutters.
"It's 2:40! Half an hour still," Alyssa smiles, checking her watch.
An hour later, Alyssa is seeing Haven off as she walks around the block to her house. Her friend smiles bashfully and, giving her a peck of a kiss on the cheek, runs off.
What did she just do?
Alyssa turns around, moving her hair out of her face. She can't tell if she liked it or not, but there's an odd warmth in her cheeks. She mounts her bike and cycles back home.
She crosses a road, pausing on the pavement. She stares at the road, willing for it to collapse and take her with it.
Suddenly, a haunting scream erupts from nearby and there's a bang. Alyssa's heart speeds up. That was from Haven's block, she struggles with crossing roads-
She takes out her phone, hands shaking, and sees a call from her friend.
"Haven! Oh my god, I thought you were.." she trails off.
"No, no, I'm fine, but this kid isn't!" is the reply. "The driver just.. left. Can you come?"
"Of course. I'm on my way," Alyssa connects her earbuds and props her phone up in the wicker basket she has on her bike. She rides off, back from where she'd left Haven.
She sees her kneeling by the child. She's balancing her phone by her head (Alyssa went through multiple screen protectors when she was younger trying to do so) and trying to comfort them.
"Mhm, it was really quick. The truck slammed into him. He's with me. Are you on your way?" She puts two fingers over where the boy's heart is, "His pulse doesn't feel regular." Haven quickly rambles into the phone.
The trill of the ambulance can be heard in the distance. Haven beeps off the call and strokes the child's head.
"Hey, can you hear me?" she says softly. The child weakly nods. "The ambulance is nearly here. Where do you live? My friend can go get your parents.."
The boy shakily points to a small bungalow. Haven nudges Alyssa and directs her to find the child's parents.
A couple of hours later, the boy has regained consciousness, and he tells his parents what happened. Immediately, a teenager about Alyssa's age (who is probably his brother) grabs Haven's wrist and kisses her. She freezes. He pushes her away and grins. "Thank you." he says, ignoring the girl's obvious discomfort.
Haven steps backwards, crashing into Alyssa.
"Please get him away from me." she whispers into her ear.
"We should get going! We have to do our homework," Alyssa lies. The family says a quick goodbye, and she grabs her friend's hand and pulls her out.
She turns back to Haven, noticing her blushing.
"Alyssa- I- thank you so much." she stutters. "I doubt I'll be able to sleep tonight. Will you stay over?"
Alyssa grasps Haven's hand tighter and nods.
