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Julia was undoubtedly having some sort of crisis.
Some sort of stress and feeling-induced meltdown, right? That’s what she thought as she sat on the corner of her bed, phone tossed haphazardly across her room. She had read her daily horoscopes, and they all said it was time to make a move, or whatever. And, obviously, since it was Valentine’s day, it was a sign for her to spill the beans about her ginormous fat lesbian crush on MK. She groaned and shoved her face into her hands, burrowing as far into her self-made shell of self pity as she could.
Now, Julia had asked her fair share of people out when she was younger. Can’t get such a high status in the school food chain without snogging a few guys, right? But she didn’t really like, like them. It was all for her master plan of becoming part of the elite top three, safely away from the jaws of weird nerd guys who tried to get her to like weird shows, and weird jock guys who were too dense to realise she did not want to attend their weird football games and just about everyone else.
She’s getting off topic.
So, yeah, she considered herself pretty good at asking people out! When it came to guys she didn’t actually like, that was. But all these gross lovey-dovey feelings were really stressing her out. She’d never understood the phrase ‘butterflies in your stomach’ until MK; seeing MK’s stupid little smile after a dish of revenge, the snickers she tried hard to stifle while watching Chris’s bad hair day, the embarrassment over her secret being spilt by Zee, and-
Fuck, she was whipped. She dragged her hands down her face exasperatedly and brought her gaze over to her phone on the floor. The light shone from it, beckoning her to just grab it and type the fateful message that would totally and definitely form her extremely awful and very real demise. She narrowed her eyes at the offending device and huffed, crossing her arms. She had cemented her decision to go nowhere near that thing. Besides, who confesses over text? That would just make her seem like a jerk, and not even the good kind of jerk.
Beep. Her phone had a notification. For what, though? She hadn’t sent anything at all to MK yet, so it made no sense for her to be texting, which means Julia didn’t know who it could be. Curiosity pawed at her insides, scrambling her brain as she shamefully trudged over to her phone with a sigh. Is this what millennials thought about her generation’s internet usage? Opening up her messages, she furrowed her eyebrows to see a new message, from Bowie of all people.
f slur🖕: see u havent gotten a valentines yet?? skill issue
Julia 🙏🫶: die bowie
Julia 🙏🫶: plus i bet that i will
f slur🖕: sure…
f slur🖕: how so?
Julia 🙏🫶: uh
Julia stared at her phone, wincing. Was she seriously about to spill her love life to Bowie? …Yes, yes she was.
Julia 🙏🫶: yknow mk?
f slur🖕: I KNEW IT
Julia 🙏🫶: WHAT
f slur🖕: sorry girl it was OBVIOUS with the way you looked at her
f slur🖕: anyways im presuming ur only telling me this cause u need my help w/ asking her…?
Julia 🙏🫶: okay sure but like i could totally do it myself
f slur🖕: suree.. anyways
f slur🖕: if u really need my advice, be upfront abt it
f slur🖕: thats what rajie did and look where we are now!
Julia 🙏🫶: ew i dont need to hear abt u n ur boyfriend
Julia 🙏🫶: but thanks ig
f slur🖕: now get that girl b4 valentines is over
Julia looked at her phone, and then the clock on the wall. 09:21AM. She could make this work. She breathed in, and pressed MK’s contact before she could think. Her finger hovered over the call button, and she squeezed her eyes shut and jabbed it. A generic buzzing ringtone played, and looped for what felt like at least forty years.
“…Jules? What’re you calling me for?” A quiet, raspy voice came through the phone. It sounded like MK had just woken up. Julia’s eyes widened when she realised, oh fuck, she actually had to speak. “Uh, hey, girl! Sooo… I wanted to, like, ask you something.” Her voice carried as a nervous tremble, and she cringed at the sound of it. She waited nervously for a response. “Hmm? Ask me what?” MK answered, taking a moment to yawn.
Julia paused. Confessing over a call is just plain weird, but what else could she do?
“Jules? You there?” Julia started to panic, bouncing her leg rapidly. “Yeah, yeah, sorry. So, er, I was gonna ask if you could, like, meet me at that one coffee shop that opened a month ago?” She quickly covered the waver in her voice. “I heard it has the most amazing doughnuts ever… Also, I need to take a pic of their new lattes for my InstaGram and I don’t want to look sad and lonely.” She silently praised herself for her amazing bullshitting skills and pumped a fist in celebration. “Yeah, that sounds like you. I’ll go, sure, I’ve got nothing better to do. But when?” MK asked. Julia thought for a moment, considering. “Let’s go for, uh, like… 10? So in half an hour.” That sounded reasonable enough, right? She didn't sound overly forceful or anything… Hopefully. She heard a noise of affirmation come from the phone. “Sure. I’m not gonna turn up wearing a corny influencer outfit or anything, though.” Julia had to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle a giggle. “Obviously.” She rolled her eyes fondly and smiled. Ew, she was totally acting all dopey right now. Next thing she knew, she’d be signing dreamily and kicking her legs like a chronically online 11-year-old trying to act quirky. “Anyways, I’m gonna get, like, ready and stuff. So, uh, you do that too, I guess?” She shrugged even though she knew MK couldn't see her and got ready to hang up. “Yeah,” MK responded, “I’ll go do that. See you then?” “See you then.”
Julia hung up, and put down her phone next to her calmly. She then picked up her pillow and screamed as loud as she could into it. What the fuck was she thinking, instantaneously booking a coffee date so she could confess her crappy feelings? She rolled over into her bed and shoved her face into the mattress, breathing heavily. She only had one option, she realised.
