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“Hannibal?” Amy asked as Karma pulled out her laptop and started surfing Netflix.
“Really?” Karma scowled. “The story where the guy cooks other guys?”
“Yeah.” Amy sat next to her, curling her long legs under her weight. Every time they had sleepovers, there was an unspoken rule between them both; Karma would always stay in the left while Amy occupied the right. Karma always slept on her left and she liked to snuggle to her best friend when she did.
Amy placed the popcorn between them both as Karma clicked on the first episode. Karma leaned back, curling her legs and resting her cheek on Amy’s collar. The show started and it was blissful, just sitting there and watching movies, knowing that nobody could barge in and ruin the bubble they’ve been living in for quite some time.
Halfway through episode 6, Karma’s head trailed away from the show and began focusing on Amy. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t thought about Amy. Sometimes, she had to admit that she thought of Amy too much. Like, when she found something about this new show they were watching, the first thing that would pass through her head was Wait till Amy hears about this! But right now, with Amy breathing rhythmically under her cheek, she found herself thinking about how she smelled of a faint flowery perfume. Amy didn’t really use perfume to its maximum content but she didn’t leave home without spraying a bit around her wrist and neck, just so that people won’t say that she stank. She was so unlike Karma, who had to spend dollars every week because she usually ran out of her favorite perfume by then. There were times that even Karma had to wonder why they were still best friends. And now—girlfriends.
Karma craned her neck and looked up at Amy. The other girl’s green eyes were fixated on the screen, no doubt loving Will Graham’s deep voice. Karma pursed her lips and gazed intently at the blonde hair parted in the middle with the locks covering her ears. She was really pretty; Karma always thought her best friend was pretty but for some reason, she looked beautiful tonight, radiating like the sun and Karma’s eyes were staring at the curve of her nose and the paleness of her plump lips when Amy looked down at her.
"You’re staring," she said plainly, sounding confused.
"Well, duh,” Karma said hurriedly, not wanting to be caught, “You’ve got something on your lips.”
"Really?" She straightened and furrowed her eyebrows before reaching out to wipe some nonexistent thing on her mouth.
"Let me," Karma said, intertwining their hands together. She suddenly felt a rush of confidence because she leaned forward and kissed her best friend on the lips. Amy made a soft sound of surprise but she kissed her back, almost with the same pressure. The TV show was nearly forgotten since they stayed like that for quite some time, making out for no absolute reason. Hell, there wasn’t even anybody to fool. Maybe they were just doing this for each other. Karma didn’t want to stop. She was starting to like kissing Amy, getting to taste the popcorn on her mouth and to feel the plumpness of her lips. If she had to be completely honest to herself, she liked kissing Amy better than kissing Liam.
Amy’s hand was on her left thigh, sending shivers up her leg. She nearly kicked the laptop off the bed when Amy’s fingers traced patterns on the exposed skin. She had to pull away, before one thing led to another.
"Whoa," she said, trying to hide her blush.
Amy didn’t say anything. When Karma looked, she had returned her attention back to the screen, lips all swollen and cheeks pale red.
Karma couldn’t deny that she felt disappointed at the reaction.
.
The next day, all Karma could think about was that stupid kiss. Even when Liam pulled her away during Gym to make out with her behind the bleachers, all she could see was Amy with the blonde hair, green eyes and plump lips. All she could think about was Amy’s hand against her thigh, warm and insisting, soft and gentle—Amy with the most adorable expressions ever—just Amy. She just kept thinking about Amy.
So when she pulled away from Liam’s arms and walked away without so much as a goodbye, she didn’t even feel a shred of regret as she searched for her best friend.
.
She found Shane instead.
After circling around the school during lunch break, she found the most popular guy in school hanging out with a girl named Ivy. They were sitting outside, their legs crossed against the grass. Karma was strongly reminded of last night, where she and Amy had been tangled together.
Her stomach suddenly tightened.
"Have you seen Amy?" Karma asked them.
Shane looked up to her, dark eyes glinting. He grinned. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked.
Karma tilted her head to the side, letting her auburn curls fall against her shoulder. “What are you talking about?”
Ivy piped up. “You look sick. Do you need to go to the nurse?”
"Me? Sick?" Karma licked her lips. She wondered what this meant. Her stomach did feel queasy, acting as if it had swallowed rotten milk or something. She shook the thought away and repeated her question.
“Last I saw her, she looked like she needed time alone,” Shane answered, looking as if he couldn’t care less where Amy really was.
Something lit up inside her head. Of course, how could she be so stupid? If Karma hadn’t seen Amy for quite some while, it meant that the other girl was avoiding her and the best place to avoid Karma Ashcroft was at the tallest building in the entire school. Without so much as a goodbye to her other friends, she stalked off.
Shane smiled at her retreating form.
“I’ll give you ten bucks if they don’t show up for English,” he told Ivy.
