Chapter Text
Sonntag 17:09
167x plus 4x minus 2
Fatou impatiently tapped the pen against her desk, eyes glued to the math book.
167x plus 4x minus 2....167 plus 4....168, 169, 170, 171?
Fatou looked at her hand in disappointment. She did it again. She counted with her fingers like a first grader.
“Get your shit together.”, she mumbled to herself.
So...170 what? oh right 174...minus 2? 172? X equals 172?
She tightened the grip around her pen before hesitantly writing down her solution.
This has to be correct right? But why did Nora have so much trouble with it and had to ask-
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Fatou flinched at the unexpected sound and quickly turned around.
“Come in.”
The door opened and Ava entered, a bright smile plastered on her face.
“Chibiiiii”, Ava greeted the other girl excitedly and pulled her into a welcome hug.
“What are you doing here?”, Fatou chuckled, almost knocked over by her best friends overly excited hug.
“I just came back from a date with Marc and something great happened and I just couldn’t wait until tomorrow to tell you!”, Ava squealed and released Fatou from the hug.
At Fatous forced smile she frowned. “What? Did I disturb you or something ?”
“No, not at all I just didnt expect any visitors today. My room looks like shit and I’m still in my pyjamas”, Fatou answered honestly and looked around her room.
“That doesnt matter Chibi, I know you are messy”, Ava winked and sat down on Fatous bed, it being the only clean space to sit on.
Her eyes roamed around Fatous room until they were met with an open math book on Fatous table.
“Ah, you are trying math homework too? It messed with my mind, took me all day yesterday.”, she groaned and fell back on the bed.
Fatou bit her lip and eyed her calculations. “Yeah...its pretty tough I guess”, she mumbled and joined her friend on the bed.
All of her worries about why everyone found the math tasks so hard disappeared when she saw the big genuinely smile on Avas face.
“Sooo... what happened at the date with Marc?”, Fatou grinned.
Ava buried her face into a pillow and mumbled something inaudible.
“Huh?”
“Marc kissed me”
“For real?”, Fatou sat up straight, a bright smile across her face.
Her best friend had been crushing on that boy for weeks now and was always unsure whether he liked her back.
“For real. We were watching a movie and he just turned around and kissed me.”
“Im so happy for you. Come here.”, Fatou smiled and this time it was her pulling Ava into a hug.
She buried her face in her best friends shoulder and inhaled the familiar scent.
“Oh to be young and in love.”, she joked.
At that Ava pulled back and jokingly gasped.
“Mrs Jallow, may i remind you of your never dying crush on a certain popular girl from school. what was her name again? Ah, yes Mrs Vu”, she teased the shorter girl who rolled her eyes and flipped her off in false annoyance.
“I’m talking about reciprocated love here”, Fatou countered.
“Which could also be the case with Kieu My but we will never know because you are a coward Mrs Jallow”, Ava added.
“I am not a coward, Im just realistic. Im certainly not telling the popular straight girl with the scary bully friend group that I have a crush on her. She would crush me like a fly.”
Ava sighed and reached for the laptop on Fatous drawer.
“Wanna watch anime then?”, she suggested, earning an excited nod from Fatou.
“We dont know if she is straight tho.”
“Shut up Ava”
Montag 9:10 am
“No I’m for real. A double backflip.”, Nora said, swiping through her phone with furrowed brows.
“I know you are dating spider man but a double backflip? I will only believe it when I see it”, Ava stated.
“Fuck, I just had it here, where is it? I swear I took a video.”, Nora mumbled.
“Yeah sure.”, Mailin joked.
Fatou smiled at her friends playful teasing. Nora had just told the girls about her boyfriends newest parkour trick and Ava refused to believe it. Josh was for sure great at parkour but a double backflip just sounded a little unreal.
The short girl let her eyes roam around the big entering hall.
She saw Yara, a good friend of Josh and the only other openly queer girl in her grade. Because of that people had rumored them to be a couple many times, but they chose to laugh it off. Yara became a very good friend to Fatou and was nothing more than that no matter her sexual orientation. She flashed the other girl a smile and received a wave back.
“Turn around”, Yara mouthed.
Fatou furrowed her brows in confusing and turned her head.
Kieu My made her way through the entrance, followed by Ismail and Finn.
Everything felt like slomotion when the popular girl effortlessly pushed through the crowd of students even shooting a girl in her way a cold glance.
“You guys suck, I am telling the truth. I bet Fatou believes me. Right Fatou?”, Nora claimed.
Fatou was mesmerized by Kieu My and didnt pay any attention to what her friends were saying.
