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Ellie’s hands normally gripped her lacrosse stick tightly, but now it had fallen to the ground. Practice had gotten pretty intense, a mock game between some of the girls caused them to think only of scoring, and not of accidentally whacking their teammate in the face.
“Shit- Dina.” Ellie ran over to the other girl, who was clutching her chin. “Oh… fuck I did not mean for that to happen.”
“Jeez,” Dina let out a breathy laugh, “I mean, it’s fine, Ellie. Don’t worry.”
Dina removed her hand to reveal a small cut on her chin, blood spurting out. There was a lot of it, Ellie’s stomach lurched. Just as she started to wince, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Dina, you good?” Jesse rushed to Dina’s side.
“I’m fine, seriously,” Dina assured both Ellie and Jesse, “well maybe I should get a bandaid-”
Another person joined the conversation, their coach. “The hell happened?”
“Ellie whacked me,” Dina joked, “by accident, though.”
“Yeah,” Ellie said, cringing at the word ‘whack’. “I’m still sorry, Dina.”
“Um,” Jesse thought for a moment, “I don’t think it was an accident.”
“The fuck, dude?” Ellie turned to face him. “It literally was?”
“No. They were in a fight before this,” Jesse told the coach. “I think she should get detention.”
“What?!” Ellie shook her head frantically. “Jesse, seriously?”
“No, it was an-” Dina was interrupted as Jesse leaned in, mumbling something in her ear. After he pulled away, she hid a mischievous smile under her bloody palm. “I mean… I think you should get detention, Ellie.”
Ellie couldn’t believe what was happening. Her best friends, traitors.
“Well,” their coach glanced at Dina’s chin, “how’s your chin, Dina?”
“I dunno, coach,” Dina bit back a smirk, “It’s actually hurting pretty bad now.”
“I’ll take you to the nurses office,” Jesse offered his arm, Dina punched it, and they walked off the field.
Ellie wore a look of utter confusion. What the hell were they planning?
“Ellie,” their coach sighed, “detention is in a few minutes and it’s until four-”
“Did you kill Dina?” Abby approached them, using her stick to scratch the back of her head.
“Wha- no,” Ellie waved her hands. “I’m just- I have detention now. In five minutes, and I was framed for killing Dina.”
“Detention today?”
Ellie nodded.
“Ohh…” Abby nodded, a small smile making its way onto her face. “Good luck!”
With that, the taller girl sprinted away to continue practice.
“What the fuck?” Ellie looked around for the coach, but she spotted her already back in the middle of the field. “Hello?”
They all must’ve known something she didn’t. What was going on in detention today? Ellie groaned and threw her stick down, she wouldn’t even have time to clean up before heading into school again.
Jogging over to return her gear, Ellie tried to wipe the sweat off of her face as best as she could. Whatever was going down in the detention room, she didn’t want to look all sweaty and disgusting while she was there. Well, she probably still would after running all the way to the second floor.
Ellie dashed past a couple of classrooms before slipping inside the detention room. She leaned against the wall and checked the time on her phone, 1 minute early. Ellie glanced up from her phone and finally discovered why Jesse and Dina seemed so eager to get her into detention.
A girl sat patiently in her seat, front and center. She was looking down at an open notebook and twisting her headphone cord in between her fingers.
“Y/N,” Ellie whispered in surprise, before realizing she had actually said that. “Or- uh.”
Y/N pulled out her headphones and tilted her head to the side. “Are you, um, talking to me?”
“I- no,” Ellie shook her head. She felt her cheeks heat up, and a tap on her shoulder.
“Ms. Williams? Sit down please.” Ellie didn’t even turn around before she hurriedly sat in the closest seat, directly beside Y/N.
Those assholes, Ellie thought, I didn’t even have time to shower after practice. Maybe she’s into the outfit? Definitely not the sweat, though. Ellie began to play with her thumbs, not daring to look at Y/N.
“...I will be in the teacher’s lounge across the hall. If I hear any noise I’m coming right back here, got it?” The Teacher finished her speech and looked at the two students expectantly.
“Oh right yeah. Got it.” Ellie snapped out of her trance at the sound of Y/N’s voice. The other girl seemed to be daydreaming too. Ellie loved the way she looked when she was staring off into space, dazed eyes obviously off somewhere more interesting.
