Chapter Text
It has been a rough week at school: back-to-back exams, project defenses, tight schedules… It’s a relief it was finally over and they could finally take a week-long break before the next (and final) wave of schoolwork started. Pencil would usually ask her friend group (or as she preferred to call them, her “alliance”) to come at her house after major academic tasks like these, but this time she asked only Needle.
“Will there be anyone else?” Needle was slightly nervous on why she, specifically, was invited. Pencil wasn’t someone who liked one-to-one interactions as she preferred being with more people, especially those within her clique.
“Nope! I just wanna get to know you better.” Pencil answered cheerfully, which weirded Needle out a bit, but she shrugged it off. She greatly admired Pencil, so who was she to reject her invitation?
“Okay, let me ask my mom first,” she accepted before pulling out her phone to dial and went to a more secluded area nearby.
Minutes passed and she returned to Pencil still standing on the same area, scrolling on her phone. There were multiple keychains dangling from her case, but Needle couldn’t get a closer look because Pencil immediately put it back in her pocket as soon as she saw her. “So?”
“She said yes, but I need to go home before Sunday noon.” Pencil nodded and there was an awkward silence between them as they just continued standing within the crowd.
The number of students were gradually getting lesser as they either went straight home or outside to celebrate. Pencil broke the ice and suddenly grabbed Needle’s shoulder, startling her, “what are you waiting for? Go pack your stuff! I’ll text you my address.”
Needle already showered at home and had her personal belongings in her bag, currently walking to Pencil’s house, which was surprisingly very near to the school – Needle’s was around thirty minutes so she sometimes asks for a ride from Pin.
Needle wanted to reminisce about the air freshener in Pin’s car until she stopped in front of a door. She pulled out her phone to check if she got the address right, and it just dawned over her that she was going to be with the Pencil for around two days, inside her house, to spend an entire weekend with her. Oh metal.
She rang the doorbell and was almost immediately greeted by Pencil, now in her home clothes and pink fuzzy slippers. “Hey Needle! Come inside.” So Needle did, removing and leaving her shoes near the door.
Pencil then pulled a drawer to multiple white thin slippers, bringing out a pair for Needle to wear. “Here, make yourself at home.” Needle gratefully accepted and slipped them on her feet.
She was waiting for Pencil’s signal on what to do next, but she was just staring back at her with an unreadable expression. “You’re my guest, tell me what you wanna do.”
“Uhmm… What do you wanna do?” Pencil’s expression turned impatient and leaned on the cabinet. “Needle, you don’t have to be this nervous around me. I literally invited you here.”
“Oh, sorry… Uhh,” Needle was looking around the house to search for anything of interest, but from her point of view, she only saw the TV, the kitchen, and a staircase going up. “I really have no idea what to do though. What do you have here?”
“I got many things. Just tell me and I might have it.”
“C’mon Pencil… I really can’t come up with anything.”
Pencil stood up and sighed. “You know what? It’s almost six, how ‘bout I prepare dinner–”
“I can help!”
“No, you’re my guest. You can sit down over there,” she pointed to the couch.
“No, no, I’ll help you!”
“Needy–” Slap.
“Don’t call me Needy!”
“Geez, okay! Fine. I’ll let you help. I was just gonna reheat the chicken we had leftover anyway.”
“I can cook the rice.”
“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t gonna do that anyway so go ahead.”
Needle followed Pencil to the kitchen. Pencil turned on the outlet connected to the rice cooker, which was on a shelf, and went to the fridge to get the chicken. Needle got a measuring cup, dispensed water on it, then poured it on the cooker.
“What chicken is that anyway?” Needle flatly asked so as to not prolong the awkward silence between them.
“Takeout. This was meant to be Pen’s portion yesterday but he came home super late. He’s out with friends until Sunday and this is definitely gonna go bad before he comes home, sooo…” shrug.
Needle opened the sack of rice sitting underneath, using the same cup to scoop up its grains. She added the husks with the water and massaged it, washing away the dirt. She rinsed out the water on the sink and poured another cup, repeating the process another time until she closed the lid and let it cook.
