Chapter Text
Midterms were around the corner and the hallways of Eden were awash with an aura of stress and anxiety. It was a Friday afternoon and the library was busier than ever. Some students were revising while others had completely given up. Amongst the sea of students was a group the librarians were very well acquainted with. They sat in the back behind the bookshelves. That had been their spot for the last 5 years.
“Why do we need to learn this?” Anya groaned, slamming her head on her textbook. “It’s not even useful.”
“You idiot!” Damian retorted. “You use maths everyday. Like telling time or counting or–”
“Ew! Why are you defending Maths?” Becky scoffed as she filed her nails. “You’re such a nerd Desmond!”
“I am not a nerd! You guys are just stupid.”
“Actually, I scored higher than you on our last Maths test,” Ewen proudly proclaimed.
Damian rolled his eyes, “that was just a fluke.” There was no way he’d let that happen again. Okay, so maybe he was a bit of a nerd.
“I don’t know about you guys but I’m hungry,” like clockwork Emile got up to get his 4:30PM snack.
“Wait for me! I want to grab a bite too,” Ewen stated before catching up with Emile.
Becky’s eyes followed the boys until they were completely out of sight. She looked at the two remaining people in front of her. One whose head was buried deep in his textbook and the other using her’s as a pillow. It was time to play cupid.
“Anya, I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Anya’s head rose to face Becky. “I’ll be back soon, okay ?” she declared with a wink.
“Uh huh, I understand.” She replied stiffly.
Damian looked back and forth between the girls, “why are you guys speaking like that?” He was tired of their distractions.
“Girl’s stuff. You wouldn’t understand Desmond.” Becky smirked and as she walked away she added some fuel to the fire. “Or maybe you would? Why don’t you tell him Anya?”
Anya’s eyes widened as she shushed her best friend. She turned to Damian who was having trouble following their conversation.
“What is she talking about?”
“Who knows?” Anya shrugged in between her nervous laughter.
Anya had told Becky about her crush on Damian a couple of weeks ago. But that was a grave mistake. Ever since then, Becky had been manufacturing moments between them. Like right now, when she abruptly left for the bathroom. Leaving Anya with no time to rehearse what she wanted to say. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but it was easier said than done. She knew he liked her. His thoughts gave him away. But more often than not his actions went against his thoughts. She was afraid of the rejection. Because if he liked her as much as his mind led her to believe, why hadn’t he done anything about it.
Weirdos , he thought.
Now that she had come to terms with her crush on Damian, Anya didn’t know how to act around him. She thought about the things they used to do when they were alone. Sometimes he would let her draw on his hand. But only when it was the two of them. She picked up a pen and grabbed his left hand.
“H-hey what are you doing?”
“I’m just drawing. Is that okay?” she asked with pleading eyes. She felt her cheeks heat up. But she felt reassured when she noticed he was sporting the same rosy cheeks as her.
This is so sudden. I need to calm down, otherwise my hand will get sweaty. And then she can’t draw. And she’ll think I’m gross. And then–
She couldn’t help but giggle softly at his nervousness. It was cute.
“Fine, but nothing too crazy.”
“Okey dokey!” She started doodling random characters. Some from Spy Wars, some she made up, until she got a bright idea. She glanced at him briefly. He was in his own little world solving some equations. Which she should be doing too. But there was no time to worry about maths. Not when she had thought of the perfect way to tell Damian she had a crush on him. She would write it on his hand. It’s a great idea. Don’t think about it too much she told herself and she got to work.
Anya loves Damian.
There it was. In writing. On his palm. Surrounded by random sketches. She capped her pen and appreciated her work. She smiled, knowing that in a few moments he would read her message and no longer be blissfully unaware about how she felt.
That’s right, things are finally going to change. But what if he doesn’t want things to change? D-did I write Anya loves Damian. LOVE!? That’s too much right? He’s going to think I’m crazy. We can’t be in love. We’re only 15!
Anya was panicking and began to second guess herself. I need to change it or something. But it seemed like she was out of luck.
“Oi, why’d you stop drawing? Are you finished already?” Damian observed, moving his hand towards him.
“NO! She yelped, pulling his arm back towards her. “You can’t read it.”
“Why not?” he questioned, trying to read the mess scribbled on his palm. “Anya lo- God your handwriting is awful, what does it say?” For once, she was grateful for her poor penmanship.
“STOP… READING… IT!” Anya was practically begging, as she moved his arm around trying to divert the message from his gaze.
“Okay Anya, let go it’s not that serious”, he softly chuckled before he studied her carefully. She looked nauseous. “Wait, it’s not something inappropriate is it? Just let me see it before I go and wash it off.”
Yes, it was completely inappropriate! What was she thinking? Well, obviously she wasn’t. It was time to preserve what little dignity she had left. She stuck her thumb in her mouth and wet it. He looked at her with a certain intrigue for a second, before he realised what she was about to do. Horrified, he tried to escape from her grasp.
