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The first time Lux ever laid eyes on her, Jinx was blissfully unaware of the fact that she was being seen at all. It was a Sunday and she was killing time in the school laboratory. No one else was supposed to be there. But Lux had just moved into town with her parents, and the headmaster was giving them a guided tour of the facilities.
In the lab, Jinx bobbed her head to the heavy-metal jam blasting from her little purple speaker. She was entranced in a hypomanic state: hyperfocused on the project in front of her, expertly assembling the pieces in rhythm with the beat.
It was near the end of summer break and it was a fairly warm afternoon. She was wearing a cropped tank top ripped at the neckline. And a pair of distressed jean shorts hung low on her hips. Her outfit complete with white converse that had been completely covered with graffiti-style hand-drawn figures.
Lux hadn't meant to spy on the blue-haired girl, who seemed to have freshly-cut flowers intertwined with her thick cyan-colored braids. She’d gotten distracted and wandered off while her parents were talking to the headmaster in his office. But by the time she realized, she was in full-on stalker mode. Her nose almost touched the door glazing, manicured hands gripping the frieze rail.
She snapped out of it when the dreamy, blue-haired girl adjusted her position: turning her chair around and briefly facing the lab's entrance. Lux swung away from the door, back pressed onto the hard wall. Trying to meld with it almost. Pulse hammering in her throat, chest heaving. After a few moments without repercussions, she calmed down, returning to the previous stance. Bewildered by the other girl’s immersion in her contraptions.
On the first day of school, Lux was secretly hoping to see her again, the blue-haired girl with tiny multicolored flowers adorning her hair. She wanted to be friends with her. Lux was good at making friends too. But her hopes were starting to falter after the first week of school passed by. She had yet to see any sign of long blue braids which perfectly matched in color with the girl’s moon-shaped eyes. She hadn’t been in class, nor in the hallways or cafeteria; not in the crowd before and after school; not in the girl bathrooms; not even in the laboratory after school hours.
Lux didn’t get fixated though, she socialized with her other classmates. But she couldn’t stop thinking about fingers with mismatched and chipped nail polish expertly piecing metal cogs and bits together; and dark, thick eyebrows furrowed in concentration. So, by the start of her third week, she casually asked one of her new acquaintances if she knew anything about a girl with long, blue hair.
“Oh, skinny, with long braided hair?” The girl made a gesture with her hand, fingers flourishing to depict the length.
“Yeah, do you know her?” Lux perked up instantly at the other’s recognition.
“I mean, sorta? Everyone knows about her, she’s Jinx.”
“Oh, is that her actual name?”
“Could be too.”
A tiny frown appeared on Lux’s brow. “Is it like a nickname?”
“Somewhat…” She shrugged and moved on to the next topic. “Hey, what are you doing this weekend? You should definitely come to the Sera's slumber party.”
“Uh, well, I haven’t been invited yet…”
“Sera likes you, I’m sure she’ll be happy to have you.”
The girl wasn’t wrong. Lux and Sera got right along. Laughed at all the same parts of the chick-flick they watched. Turns out they had a similar taste in snacks too.
“I brought this from my hometown, they’re a little bit of an acquired taste,” Lux started.
“Are those musk sticks?” Sera reached out eagerly as Lux revealed the bag of candy she’d brought.
“You know them?” Lux seemed surprised as she handed Sera the pink, star-shaped sticks.
“Used to be my favorites, haven’t seen these in a long time.”
“I got these too.” Lux produced a second candy bag from her backpack.
“Warheads?” One of the other girls made a face in disgust, scrunching up her nose as if she could already taste the sour candy.
“Oh, those are great!” Sera exclaimed.
“You like them? Most people find them to be too much,” Lux said and Sera nodded, chuckling.
It was an undeniably fun night for both.
“Hey, by the way, that girl Jinx, does she go here?”
“Why you askin’?”
“Oh no reason, I saw her once in the lab.”
“She goes here, but only like, sometimes.”
Four weeks had passed since the start of school and Jinx had yet to show up to class. She’d heard there was a new girl from Sera, they texted each other sometimes. Or rather, Sera checked on her when she missed school. Sera was a good friend. Jinx wasn’t.
