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That girl is intriguing , Louisa couldn’t stop herself from thinking while watching the new student from the Guild, her school, walk through the corridors. She was probably staring for enough time to make it obvious, since Poe, her best friend, suddenly poked her.
“Talk to her,” he spoke and Louisa suddenly blushed with the idea.
“Why would I?!” Poe raised an eyebrow. “Okay, how would I?”
Poe smiled. “Send her a note. She’s one of the new students, she probably will need help to keep up with the rhythm, and you’re one of our class’ best students.”
Louisa sighed. As always, he was right.
“I’ll talk to her later, okay? I need to… get ready. Emotionally. And physically too, to be honest.”
Right after Louisa finished her sentence, the bell rang. It was time to go to the classroom.
[...]
What’s your middle name?
The classroom was full thirty seconds after Poe and Louisa got there. Everyone was extremely noisy, contrasting both of them, who were quiet and introvert, who were talking in a low tone about the books they had on their tables.
As soon as the teacher -- and principal --, Fitzgerald, got into the room, everyone suddenly sat on their respective chairs and stopped talking. Behind him, there was the girl who Louisa saw at the corridor some minutes earlier. Louisa immediately started sweating for no reason.
“Hello, everyone! This is our new student. Would you introduce yourself to them?”
The girl nodded before she started. “I’m Lucy Maud Montgomery, I’m sixteen years old and I look forward to studying with you this year.”
Lucy stopped talking and, even though she had a rebellious appearance, with her messy hair and her clothes that didn’t match at all, she looked like a robot during her introduction. It gave Louisa the feeling that she trained those sentences for weeks in front of a mirror.
“Welcome, Lucy!” the whole class spoke in unison. Everyone’s voices were full of boredom as if they wanted to leave that classroom as soon as they could. Which was probably the truth.
“Miss Montgomery, you may go to your seat, in front of Miss Alcott, now.”
Louisa suddenly felt her heart beat faster. Lucy was confused since she clearly didn’t know who the hell “Miss Alcott” was. Louisa raised her hand. “It’s in front of me, Lucy,” she whispered, quietly, definitely not wanting to be heard nor seen.
But she was. For a second, she could see a grateful look on Lucy’s face. Fitzgerald exclaimed a loud “wonderful!” before the actual class started and everyone’s focus was back to pretending to listen to Fitzgerald’s words.
[...]
Do you hate your job?
Louisa could hear the sound of Lucy’s keys and her steps. “Honey?” she called and Lucy didn’t answer, but got in the room and jumped on the bed, next to her.
“I’m tired,” Lucy mumbled, with her face on the pillow.
“Was your day stressing?”
“Mhm.”
Quickly, Louisa put her notebook away and rested her hand on Lucy’s head. Her hair was especially soft that day. “I’m going to make a cup of tea for you.”
“You don’t need to.”
“I want to.”
Louisa was getting out of the bed when she felt Lucy holding her arm. “Stay.”
Sighing, Louisa agreed. Less than five seconds later, Lucy had already tangled her legs with Louisa’s. Her girlfriend being especially needy after a long work day was already part of their routine.
“Have you ever thought about searching for a new job?”
“I am doing it, it’s just…” Lucy groaned. “Can we talk about this later? I only want to be here with you, for now. I promise we will talk about it, eventually.”
Louisa nodded, realizing Lucy needed that. Besides, it wasn’t like cuddling and kissing her girlfriend on their bed was a bad thing.
[...]
Do you fall in love too easily?
“She’s so cute!” Lucy exclaimed, after a long monologue about Louisa May Alcott. Atsushi was next to her, listening to all the words from the blushing teenager.
“Why don’t you try something with her? Poe, her best friend, is dating Ranpo, and you know what they say right? The gays walk in packs,” Atsushi pointed at both of them after saying the last sentence. Lucy blew a hair strand that was falling on her eyes.
“Maybe? Yes? I don’t know. She’s just… so smart, why would she like… me ?”
“Why did you just talk about yourself as if it was obvious that no one would ever like you? I mean, we literally dated and I didn’t want to lose you after we broke up, because you’re amazing and Gin had a crush on you too. Also, from what you tell me, Louisa hasn’t given signs that she doesn’t like you.”
