𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 & 𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 ━ girl meets world²

4│THE TRIANGLE DILEMMA

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❛ ʟᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ & ʟᴀᴄᴇ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀɪᴀɴɢʟᴇ ᴅɪʟᴇᴍᴍᴀ ꒱


❝ THAT'S BECAUSE THE
MATH ALWAYS ADDS UP—
JUST LIKE US ❞

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Just like how they'd spent their first few weeks in high school, Riley, Maya and Miya went back to standing in the stairwell between the first and second floor. They had their faces pressed against the wooden bars as they watched the students' feet go by.

Maya sighed. "Why are we back down here in the hole?"

"Maybe, if we remember where we came from, we'll appreciate how far we've come," Riley offered, her eyes glued to the passersby in front of her.

Maya knew her best friend well enough to call her out on the real reason. "That's real deep. You miss watching the shoes, don'tcha?"

"So much!" she exclaimed eagerly. A pair of orange, open-toed platform heels walked in front of them. Her eyes widened longingly. "Like 'em!"

"Riles, it's possible that these here high schoolers may not appreciate your delightful quirkiness," Maya warned her.

"But you guys do," she pointed out.

The blonde let out another long-suffering sigh. "Yes."

"Hey, it's not the worst hobby to have," Miya added, her eyes tracking a pair of orange-y brown knee-high lace up boots. "Ooh, love 'em!"

Riley beamed at her. "See? She gets it! And she has great taste."

Miya grinned back. "Plus now I know what to put on my Christmas wish list. I'm doing research."

"Yeah, but no one's gonna know what 'shoes that one girl wore in the John Quincy Adams High School second floor hallway September 16th at 8 am' are," Maya argued.

"That's why I have this." Miya pulled her phone from her pocket and took a quick picture of the boots before they were completely out of sight. She studied the picture and frowned. "Darn, it's blurry."

Then, feet clad in socks and sandals came to a stop before them. Riley grimaced. "You're better than that, Naomi." The sandaled feet kicked the baseboard in front of them. The brunette pouted as Naomi resumed walking. "People don't like it when you give them good advice."

Maya grabbed her best friend's arm and pulled her up the stairs to join the rest of the students. "Wanna know what we're gonna do now? We're gonna go to class now. That's how embarrassed I am."

"You're right!" Riley declared brightly. "Academics are the number one priority in high school."

Next to them, an older girl leaned against a locker. When her phone beeped with a message, she burst out, "he's breaking up with me by text?"

Miya jumped at the volume of her voice, her brows furrowing at the news. People really did that? When she and Jonah had broken up, they'd acted maturely and did it in person— in fact, him doing so was specifically to avoid having to do that to her while they were an ocean apart. She'd thought it was more of an urban myth; something that people used to scare others into doing what was socially acceptable but would never actually happen in real life. She supposed she did still have the middle school mindset of 'everyone gets a happily ever after.'

Another girl chimed in supportively, "who does that?"

A guy echoed her disbelief: "who does that?"