Jinx wasn’t charismatic like her sister. Everyone liked Vi. She was popular. But she’d graduated two years ago and gone off to Uni. It made Jinx sad. But at least now she knew who was just being nice to her in hopes of getting closer to her sister. Jinx wasn’t as likable as Vi was, she was fully aware and was fine with it. She didn’t like most people anyways, but she liked Sera, kinda. Jinx wanted to be a better friend, she just didn’t know how.
Sera at 5:44 pm:
theres this new girl at school she came to the sleepover…wish you had too
Jinx at 5:48 pm:
did u have fun?
Sera at 5:49 pm:
yeah, she brought warheads and fuckin musk sticks!
Jinx at 5:55 pm:
musk sticks huh? r u like twins?
Sera at 5:55 pm:
i know right?
Jinx at 5:58 pm:
so like u n new girl besties now?
Sera at 5:58 pm:
no… but shes nice and pretty, youd like her
Jinx at 6:05 pm:
cool
Sera at 6:07 pm:
miss you in class, hope you feel better soon x
Jinx at 6:22 pm:
me 2
Sera at 6:25 pm:
im here if you wanna talk
Jinx at 7:09 pm:
im good but thx
Apparently, Sera hadn’t known what to say after that.
Jinx knew she could talk to her about anything but she could never understand. Jinx herself didn’t understand why she had these sudden mood swings. Nor why her emotions seemed to either be there all at once or not at all. It was all or nothing. She knew it wasn’t normal. She knew it wasn’t healthy. She felt like she was going crazy.
The next Monday Jinx was back in class. She saw her in the hallway, the new girl, talking to Sera by her locker. Sera’s back was facing her as she walked to the headmaster’s office to deliver her excuse letter. The other girl, Lux, had been smiling, listening attentively to whatever Sera was telling her. But upon laying eyes on Jinx she stopped and gasped. Like she’d seen a fucking ghost. Jinx frowned because… ‘What the fuck?’
They locked eyes for an ephemeral moment. Lux was the first one to look away. Jinx scoffed and walked past not bothering to greet Sera. Not even when she heard her call out after her. It didn’t make any sense. Why did her stomach twist in knots at the thought of a new girl stealing Sera from her?
‘People can’t be stolen.’ Her brain helpfully provided. But she was the one friend she trusted even remotely. She didn’t come back to school just because of that though. Did she?
The classes felt all the same, as she’d expected. And that was why Jinx didn’t feel like coming to school in the first place. Everything made her feel sick here. In every class, she’d sit at the third to last chair of the row closest to the door. Needing to be as close to freedom as possible. But without drawing too much attention to herself. She would often stare at the clock above the whiteboard, tuning out the sounds of the teacher’s voice.
She was used to being ignored. It was almost comforting. Only showing up because it’s what she should do. There was something different though. Jinx felt the burning gaze boring at the back of her head. And knew exactly what it was. Two rows over, sitting at the very back. The new girl hadn’t stopped staring at her since she’d come back. At first, Jinx believed it was just her imagination. But as the days went by she started to realize it was very much not her imagination.
She wondered if it was because of what her classmates always said about her. Morbid curiosity perhaps? But on the third day, she finally was fed up, in the middle of a Biology lecture. She snapped her head towards Lux and was met with a startled gaze. Nervous but not at all unkind or judging, Jinx noted.
The girl looked flustered, her eyes immediately breaking away from Jinx’s icy glare. Jinx narrowed her eyes, gauging her from across the room. She returned her gaze forward, making her assessment: ‘She doesn’t look like she hates me… yet.’ She always assumed everyone hated her. She was rarely ever wrong, too.
That hadn’t been the end of it though, of the staring that is. Lux kept giving her subtle glances that quickly turned into shameless stares. When Jinx let her eyes wander in her general direction though, she immediately trained her eyes away. Jinx would then cover her face from the other, head leaning on her hand, elbow bent propped on the desk. She hid her reaction and the sly smirk that accompanied it. Unwilling to acknowledge the revolting sense of satisfaction that filled her every time she caught her watching.
Jinx didn’t quite understand what the new girl was doing. What her intentions were. She was simply trying to catch up with everything she’d missed in that first month of school.
There was a lot of homework for her to turn in. Like heaps of assignments for her to complete. But she knew she would prioritize and deliver just enough to get a passing grade. That’s how it always was. She started to mentally classify the assignments in her head from least effort for value to least value for effort.
And there it was again, the tingle at the back of her head. The shivers up her neck. The staring.
