Chapter Text
“No, it’s a stupid, middle school thing to do,” Cosima protests, "We're 10th graders, not 6th."
“It is not, geek, just gimme your hand.” Sarah grabs her sister’s arm. She turns Cosima’s hand over and writes something on her palm. Then she writes the word ‘ZAP’ on the back of her hand and a time: 2:40.
Cosima glares at her. “You realize that if this is a guy, it’s too straight for me, and if it’s a girl, they’d be freaked out, right?”
Sarah just laughs.
~
“Cosima, what is that on your hand?” Delphine asks as they pack up after math.
“Oh, uh, it’s nothing. It’s just a stupid middle school thing Sarah insisted on doing. Basically, she wrote a name on my palm, and, if I look at it before the time specified, I’m supposed to ask them out.”
Delphine sneaks a glance at Cosima’s palm and breaks into a fit of giggles, “Well that just seems cruel. Not even to you, to him. I think when this one is over, I’m going to give you some of my own.”
Oh great, thinks Cosima, it is a guy. But who could it be? And who does Delphine want to give me?
~
By last period, Cosima’s curiosity is killing her. She just wants to know who it is.
40 more minutes. 35. 32. Agh.
She can see Delphine laughing silently at her struggling.
“Oh hush up you. You know I have a science brain. I need to know the answers,” she hisses at the blonde as their teacher writes notes on the board.
“You know… It’s pretty convenient, he’s even in this class.”
Cosima jumps, looking around the room and taking a poll of all the guys. Andrew? Unlikely. Joe? Eh… Felix? He’s gay, so he’d think it was just as funny. Scott? Oh shit. It’s totally Scott. You fucking- Sarah! That’s not okay.
Now that Cosima has an idea of who it might be, now that she’s almost certain who it is, she needs to see even more to know if she’s right.
“Delphine,” Cosima shoves an elbow into the taller girl’s side, “Hey, Del, is it Scott?”
Delphine smirks. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Cos,” she teases.
Cosima groans and glares at her, then checks the clock: still 25 minutes left. “You’re dead, Cormier.”
“Ah but 'Niehaus', you forget, I already know who it is, you don’t. Don’t you have more pressing things to worry about than hurting me?”
Cosima continues glaring. She knows Delphine is right. The suspense is killing her. So, after a few more minutes of internal struggling, she does what any person trying to remain sane would do; she looks.
Written in Sarah’s messy handwriting across her left palm are the words “Scott in your last period.”
Cosima swears under her breath. Now she has to tell him. He knows she’s gay, but she knows he has a crush on her. This is going to kill him.
She glares back over at Delphine, who is watching her reaction. “You realize he’s not going to be able to handle this, right?” Delphine just laughs.
~
When class ends, Cosima hangs back, knowing that Scott takes a while to pack up. She doesn’t know how she’s going to do this. Alright, straight and to the point. Actually, gay and to the point please, self. Otherwise he’ll get the wrong idea.
Delphine is waiting by the door, still laughing to herself and watching Cosima intently, not taking her eyes off her for a second. Cosima doesn’t miss this. She turns away to hide her amusement.
“Uh hey, Scott,” she says, turning back around and facing him, “here’s the thing. Sarah zapped me, and I’m supposed to ask you out because I looked at it too early. But that’s a bit too straight for me. So how about a hug?”
Scott doesn’t really react for a second. Then he seems to realize what’s going on. “Oh, uh, yeah. Sure, Cosima,” he stutters. He leans in, and she wraps her arms around him, patting him on the back.
“You’re a good sport, Scott,” she lets go, gives him a smile, and meets Delphine at the door.
~
When they get to their bench outside, Sarah is already waiting, and she starts laughing as soon as she sees her sister.
“So how’d it go? I know you, I know you couldn’t wait till the bell. How close did you get? Last ten minutes?”
Cosima just glares at her.
“Twenty, actually,” Delphine whispers to Sarah, which sends Sarah into another fit of laughs and causes Cosima to glare at them. She can't hold it for long, though, because Delphine meets her eyes and raises her eyebrows faux-seriously, drawing them both into giggles of their own.
~~~