Chapter Text
Langa sighed dramatically and squinted at the sky.
The setting sun was painting the clouds a glowing, golden, peachy sort of color. Although the clouds provided much needed solace from the sun, the permeating heat was muggy and suffocating and she felt sticky, like she was covered in a mild sheen of sweat. She loudly sighed again for effect and leaned back, propping herself up on the picnic table she was sitting on top of.
Absentmindedly chewing on a popsicle stick, she vaguely wished that the clouds were this pink everyday. It was a pleasant silver lining to the unbearable heat she was unused to dealing with.
Lagna glanced over to where Reki was sitting at the table next to her, still not finished with her own cherry popsicle. Reki was too busy trying to lick the melted juice off her wrist to notice Langa’s staring.
When Reki had texted Langa asking if she wanted to hang out, Langa had been hoping for an air conditioned activity. Really, it was her own folly for expecting Reki to want to do anything other than skate. After meeting Reki at the park, skating for a while, then threatening to pass out from heat exhaustion, Reki agreed to treat them to popsicles which Reki had then proceeded to take her sweet time in eating.
“I'm pretty sure there's more popsicle on your hands than on the stick at this point” Langa said.
“Shut up, I'm trying to focus.” Reki replied.
“Focus… on eating a popsicle?”
Reki just nodded and contorted her arm to balance the remaining chunk of popsicle on her stick.
Langa rolled her eyes. “You could always just eat the last bit like a normal person.”
“Langa, you know I have sensitive teeth.” she whined.
Langa watched in amusement while the last bit of Reki’s popsicle fell off the stick and she shrieked, catching it and quickly shoving it in her mouth. Her face scrunched as she quickly chewed and swallowed the chunk of flavored ice.
“Oh fuck, brain freeze.” Reki groaned, clutching her hands to her temple.
Langa laughed at her dramatics, but felt a dull pang in her chest. Reki looked ridiculous, getting a brain freeze from a popsicle, but for some reason Langa found her reaction to be nothing less than adorable. Mentally she berated herself for thinking so.
It had really been quite the stupid move on her part to develop a crush on her best friend.
She wasn’t quite sure when it had started but she desperately wished it would end soon. One day, she and Reki were excitedly discussing skateboard modifications, as friends do, and the next, Langa found herself entirely unable to focus on anything Reki said, busy wondering if Reki’s dimples had always been so prominent.
Langa wanted to get back to her regularly scheduled friendship with Reki, where she could see her smile and not be assaulted by thoughts of holding her hand, tucking her unruly hair behind her ear, kissing her on the forehead. Or cheek. Or neck.
Her lips were stained red from the popsicle.
Langa blinked hard trying to erase thoughts of what kissing her on the lips would feel like.
“It’s your fault for eating it so fast,” Langa said, making a conscious effort to keep her face straight.
“It's not like I had much of a choice,” Reki whined, “I refuse to let it go to waste,” she said, licking the residual juice off her hands. Langa watched Reki’s tongue trace her fingers. and caught herself wishing it was her own hand that Reki was licking, before manually cutting off that train of thought.
She rolled her eyes, half at Reki’s antics and half at her own inability to keep it together. She was at least glad she could blame her flushed face on the heat.
“Do you have to be so barbaric?” Langa asked blandly.
“”Dude, what do you want me to do? Walk around with sticky hands?” Reki retorted.
“I don't know, go rinse your hands in the water fountain or something.”
“Oh wait, that is a good idea, I didn’t think of that, hold on,” Reki slid out of her seat and bounced over to the water fountain, her hair bouncing behind her. Langa rolled her eyes again before also sliding off her perch on the table to join Reki who was struggling trying to keep the button pressed long enough to actually rinse her hands.
Langa wordlessly tossed her stick in the trash, then stood near her and held the button so Reki could wash her hands of unwanted stickiness. Once Reki declared her hands sufficiently cleaned, they began walking back to collect their boards.
Feeling the weight of the heat even more so now that the cool refuge of her popsicle was consumed, Langa peeled the sweaty hair off the back of her neck into a high ponytail while Reki flapped her hands to dry them.
As soon as Langa finished tying her ponytail, she felt Reki’s hands wipe down her back.
Langa felt a chill run down her spine and despite the heat, she did not find it to be a particularly refreshing chill. It was more the type of chill that invoked dread or possibly thoughts that friends did not usually have about their friends. She jumped.
“Did you just dry your hands on my back?”
“Yeah.” Reki said, unceremoniously.
Langa stared, “... Why?”
Reki stared back, “Because they were wet?”
“Then wipe them off on your own shirt.”
Reki scoffed and said, “Ew why would I do that?”
Langa took a few seconds to judge herself for having a crush on Reki.
“Because the normal-people thing to do is wipe your gross wet popsicle hands off on yourself and not your friend?”
Reki frowned, “But then my shirt would be wet.”
Langa deadpanned, “Oh yes, you’re right. My bad, Princess Reki. God forbid your shirt gets a little damp. We couldn’t have that. It’s not like your clothes aren't already filthy from skating earlier.”
“You know, my family used to call me Cindereki when I was little.”
