Eyes | Amphibia

Chapter 8

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As soon as the dismissal bell rang, students immediately emerged through the school doors into the open air, excited to finally be going home after a long day of learning things they probably won't ever need to know in the real world. As soon as they left the building, Sasha and Anne immediately went to find each other; when the latter caught sight of her golden-haired lover in her peripheral vision, the girl quickly turned around and scrambled over to her with a large smile across her lips.
"Sasha! Hi!" She wrapped her arms around Sasha in a hug, which he returned, a light-red blush crimsoning his cheeks.
"Hey, babe! How was your day?" Sasha asked with a smile, his arms still tenderly wrapped around the brunette.
Pulling away from the hug, Anne looked up at Sasha with big eyes and a smirk. "'Babe'? Since when are you calling me 'babe'?" She chuckled, although by the redness of her cheeks, it was clear she was fond of the pet-name.
The corners of Sasha's lips curled upwards into a nervous smile, averting her eyes from Anne and bashfully rubbing the back of her neck. "Oh, uh... s-since now, I guess! I-Is that okay?" She stammered, which only caused Anne to laugh more— in a loving way, of course.
"Of course it is! Gosh, you're adorable." The curly-haired girl giggled, planting a small kiss on Sasha's cheek before grabbing one of her hands and intertwining their fingers. "So, wanna come back to my place for a bit?"
At this point, Sasha's face was as red as a tomato, and her heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to leap out of her chest. Anne was so charming, so beautiful, and so... perfect; Sasha was so in love with her that it was indescribable! "O-Of course!" He replied through a big smile, gently squeezing Anne's hand. With a bright grin across her lips, Anne chuckled and nodded. "Let's get going, then; I don't want to be at this school any longer then I have to be!"
With that, the two started in the direction of Anne's house, holding hands and gently swinging their arms as they walked. The fall air was crisp and breezy, and the warm-colored, fallen leaves crunched beneath their feet. The two just chatted about how their day at school went as they walked before suddenly, Sasha heard her phone go off with the special ringtone she had set just for messages from Marcy.
"Mar-Mar!" Anne exclaimed, recognizing the sound. Sasha smiled and pulled out her phone, her pupils enlarging with joy as she read the message aloud:
"Hey, Sashy! I just wanted to apologize to you and Anne for being so distant lately. Everything's just been so crazy and I've been super busy getting settled into the new house and stuff. I hope you can understand! Anyways, my birthday's coming up and you know I wouldn't want to spend it with anyone else besides you guys! So I wanted to ask if you can see if you'd be able to come visit the week of my birthday so we can spend it together?"
"Oh, good— she's just been busy! I was starting to think she was avoiding us, or something!" Anne let go of a relieved chuckle, to which Sasha nodded in agreement. "Yeah! And she wants us to come visit her for her birthday!" Then, the blonde's eyes lit up with an idea. "Anne, that's when we can ask her out!"
Anne's smile enlarged. "Ohh, yes! Good idea, Sash! That'll be perfect!" She started to feel all fuzzy at the thought of confessing her feelings to Marcy, and it was evident that the feeling was mutual between her and Sasha.
Sasha smiled warmly at Anne before using her free hand to text Marcy back, keeping her other hand interlaced with Anne's. 'Of course we'll come, Mars! You know we'd never miss your special day!'
It wasn't long before Marcy responded, her reply being a simple, 'Awesome! So excited! :D'
Sasha sent some heart emojis before slipping her phone back into her pocket, focusing all of her attention on Anne once more.
The two arrived at Anne's place not long after. "I'm home!" Anne called out upon her entrance, "And Sasha's here, too!"
Mrs. Boonchuy quickly came out from the kitchen and smiled at the two; she knew about their relationship, and was in full support of it because it was obvious how happy Sasha made her daughter. "Hi, you two! How was school today?"
"Hey, Mrs. B!" Sasha waved to Anne's mother with her free hand. "School was alright, same old same old. - Ooh! It smells really good in here, are you making something?"
