Glaiza and Sanya

Chase

"Wait, what?" Max blinks a few times as pure confusion falls over her face. "What do you mean 'he's not Glaiza'?"

Sanya shoots her gaze down to her lap, refusing to make eye contact with her friend sitting in front of her. She feels her heart racing inside of her chest as her fight-or-flight response was starting to kick in. Max's eyes are burning holes in her head and her fingers are drumming on top of her thigh nervously. Oh god. This night was not going how she expected at all.

"Sanya?" Max asks hesitatingly, overlapping their hands to stop the tremor. "Do you ... do you ... like Glaiza?"

For some reason, that sentenced broke the dam that Sanya wasn't even aware that she was trying to sustain. Her emotions are at an all-time high tonight and she is feeling more confused and conflicted than ever. She doesn't want to like Glaiza, especially not right now when she can't even be comfortable with speaking to her in front of others. Things between them would just get messier than they already are.

But Sanya would just be lying through her teeth if she denied it and although she only just met Max this school year, she's by far the second best person to come out to. Hell, she's gay too and damn proud of it. It's never been easy for Sanya to let people in because of her fear of judgment and/or disapproval, but coming out to Glaiza was one of the most liberating moments of her life. Maybe she can experience that again with Max.

So after taking a deep and shaky breath, she lifts her head up slowly to meet Max's eyes. The tears fighting to come out blur Sanya's vision, but she is still able to see the genuine concern on her friend's face.

Sanya blinks away the tears, feeling it leave a warm trail down her cheeks as she just barely nods her head yes.

Without warning, Max grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her in for a tight hug. Sanya was taken by surprise to say the least, but Max's grip was nothing but comforting so Sanya let herself relax in the comforting embrace. She didn't know how much she needed a hug until now.

"I'm so proud of you," Max softly whispers in her ear. "Thank you for telling me and I promise that I won't tell anyone."

Sanya smiles for the first time tonight before she pulls away and wipes the remnants of her tears away with the back of her hand. "You don't seem all that surprised?" Sanya chuckles lightheartedly.

"Surprised isn't really the right word," Max answers calmly. "I mean, you and Glaiza have gotten incredibly close these past few weeks and I can just tell that she makes you really happy. I always assumed you were straight so that aspect was unexpected, but then again, it's not all that shocking just based on what I've seen between you two. There's an undeniable connection that I've been able to witness and I've noticed a little change in you as well and I'm sure it's because of Glaiza. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right. She's really great," Sanya instinctively smiles to herself at the thought of her. But then the smile vanishes as quickly as it appeared. "But it's not like anything will happen between us," she mumbles sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean ... like, I'm scared to talk to her in public aside from you, Kylie, and Gabbi because I care too much about what other people think and I don't want them to think there is something going on between us. I'm just not ready to come out to everyone else yet. Only you and Glaiza know as of now so if I can't even walk with her to class or around campus, how can I ever date her? That's not fair to Glaiza. She deserves someone who'll proudly show her off to the world without any hesitation. She deserves someone who will kiss her and hold her hand in front of others. She deserves someone who isn't ... me."