“Fatou?” Nora slightly nudged her.
Fatou jumped a little and immediately turned her head to her friends.
“Sorry, what?”, she asked, an embarrassed expression on her face.
Nora chuckled.
“I asked you if you believe me about the backflip thing.”
“Oh yeah totally. Yes. A 100 percent.”, Fatou nodded eagerly.
“Well thank you. At least one of my friends trusts me.”, Nora groaned dramatically.
“Oh shut up you...”-
Fatou felt eyes on her and quickly turned her head.
She met Kieu Mys glance-
wait...Kieu My?
Fatou had to make sure she wasn’t imagining things so she slowly closed her eyes.
She secretly wished that she was just imagining it because if she wasn’t she wouldn’t know how to deal with it.
But when she opened her eyes again Kieu My was still looking at her.
Just looking at her. Face expression unreadable.
And Fatou looked back. Her heart pounded like crazy and every inch of her body told her to look away but somehow she couldn’t move.
A warm feeling started spreading in her stomach, shooting sensation all through her body causing her to shiver.
Kieu My was still looking at her and Fatou felt naked. She felt vulnerable but weirdly she wasn’t scared of the feeling. She couldn’t feel anything but the burning feeling in her stomach growing and growing and-
Ismail pulled at Kieu Mys sleeve causing her to snap out of her state and turning her attention towards them.
The burning disappeared and Fatou quickly turned around to face her friends who were having a heated discussion about Josh’s parkour skills again.
What the fuck just happened ?
Mittwoch 11:46
“So that equals 34 in the end.”
“That is correct, Kieu My. Very good, thank you.”
Kieu My lifted the corners of her lips up just the slightest bit and nodded quickly.
It took Fatou all her strength not to break out in the biggest smile just then. Something about the other girl smiling made her heart jump. She looked so good smiling, Fatou didnt get why she always tries to hide it.
She should smile more often.
“Who?”, Ava whispered curiously.
“Huh?”
“Who should smile more often?”
Oh, did I say that out loud?
“Oh um Kieu My”, Fatou answered hesitantly and lowered her gaze.
“But she smiles often”
“No she doesn’t. And if she does its only super little and short. It’s almost as if she was trying to hide it.”, Fatou mumbled and played with her thumbs.
“Well the ice queen has a reputation to hold up.”, Ava jokes.
“Thats not-“
“Fatou Jallow!”.
Fatou jumped at the teachers alarming voice.
“Yes?”, she answered with a shaky voice. Teachers always intimidated her and this ones burning glare didnt really make it better.
“This is math class, not your living room. You have plenty of time to talk to your classmates after school, Fatou.”, he warned.
“Yes.”, was all Fatou could get out sinking deeper into her chair in embarrassment.
“You know what? Since you are obviously eager to talk, how about you tell us what you have for exercise B.”
Fatous heart sped up instantly. She was never the best at math but somehow it just kept getting worse since she came into the Oberstufe.
“B? S-sure wait a second.”
She wildly flicked through her exercise book.
“Maybe it would help to have your homework out”, the teacher said with an annoyed undertone.
Fatou shot him an apologetic glance and finally found the right page.
“I have um...172.”
The room went silent. Fatou felt the eyes of all her classmates on her and yet she didnt dare to look up from her exercise book.
“172? Fatou, the question was which graph fits the equation best.”
“What? N-no it was um...167x plus 4x minus 2”
It went silent again.
“Im afraid you worked on the wrong page there. Page 234 not Page 15. You really have to concentrate, Fatou. The Abi doesnt complete itself.”, the teacher groaned and turned to the board again.
Fatou felt her hands shiver and took a deep breath.
“Wait, did she just say 167x plus 4x minus 2 equals 172?”.
Fatou lifted her head and looked right into Constantins amused face.
“Constantin.”, the teacher said in a stern voice.
“What? I mean I get that some students here are not as...gifted as others but that is just ridiculous. My niece would notice that that can’t be correct and she is in pre school.”, Constantin continued his statement and leaned back in his seat.
It took Fatou all her power to not start to cry at his mean comments but she just didnt wanna give him the satisfaction.
“Constantin, I will see you after class.”, the teacher sighed.
“Sure. But I think Fatou should stay too, she clearly needs some kind of...you know..support”
At that the class broke out in giggles.
Fatou swallowed hard, her body trembling from shame and hurt.
Suddenly she heard an a little too familiar voice over all the giggles and whispers.
“Making fun of somebody for things he can’t do doesn’t make you any better Than him. It just makes you an asshole.”.