"Yes, I am!" Mrs. Boonchuy chuckled, "I'm making larb! It'll be ready soon, want some?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Sasha nodded; she loved Mrs. Boonchuy's cooking, even if she couldn't handle the spice of Thai foods sometimes. Anne would always laugh at her when she was eating it, because her face would get all red and her eyes would get all teary; At the time it's not funny at all, but looking back on it, Sasha can't help but laugh at herself.
"We'll be in my room; let us know when the food is ready, Mom!" Anne smiled at her mother before she took Sasha to her room, where she immediately threw her backpack down and collapsed onto her bed. Sasha laid down next to her, laughing softly and placing a hand on her cheek. "Tired?" she gently  whispered to the brunette.
"Yeah... school is so exhausting." Anne mumbled with a weary smile as she scooted closer to Sasha, nuzzling her face into her shoulder. Sasha took her hand off of her girlfriend's cheek and wrapped her arm around her instead, pulling her closer. "Why don't you get some rest, then? You know I don't mind."
"I want to, but I really should do my homework," Anne slightly lifted her head to glance over at her backpack. "I'll never do it if I don't do it now."
"Yeah, you're right." Sasha chuckled, knowing how much of a procrastinator Anne could be when it came to school work. "I'll do mine too, then!"
With an appreciative grin, Anne got up from the bed, and Sasha did too. The two retrieved their homework from their bags before lying back down on their stomachs beside each other. Anne quickly got to work on her english homework, but Sasha stared down at her math homework with furrowed eyebrows. "Geometry is so stupid. This question is asking me to 'prove this quadrilateral is a square'— just look at it!" She aggressively pointed the square on her paper. "It's obviously a square, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out!"
Anne couldn't help but laugh at Sasha's frustration, glancing over at her paper. "Yeah, I honestly have no idea how to do those types of problems. They make no sense! And quite frankly, I'm not the one you should be coming to for help with your math homework."
Sasha nodded in agreement, letting go of a small chuckle. "I'm sure Marcy would know what to do. Should I call her?" Marcy used to always help both her and Anne with their homework when they needed it, especially in math— without her here, it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain their good grades!
"Yeah, give her a call! Even if it's just to ask her a question about homework, it'll still be nice to talk to her. Oh, and while we're at it, we can talk to her about her birthday!" Anne smiled, moving closer to Sasha as she pulled out her phone and called Marcy. The phone rang for awhile before their friend picked up.
"Hiya, girls! What's up?" Marcy questioned with a strained smile on her face.
"Hey, Mar-Mar! We just need help with—" Sasha was quick to cut herself off, as it only took a glimpse at Marcy's appearance to realize something was wrong. Her hair was a mess, her skin was pale as if she were sick, and her eyes were puffy and red like she'd been crying. "Hey, is... everything okay, Marcy?"
The girl on the other side of the screen seemed to hesitate for a moment before giving a response. "H-Huh? Oh, yeah! Everything's fine— I had a migraine earlier, but it's gone now. Nothing to worry about!" She nervously laughed.
Sasha and Anne glanced at each other with concern in their eyes. It seemed like Sasha's worried gaze was enough to convey a message, because Anne's nod prompted her to ask Marcy: "You don't have to lie to us, Marcy. These headaches you've been getting... are they an effect of you being possessed by The Core? Does that thing still... bother you?"
Marcy's eyes went wide, and her face contorted into an expression that displayed fear and dread; she quickly wiped this expression off of her face though, replacing it with an extremely tense smile. "What?! How did you— why did you— why would you even think that?" She answered rather frantically, starting to sweat. "O-Of course not! They're just migraines, a lot of people get those! I-I actually almost forgot about The Core, if I'm being honest!"
"Marcy, please tell us the truth," Anne pleaded, "we're really worried about you!"
"I am telling the truth! Do you guys really think I would lie to you about this? After everything?" Marcy asked in a tone that suggested that they were offended, glaring at the two on the other side of the screen.
"I don't know Marcy, you barely talk to us anymore!" Sasha suddenly shouted, his blue eyes glistening with tears. Anne noticed this, and wrapped a comforting arm around him. Sasha melted into Anne's touch, finding immense comfort in his girlfriend's embrace.