Jinx wanted to go up to the blonde’s desk, slam her hand on it and ask what the hell her problem was. But she was sitting next to Sera. She was Sera’s new friend and Jinx didn’t have the energy to be in a fight with her right now. Not over this.
Sera had convinced Jinx to have lunch together that Friday. It had been a mistake for Jinx to assume she meant just the two of them.
“What’s she doing here?” Jinx whispered when Lux joined them at the table.
Sera ignored her question, greeting the other girl. Jinx frowned.
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to introduce myself.”
“Really?”
“I’m Luxanna, but you can call me Lux.”
“Huh… you probably know who I am,” Lux nodded.
“Jinx,” she recalled. “Is that, do you like being called that?”
Jinx shrugged, that’s what everyone called her anyway. But Lux was the first one to ask if she was okay with it. If someone had cared to ask her before, she might have thought twice about it. As it was now, it didn’t matter to her anymore.
“Why do you stare at me in class?” She asked instead of responding to the question.
“What- I… uh, sorry I…”
“It’s very distracting,” Jinx cut off her stuttering.
“I apologize.”
“Don’t, just… stop doing it.”
“I… Okay, I will.”
Jinx turned silent after that, arranging the peas in her tray in a swirl. After what seemed like a minute, she felt Sera’s hand on her shoulder, shaking her. Lunchtime was over. She hadn’t realized she’d tuned out so much, for so long.
“Hey, we should go back.”
“Right.”
But Jinx could feel it was not a good idea for her to go back to class. She felt on the verge of an episode. She didn't walk back with the others. Deciding to head to the bathroom and making a call instead.
“Hi, sweetie, is everything okay?” Silco's voice was hushed and she knew he was probably in a meeting.
“No… I’m… I shouldn’t have come back here.”
“It’s okay, do you need me to pick you up?” The concern made itself evident in his voice.
“Yeah.”
She sat on the closed lid of the toilet, curled into herself, and stared blankly at the closed booth door.
Dad at 12:53 pm:
I’m parked outside.
Jinx at 12:59 pm:
last bathroom stall
Dad at 1:01 pm:
Want me to go get you?
Jinx at 1:01 pm:
please
The weekend had sucked. Spent mostly at the therapist’s office, the psychiatrist, the pharmacist. They switched her medication again. She didn’t want to go back to class. But the doctors insisted it was the best way to test if the new substances had the desired effect. She felt like a guinea pig.
She survived that Monday swimmingly, though. She didn’t feel jumpy or depressed. Keeping her focus in the lectures was still a conscious effort. But she felt motivated to work on her projects for the first time since break. So that was something, right?
“Hey, Jinx!”
“Huh?”
Jinx stopped in her tracks and turned around. Lux ran up to her, bouncing on her heels.
“Where are you going?”
“Not that it concerns you but I'm heading to the lab. And spending the rest of the day there,” she didn’t know why she felt compelled to say the last part.
“Can I come with you?” Jinx blinked.
“Why?”
“I'm looking for extracurricular activities but haven't decided on one yet.”
‘This isn't exactly an extracurricular…’ Jinx thought.
“Sure, you can come,” she said instead.
“Thanks,” Lux's smile was blinding.
Jinx looked away, not wanting to ponder on why that smile made her chest flutter.
“I was worried you were upset with me…” Lux confessed suddenly when the two were in the lab.
“Why would I be?” Jinx asked noncommittally.
“I guessed I made you feel uncomfortable on Friday.”
“That wasn’t your fault,” her hands never stopped moving, fitting pieces together.
“So, are you like a science-y nerd?” Jinx asked after a moment of comfortable silence.
She skimmed her eyes towards Lux’s notes. A gleeful chuckle erupted from the blonde and rippled through the room, filling up the space. Filling Jinx with a warm tingling sensation.
“I guess so? I love science, physics, astronomy.”
‘Star nerd, then’ Jinx quirked her eyebrow, inspecting the girl before her.
“What?”
“You just didn’t strike me as the nerdy type before, but… that’s kinda cool,” Jinx decided.
“Thanks,” Lux kept scribbling in her notebook and they fell silent again.
Jinx focused on the project coming together between her fingers, while Lux observed and took notes.
“I didn’t see this in the official clubs’ list,” Lux said when the two were walking out of the lab.
“A club of one isn’t exactly a club.”
“What if there were two of us?”
Jinx raised her eyes once more. ‘Us.’ Her mind echoed. Lux was chewing her lip anxiously, she looked slightly flushed.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would you want to be in a club with me?”