“ANYA!” It was the loudest he had ever been in the library. “I swear to God if you put your saliva on me I will never help you study again”, he continued in a loud whisper.
“You left me no choice.” She used her wet thumb to scrub her confession away.
“This is so gross!” he whined. “Enough, I won’t read it, just stop.”
She had just finished erasing the ‘D’ in his name when he finally broke free from her clutches.
“Waaaait, I’m not done yet!”
“Anya loves…?” He read, then stared at her waiting for a response. But she said nothing. “Am I supposed to guess?”
“No…” She had to think of something quick. “I, um, w-was going to write peanuts…. But I spelt it… wrong?” She didn’t even convince herself. But from Damian’s judgemental face, it looked like he bought it.
Typical Anya he concluded.
It was the kind of thing he expected from her. She wasn’t sure she liked being viewed that way by him. “Yeah, I had to erase it because I didn’t want you to think that I was stupid..”
“Oh good, ‘cause I don’t think you’re stupid.”
“You don’t?” she asked pathetically.
“No, you’re just insane,” he teased, playfully slapping her face. “You could have just said that from the start.”
Anya sat silently. Embarrassed about what had just transpired between them. In an attempt to diffuse the weird atmosphere, he offered her his hand again.
“You can continue drawing if you want..” he muttered. His cheeks were the cutest shade of pink.
Reluctantly, she took his hand and went back to doodling again. She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
After a few minutes, they fell back into their usual rhythm. A comfortable silence, that was disturbed by Becky’s return. She watched them for a second before she grinned to herself. Neither of them noticed her presence.
“Heeey guys,” she greeted them in a sing songy voice.
Almost immediately, Damian pulled his hand away from Anya. She knew it was coming, but still. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
“Oh, you’re back Becky. How was the bathroom?” Anya asked mindlessly.
“You moron! Don’t ask her that.”
Anya knew she wasn’t really in the bathroom. She was behind some bookcases watching them. She was going to get an earful from Becky for aborting her confession when she was so close.
“Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Lately, Becky’s amusement seemed to come from teasing them.
“Nope, just studying. Like you should be doing”.
“Don’t worry about me, Desmond. My grades are fine. Your girl over there though..” She pointed at Anya.
“Hey!” Anya grumbled.
“You know I love you, but it’s true.”
“She is not my girl.” Damian snapped back.
“Yeah, yeah whatever. I was thinking…” she put her hands together. “Why don’t we have a study session at my house? Anya does her best work at my house. What do you say Desmond? I’m sure if you tutored her at my place she would pass with flying colours!”
“I don’t have time to be tutoring other people. Especially not at your house.”
“Oh come on! Do it for Anya. You don’t want to see her expelled do you?”
“She won’t get expelled for failing one test.”
Becky spoke with her eyes, signalling Anya to jump in. Anya welcomed any time she could spend with Damian, so she tried one more time to convince him.
“I would really appreciate it, if you came..” Her voice trembled. “I always do well when you tutor me.” Her stomach was in knots. She looked at him with those sparkling green eyes. He finally caved.
“Okay, fine. But we have to study. You can’t mess around. Got it?”
“Yes sir!” She exclaimed with a salute. She regretted it instantly. But it seemed to do something for him, as he turned his reddened cheeks away from her.
Why is she so cute? I really need to learn how to say no to her. She wondered why he never complimented her out loud. Only in his mind. It would be nice to hear it in his voice. She did love the sound of his voice. It was the perfect combination of snobby, smug and smooth. And when she needed it - soothing.
When she stopped daydreaming, she opened her eyes to see all four of her friends looking at her. Her face was burning, and their stares weren’t helping.
Emile and Ewen had returned with plenty of snacks, which they had dumped in the middle of the table.
“O-oh yummy! Can I have some fries?” She tried to change the subject.
“You won’t believe how we waited in line for these fries,” Ewen complained, offering her some.
Emile sighed. “But you have to agree, they were worth it. Right, Anya?” She nodded.
“Forget about that,” Becky interrupted their conversation. “Are you two down for a movie night at my place tomorrow?”
“What!? You said we were studying!” Damian had been duped.
“We can do both, Desmond. Don’t you know how to multitask?”
Damian opened his mouth to complain but Becky had moved on.
“So what do you say boys? You in?”
“Studying and then a movie? Sounds great I’m in!” As usual Emile was an eager beaver.
“Sure I’ll come. But only if I get to decide the movie,” Ewen chimed in.
“Absolutely not. I will be choosing.” Becky needed every step in her plan to go perfectly. From the snacks to the movie. I need to get this Anya and Damian plot moving along. There has been no progression for 9 years. It’s getting repetitive.
This was classic Becky. She truly believed that life was a TV show and she was the writer. Anya watched as her friends argued about their plans for tomorrow. She couldn’t help but dread what her best friend had in store for her.