Lucy was surprised. Atsushi being sweet wasn’t a surprise, but he usually did it while blushing and not as confidently as he just did.
“Okay, I’ll… I’ll think about it. But… don’t you think it’s too early to be sure? Don’t you think I should wait?”
“Well,” Atsushi laughed. “If I told you that time doesn’t matter when it comes to love, would you say I’m cheesy?”
“Definitely,” Lucy spoke, barely being able to control her own laughter. “But I’ll take it.”
[...]
What’s your favorite word?
Louisa was quickly typing on her notebook. She had an essay to write for school and it was due on the next week and she was definitely inspired to write it. Lucy’s head was resting on her shoulder, reading the words she was writing -- which made her a little anxious, but it was such an usual activity in their routine that she didn’t really mind it anymore.
“What’s your favorite word?” Lucy suddenly asked. Immediately, Louisa stopped typing to pay attention to the girl next to her. “You have a way with words and you write so beautifully that I caught myself wondering.”
That was a very hard question, especially for a person who had writing as a hobby, but she would make an effort for Lucy. Her mind was kind of blank at the beginning and the only words that crossed her mind were related to the essay and very technical -- and definitely not words that Louisa would describe as her favorite --, but after some seconds, words started popping into her mind. She always liked how “euphoria” and “ethereal” sounded, but they weren’t her favorites. “Serendipity” was definitely one of her favorites, but… it wasn’t the one.
“Magnificent” also crossed her mind -- it was powerful and had a nice effect -- but Louisa would like her favorite word to be softer. That word was too powerful and, unfortunately, it was something Louisa didn’t think she could relate. At least, not a lot.
After one or two minutes of different words floating through Louisa’s brain, she finally found the one.
“Smitten,” Louisa finally replied and could briefly see a smile on Lucy’s lips. “Why are you smiling?”
“Nothing,” Lucy replied. “It’s a beautiful word. It leaves a sweet taste on the mouth. Just like you.”
Louisa kept writing, but she couldn’t hide the smile on her own lips and the blush on her cheeks.
[...]
You like kissing girls?
Louisa and Lucy were alone, hiding from the teachers. It was Louisa’s first time skipping class and her heart was beating faster -- she didn’t know if it was because of the adrenaline of the adventure or if it was because Lucy was so close to her.
“I think they’re gone now,” Lucy spoke. Louisa could feel the girl’s breathing on her own face.
“Yeah. I think they are.”
Lucy grew a little distance between them after Louisa agreed.
“What should we do now?” Louisa didn’t know. What did people do when they skipped classes? What did Lucy do when she did it?
“I don’t know. Spending some time in the green zone, maybe? The teachers never check if there are people there.”
“Maybe because people don’t go there,” Lucy laughed. “They are fools. We should go there. It’s a beautiful place. Better for breathing.”
Louisa nodded and her heart beat even faster when Lucy grabbed her hand. Yeah, maybe it wasn’t the adrenaline. They stopped running after about thirty seconds of seeing trees.
“I guess we can stop now,” Louisa spoke.
Lucy did as Louisa suggested and they stopped, sitting on the grass, next to one of the trees. “This really is a nice place,” Lucy commented. “I honestly don’t understand why no one comes here. They’re even more stupid than I thought they were.”
Louisa laughed when she heard it. Most of them actually were, but it was peculiar that Lucy simultaneously thought everyone was worse than her, but better too. It was complex. Lucy herself was complex, and Louisa hoped to understand her a little more each day. She knew Lucy would never stop becoming more and more interesting each day too, though, but she considered this the best part.
“Do you like girls?” Lucy asked, suddenly, and Louisa couldn’t stop herself from gasping, scared that she wasn’t careful enough and that she destroyed the friendship they had, even though Lucy’s tone wasn’t aggressive or defensive in any way.
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever kissed one?”
Louisa hesitated before she answered. “No. I haven’t.”
“Have you ever wanted to kiss girls?”
“Yes,” she replied and then added: “I’ve wanted to kiss a girl . Maybe not girls. But I’ve definitely wanted to kiss one, at least.”
“Is she pretty?”
Louisa smiled and, this time, she didn’t hesitate.
“The prettiest.”