“Why not?” Lux replied with a question of her own.
‘Because no one likes me.’
“That’s not a reason.”
“I don’t think I need a reason. But if I was to give one it would be that you’re a nerd too.”
Jinx couldn’t help the smile that crept up her lips. “You’re really annoying.”
Lux grinned almost giddy.
“We should exchange numbers.”
“Uh…”
No one but Sera had Jinx’s number. Not after Vi had graduated and she decided she needed a clean slate. She’d changed her number and deleted all of her socials. Then created new accounts with a new name.
“It will be easier to keep up with homework together. And also… I’d love to hang out this weekend,” Lux was doing that thing Jinx had seen her do often with her fingers, fiddling with her perfectly manicured nails.
“What’s this weekend?”
“There’s a pretty cool convention coming to town.”
“Convention?” Jinx arched an eyebrow, tugging a piece of dry skin from her bottom lip with her teeth.
Lux nodded. “I have an extra pass.”
“Why me?”
“Why not?”
‘It’s because she thinks you’re a pathetic loner and a loser. You don’t need her pity.’
“I promise you’ll love it, Jinx. Please?” Lux was begging her. Jinx considered, humming as she peeled the dry skin off, grinding it between her teeth.
“Besides, who else do you know who is as interested in this stuff?” Lux added.
Jinx laughed under her breath, puffing out air in defeat. “Fine.”
“Yay!” Lux jumped and clapped. Jinx rolled her eyes, but couldn’t erase the stupid grin from her face.
‘She really is a huge nerd.’ But she looked so excited. Jinx couldn’t deny the fact that she was adorable when she got excited. She’d also looked… hopeful? When asking her to come with… ‘shes nice and pretty’ Jinx remembered Sera’s text.
They ended up exchanging numbers and Lux offered to pick her up for the convention.
“This is one of the reasons I’m glad we moved even if I was reluctant at first.”
“Didn’t have giant nerds visit the smaller nerds back home?”
“Nope… Oh, look over there!” Lux grabbed Jinx’s hand, tugging her along.
Jinx’s heart leaped, threatening to escape her chest. ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck. Why- why is she- she’s holding my hand…’
“Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not even listening, are you?” Lux’s hand was still on hers.
“I’m fine,” Jinx breathed, forcing herself to look up.
“It’s so cool, isn’t it?” Lux pointedly squeezed her hand and Jinx didn’t pull away from her grip.
It was more than cool, alright? The whole convention was filled with intricately designed devices. Some were plain-looking but functionally genius while others were more so aesthetically pleasing.
“Why did you move out here anyway?” Jinx wondered as they were sitting on a bench, resting their feet.
“My dad’s job,” Lux slurped the blood-red slushie she’d picked from the machine.
“Oh? What does he do?”
“Entrepreneur.”
Jinx glanced at her, snickering.
“What? It’s true, that’s what his LinkedIn bio says anyway,” Lux shrugged.
“You’re silly,” Jinx took the slushie from her, taking a long sip. Pretended not to see how Lux stared and swallowed harshly, face turning into the color of her drink.
“I could’ve got you one,” Lux mumbled, as Jinx returned her the cup.
“Stolen tastes better.”
Lux hummed, and Jinx could see the cogs turning in her head.
“I think I’m falling in love.”
“Wait, what?”
“I really like her.”
“Does she know?”
“I haven’t told her if that’s what you mean. She’s probably not even into girls.”
“Oh, trust me, she is.”
“Really?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Oh.”
“I think she likes you too.”
“How do you know?”
“Well I know her… and you guys are spending all this time together lately, and she looks so much happier recently. Honestly, I’m starting to get kinda jealous.”
“Well…”
“Don’t worry, I don’t wanna be the third wheel in your nerdy stuff,” Sera quickly cut her off.
“Progress isn’t a linear journey. You will have great days and forget what it feels like on the bad days, that’s good. But when the bad days come, don’t forget how it feels like on those good days.”
Jinx didn’t forget, but it was hard to feel like the rock-bottom days were going to pass. There was no rhyme or reason to it. And that was the worst part. Not knowing. Being unable to pinpoint the external factors in her life that were so shit so that she could blame her low mood on those.
But there weren’t any specific external reasons for this episode. She just woke up one Monday and couldn’t convince herself of leaving her bed. She’d been religiously taking her prescription. And it seemed to be working fine for the first few weeks, but then it stopped working all of a sudden.
