Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The glimmer of sunlight peeking through the windows was enough to rouse Yi Xi from her sleep, alarm clock suspiciously not working.

She found herself half-not-on-her-bed, draped over half of her bed frame and the floor like a plushie that had fallen off in the middle of the night. Reaching a hand behind her mattress, her alarm clock had disconnected itself from the outlet. Great.

Judging by the silence in the house, D-Lin probably didn’t even want to wake her up, trying hard to impress Ritchy who would wait for him outside.

Slumping onto the rug next to all twelve of her encyclopedias splayed face down on the floor, she grabbed her uniform in a goblin looking position, the clothes hanger hooked on the door to keep everyone out. She put her school uniform on, eyes basically closed and trying to not let the sleepiness escape.

Opening the door now was like getting punched in the face, Yi Xi being subjected to the coldness of outside her bedroom, oh, what wouldn’t she give to let the mornings be a little later.

—

Eating her breakfast, she sat in her freezer-cold dining room while scrolling messages that were sent last night. Really, there was no better form of entertainment than whatever goes on in people’s minds, as Eri keeps trying to tell her. Recently, nothing important has been going on, just everyone scrambling to finish the homework from yesterday and—

The bass sounded from her phone. Eri was calling her again.

"Hiiii—"

"YI? WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Where do you think?" Yi Xi mumbled through a mouthful of cereal. "It's not worth it going now— I need to eat. So what if I'm late?"

"It's not that! Gosh, don't you care about me at all? The guys are sitting together again and I'm left all alone!" Eri's voice was taunting her.

"Uagh… just relax for now. I think I might text you on the bus, or something."

"School buses don't run late, girl!"

"Train. See you."

"Bye!!"

And so the day begins.

—

Spotting her hair in a sea of randoms was easy. If recess was a game of Where's Wally, Eri would be the favourite, simply because she stands out from the endless crowd. No one could pull of that bright pink hair of hers.

Leaning near the canteen, most likely looking for her third soft drink of the day— there she was! Her eyes were also scanning everyone's heads for Yi Xi, long black hair tied into a low ponytail. Locking her eyes on target, Eri starts waving with both hands to get Yi Xi's attention.

"Hey! Over here!"

Yi Xi looked at her at the same time. "Eri!"

"Man… it took you forever to get here. What did you tell the teachers? What about the office?"

"Actually the bus was late, so I just blamed it on them."

"Normal ass excuse. You need to either start making up crazy stories or getting into the crazy stories yourself. For real." Eri took a sip of her soda.

"Oh, what's a girl got to do to get that sweet, sweet horrible drama life… seriously, what's it with you and the need to have something going on?"

"That's for me to know and for you to do some digging around." Eri smiled, spinning around.

"Don't drop your drink."

"Wasn't gonna."

—

Making her way back to her locker, Yi Xi waved a hasty see-you-later to Eri, sort of dreading the two more hours of sitting down and trying to pay attention to the teacher droning on about something that instantly became interesting once it was projected onto the whiteboard. She shuffled her shoes on the floor, trying not to step too hard in order to stop her loose shoelace unravelling.

The crowd somehow got sweatier during this interval, just as the bell rang and everyone wanted to either rush to their classes or stand right in the middle of the hallway and chat for the imaginary five minutes they had to get where they needed to go.

Being pushed against the wall was absolute hell as other people bumped into Yi Xi, stray books basically being thrown around. Looks like she would have to stay here for a while.

Finally approaching her locker, she grabbed the handle quickly and began unlocking it when—

Bang!

The sound of the locker adjacent to hers swung open and hit her on the head. Surely this would leave a bruise later.

"Hey, cutie—"

Yi Xi turned her head around to glare at whoever this was.

"Oh. Wh— hey, I fumbled that one, huh?" A familiar face cocked its head at her.

Amara, the girl who often waits by the auditorium after school. Her locs draped over one side of her face and hanging down her shoulders too.

"Sorry about that— you're Yi Xi, right?" She opened the locker, presumably to get her things. "I've seen you around, y'know. You always make banger projects in bio, I swear the rest of your group's been doing nothing all the time."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks." Yi Xi replied blankly. "Wait— I haven't seen you at this locker all year, I had no idea it was yours."

"Haha… no… this locker belongs to Felicia. I'm just getting her things, don't worry."

Yi Xi smiled.

"Seriously! What are you looking at, I promise I'm not a locker thief or anything. If I wanted to steal something, I would have stole from yours."

And just has she had arrived, Amara was gone, disappeared into the crowd. She was like wind, the way she moved, it was magical— the way her hair trailed behind her gracefully, even if it was tightly put together. Yi Xi would basically never find her now.

