|Craving, Not A Crush| Billie E.

2 | Light Switch

Me: Hey Billie. It's been a while since we talked.

Danni sighed as they deleted the message, it just seemed too direct and confrontational. They tossed their cellphone on their bed and flopped onto the blanket. Why was it so hard to text their best friend? It'd been so long since they'd last hung out together or even talked. It frustrated Danni that Billie was so busy all the time, but they understood. Being famous when you're young couldn't be easy, especially in your teenage years. Still, she had to have a moment to chat, right? Danni picked up their cell once again and wrote another text, a simpler one.

Me: hi

Danni waited patiently, the seconds that passed by turned into eternities. Their face lit up as a text popped up.

Billie: hey
Billie: hru?

Me: I'm good hbu?

They were suddenly hyper aware of each second that ticked by. Dragging along longer than it was welcomed.

Billie: tired

Me: thats so real
Me: are you busy? I was wondering if you maybe wanted to like hang out and talk

They began to pick at their fingernails. Were they saying too much? Were they coming off as clingy or desperate? They groaned and buried their face in their hands.

Billie: yeah! I'd totally love to! When and where?

Me: we could hang out at my house sometime today
Me: if thats ojay with you
Me: okay*

Danni hit their forehead with the palm of their hand. How could they mess up typing when trying to make very, very, very important plans!

Billie: that sounds great to me
Billie: I'll see you around 1

Me: okay see you later

Have you ever seen a fifteen-year-old get ready for something thats going to happen in an hour be prepared in under two seconds? Me neither, but Danni was pretty darn close to reaching those speeds. It's impressive what gay panik can do to a person. They needed to make a good-no, great-impression on their long-term friend-and in addition, crush-after not seeing her for so long.

Their heart thumped inside their ribcage as they zoomed around their room, picking up dirty socks, straighten lesbian CDs on their wall, center the pride flag draped down their wall, double checking their LED lights to make sure they work, throwing away the goldfish cracker wrappers, and make their bed.

It was a ton of work for one person, but when a teenager who's in love with someone wants to impress them, you better believe that room was going to be pristine.

"Okay, that looks good..." they trailed off as they carefully scanned their room. Everything was in its proper place, thank goodness. They breathed a sigh of relief just as someone knocked on their front door. They giddily ran to the door, smoothing out their hair and tucking their clothes behind their ear. Wait, flip, switch, and reverse that. They smoothed out their clothes and tucked their hair behind their ear. They took in a deep breath and let it out, hoping their face wasn't as red as they felt it was.

Billie was standing on the welcome mat, knuckles raised to knock on the door again.

"Oh, hey!" Billie smiled, almost giving Danni a heart attack. Everything about the girl standing in front of them was perfect. The gentleness yet energy of her voice got their heart racing, the beautiful ocean blue of her eyes seemed to sparkle from any ounce of light that hit them. Her beauty was stunning. "Can I come in?" Billie raised her eyebrow, a smile still on her face.

"Oh, uh, yeah! Come on in." Danni cleared their throat and moved to the side, hurriedly pushing their hair behind their ear again. Billie walked in and Danni closed the door behind them.

"Soooo, what were you planning on us doing?" Billie asked and bumped her shoulder with her taller friend.

"Well, there's this movie that came out a few months ago that we bought on DVD and I wondered if you wanted to like, watch it. Uhm, later we could like, bake a cake to celebrate how popular 'Ocean Eyes' got. 'Cause it like, kinda blew up." Okay, now they knew they were talking too much. They quickly shut up, hoping they weren't overwhelming their friend. Oh gosh, this was already going badly.

"I'd totally be down for a movie. Do you have any snacks we could eat while we watch it?" Billie asked in a friendly tone. Danni sighed in relief. It always seemed that no matter how much they talked, Billie was always happy to hear them ramble.

"Yep, we've got goldfish on the table and Diet Coke in the fridge. Take whatcha want." They stuffed their hands in their pocket as they followed Billie into the kitchen/dining room. The blue haired girl quickly dove into the box of pre-packaged fish-shaped crackers of goodness, before walking civilly to the fridge and taking out a can of Diet Coke.

"Alrighty, I'm ready for the movie." Billie cheered.

"Okay, awesome." Danni smiled and led their friend into their basement and onto a long, brown leather couch. They walked to the DVD player while Billie grabbed a blanket and made herself comfortable on the couch. Danni popped open a DVD case and slid the disk into the player. They flipped the television on and changed the connection to match the player. They hummed one of the many songs stuck in their head as they sat on the couch and cuddled under another blanket. As the movie started up, a comfortable silence engulfed the two teens.