The classroom immediately went silent. Everybody was staring at Kieu My who looked Constantin right into the eyes. “So quit being assholes and mind your own business.”, she finished, now speaking to the entire class.
Fatou stared at her in disbelief.
Did Kieu My just defend me?
Donnerstag 20:43
“Yes....Ilai I am sorry okay? I got lost, I am there now..yes the Vietnamese place...Yes if your food is cold you can eat all of mine...Yes..Okay Bye.”
Fatou sighed and ended the call.
Why did her brother have to pick out a new restaurant every time they order food?
She eyed the place. It was small but looked cozy. A neon sign threw a soft orange light on the street. Fatou picked up her skateboard and double checked the restaurant’s name before entering the place.
She was greeted with soft foreign music and the delicious smell of food. The lighting was also rather warm and dimmed. She heard chattering from the other side of the room followed by laughter.
“Good evening. What can I do for you today?”.
Fatou just now noticed the tall Asian man standing in front of her, smiling brightly.
“Oh, hi. Yeah, my brother ordered food here. Its um Jallow.”, Fatou rambled, totally overtaxed by the mans sudden appearance.
“Alright. I will ask in the kitchen. It will just be a minute.”, he smiled at her and hurried behind a door. Fatou heard muffled voices discussing something and seconds later an older man came out of the door an approached her.
“For Jallow?”, he asked. Fatou instantly noticed his strong accent and thought about her own grandpa who also had an clearly audible accent.
“Yes.”
“The 34 and the 22?”
“Uhm...”
Was it 34 and 22?
“Yes, I think so”
“That will be 11,50 euros then”
“Yep.”.
Fatou reached into her pockets and handed the man two bills.
“You can keep the rest, its a tip.”, Fatou offered.
“Oh no, we cant keep an almost 10 dollar tip, young lady.”
Fatou swallowed uncomfortably.
She didnt like change, coins always confused her and she would mess up if she had to pay with them.
The man noticed Fatous uneasiness and gave her a worried look.
“Then um just give me 5 euros back”
“That i can do”, the cashier said and gave Fatou a kind smile before handing her a few coins.
“Oh um...so sorry to bother but do you have a five dollar bill? I like them better somehow.”, Fatou ranted.
“Sure.”,the cashier agreed and exchanged Fatous money without making a big deal out of it.
“Q! 34 and 22, NOW!”, he suddenly yelled over his shoulder. “Im so sorry I dont know what’s going on, I will be right back.”
Q? That sounds oddly familiar. Isn’t that Ismails nickname for-
“He is NOT my boyfriend, Dad. And I just texted him once this whole entire shift okay?”, Kieu My snorted with rage as she busted through the door.
Fatou froze at the sight of the other girl.
“Hello, I’m sorry for the delay I was-“
Kieu My stopped talking mid-sentence when she saw Fatou.
Fatou couldn’t help but stare at her. Her hair was up in a messy bun, halfway tucked into some headgear, she was wearing a white uniform with the restaurant’s label printed on the back. She barely had any makeup on and looked exhausted.
God, she really is the most beautiful girl in the world isn’t she? Get it together, she is literally standing in front of you.
“Hi um Kieu My. What are you doing here?”
Oh my god, she works here obviously. Shut up shut up shut up. She probably thinks im nuts now
But to Fatous surprise Kieu My didnt scoff, she didn't roll her eyes or make a mean comment, she simply looked herself down and up, then looked at Fatou and shrugged. “I thought I would just sneak into this restaurant, get their work uniform and steal some girls food, how about you ?”, she simply said with a completely serious face expression.
Fatou couldn’t help but giggle. She looked at her feet trying to control her laughter. When she looked back up she was met with the biggest grin ever on the other girls face.
I knew it. She looks amazing when she smiles.
For a few seconds the girls just stupidly smiled at each other, a comfortable silence filling the restaurant.
“Um...”, Fatou started earning a curious look from Kieu My, “I just wanted to thank you. For yesterday.”
Kieu My furrowed her brows in confusion.
“The Math class thing...you know...Constantin and that wrong task I did”, Fatou explained.
“Oh that. Yeah, no worries. I am sorry about Constantin. He...he is going through some stuff. I know that doesnt excuse his behavior but...”
“I get it, its fine”, Fatou interrupted her.
Kieu My glanced up at her.
I shouldn’t have interrupted her, fuck.
“Sorry for uhm... not letting you finish that sentence”, Fatou mumbled, fidgeting with her jackets zipper.
Kieu My let out a breathy chuckle.