—

"You WHAT?" Eri was freaking out. What happened while she was gone?

"Oh, no, it wasn't me, Amara just came up to my locker—"

"Mm… yeah…"

A slow look back at Yi Xi and an eye squint signalled to her that something was off. She melted back into her chair, trying not to think too hard about it. "So you're saying she's flirting? With me?"

"Yes, with you. Honestly I can't believe it didn't happen sooner. You guys are on the same frequency."

"We've basically never talked!"

"Now's your chance. Go get her. Most likely she'd be hanging out at the green room. Doors are almost always open."

Yi Xi looked back at Eri with a face that said 'how the hell would you know this,' and eyes that almost looked concerningly excited. What would you know, this was the first actual thing that's happened for weeks.

"Yeah… alright."

—

"Hello?"

The doors of the green room were closed, but certainly not locked by the way they swung open nearly hitting the doorframes. "Ah— whoops."

Yi Xi crept inside, partly because she wanted it to be a surprise for Amara to find her here, 'oh— what a coincidence, haha… no way!' And partly because she was kind of scared of the captains finding her in a situation such as this, it would probably be on people's blackmail lists for months.

The floor was hard and littered with stripes of dust gathered where masking tape used to be, grimy with the adhesive never truly being scrubbed off. Yi Xi stepped closer to the backstage, shoes clacking on the hard ground.

"Hello?" She murmured softly, hoping that Amara would hear her.

Swishing one of the stage curtains to the side, she found herself in a large open space, recently cleaned up for their next rehearsal.

…

"Boo."

Yi Xi tried to hide the fact that she jolted up at this sudden sound. Whaddya know, it was her, red lip gloss glistening under the stage lights still being tested out.

"Hi— Amara."

"So, what brings you here? Did you really have to do that much research to find me? Or was it pure instinct?"

They found themselves smiling again, Amara lifting her loc to reveal both of her eyes.

"Whoah, calm down." the lights returned to normal and someone's silhouette above the audiences' seats was very clearly holding a microphone. "Should I put you two on the front cover of our newspaper or no?"

Boots brushed against the carpeted steps to get down to the stage.

"Hey Fel!" Amara waved her hand casually. "Nothing much happening, come back in a few days."

"A few days? Don't take it that fast, freakazoid."

"Cringe. Go away." Amara turned her back away from the girl with the strawberry hair clips, however you could even see from behind her that she was holding in a laugh.

Yi Xi stood silently next to them, wanting to interrupt and talk about basically everything but she stopped herself. She glanced sideways at Felicia.

"Ah! Sh— I'm being rude!" Felicia clutched the microphone, switching it off. "Are you joining Drama? Mid-year auditions are soon. You gotta get in fast."

"Whoah, no. I can't sing."

Amara twisted around with a diabolical grin on her face and fidgeting with the bracelets on her wrists. "That's the first thing we're going to do. Why don't you meet me tomorrow, lunch time at this stage? Felicia. Fel, don't be here." She whisper-shouted that last part, aiming her words straight at Felicia's ears.

"AGH! I was about to ask you for a date."

"Haha, beat you to it."

Everything was going well now, they had it scheduled for tomorrow, oh, Yi Xi couldn't wait to tell Eri about this new development, finally, something happened!

"Well, bye!" Felicia skipped back up the steps to pack up her equipment.

"Bye Fel!" Amara called back after her, cupping her hands around her mouth to emphasize her words.

"Tomorrow, right?" Yi Xi was just confirming the time, to make sure she didn't get it wrong. "And we are dating, right?"

"Pretty sure we are."

And here came the awkward silence of having no one to make white noise but themselves. "Wow. That was fast." Yi Xi blurted out.

"Haha! Things are usually fast in the drama department. Thanks for finding me here!"

Yi Xi stepped back and walked herself towards the door. "See you tomorrow!" She looked back at Amara.

"See you then."

Chapter Text

The smell of the bus still lingered in the room where Yi Xi and D-Lin stood. Early mornings were always like this, sunlight basically pouring through the windows. It was too cold to step outside and everyone knew this, even though it wasn't snowing, the wind could sweep you up and throw you across the oval.

"So, D-Lin. You left me yesterday."

"Didn't mean anything bad of it."

Yi Xi smirked. "Yeah, yeah. Unimportant. Did you make any advances towards your so-called boyfriend?"

D-Lin turned his head away quickly, baseball cap almost falling of his head. "That's also unimportant too."

"Hm… if Eri were here, she would practically squeeze the stories out of you." Yi Xi shuffled closer. "Really? Nothing new?"

D-Lin took a quick glance at Yi Xi's expression to come to the conclusion that she wouldn't stop prying. "Well, we're going out on the weekend. You probably don't wanna come, so what's the point in telling you?"

