Girls Again (Girls Talk series #3) (LGBTQ+) ✓

Chapter Eleven- Lia West

It had been a busy few days of holiday, which was why I was glad to return to school on the Thursday. 

I walked down the hall with Lia, who had her hair braided similar to her mother's. 

She turned to me, with a sweet smile, as we walked on. 

"So, how was your holiday?" she asked me. 

"Pretty great, actually, Lia. Annie and Imogen are engaged," I informed her, as we stepped inside Miss Michaelson's classroom, for a moment. 

Lia placed some papers down on her desk, and Mari turned to me with a smile expressive of her happiness. 

"That's amazing to hear, Kiera!" she said, then. 

That was usually code for: another one? How many lesbians were actually in this girl's family? 

To put it simply, a lot. 

I had been the first to say that I crushed on a guy in a long old time, and I think it actually took them all a little by surprise, despite being pretty amusing. 

"Thank you, Mari," I replied. 

I soon heard someone enter the classroom, and turned to find Starla stood behind me. 

She was holding a coffee in her hands, and looked as though she had just been through hell and back. 

"Hold on a minute," she said. 

"Holding," I replied. 

"Did you just say that Annie and Ims got engaged?" she asked me. 

"Yup!" I returned. 

She managed a smile. 

"Huh, well good for them!" she said, although she sounded, and looked, considerably exhausted. 

I went over to her to gently move her stray hairs behind her ears, and she just gave me a look. 

"Let me guess, you stayed up all night studying again, didn't you?" I asked her. 

"Must be the best. Have to impress Miss Michaelson," she stated. 

Mari released a soft laugh. 

"Starla, you're doing absolutely fine. I promise you," she told her. 

Starla turned to her for a moment, and then turned back to me for a few seconds looking considerably mortified, as though she hadn't noticed that Mari was standing right there. 

"Are you okay?" I asked her. 

She just nodded. 

"Uh-huh," she said, taking another sip of coffee. 

I was fairly sure I could see electrical currents coming off of her, then, but I wasn't about to bring that up. 

Starla turned to Mari, then, with a smile. 

"Am I actually doing alright, Miss- I mean, Mari?" she asked her. 

Mari beamed back at her. 

"I mean, yes. You really are. You've been passing tests recently with flying colours," she stated, "Looks like all that studying paid off, huh?" she asked, directing a wink at Starla. 

Starla just nodded, but when she turned back to me I noticed that her cheeks were considerably pinker, and that made me consider whether i was going to need to get Starla a defibrillator any time soon, or perhaps just oxygen. Oxygen could work. 

It was adorable, though, how much she wanted to impress Mari, in all honesty. 

Starla soon turned her attention towards Lia, as though to distract herself. 

"Hey Lia, how are you doing?" she asked her. 

Lia gave her a gentle grin. 

"I am well, thank you, Starla. Well done on your math, by the way," Lia added. 

"Thanks!" Starla said, managing a real smile this time around, revealing her perfect teeth. 

"You're doing amazingly well in math, too, Lia," Mari spoke then, "I'm confident with a little more studying we can get you to an A by the end of the term." 

"Really?" Lia asked, her eyes brightening a little. 

"Really!" Mari replied. 

Lia grinned, optimistic about the future, it seemed. 

She was sensitive to what other people wanted, and that included teachers, which meant she was able to easily adapt her work to meet what people wanted from her. 

It was pretty inspiring, actually. 

I wished that I had her work ethic. 

Unfortunately, recently, my work ethic had been hours spent messaging back and forth between my friends, watching Netflix, and then hitting the books, hard. 

Eh. 

It was working well enough for me now, at least. 

Soon, we had another figure enter the room. 

This time around it was my best friend Mateo. 

"Hey you!" he said, quickly grabbing me into a hug. 

"Hey Mat. I need to say something," I said then. 

He moved back a little, and grabbed a hold of my hands in his. 

"Wait...you have that glint in your eyes again. You're going to reveal a secret, aren't you?" 

"Yup," I said. 

"Don't!" he said, but then smirked, as he whispered, "I'm just kidding. Do it. You know you want to." 

I released a gentle laugh. 

"Well, if you insist. And promise you won't freak out, okay?" I asked him. 

"Okay," he agreed, like an obedient puppy who had learnt how to speak. 

"Your mom is pregnant again," I said then. 

"She's what?" Lia yelled. 

"Shush!" Mateo and I said in unison, as we both turned to her. 

She gave an apologetic nod. 

"Sorry, it just kind of took me by surprise. That's all," Lia stated. 

"Yeah, no kidding," Mateo added. 

Well, I couldn't really blame either one of them for being surprised. 

It was pretty surprising news, to say the least.

"Wow," Mateo said, then, "Thanks for ruining the surprise, Kiera. You know how I hate those," he added, with a serious tone of voice. 

"Likewise! Please give me all the Star Wars episode twenty spoilers, effective immediately," Starla said, then. 

Mr Emperor soon entered the room, and his eyes widened slightly at Starla's comment. 

"Are they really still making those?" he asked. 

"Apparently so," Starla replied. 

"Interesting," he replied. 

I heard Mateo's stomach grumble, then, and turned to him. 

"Can we please go and get food? I feel as though I'm a mouse, lost in a cheese factory, with no cheese to be found," he said, then. 

Mr Emperor raised an eyebrow at him in return. 

"Interesting simile," he stated. 

"I do try my best," Mateo replied. 

I just gave a roll of my eyes, and led my group to the cafeteria.