Sera had been sending her cat gifs all week, but none of them got a reaction out of her. Lux messaged her on Friday. Despite herself, that got a reaction out of her.
Star nerd at 2:31 pm:
hey, i know you must be going thru smthn, i’ll come by to bring you this week’s assignments
Jinx at 4:51 pm:
im fine u didnt have to
Star nerd at 5:11 pm:
can i come over?
Jinx at 5:14 pm:
wat 4?
Star nerd at 5:15 pm:
i got some new notes to show you
Jinx at 5:19 pm:
lab shit?
Star nerd at 5:20 pm:
yes, got a big breakthru
Jinx at 5:22 pm:
not in the mood
Star nerd at 5:23 pm:
then we could just hang
Jinx at 5:28 pm:
not in the mood
Star nerd at 5:30 pm:
you good with just texting?
Jinx stared at the screen for a long time, unsure of what to make of it. It caught her by surprise. Jinx wasn’t normally one to ghost people. She normally just sent cold replies that got them to stop texting her.
Jinx at 5:49 pm:
yea ig
After that, they stayed up all night texting.
Jinx didn’t sleep at all the prior night but she somehow had the energy the next day to meet Lux at the library.
“Hi! Sorry I made you stay up last night.”
“I’m fine, but you look awful! ”
“Oh, yeah, if I don’t get my eight hours this is the result,” Lux took a sip from the large paper cup, pumping her system with caffeine, a feeble attempt to stay awake for their study session.
“Well, fuck,” Jinx scowled, a sudden sense of guilt washing over her as she focused on the dark circles under Lux’s eyes. “Shit, I’m sorry… you must be tired. I don’t have a sleep schedule so I forget people need those,” she sighed. “Listen you should probably go home, get some sleep, and-”
“Absolutely not,” Lux interrupted, all of a sudden looking serious.
“But-”
“It’s okay, I’ll survive, I… I really wanted to hang out with you…”
Jinx stopped, dumbfounded. She missed you? ‘Don’t say that… don’t…’ Something new to jiii~inx? She let out a shaky breath, a nervous chuckle escaping her throat. Her eyes darted around and landed on the cup, a leeway for distraction.
“Did you buy the big cup so I could steal from you?”
“No…” But she definitely did. They both knew it.
“Liar,” Jinx grabbed the cup and took a small sip of the sugary hazelnut flavored drink.
“Ew, it’s so sweet. Does this even contain coffee?”
“Yes, it does!”
“Barely I guess,” Jinx took another sip, letting the flavor spread across her tongue.
It wasn’t so bad.
“Some days are just going to be shit no matter how hard you try, or how much you want them to not be. Those are the low lows. You will think nothing good ever lasts when you’re in those moods, and you would be right. But the good news is that nothing bad lasts forever either.”
“You just gotta power through, power through, Powder, I know it sucks but I’m here for you.”
‘So much for being here. In the end, it’s only me and you, old friend.’
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
She was taking her medication, she was. Why did this happen? She did-… Did she take it this morning? ‘Fuck.’
“Jinx wait!” Lux chased after her.
But Jinx was gone, too far gone for her to reach, for anyone to reach. She stalked out of the library, murmurs filling the space on her wake. So much for keeping quiet. Lux picked up their stuff and ran behind her.
“Where are you going?” No response. “Jinx, what’s going on?”
“Why do you have to bring it up now?... Just shut up. You’re not…- I hate you! You hate me, just go away.”
Lux watched the other girl have a one-sided conversation with herself. She was afraid to touch her, wondered if it was like sleepwalking, it was supposed to be worse if you woke them up, right? Or was that just a stupid belief?
“What are you doing?” Jinx was talking to her now.
“What do you mean?”
“Why the fuck are you standing there staring?” She accused, almost growling the words.
“Jinx…” Lux’s tone was filled with concern and Jinx deflated.
“Don’t… don’t say my name like that.”
“How?”
“Like I’m a bomb waiting to explode.”
“That’s not-”
“Oh, come on! I know what you all think about me. I’ve heard it all before: the fear masked with fake concern, the self-righteous superiority, the judgment, the sneers, the laughs,” Jinx inched closer to the other girl, yanking her bag from her hand.
“You’re wrong. And you feel so sorry for yourself that you think the whole world spins around you.”
