𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 & 𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 ━ girl meets world²

14│JUST A SHOT IN THE DARK

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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴀ sʜᴏᴛ
ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ꒱


❝ NO, I DON'T WANNA MESS THIS
THING UP / NO, I DON'T WANNA
PUSH TOO FAR / [ . . . ] / BE THE
ONE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR MY 
WHOLE LIFE  ❞

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Instead of answering her, Maya stood from where she was sitting and looked directly at Miya. She raised her hand with the friendship ring on it. Although Miya didn't share one with the two girls, they acted like she was bound to the same rules they were— something that both endeared them to her and frustrated her to no end— but she knew what was coming. "Miya, I have to talk to you. Name-twin power. You can't say no."

"I wasn't gonna!" she exclaimed, but the blonde simply reached for her hands and tugged her to her feet.

Riley made to follow them as she always did, but Maya turned to her, barely hiding the pained expression on her face, and shook her head. "Not you."

"But it's always me!" she objected.

"Not-not this time," her best friend countered. "Come on, Miya."

The brunette shot the guys a confused look but they just shrugged cluelessly back at her. Farkle's concerned frown was the last thing she saw before Maya closed the door to their shared room, making sure no one in the living room could hear them. She dropped Miya's hand and began pacing back and forth across the small space, her fingers continuously running through her hair. The blonde's agitation made Miya a bit nervous, knowing how sharp-tongued the other girl could get when annoyed. So, she thought that the best thing to do was remain quiet as Maya worked out whatever she wanted to say. She even remained standing, too apprehensive to move to sit on the bed.

"How did you know?" Maya finally demanded, whirling on her with a slightly panicked look.

"How did I know. . . what?" the Asian girl asked carefully.

"That you liked Farkle."

Her eyes widened a little in surprise, having not expected to return to this particular conversation so soon. Maya was looking at her desperately, all but frantically waiting for her response. Miya chewed on her bottom lip as she tried to think of the best answer she could give her friend, wanting to help as much as possible since the blonde obviously needed it. "Well. . . we've always been close; we were both. . . more different than the rest of our peers, so that brought us together. It helped that my mom was friends with his dad when they were younger, so our friendship was kind of. . . fated, I guess, if you believe in that kind of thing. But what I'm trying to say is that it started out with respect; I was— am— proud of him for being a genius, but I also know that he's more than just his intelligence.

"I thought I would always see him as a friend, but. . . you were kind of right in a way." At the other girl's puzzlement, she explained, "after he transformed to be 'cooler—'" She added air quotes around the word. "—I. . . saw him differently. He was no longer just my kind, loyal, nerdy best friend, but someone I could actually picture myself with. And as much as that scared me, I was also afraid that if he changed back, I would lose that feeling. But I didn't like him like that just because he was no longer wearing turtlenecks; I think I always did but hadn't realized it until then."

Maya nodded slowly, absorbing Miya's words with a contemplative air. "So. . . when did you know it was the right time to tell him?"

"He told me, remember?" she prompted the blonde. "That kind of gave it away. But. . . I guess I didn't have to say anything back; it just. . . felt right. I didn't want to let the moment pass me by in case it never happened again. I couldn't stand the thought of missing my chance."