The beeping sound of the microwave was loud enough to echo through the house, startling Needle. “Sorry. Can’t do anything about that,” Pencil warned.
Minutes of silence passed, and admittedly, Needle was thinking that maybe coming here alone was a bad idea. It probably would’ve been better if she just stayed at home – bedrotting or something – but it was too late at this point.
Pencil turned off the microwave as soon as the timer displayed it had a second left, which (thankfully) avoided the loud beep from playing again. Right as she opened it, the aroma of roasted chicken filled the kitchen, making Needle’s mouth water – how she missed eating something that nice.
…
The table was already set, albeit messily, with the bowl of rice and a chicken thigh and leg on top of a plate between the two girls. Plates and cutlery were also prepared.
“Go on, get your portion.” Pencil offered, so Needle picked the leg and put rice on her plate. Pencil did the same afterward, getting the thigh.
They started slicing their food, unsure of what to talk about.
“I have a feeling you’d get along with Pen.” Pencil suddenly mentioned, spearing through the meat and scooping up some rice with her spoon.
“How so?” Needle placed a streak of meat and small portion of rice on hers.
“I dunno,” bite, “the way you act is so familiar.” Chew. “He’s a little timid, but he’s strong. And I think he’d enjoy hanging out with you.”
“I don’t see it.” Bite, chew.
“Because you never met him, dum-dum! He’s just a year above us.”
“I know, but I’ve never talked to him?”
“That’s why I’m telling you that you would’ve gotten along with him had you gotten the chance.” Pencil’s eyes trailed off to the ceiling.
“When would that be?” Needle took another bite.
“I dunno. Maybe it’ll happen naturally.”
The two continued eating quietly, the only noise being the metal cutlery hitting the ceramic plates.
“Um, this is… really awkward.” Needle commented, wanting Pencil to say something.
“The chicken’s still good.”
“It is…” and the conversation ended. Wow. Nice job.
While they were eating in this dead air, Needle took notice of Pencil’s phone sitting next to her plate; the keychains she was trying to take a look at earlier were clearer. It was full of objects… a pencil, match, bubble… representations of her clique. Some were obscured because of the angle, but Needle had an idea on what they were.
Interesting observation: Pencil was always full of herself, acting superior over everyone else, but Needle guessed she did have a genuine spot for her friends – even if she was the self-proclaimed “leader” of their group. Needle was still on edge about why she was chosen to be here, though.
They were now inside Pencil’s bedroom; the dishes already washed and there was an extra mattress in the attic for Needle to sleep on.
Pencil warned that her bed was too small for two people, but Needle thought otherwise when she actually saw it – maybe Pencil’s just uncomfortable with sharing, and they were not close at all, so she didn’t say anything.
Needle was lying down on her makeshift bed, the blue light of her phone illuminating her face obviously exposing she was still awake.
Pencil crawled to the edge of her bed to look over at Needle, thinking about what to say. She didn’t want to spend their first night here together doing nothing.
“Psst. Needle.” She immediately looked up at Pencil, raising an eyebrow. “What?”
“Usually when I invite my friends over here, we’d share secrets until midnight. You wanna do that?”
“Uhhhhhhmmm…” Needle was thinking long and hard, not trusting Pencil enough if she’d keep her secrets from others – most especially from her clique. “—mmmm… Okay, as long as you don’t tell anyone.”
“Of course I won’t! What do you think of me as?” Needle won’t lie, she kinda associated Pencil as someone not loyal with keeping secrets – the ideology naturally came with being a popular girl.
“Sorry, I rarely do things like this.”
“You don’t?”
“Nnno…? I don’t really share anything about myself with other people.”
“Not even your friends?”
“Mhm.”
“Wow. So I’ll be the first one to hear your secrets?”
Needle was starting to reconsider, but she respected Pencil too much to be a coward. Also, she invited her here to “get to know her better,” so backing off now would be synonymous to spitting on her face.
“I guess. I really don’t have much going on though.” Needle sat up and placed her pillow on her lap.
“Psh, I bet you have tons of stuff you’re hiding! You just haven’t realized yet.” Pencil went down to sit next to Needle on the mattress, resting her back on the side rail of her bed.