Langa furrowed her brows, “Why was that your main takeaway from that comment?”
Reki laughed. “Cause it's true. You just reminded me about that.”
Reki skipped over a crack in the pavement.
“It’s ‘cause I was obsessed with Cinderella when I was a little kid. I watched the movie like twice a day and had the dress and pretended I could talk to birds and stuff.”
Langa could easily imagine a young Reki in a puffy blue dress and tiara trying to serenade a poor wild bird.
“Wow, you were a hardcore fan, weren’t you.”
Reki hopped up on the curb and began walking on it, holding out her arms to balance herself.
“Oh yeah, the whole 9 yards. Then it got to the point my family started calling me Cindereki.”
Langa snickered.
“I got in trouble for writing my name as Cindereki on a school paper once. Actually I'm still sad my Prince Charming never came to sweep me off my feet.” She said in mock wistfulness, holding her arms to her chest.
Reki then lost her balance, tripping over her own feet and yelping as she fell into Langa’s path.
Langa reflexively tried to grab her, one hand grabbing awkwardly under her armpit and the other grasping her wrist. Reki found her balance again, then giggled, now giddy from the near miss.
“What are we? Dancing?”.
Langa considered their position, then smiled and quickly stepped in front of her. In an exaggerated motion, she bowed deeply, and extended a hand. “Milady, may I have this dance?”
Reki giggled, realizing what she was doing before quickly curtsying. “That's Cindereki to you, but I suppose I can indulge you,” She said, delicately placing her hand in Langa’s.
Langa placed one of Reki’s hands on her shoulder and held the other, before leading her in a mock waltz. It occurred to Langa that she had never waltzed before and had no idea what she was doing, but from Reki’s movements, it seemed that she either didn't care or was in the same boat. Langa couldn't help but smile, seeing Reki’s incessant giggling spurred by the heat and ridiculousness of their dance, even when no one else was in the park to see them.
Langa lifted Reki’s hand high above her head and twirled her. Reki’s feet twisted around themselves and she tripped over herself again.
This time, Langa was slightly better prepared and caught Reki, one hand on the small of her back, and converted her fall into a tasteful dip. Reki squeaked and threw her arms around Langa’s neck to not fall over. Langa was supporting most of her weight and tried not to lurch forward.
Reki giggled and threw her head back. Her neck was bared, not unlike how Langa often found herself fantasizing about kissing.
Reki righted her head and grinned at Langa. The heat made her feel flushed and frantic. Her smile was crooked, eyes crinkled with laughter and reckless abandon, hair mussed. Her stupid dimples were cute and her stupider lips still stained with cherry popsicle.
They stood there for a moment looking at each other, then without a single thought in her head, Langa leaned forward and kissed Reki.
The only thought her brain was able to produce was that Reki’s lips kinda tasted like cherries. She decided she didn't hate it. Langa was unable to process what she was doing, only able to feel the dip of Reki’s back where her hand was supporting her weight and her proximity to Reki, the heavy humid air wrapped around her.
It wasn’t until she felt Reki tense in her arms that she fully realized that she was in the process of kissing Reki, who was her crush but more importantly, her straight best friend.
Regaining bodily autonomy, she jerked her face away from Reki’s, but Reki stayed where she was, frozen in place, eyes wide as saucers. Her mouth was left open and her expression was one of pure bewilderment.
Langa’s stomach dropped to her feet. How the hell was she going to explain this. Oh, yeah, that was just a friendly platonic best friend kiss, don't read too much into it.
Yeah, cause Reki would definitely believe that. Don't worry, dipping and kissing your friend is a longstanding Canadian tradition.
Actually, Reki might believe that given how often she proclaimed her lack of knowledge on Canadian customs. Would she be able to fact check if that was true? Would she care enough to fact check that piece of Canadian trivia? Probably not, she trusted Langa on most things; like to always have her back and hype her up before learning a new trick, and to skate with her to and from school every day, and to not have a massive crush on her and kiss her out of the blue.
The air was awfully thick, Langa was finding it hard to breathe.
She felt the sudden need to create distance between them or Reki would definitely be able to feel the heat and mortification at her own actions rolling off of her.
She quickly retracted her arms, and Reki, whom she had been holding up, yelped and awkwardly collapsed to the floor. Langa flinched. Reki looked back up at her, expression unchanged and unphased by the fall. Completely sobered, all trace of giddy laughter was gone from her demeanor.
Reki opened her mouth, and Langa steeled herself for any ensuing declarations of hatred. Then, Reki closed her mouth. Then opened it again, at a loss for words, before quickly snapping it shut again.
“Uhm,” Langa spoke “I-, uh-”
Reki made eye contact from her position on the floor then hurriedly tore her eyes away from Langa’s. “Yeah, I think I need to be home right now?” She said in a thin voice.
“Oh totally! Definitely, uh me too I think.” Langa nodded, now in damage control mode.
Reki scrambled to her feet and picked up her board. “I just have to… help with dinner tonight I think.”
“Can't miss dinner.”