“I’ll give you fifteen if they don’t show up for the rest of the afternoon,” Ivy said, laughing softly.
Shane shrugged. “With those two? You wouldn’t know what to expect.”
.
Amy was playing with her phone when Karma barged through the door leading to the rooftop. Everything was pretty when they were up here but Karma couldn’t help but feel a shudder of fear when she saw how high the trees were and how her legs felt like they were going to collapse. There was a moment where she even hated Amy for sitting so close to the edge, where even a small burst of wind could lead her to her death.
“Amy?” Karma called, keeping her eyes locked on the ground before her.
“I didn’t expect you to be here,” Amy said, looking up at her. Her blonde hair looked especially golden under the bright glare of the sun and her green eyes were wary but still fond. She looked painstakingly beautiful.
Damn. Amy’s stomach clenched tightly again. She felt as if there was something shoved between her intestines. It didn’t help with the fact that they were high up from the ground. Her knees were literally shaking as she brought a hand up to her mouth.
“Are you okay?” Amy asked, pulling herself up, “You look as if you’ve seen Liam naked.”
But Karma didn’t want to talk about Liam. She wanted to talk about the other night, the night where they were kissing, ignoring the fact that Hannibal was chopping up bodies. She wanted to talk about Amy’s lips and her hand on her thigh. She wanted to talk about them both, just like old times.
“Hey,” Amy called, approaching her warily, “You look as if you’re about to throw up.”
Karma bit her lip. Her head was swimming and dark spots danced before her eyes. She was going to pass out. She was going to throw up. Heedless of the fact that they were in the tallest building of the school, Karma hurried to the edge and threw up her lunch. Amy was by her side then, patting her back comfortingly. As Karma emptied her stomach’s contents, she thoughtDamn it! She was right!
When she turned to look at her best friend once more, she managed to say “You were right” before she passed out.
.
She woke up and the sun was shining brighter than before. She wondered how many hours had passed and how Amy was doing. When she looked around, she realized that they were still at the rooftop. Of course, Amy was tactful enough to know that Karma didn’t want to wake up in the clinic. The rumors would be endless. Karma Ashcroft was in the clinic the other day. What if she had AIDS? What if she was pregnant? What if she passed out at the sight of her girlfriend because there were too many butterflies in her stomach?
Amy was sitting next to her, leafing through a Math notebook when Karma pulled herself up.
“What was I right about?” Amy asked. Karma knew not to joke around at this point. When Amy went straight to the point, it meant that she was serious. “Was I right about you seeing Liam naked?” She sounded disgusted by it.
“No,” Karma assured her, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Amy put down her notebook and pulled out a water bottle from her bag. Grateful, Karma washed off the stink. “You were right about me.”
Amy looked at her strangely. “You need to be more specific, Karma,” she said. “I’ve said a lot of things about you lately so I can’t pinpoint your actually point.”
“Dork,” Karma said, grinning. Amy barely smiled.
She wasn’t making this easy for her. Karma put down the bottle and stared at the sky. It was good to look up at the clouds and the sun rather than the ant sized people down below. It was good to sit here next to her best friend while the rest of the world studied Algebra. It was good to finally feel her stomach unclench and the butterflies to come pouring out of her mouth:
“Amy, what I’m trying to say is that you were right about what you said a long time ago. You were right about the whole throwing up and passing out when I really fell in love. No, I’m not talking about Liam Booker. I’m talking about you, damn it. I don’t know, okay? When I look at you right now, I suddenly feel as if the butterflies have occupied my stomach fluids. And I can’t stop thinking about last night, where we watching Netflix and then a second later, we were suddenly making out. I don’t know! I just—It’s hard to explain when I can barely look at you without wanting to barf.”
Amy laughed at the last bit. “That’s not attractive, you know.” Karma sighed in relief. It was good to hear her laugh again.
“Okay,” Amy said, still laughing slightly. She gave Karma a fond look. “First of all, I still can’t believe you remember the speech I gave you about you throwing up. Second, I thought we were just fooling around last night. And third, I now know that you like me back when you’re barfing.”
Karma giggled. Amy punched her on the shoulder softly.
“By the way,” Karma said, putting her head against Amy’s collar and snuggling up to her. She could feel the heat of the other girl against her skin. She felt Amy’s smile against her hair and she couldn’t help but smile back, “Why weren’t you looking at me after we kissed?”
“Hm? Oh, were you bothered by that?” Amy asked, putting her hand right near Karma’s thigh. Karma shivered involuntarily. Damn her and her touch but Karma didn’t really mind.
“Well, yeah. I was blushing like the time Liam Booker first said hi to us,” Karma murmured.
Amy laughed. She had an adorable laugh. “Don’t worry,” she said, kissing the top of her head, “I didn’t mean to offend you but Hannibal was cooking so I had to watch.”