“Needle, ask me anything, maybe you’ll learn something new.”
“Uh… do you..” Making up a single question on the spot was more difficult than she thought. “Do you like anyone?” Basic.
Pencil was thinking for a while.
…
A little too long that if she said no, it would be a lie.
“No. I’m not interested.” Really? Needle was about to comment about the unnecessarily long pause, but she did not have the courage. Again, they weren’t close enough for that. “Hey… That reminds me, do you still like Coiny?”
Needle instantly felt her heart drop. “…You know about that?”
“Duh! I have eyes and ears all over school.”
“That was such a long time ago! He’s a good friend, but I don’t like him in that way anymore.”
“Mhmm…” She didn’t believe her at all. “Could it be because of Pin? She’s–” This was starting to get on Needle’s nerves.
“Seriously! I don’t even like men,” slip of the tongue – Needle covered her mouth right after.
“Oh?” Pencil perked up and scooted closer to Needle. “I didn’t know that! That’s a similarity we share.”
Pencil always surrounded herself with women so that fact wasn’t surprising, but hearing it confirmed felt oddly comforting.
Pencil seems to have noticed her reaction. “There are many more sapphics at our school than you’d expect, if you aren’t aware.”
“Really?”
“Are you dense? Have you not seen Book??”
“I don’t pay attention to her that much.”
“Puffy?”
“I barely see her between classes.”
“Pin?”
“She likes Coiny.”
“Whatever, miss ignorant – she can still like women.” Pencil huffed, “I would know.”
“Sorry???” Needle has to know what that was about.
“Ahem. Anyway–”
“Isn’t this meant for sharing secrets? Can you elaborate on what you just said about Pin?”
“She never told you?”
“Obviously.”
“Guess she’s just as ashamed about it too…” Pencil murmured as she repositioned herself to sit more comfortably. “It barely lasted. We tried to get together – out of fun and curiosity – and ended things on the same day, or hour. Turns out she wasn’t really into romantic stuff.. and me. Also we just don’t get along. End of story.”
“…Then why did you two decide to date in the first place?”
“Like I said: out of fun and curiosity! The idea of dating so we hate each other less looked appealing. Didn’t work, of course, but it was honestly funny imagining the others’ reactions if we lasted long enough ‘til the next day,” she scoffed. “What a waste…”
That made no sense. “Did you… like her?”
“Graphite, no. I’ve always hated her to death. We seriously just thought fake dating might calm the tension between us. Looking back, that was super stupid.” The way Pencil has been ending her answers seemed like she wanted to move on, but Needle was too curious to let this conversation go.
“When was this anyway..?”
“So now you have a lot of questions, huh? I don’t really care though, glad that you’re talking more, as much as I get embarrassed talking about it.” She admired her nails as she tried recalling the time period. “It was probably like 10th grade; we were sixteen, dumb, and rash. I also just wanted to feel something at the time, and maybe romance with the person I hate most would fix that.” She sighed, “It didn’t. She does like girls though – I remember her saying something about Leafy way before we dated.”
…
“But I’m relieved she ended up with Coiny; he treats her much better than I ever will.. or willing to. But they’re really annoying together.”
“Tell me about it,” Needle slumped her shoulders and was ready to complain about them, going back to when she was almost always third wheeling the two. “TD and I sometimes leave as soon as Coiny approaches us.”
“Hah, I can’t imagine how insufferable they are.”
“They aren’t actually that cheesy together. It’s only Coiny who’s the problem, but, metal, I don’t know how much longer I can stand being within their proximity. Even TD is getting tired of them, so we sometimes hang out without them.”
“Er, do they know that?”
“I doubt they’d care if they did. That’s what they’ve been doing to us, so it’s only fair.”
“Hmm… Out of topic, but didn’t you have another crush before?”
“You mean Snowball? I’ve never liked him that way. Or… at all.”
“Oh that’s who that was! I wonder who spreaded that rumor…”
“That wasn’t true at all…” Needle shivered when she remembered that time in her life. “I’d prefer if you don’t bring up my middle school days.”