Y/N slipped her headphones back in when the teacher left, and Ellie started scribbling in her notebook. She wasn’t paying attention to the teacher, who could’ve told them to write an essay but Ellie didn’t give a shit. Ink scratched onto the lined paper and, unconsciously, Ellie started doodling someone's face. She drew a few people, a few celebrities, but the final, biggest, image was of the girl sitting right beside her.
It was by far the most detailed picture in her notebook, all shining eyes, and a not-so-exaggerated smile that made Ellie’s stomach flutter. She allowed herself to quickly glance at the other girl, just so she could get her nose right. Ellie leaned back, admiring her work. Over the years, her sketches had gotten better, but she put special effort into this drawing in order to do her crush’s face justice.
Fuck, Ellie thought, I better cover this up before she–
“D’you… like drawing?” Y/N asked, looking up from her phone.
Ellie slammed the notebook shut just in time. She looked back at Y/N, trying to think of what to say, the other girl made a small smile.
“Uh, yeah,” Ellie said, setting the notebook down. “Sorry about that. It’s kinda… private.”
Y/N nodded. “Are you any good?”
Ellie bit her lip and exhaled. “I mean, I think I am. I don’t think I should join Art Club or anything, though. If that's what you were leading to.”
“No, just wondering,” Y/N said, playing with her headphone cord. “The glimpse I caught of your sketches looked pretty good.”
“Oh, sorry,” Ellie said, grabbing the book again. “I can… show you some? If you’d like.”
“I thought they were private?” Y/N asked in a half teasing manner.
“Those ones were but,” Ellie flipped it open to a page covered in trees, “these ones aren't.”
“Oh, wow,” Y/N marveled.
Ellie slid the notebook onto the edge of her desk and let Y/N have a better look. She watched as the girl ran her fingers over the lines of the trees and the clouds. Eventually, though, Ellie found herself admiring the girl in front of her instead of the drawings. She made sure to remember exactly how her face looked, it would make for a good practice sketch later.
“So,” Ellie stared at the floor, not daring to meet Y/N’s eyes, “what’cha listening to?”
“Um,” Y/N paused her music, “do you know beabadoobee?”
Ellie thought for a moment. “She sings that one song ‘she plays bass’, right? I love that song.”
“Yeah!” Y/N’s face lit up. “I mean, I really like it too, but I'm listening to some of her other stuff.”
“Cool,” Ellie leaned back in her chair nonchalantly, “I’ve been meaning to listen to more of her songs. She seems really cool.”
“I could…” Y/N trailed off. “If you want to listen… we could listen together. I have the whole album downloaded.”
Oh. “Y-yeah I’d like that. I don’t think the teachers coming back any time soon.”
Ellie cursed herself for stuttering. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she could guarantee she was red as a tomato, but she tried to keep her calm. They were listening to music, that was all, she told herself.
Y/N handed Ellie an earbud, before realizing they were a bit too far away to listen comfortably. Ellie, being the dumbass she is, scooted her chair over rather loudly.
“Shit, maybe you shouldn’t–” Y/N began.
“What is going on in here?” The teacher re-entered the room.
“Uhhh…” Ellie blanked. “I’m helping her study?”
The teacher, whose name slipped Ellie’s mind, looked at them dubiously. “Uh-huh. I don’t think so.”
“She’s telling the truth!” Y/N piped up, holding up her notebook. “Seriously, I’m really struggling with my calc homework, which makes sense because it is the most complex thing ever, and Ellie offered, and I know we’re not supposed to talk or anything but-”
“Okay, okay,” the teacher said, rubbing her temples. “Just– be quiet, okay? No more noise.”
Ellie held back a shit-eating grin. Rambling on about nothing, it seemed, stressed the teacher out enough to get her to go away. Time to lay on the charm, Ellie thought, now that we’re alone. She turned back to Y/N and, immediately, smacked their foreheads together with a loud crack.
“Fuck!” Ellie whisper-screamed. “I am so sorry holy shit. I’m a fucking dumbass.”
“Oh… fucking hell.” Y/N grabbed her forehead, closing her eyes from the impact. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” Ellie said, shaking her head. However, she quickly stopped shaking her head because it began to throb with movement. “I fucking killed you. Holy fucking balls.”
Y/N snorted at Ellie’s constant use of swearing. “It’s okay, seriously.”