Julia 🙏🫶: RED ALERT I ACCIDENTALLY SET UP A COFFEE DATE
f slur🖕: how. do you accidentally do that
Julia 🙏🫶: I WAS BULLSHITTING AND WENT TO FAR SEND HELP
f slur🖕: no i already gave u ur advice, this is ur problem now
Julia 🙏🫶: DIE
f slur🖕: sigh…
f slur🖕: well i guess if ur THAT desperate i’ll give u one more piece of advice: just go with it
Julia 🙏🫶: not helpful. also did u just sigh over text
Julia slammed her phone back on the bed, standing up firmly. She balled her hands at her sides and walked over to her closet, opening it with so much force that it was almost removed from its hinges. She had decided she was going to rock this accidental date. She got dressed into the most chic and influencer-style outfit she could find and put some cutesy pink heart hair clips for emphasis (mullets were surprisingly hard to conceal, but she thinks she finally managed). Stepping back from her mirror, she examined herself. “I got this. Look at me! Nothing can go wrong. Absolutely nothing.” Smiling her most charming grin into the mirror, Julia checked the clock. 09:56AM. She was lucky she lived right next to this coffee shop, or she would be screwed to hell and back.
She entered the cafe, the door jingling with a friendly welcoming bell. It felt painfully artificial, with pots of fake ivy dangling from light wood shelves and pink walls. She spotted a free table for two in a faraway corner and mentally celebrated. Walking over to the table, the blonde girl started to hum some random song she had heard on the radio earlier, tapping her fingers on her thigh to the beat. She hoped she looked impassive enough despite the raging war going on in her head. Julia took a seat and sighed, tracing the lines on the wood with her fingernails. Now she just had to play the waiting game. A painstaking 2 minutes ticked by, the girl looking up hopefully every time the jingle played at the door, to no avail. She was starting to wonder if MK had ditched her.
“Sorry for being late. I completely forgot where this place was,” Julia looked up towards the voice to finally see MK. Of course, she was wearing her normal beanie, but she had changed her attire into clothes that were, admittedly, not as hideous as Julia was expecting them to be. She donned a baggy T-shirt with some text that the blonde couldn’t quite read under a plain oversized hoodie. “Oh, it’s fine. I didn’t bother to order anything while I was waiting, so, like, yeah.” She shrugged as the shorter girl took her seat opposite her, resting her elbows on the table. MK frowned. “You didn’t have to wait for me. I wouldn’t have cared, nor would I have done the same for you.” The silence was stale. “…I dunno.” was all Julia responded with, bouncing her leg against the hard wooden floor. “Anyways, should we order something? I did want to try those doughnuts.” They called a waiter, one coming along shortly. The waiter gasped in recognition. “Oh… Em… Gee… Are you guys MK and Julia from Total Drama? I’m literally you guys’s biggest fan!” They smiled and giggled, before awkwardly straightening their expression. “Right, sorry, not very professional of me. My bad. Anyways, what would you guys like to order?” The two girls took their order, with MK ordering a chocolate doughnut and Julia asking for the most horrifically complex latte known to Earth (she definitely got some weird looks while ordering) and a smaller jam doughnut.
Biting into her food, Julia hummed in satisfaction. “Hey, this isn’t all that bad! I was expecting worse.” She exclaimed, smiling. The other girl squinted, confused. “Didn’t you say they were mean to be amazing?” MK asked. “Uh huh, but, like, you can’t trust social media’s food reviews. I’ve seen people who like cereal with ketchup on there…” She shuddered at the thought, playing up the dramatics. The beanie-clad girl snickered, and Julia was well aware how her face was heating up like an explosive in a microwave. But, seriously! Her laugh sounded like bells (if they were insanely broken, but still)! “Oh my God, so I wanna tell you something else i saw too. Caleb and Priya are back together, and they won’t stop posting about it! Like, rocky much…” She complained, brushing her hair behind her ear. She had placed it in one of those cute messy buns, so it felt jarring to feel it, but alas…
”How are they back together? Did they even see themselves in the season? I’ve never been in a relationship before, but jeez! It’s in plain sight that they aren’t meant to be.” She nodded vigorously.
Time ran on by, and before she knew it, it had gotten almost late. Julia had never spent this long willingly conversing with someone, but she knew she had to finally tell MK her feelings. She had put them on hold for this long, and she was convinced that if she tried any harder she would just disintegrate.
”Hey, uh, MK? I kinda have something to say.” The beanie-clad girl tilted her head curiously, signalling Julia to continue speaking. “I didn’t really bring you here just for the doughnuts, but I’m sure that’s obvious. I mean, it’s, uh, Valentine’s day for a reason, right?” She averted eye contact and awkwardly fidgeted with her fingers, spitting out the words like it was the hardest task yet. “Uh… I guess I should kinda say that, uh, um. I like, like you. Hopelessly, in fact. But it’s, like, totally fine if you don’t reciprocate yeahthatsreallyfineandeverything-“ She was cut off from her nervous ramble to the feeling of MK’s lips meeting hers from over the table, the short girl obviously leaning over. Her face heated up without reason and she closed her eyes, the feeling of thousands and thousands of little butterflies swirling around her stomach. She brought her hands up to snake around MK’s neck, still reeling from the apparent acceptance of her confession. The other girl tasted like sweet pastries with a hint of cherry lipgloss; a unique flavour that Julia would never expect herself to experience, let alone enjoy. Slowly, their faces moved apart - still holding a close proximity, and Julia found herself gazing at MK. “Does that answer your question?” She asked, and Julia nodded rapidly.
She should probably thank Bowie for that advice. But then again, it’s Bowie, and she’s full of spite.