“Fineee.” Pencil moved a little farther from Needle. “I have another question, why do you hate being called Needy?”
Slap. “Stop that!”
“I was just asking!”
“I don’t like it. As simple as that.”
“That’s it?” Pencil was disappointed, and Needle got irritated at the reaction.
“Yes! I hate being called that, so please knock it off. Like, seriously.”
“Boring.” Pencil was clicking her tongue as she thought of another question. “Anyway, any girl crushes?”
“We’re going back to this again?” Needle was getting tired of talking about romance, but she guessed it wouldn’t be fair to stop right after asking Pencil invasive questions about her failed (pretend) relationship.
“Yeah? I can’t think of anything else that would be as exciting. Also, I just wanna know how you knew you only like girls.”
“Uhm. I just found myself more drawn to them, I guess.”
“But that means you liked a girl before, right? Who was it?”
“...” Needle didn’t want to answer because she actually had no idea. She has never had a proper crush that she would like to spend most of her time with; she mostly preferred being alone. Maybe Pencil, but she obviously wouldn’t confess right after they started getting to know each other. Though, Needle liked the attention and wanted to spend more time with her – that could count as attraction, right? “It’s a secret.”
“Ohh! You want me to guess?”
“Not really…”
“Hmmm… TD?”
Needle didn’t react in the slightest. “I just said I don’t want you to guess.”
“You’re so boring! Don’t you have anything about yourself that’s interesting?”
“How about you? Maybe I can bounce off of that.”
“Fine. I really, really hate men.”
Why do they keep coming back here? “Uh, they’re okay to me. I think.”
“—They’re downright annoying! Especially Snowball – I totally get why you never liked him! That guy is a menace and is actually so ugly, I get secondhand embarrassment every time I see him.”
“Woah, isn’t that a bit rude?” Needle knew Pencil had a big mouth, but she didn’t expect her to go that far.
“I don’t care; it’s not like he’s gonna know. He hates my guts too, so this is the most surface-level, tamest thing I can say about him. Also, he’s always been a massive bully. Nothing good about that man, I tell you. Nothing.” Needle thought Pencil was being a hypocrite here. Yet again, she was still here – alone, in her home, seeking for respect and approval – so she kept her lips sealed lest she gets kicked out at a quarter to midnight.
Needle fiddled with her fingers as she was imagining who she hated; there wasn’t anybody who came to mind, as far as she knew. Even if there was someone, she didn’t dislike them enough to warrant trashtalking about them.
“Hmmm… who else…” Pencil looked at her nails again – Needle took note of how she always kept looking at her nails. “Oh! You know Firey, right?”
“I’d hope so? We share mutual friends…”
“Oh my bark, I hate his voice! Every time I visit Matchy’s house, I always hear it and it’s like nails scratching on a chalkboard!”
Needle couldn’t think of anything to come back from that. It’s true that it’s annoying, but it’s not that annoying???
“He’s clumsy, immature… Maybe also a bit self-centered – with his whole thing with Leafy or whatever. But he’s fine, I guess.”
“Oh, I forgot about that.” That incident made her look at Firey a little differently since then. “He does take things a little too personally though, I don’t know how to feel about him.”
“See! I also don’t know what Leafy sees him.”
“Y-yeahh…” Needle yawned. She could feel her eyelids getting heavy, but she didn’t want to leave Pencil hanging after having shared little to nothing about herself other than who she liked.
“Y’know, Coiny’s… he’s. He’s fine too.” Blink. “—just also mean—” Blink. “Pin’s lucky he’s head over heels—” Needle wasn’t strong enough to resist dozing off so she abruptly dropped her head on her pillow. “Needle?” Despite the uncomfortable position, Needle looked like she successfully got sent to dreamland.
Pencil just sighed and stood up to turn off the lights – she didn’t bother making Needle lie down properly as she believed she’ll fix herself later in the night. She returned to her bed and fell asleep, unimpressed by the information she gained from Needle today.
The clock was at exactly 11:59 PM; maybe tomorrow Needle can share more about herself. One night probably wasn’t enough to make herself open up to Pencil.