“If I’m such a buzzkill then stay away. I don’t know why you even decided to stick to me in the first place.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Oh, shut up. And do yourself a favor: don’t ever talk to me again.”
Star nerd at 11:11 am:
can we talk this over?
Jinx at 11:45 am:
no
Star nerd at 11:54 am:
jinx… i know what youre doing.
Jinx at 12:17 pm:
enlightn me flashlight
Star nerd at 12:18 pm:
youre pushing me away.
Jinx at 12:18 pm:
why
Star nerd at 12:19 pm:
becuz you think you dont deserve friends and you think ppl will hurt you
Jinx at 12:20 pm:
no, why dont u get the hint
Star nerd at 12:21 pm:
the hint?
Jinx at 12:24 pm:
im fed up
Star nerd at 12:31 pm:
what do you mean?
Jinx at 12:31 pm:
ur smotherin me
Star nerd at 12:37 pm:
im sorry.
Jinx at 12:38 pm:
bye
Lux didn’t keep trying. Jinx was right.
The next few weeks blurred together. Days, weeks, months. Lux kept bringing her the assignments at the end of each week. But the finals were approaching. She couldn’t keep this up. Her dads brought her food every day, but she barely touched it most of the time.
She ignored all of Sera’s and Lux’s texts. Didn’t even notice her sister calling her, she just stared at her laptop all day, propped on a pile of pillows.
“Vi said she was calling you,” Vander interrupted whatever video she was staring at on loop for the day.
“What?”
“Vi? Your sister? She was on the phone earlier, said she was calling you to your cell.”
“No one says cell anymore. All phones are mobile.”
“Alright smartass. You have a visitor.”
“What?” ‘a visitor’ Jinx started paying attention now. “Vi?”
“No, but, I’m sure she’d be back in a heartbeat if you asked.”
“Then who?”
“One of your friends.”
“Sera?” She rarely ever visited her.
“The other.” ‘Lux.’
“I can’t see anyone like this.”
“Well, she seemed to be very intent on seeing you, should I tell her to leave?”
“No… uh, see if she’ll wait.”
“Oh, she’ll wait. She said she would, felt a little bit like a threat.”
Jinx was smiling for the first time in a long time. Vander didn’t miss it either.
She took the longest shower. Self-sabotage was a hard beast to combat. But she hadn’t showered in too long to even remember. She ought to take her time. She idly debated whether she should blow-dry her hair. Thought that she probably should, but decided against it. Washing her hair was enough effort.
After slipping into a baggy washed-out sweatshirt and sweatpants that decidedly did not match, Jinx made a great deal of effort to walk out of her bedroom into the living room. It was the most she’d walked in a while. Lux was seated in the armchair, conveniently facing away from the hallway.
“You really can’t take a hint.”
She watched as Lux nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Fuck.”
“Wow, you came all the way here to curse at me?”
“Oh my… I’m sorry.”
“Come on, let’s talk in my room,” Jinx waited for Lux to nod and turned, leading the way.
She sure was glad her dad insisted on cleaning up and changing the sheets every other week or the stench would be unbearable. Jinx sat at the edge of the bed looking up at Lux expectantly.
“Um, may I?”
“Yup,” the bed dipped beside Jinx as she toyed with the dead skin of her bottom lip with her teeth.
Their thighs were brushing. Jinx shifted a little but didn’t exactly move away. Lux turned to her, lightly tugging on one of the blonde pieces of hair framing her face.
“You… I… I know your case is special, you didn’t need me to bring the assignments.”
Jinx gulped, her pulse jumping at the confession. She pushed her hair back. Her shoulder was wet where the dripping hair had been. Lux waited, and Jinx simply rested her head on her shoulder, sighing. She felt a hesitant arm wrap around her shoulders; and leaned further against Lux, breathing in her fruity body splash.
‘She’s too nice.’
“So why did you keep coming?” Her voice barely above a whisper.
“I just couldn’t give up.”
“Couldn’t give up?” Jinx echoed.
“I’m not trying to pressure you,” Lux clarified.
“Didn’t think so… what couldn’t you give up on?”
“You.”
Jinx was wrong, Lux never stopped trying. It would be embarrassing, but Jinx was too glad. ‘God, you love her.’
“Thanks,” she said instead.
She didn’t go back to school until finals week. Even just the thought of attending class was draining to her. But now she at least had two people to hang out with. People. Not only one person. She’d almost forgotten what that felt like.
