Nothing in Between

09

The taste of potato invades Clyde's senses as she chews her french fry, staring blankly at her friends. Taylor is sitting right next to her at their lunch table, picking at the vegetable chunks on her plate. Clyde almost laughs at her actions, but stops herself.

"Give me," Taylor mumbles, and Clyde immediately knows what she wants.

Without even thinking about it, Clyde takes the longest french fry off her plate and places it into Taylor's open mouth. Clyde doesn't even turn her head to face Taylor since she has done this multiple times before, and she has gotten completely used to it.

"Thanks," Taylor says, her voice making it obvious that she's smiling.

Clyde finally turns her head and returns the smile. "You're very welcome."

"Okay! No flirting allowed during lunch, especially at this table!"

A look of confusion flashes on Clyde's face, and Taylor shrugs in response. She faces the person who decided to tell her off for so-called flirting and tilts her head, reaching for her water bottle for a quick sip of water. Clyde raises an eyebrow, clearing her throat.

"What? Literally no one is flirting. I just gave her some food."

"Yeah? And we can feel the tension from ten billion miles away!" Faye replies.

Clyde clenches her jaw and rolls her eyes. She quickly closes her water bottle and stands up, picking her backpack up and steadily throwing its straps over her shoulders. Her eyes shoot her close friends another annoyed look, before rapidly shaking her head.

"Alright, idiots. We're just friends, okay? Nothing is going to fucking happen between us."

And with that, Clyde walks off, never even giving Taylor another glance. She doesn't turn back as she allows her feet to take her to some other place, even when she doesn't know where she's headed. Clyde just desperately needs to get away from them for a bit.

She doesn't know why her friends keep saying things like that. And sure, even if she does like Taylor, that is never going to lead to anything. Nobody even knows if Taylor likes girls! Why can't they understand that she simply doesn't want to get her hopes up?

At the table, everyone is looking at each other in uncomfortable silence. They have never seen that happen before, even during times where Clyde is obviously very annoyed. They have no clear idea on what to do next, simply staring and picking at their food.

"I'm gonna look for her," Taylor finally announces, standing up.

"Wait."

Taylor turns to Mia, barely able to conceal her displeasure. "What?"

"She likes you."

Taylor lets out an irritated grumble, rolling her eyes. She can't believe Mia would even tell her that after Clyde left. What do they all think? That she can't see the obvious signs that Clyde keeps giving her? Taylor literally can't even hide her anger anymore.

"You don't think I know that? Whatever. I'm gonna go look for her since it seems like y'all wanted her to leave."

She just leaves her and Clyde's trays at the table, leaving Clyde's friends to worry about returning them after lunch. Her small bag is slung over her shoulder as she speed-walks to where Clyde likes to hide, the one place in this school where it's incredibly quiet.

Her feet quickly take her in the direction to the library. A smile is on Taylor's face as she steps inside and checks the spots where Clyde likes to sit, hoping that Clyde will be there to talk to her about what just happened, and about another important thing.