"Ah, nothing. I just wanted to know."

They both stared up at the dust that shone like white specks when the light hit it.

"So— where are you going— hey Eri!"

"Hey guys!!"

Her signature pink hair bounced along, almost peach coloured because of the reflections coming off of the wall. "Hey Yi Xi! Hi, D-Lin!"

"Guess what I bought today?" Eri brought out a purple plastic bag from behind her shoulder and quickly unwrapped the top. "I got… snacks! You're free to take any of them. I've got too much. Might even get some teachers to try them."

"Oh yeah, thanks!" Yi Xi reached into the plastic bag, hand rustling around to find the largest gummy packet. "Hey, I'll pay you back in soda later."

"It's literally unnecessary, but sure— I'm not opposed to it, or anything."

"Of course you'd say that, Eri." D-Lin took his turn and reached into the bag as well. "How's your soft drink addiction going? Taking its toll yet?"

"D-Lin!" Yi Xi elbowed him in the guts.

"Hey— Ow!"

"Jeez, guys— mm… honestly nothing yet." Eri took a piece of candy out of her wrapper and popped it in her mouth. "Hey, D— how's your Ritchy addiction going? Taking its toll—?"

"You stole my joke!"

"You don't own anything!"

"C-Come here!!"

D-Lin began chasing Eri around the school cafeteria, trying his hardest not to trip over one of the chairs and sending them both careening towards the ground. It was fun in the cold air because this could warm them both up.

Yi Xi sat with one leg crossed over the other and watched them. It was kind of peaceful just sitting here like this. Suddenly the peace had to be broken, when she heard coughing in the background.

"Hey Eri!" Yi Xi called out. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, the candy nearly went down the wrong hole." Eri was sitting down on the cafeteria floor, making sure that this wouldn't happen once more.

"Don't worry!" Yi Xi smiled. "If the candy gets stuck in your lungs I'd be happy to pry it out!"

"Oh my god, no!" Eri laughed muffledly, face down on her hands as to not choke again.

"Yeah, yeah— don't worry. Literally just don't eat hard candy while running, that's stupid."

"Haha, sure." Eri looked up from her position.

—

Lunchtimes were a whole new level of crowded during the middle of the year. No one was out on excursions, camp is still yet to come, and everybody wants to sit right in the middle, blocking pathways and trying to get the hot food first.

Yi Xi skipped past them, hoping to get to the auditorium in time to see Amara.

"Hey? Where're you going?" Eri spoke from behind her.

Yi Xi turned around to see her friend holding a tray. "Ah— nothing, I'll come back soon, I promise!"

"Ohhhh… you're seeing your date!" Eri feigned surprise. "Anyways, bye! See you soon! I wish you luck on your future endeavours." She finished with a bow and shuffled away.

Only one thing was on Yi Xi's mind, and that was to see her possibly… future girlfriend? She made her way back to the green room with newfound confidence, after all, she's done this last time, there's no point in trying to be shy again.

Having someone else to talk to and be around would be amazing, especially if they could have little gifts to give each other once in a while, and they could surprise each other when they enter a room, and even the sound of Amara or Yi Xi on a call with the other would brighten up their day.

Yi Xi's shoes clacked against the cold floor again. "Hey Amara…? You there?"

She entered the backstage and searched around the curtains to find her once more…

And there she was, looking out the window that was partly opened, curtains pushed to the side, dust and posters adorning the wall of the green room, if Yi Xi was in media, Amara would be her subject for photography.

"Hi, Amara!" Yi Xi stepped closer, not noticing Amara's furrowed eyebrows and pouting lip. She turned around from the window, putting a smile on her face and singing, "Hello my beloved!" With a grin.

Yi Xi slouched over one of the green room's chairs, honestly they were a bit too short in comparison to the tables but she brushed it off to not look bad in front of Amara. "So, our first official date?"

"Yes, totally!" Amara swung her legs around to face her. "Felicia helped me hook up the microphones to the speaker over here, and you can connect your computer if you want. Karaoke time!"

"Wh— hey! I never agreed to this," Yi Xi shook her head. "I already told you, I'm bad at singing."

"We're not doing it for a competition here. We're just doing it for fun. I promise you'll enjoy it."

Yi Xi met her eyes as she looked up, the light from the windows almost made Amara look heavenly, there was a pink halo around her because some of her hairs were not clinging to the mass.

"Hey, if you don't enjoy it, Fel will only laugh her ass of at me, not you. Hope that's reassuring."

"That might have been the least reassuring thing I've ever heard. Actually— no. I have a brother," Yi Xi commented offhandedly.

"Hah!" Amara almost fell off the chair she was balancing on. "We'll get started, I guess."