“Man, Fatou you really have to stop apologizing for everything. It’s fine that you interrupted me, people do it all the time. It’s also fine to be mad at Constantin. He was a real ass and he hurt you, you have every right to be pissed”
Fatou nodded slowly.
“You are much stronger than him you know? He is actually scared of you.”
Fatou chuckles and rolls her eyes. “Yeah, sure”
“For real. He is intimidated by you.”
Fatou meets Kieu Mys eyes again, rising her eyebrows sceptically.
“I am too”
The words were spoken so silently, she almost didnt hear them.
If Fatou had said that, she probably would have ran off and panicked.
But Kieu My still held the eye contact. The smile was gone and was replaced by a different emotion...was that...hunger?
Stop, you are being ridiculous.
“Kieu My Vu! Come back here we need help in the kitchen”, a mans voice interrupted the silence.
Kieu My blinked a few times, seeming confused before clearing her throat, handing Fatou the food, croaking out a quiet “Bye” and then disappearing through the doors.
Fatou just kept standing in front of the register dumbfounded looking at the door Kiey My disappeared through.
The sound of her phone interrupted the silence.
“Hello?”
-“Fafa, MY FOOD”
Freitag 13:14
“So we take this line for the bridge then?”
“Yes, I think it is better. Sounds better.”
“Ugh I dont know Chibi. We should be aiming for something higher than ‘sounds better’ ”
Fatou shrugged.
Ava and her were seated on the ping pong table, working on a new song in their free period. Well...Ava was working on the song. Fatou sat next to her but her thoughts were miles away. At a certain little restaurant to be specific.
“I mean dont get me wrong I like it but...it just doesn’t really hit me you know? Like I dont wanna-Fatou? Are you listening to me?”.
Fatou snapped out of her bubble. “Im sorry. I dont know whats going on with me this week. I am just really tired and...stressed.”, Fatou apologized.
Ava nodded. “Its fine Fatou. We all have times like those sometimes. If I can do anything to help you just tell me okay?”
Fatou smiled. “Okay. Thank you Ava.”
“Of course. You know what? We both collect thoughts about the lyrics and you just take the weekend off and relax. We can talk again next week when you feel better”.
The shorter girl rested her head on her best friends shoulder.
“You are an angel. Thank you.”, she whispered.
The school bell pulled them out of their trance and Ava hopped of the table.
“I got history now. Have fun in...?”
“Spanish”
“Right. See you.”
“Love you”
“Love you too Chibi”
With that Ava disappeared into the building leaving Fatou alone outside.
Fatou checked the time and groaned. She made her way to her Spanish class.
The hallway was packed, students exited or entered their rooms, some had conversations with their friends, others were copying homework last minute.
Fatou carefully pushed through the crowd to get to her room when the sound of a door slamming caught her attention.
Kieu My stormed out of the room, followed by a senior. Fatou saw him a few times, she was pretty sure he was one of Josh’s friends.
“Come on just give me a chance”, he demanded with a begging undertone.
Kieu My stopped walking abruptly and turned around.
“I said no, Lasse.”, she scoffed.
“Why not?”
“Thats none of your business “
“Thats bullshit . I deserve to know”
“I dont owe you an apology. Now leave me alone”
With that Kieu My turned around facing Fatou now. Their eyes met but the big smile and cute giggles from the day before where gone. Instead Kieu My looked at her with a cold expression.
Fatou furrowed her brows and Kieu My broke the eye contact.
“You know what? He was right. You are so fucking boring, you just use boys to fool around and then drop them.”
Kieu My’s face fell. She was still facing Fatou but stared at the ground.
“Everyone thinks you are just a slut who has commitment issues but in reality you are just scared to let someone see you beyond your party facade because there is nothing other there.”
Kieu My slowly turned around. Fatou noticed her shaking a bit. Whether it was out of anger, pain or something else she couldn’t tell.
“You know what? I feel sorry for you. It seems that you think so lowly of yourself that if a girl rejects you you decide to talk her down and humiliate her in public. You look so dumb right now and you don’t even know it.”.
Lasse stared at her, dumbfounded and confused.
Kieu My bit her lip before announcing:”I said no because I am taken”
Fatous face fell.
Taken? Kieu My has a boyfriend?
“Yeah, of course”, Lasse scoffed, “and who would that be?”
This is gonna hurt
Kieu My took a deep breath.
“Fatou Jallow”
“What?”, Lasse exclaimed .
WHAT
From then everything went in slow motion.
Kieu My flipping him off.
Kieu My turning around.
Kieu My approaching her.
Kieu My leaning in.
A whispered:”Just go with it”
A hand on her cheek.
A pair of lips on hers.
What the fuck is happening ?