“Yeah, haha,” Reki laughed nervously, still refusing to make eye contact. She stepped on her board. “I‘ll uh, see you tomorrow.” Without looking back, Reki pushed off her board and rode off to her street.
She watched until she rounded a corner, then a daze, Langa did the same in the opposite direction towards her own house. Riding her skateboard gave her a breath of fresh air, which gave her time to breathe, which gave her time to panic.
She really screwed the pooch on this one. Langa had no fucking clue what synapses fired off in her brain that made her think kissing Reki out of nowhere was a good idea, but she would appreciate if they never fired off again. Reki did not need to be involved in Langa’s inability to deal with her feelings for her.
Langa was supposed to have dealt with this on her own by submerging whatever feelings she had for Reki so deep that she would forget about them. How the hell was she supposed to forget about them now that she knew Reki had soft lips?
Upon arriving home, she numbly opened the door to find her mom sleeping on the couch. The TV was playing one of her soap operas. Welcoming the monotonous motion, she drew a blanket over her mom and turned off the show.
She walked to her room, shut the door, and plopped face-down on her bed, then promptly screamed into her pillow. What was wrong with her!? She had managed to do just about the stupidest thing ever. She panted, seemingly unable to get enough air in her lungs, or maybe her brain was so upset with her it decided to host a protest by refusing to absorb any oxygen. She couldn’t even find it in herself to be mad at her brain, she was in full agreement.
Or maybe her difficulty breathing had to do with the fact that she was still smothering herself in her own pillow.
Her phone pinged and she automatically fished it out of her pocket to look. It was a text from Miya, who had just sent her a viral skating video of someone trying to do a kickflip and falling down some stairs. Langa had already seen the video, but decided that was irrelevant when compared to the magnitude of the fact that she screwed up her friendship with her only best friend.
Against her better judgement, she turned to Miya for advice.
Miya
Miya i need help
With what? Dont you already know how to kickflip
No Miya i fucked up so bad
You fucked up a kickflip?
Langa rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Wtf miya no im not talking about the stupid video
But you do know how to do a kickflip right?
Yes. thats beside the point
Ok thank god, i think i mightve needed to ghost you if you didnt
The point is that ive just ruined my life and im currently making plans to move back to canada. goodbye forever
Dang. bye i guess?
No. thats when youre supposed to ask whats wrong and i refuse to answer and you coax it out of me then reassure me i can still live a peaceful life cattle farming in canada
Do cattle even live in canada?
Langa felt tears welling in her eyes much to her chagrin. She knew Miya was just being a little shit like she always was but she was ill equipped to deal with it at the moment. She was so tired, and drained from the heat. She figured she'd rather roll over into a deep slumber and never wake up again then deal with Miya’s snarky comments so she just texted back.
Nevermind ok im going to bed
She rolled on her back and stared at her ceiling. A single, dramatic tear rolled down her face. She frustratedly wiped it away. Her phone buzzed next to her and she glanced at the notification.
Hey are you actually not okay
Dude whats wrong
Langa sighed and unlocked her phone.
I think ive ruined my friendship with reki
Whatttt? How is that possible. I literally cannot think of a single thing that you could do that would make reki not want to be your friend
Did you kill her sister or something?
I kissed her
The read receipt turned on and stayed for about a minute before the typing bubble popped up.
Oh shit
Yeah
So in case you were wondering im already looking at plane tickets adn yes c0ws fucking live in canada so ill be sure to invite you to visit once i have a few established in my ranch
How did it happen
I dont know. We were just joking around and i got carried away and kissed her
Did she kiss you back?
Langa winced.
no
Did she look mad?
More shocked than anything i guess
Ok well first of all you are not moving to canada. At least finish highschool before you abandon your current life
Second did reki say anything about your massive crush on her beforehand?
No i dont think she knew
Wait did you know?
Was it obvious?
Uh yeah? Like painfully so?
Fuck
Actually i think joe and cherry had a bet on if reki would ever realize
You didnt hear that from me though
They had a what now?
Dont worry about it
Anyways i think the best thing you could do right now is talk to reki about it
Even if she doesnt feel the same way, you need to clear up this whole situation
Lagna felt a little calmer now. Aside from the mortifying fact that apparently everyone knew about her crush on Reki, she didn't want the situation to become strange or awkward between any of them.
ok
Ill do that tomorrow then
Hey dont worry
I dont think reki would disown you over something like this anyways
The tears threatened to return. Langa wasn’t even sad that Reki wouldn't like her back. She had come to terms with that long ago. But what she knew she could never stand, was Reki telling her she didn't want to be her friend. That she didn't want to skate to school with her every morning and wouldn’t pass her notes during class and no longer wanted to skate together.
That, she was sure, would ruin her.
Logically, she knew that Miya was right, but the thought of Reki not wanting her around anymore was absolutely terrifying.
And if she did, i would make sure to disown her and come live with you and your cattle
Langa let out a dry laugh.
Of course
Try not to worry about it too much and get some rest and just clear everything up tomorrow
Yeah, thanks for listening
No problem
Goodnight
Night
Langa tossed her phone on her nightstand and burrowed under her covers, still uneasy, but before she even had time to overthink or panic, she fell asleep.