She flicked on the switch on the speaker and then turned on the two microphones she had resting on the top of it. "Alright, this is yours," she passed one microphone to Yi Xi, "and this is mine. Testing."

"Testing." Yi Xi whispered into the microphone, not knowing what to say.

"What song do you wanna start with?"

"Ah— I don't know… I usually just listen to music without lyrics…"

"Okay!! I'll choose then." Amara became suddenly eager about this.

Scrolling down the list and picking what seemed to be a random song, she pressed play, and the sweet sound of a piano filled the room, rolling out of the speakers and bouncing off of the curved walls.

"Lyrics are on my computer, you can take a look at them if you don't know it."

The piano melody took a shape that was familiar to Yi Xi, if she could just put a name to it, she would probably be able to sing this by memory. Where had she heard this song before? "I think I know this one."

Amara tried to hide a giggle. "Oh? Really? This one?"

"Maybe?" Yi Xi looked back at her left hand clamped over her mouth. "What's so funny about this. Man, I can't be embarrassing myself on the first actual date we have!"

"Oh, no! It's just that I wrote this one." Amara turned off the recording she had on her computer and laughed.

"The song? Really? That's so cool."

They both didn't know what they were expecting with this reveal, Yi Xi guesses that maybe it's because Amara wants those sick bragging rights of being the cooler one—

"Yeah, I mean, if it sounds that familiar to a person who hasn't heard it before, I think I still need to tweak it."

What was Yi Xi thinking, believing her date would be this mean as to try and trick her with a song she didn't know. No, she wasn't trying to prove that Yi Xi thought she was incapable of making a song— she was just trying to get feedback, right?

"Well… I think the real thing that matters about the song is the lyrics… so maybe if you'd sing?" Yi Xi blurted out.

"Look at you, acting so professional and trying to get me to start singing. I'd be glad to do that."

The recording of Amara's song clicked back on and the swaying piano echoed in the background. She readied her microphone, putting it to her lips and began to hum.

"Mmmmmm…"

It was so blissful, the way she settled into the song, backlit by the sun rays that could only enter through the windows.

"A hundred black and white dots spinning in my peripheral vision,"

Yi Xi stared at her for who knows how long, all time lost to the way the music felt.

"I clear the gap, but I'm overtaken by the noise of generations."

The cold green room suddenly became warmer with every bar, every chord change.

"Is it so wrong to hope to fly?" Amara's exhale on this line was raw and powerful and for a moment, they both forgot that they were grounded in the confines of the school. "I cannot hear a sound, signals down, still I try…"

When the instrumental part hit, they both looked at each other, Yi Xi found herself swaying to the beat.

"Here comes the wave, with all that constant knocking, the static's growing—"

And slowly but surely, she was humming along too.

"Don't let it stay… because my noise means nothing, my heart's still burning…"

It was a small step, but in the right direction. The song faded out as it did, but the remnants of the harmonies in that room still lingered beside them, and the warmth never left. They sat, gazing for each other for about another minute until Yi Xi finally broke the silence.

"Wow… I don't know what to say… I'm speechless. Thank you."

"Yi Xi, those are words, thank you very much. But actually, thank you. I haven't had anyone listen to one of my pieces for a while." She stared at Yi Xi's eyes for a moment. "Normally it's just my band's stuff, but they have their own ideas too, and I gotta respect that."

"Well, your band is super lucky to have you, then." Yi Xi slumped on the chair a bit more. "I mean like…"

"You mean that you're super lucky to have me."

"Hm… well, yeah… that too."

"No way you're walking out of here single, Yi Xi, would you be my girlfriend?"

"Wh— what? Now?"

They stood in almost silence, Amara placing down her microphone back on top of the speakers. Yi Xi thought to herself, this was moving quickly, well, it's what she wants, so…

"Sure."

"Really?" Amara was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes! But next date, you gotta let me call the shots. Promise?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Well, I'll see you next time!"

Yi Xi gathered her things and readied herself to walk out of the green room, there were more than just butterflies in her stomach, there were straight up tarantulas in there too.

"Mm… I could… y'know, walk you to your locker." Amara called out from the other side, just as Yi Xi was about to open the door.

She turned her head around, black ponytail almost whacking her in the eye.

"I'd love that."

—

"Hey, Eri?" Yi Xi was calling Eri in the late hours, the only thing lit up was the gleam of blue light from her phone and the glowing red decline button.

Eri picked up just as Yi Xi was about to put down her phone. "Heya girl! How's it going? What's happened?"

"So, about that girlfriend thing…"

"OH MY GOD?? Are you joking right now?? Tell me how it went! Don't spare me a single detail, I want it all."

"Alright, so—"