“Do you still want to listen to music?” Ellie asked, assuming the answer was no. The thumping in her forehead was soon replaced by the loud beating of her heart. If I start blushing right now, she thought, I’m gonna look like a fucking idiot. “It’s okay if you don’t, I get it.”
“No, no,” Y/N said.
“Oh, okay.” Ellie slid back into her spot, voice filled with disappointment. Of fucking course she didn’t want to listen to music, Ellie’s mind said, I just head-butted her.
“No!” Y/N said. “I mean, I want to listen to music. I just- that's not what I meant by ‘no’. I want to.”
Ellie perked up. “Oh, cool yeah. Me too.” Way to play it cool, dumbass.
After sliding her chair over quietly this time, Ellie accepted Y/N’s earbud with honor. She watched as Y/N opened up Spotify, clicked on the album, and started playing music. Soft guitar made its way through the speakers and into her brain. Instantly, Ellie was lost in the music and the girl beside her. Each crash of the drums seemed to make her heart beat faster and faster. Ellie urged herself to calm down, to chill out. The girl of her dreams was right fucking there and she was having a goddamn aneurysm because they were sharing a pair of headphones.
Ellie allowed herself a glance at Y/N, nearly collapsing when she saw that the other girl was looking at her too. What did this mean? Did Y/N feel the same way? Did she have something on her face?
Fuck it, Ellie thought, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it. “Hey, I’m having a party on Friday- or tomorrow. Wanna come?”
Oh god, say yes. Please say yes. Holy fuck.
“Sure,” Y/N said, playing with her thumbs. “What’s your address?”
“Oh, um,” Ellie said. It’s now or never. “Can I get your number and text it to you?”
“Okay,” Y/N replied, quickly opening up her phone and finding her number. She repeated it to Ellie, who wrote it down in her notebook with slightly shaky hands. “Cool.”
“Cool.” Y/N said, not turning away from Ellie, who looked into her eyes. Ellie swallowed and realized how close they were now. Y/N licked her lips. Almost close enough to-
The teacher barged in again. “How’s the studying going, girls?”
Ellie resisted the urge to scream, ‘Can you fucking not?’ And she was actually very proud of herself for not berating the teacher with terrible timing.
“W- um,” Y/N fumbled. “Good, good. I’m… learning. A lot.”
The teacher squinted. “I’m just fucking with you guys, I got bored. Continue.”
“Ms. Miller, what the hell?” Y/N asked. Ellie was still stuck replaying the sight of Y/N’s lips so close to hers in her mind. Wait. Miller?
Ellie took in the teacher's face. “Maria?”
“What?” The teacher asked. “How do you know my- wait are you the girl Joel adopted?”
“What?” Y/N looked between them. “Huh?”
“Yeah, I’m Ellie,” Ellie said. “Sorry for… whatever. Not studying. You’re a teacher?”
“You’re in detention?”
“Touche,” Ellie said, realization dawning on her. “Don’t tell Joel, hold on.”
“Hah,” Maria said, walking out.
Ellie and Y/N were silent for a moment, before Y/N paused the music.
“You know Ms. Miller?” The other girl asked.
“Yeah, she’s married to Joel’s– or my dad’s brother.”
“Oh, nice,” Y/N said. “That’s why she went easy on us, I guess.”
“Probably.” Ellie didn’t know how to diffuse the awkward aura around them. Would they have kissed if Maria hadn’t walked in? It didn’t matter, Ellie thought. “Wanna keep listening?”
“Sure,” Y/N said, playing the music.
They listened to the album, pausing every few songs to discuss it and get off topic so much they forgot what they were doing in the first place. Ellie played dare-devil and risked a look at Y/N’s lips every once in a while. Before she knew it, the four o’clock bell rang signalling that detention was over. Ellie almost didn’t want it to end, but she found herself slinging her bag over her shoulder and making her way out of the room. Before she could leave, however, the girl behind her spoke.
“I didn’t expect to, y’know, have fun in detention but,” she said, “this was fun.”
Ellie grinned. “Me too. Hey, I’ll see you at the party?”
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” Y/N responded.
Ellie slipped out the doorway and, once she was a confident distance from the classroom, began to pump her fist in the air. She jumped up, tapping the fire escape sign, and ran out of the school.
“Fuck yesss!”