She also turned in assignments that granted her credits plummeting her grades way above a passing grade in all classes.
“We should celebrate, ask your sister to come over, or even go visit her,” Vander suggested over dinner the night Jinx received her report card.
“That’s unnecessary,” Jinx murmured, though the idea appealed to her. “Lux is coming over later, by the way.”
Silco and Vander shared a knowing look.
“Please don’t start,” Jinx stood up, taking all of their plates to wash up.
But they could hear her humming out a cheery tone to herself. And the smile was evident in her voice as she loaded the dishwasher.
When Lux arrived, she’d brought a plethora of snacks she knew Jinx liked, stuffed inside her pink overnight bag. Along with all the necessities for their sleepover of two, such as a toothbrush and a pajama set.
She’d also brought her tablet to watch the documentary she’d insisted Jinx had to watch using her account. But Jinx knew the real reason was that Lux thought her laptop was a fire hazard. Just because it had overheated the one time she borrowed it and tried to browse some formula.
“Is everything you own pink?” Jinx asked teasingly, grabbing the rose-gold device Lux set on the nightstand.
“If possible.”
“You’re literally just missing to dye your hair like Sera.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.”
“Yeah, whatever you say, Sunshine,” Jinx plopped down on the bed and leaned back against the bed frame. The screen lit up as she pressed the button on the side of it. Lux crawled to her side, she was about to tell her the code. But as she was about to speak, she saw Jinx already had the streaming app open.
“How did you guess it?”
“Didn’t have to guess… you always unlock your phone in front of me.”
“So you know my phone passcode too?”
“Too? It’s the same one, genius.”
“I didn’t know you were looking.”
“Huh, I guess I’m not as obvious as some,” she shrugged.
Lux flushed, crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes. “Again with that…”
“You know it. Now which is it, there are a few under this name.”
Lux huffed out leaning closer and touched the screen, selecting the right one. Jinx pulled the duvet over their legs. They settled comfortably to watch the documentary. Opening one of the snack bags, Jinx popped a few bits of candy into her mouth, chewing quietly.
Even though Lux had already seen it, she seemed just as invested. Delivering color commentary such as “oh, this part is cool,” and “you're gonna love this bit,” or “I loved that.” Jinx's responses varied from short nods to thoughtful hums and the casual “oh,” “cool!” and “nice.”
Lux was yawning by the end of it, though. Causing Jinx to mirror her with a yawn of her own.
“Fuck,” Jinx covered her mouth towards the end of her yawn.
“You curse a lot,” Lux rubbed her eyes.
“Yep.”
“Did you like it?” She started to lean more heavily against the blue-haired girl
“Yep,” she confirmed, turning the screen off.
“I’m tired.”
“No shit,” Jinx made sure to put the tablet in a safe spot on her night table before dimming the lights.
“Should change… but you’re comfy.”
“Lux…”
“Hmm?”
“Sweet dreams.”
Jinx ran her fingers through the golden locks, watching Lux drift off against her.
“So… how much do you hate sports?”
It was so out of the blue that Lux was caught completely off-guard.
“What? Why do you assume…” Lux started, Jinx crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. “Okay fine, the normal amount I guess? Why?”
“My sister has a big game this weekend.”
“You have a sister?” That wasn’t the response Jinx was expecting.
Right, Lux didn’t know Vi.
“Yeah, she’s like… bigger than life amazing,” Jinx smiled fondly.
“That’s nice, it must be nice to have a sister.”
“Huh… yeah, it can sometimes be nice.”
“Wait, why did you ask me about sports?” ‘Are you going to ask me to come?’
“Oh, yeah. Wanna come to the game?”
“I’d love to.”
On the day of the game, Jinx and her dads picked Lux up. She slipped in the back, taking the seat behind the shotgun.
The first thing Lux noticed upon laying eyes on Jinx was how good she looked in the oversized sports shirt she was wearing. She’d tied it in a knot at the waist, accentuating her figure. The next thing she noticed was that Jinx was wearing multi-colored flowers in her hair, similar to the first time she ever saw her. The third thing was the slight flush on her cheeks, big blue eyes avoiding her gaze. The fourth was the reason: Jinx had placed her hand atop Lux’s on the seat between them.
“You look very nice,” she complimented.
“You do too.” Jinx chewed the corner of her lip, holding back a smile.
Lux was sure she was in love.