Chapter Text
“Alright, pookie schmookies! I’ll be back in, like, 2 seconds,” Akarsha said to Noelle, Min, and Diya as she sprinted down the hallway towards the kitchen. It was a typical day at Akarsha’s family’s house, a perfect one for a DAMN (Diya, Akarsha, Min, Noelle) hangout as the gang got out of school early for a minimum day. After settling into Akarsha’s room, Noelle, Diya, and Min sat at the foot of her bed, trying to brainstorm ideas of what to do to entertain themselves and how to spend the rest of their day. Akarsha talked with her parents about her schoolday in the kitchen while the other three waited patiently. As they waited, Min laid down and slowly nestled their head into Diya’s lap at the edge of the bed as she stroked their hair, smiling down at their relaxed face.
“Hi, my prince,” Diya said softly to her lover.
“Well hello there, my princess,” Min replied, beaming as Diya stroked their face. Noelle, seated next to them, stared at the tan carpet below her. She glanced over at the two and grumbled something along the lines of “get a room, jeez.” Diya and Min giggled softly to each other after overhearing Noelle’s comments, knowing she was unadmittedly happy yet envious of them being able to be so lovey with each other. Suddenly, they all heard an ear-piercing scream, making the three of them jump simultaneously.
“OH MY GOD, YOU GUYS,” a high-pitched screech echoed down the hallway as Noelle, Min, and Diya widened their eyes at a crazed Akarsha at the doorway. She sprinted towards her room and stopped at the foot of the doorway before taking a few needed breaths. “THE VOLCANO TACO IS BACK AT TACO BELL. WE HAVE TO GO. I SAW A COMMERCIAL ABOUT IT WHEN TALKING TO MY MOM AND DAD. PLEASE PLEASEEE PLEASE WE HAVE TO GO. PLEASE.” Akarsha wobbled over to Noelle and dropped to her knees after this crucial announcement, fake weeping as Noelle looked down at her with pure confusion and annoyance. With this annoyance bloomed a small tinge of pink on Noelle’s face as Akarsha was so close to her.
“There’s no way you practically blew out our ear drums over a Taco Bell menu item,” Noelle scolded, crossing her arms and trying to stay unphased by Akarsha’s relentless yet cute begging. “Taco Bell isn’t good anyway; it’s not authentic Mexican food and who knows how processed the food is. Why don’t we just go to a regular restaur—“ Before she could finish, Noelle was interrupted by Akarsha’s left hand in her face, her pointer finger up and softly touching Noelle’s lips to shush her. Noelle became slightly flustered as Akarsha began to speak.
“Frenchman. I do NOT want to hear another hateful, slanderous word slip from your mouth speaking about MY holy land that way. It is ABHORRENT and pretty much a form of hate speech,” monologued a now sat-up Akarsha, balling her other hand into a fist and putting it to her chest as if she was in pain. “The Volcano Taco is one of the best things to ever grace this earth and if I hear any more foul mouthed comments I may have to resort to physical measures, which as you know I rarely ever do. You don’t want to see my dark side…heh…..” Akarsha exclaimed as she dramatically stood up and covered one side of her face with her hand, similar to a generic villain of an anime.
“Akarsha, I’m gonna be so real. I don’t think this was worth screaming about, but I’m so down to go,” Min said as they lifted themself up from Diya’s lap, still sitting right next to her.
“What even is the Volcano Taco anyway? It sounds pretty cool,” Diya asked, her puzzled expression slowly turning more curious.
“Well, it’s ONLY the BEST TACO to ever EXIST in modern day LIFE,” Akarsha exclaimed. “The flavors of the volcano sauce they use melt on your tongue and help to create the most perfect spicy taco. It’s absolutely life-changing.”
“Akarsha. What could be so life-changing about a taco. This is one of the dumbest things you’ve ever said, and you’ve said so many dumb things,” Noelle huffed. She would NOT give into such a stupid idea, even if Akarsha was her crush. Noelle often wondered to herself why Akarsha was even someone she fancied in the first place, knowing how much she annoyed her and raised her cortisol levels.
“Well, Noelle, did YOU have any other plans for today? As far as I know, you had no ideas while we tried to brainstorm. In other words: what the fuck else are we gonna do?” Min interjected, smirking smugly at the flustered girl. Noelle looked at them with a piercing glare as Akarsha agreed with Min.
“Yeah Frenchman, lighten up a little. You don’t even need to buy anything, but if you want anything I’ll buy, sweet cheeks,” Akarsha jokingly flirted as she whipped out a crumpled and stained $5 bill from her pocket in front of her face.
“GODIHATEYOU,” Noelle blurted as she looked away, trying not to become even more pink. She took a deep breath. “Okay FINE. We can go to Taco Bell. Just know I’m only doing this because we have no other ideas.” As soon as she finished talking, Akarsha jumped up excitedly and grabbed Noelle by the shoulders, shaking her vigorously.
“THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE. LET’S FUCKING GO. THANK YOU FRENCHMAN,” Akarsha yelped as she ran to put on her crocs. Diya and Min playfully smirked at Noelle after Akarsha left the room, knowing damn well Noelle was not as annoyed as she was enamored by the taco-loving fiend. She felt their stares and turned to look at them.
“Why do I love everything she does even if it’s all so stupid?” Noelle frantically whispered to the lovers. She had talked to them both previously about her newfound feelings for her, and Diya and Min loved to be able to try to play matchmaker for her.
“That’s kinda what infatuation does to you, Noelle. When Min used to smoke, I still ended up falling for them even if I have negative feelings about smoking,” Diya ran her nails along Min’s back as she explained softly, just quiet enough so Akarsha couldn’t hear. “You fall for the person themself, not the things they do.”
Noelle flopped back-first on Akarsha’s bed, covering her flushed face with her hands. “God, I hate that I like her so much. I’m still trying to work through the idea that these feelings for women are okay and normal while debating whether or not to just spill everything to her and see if she feels the same. I’m just so frustrated and it doesn’t help that I want a whole life with her, like you guys basically have at the ripe age of 17,” Noelle vented, tears welling up in her eyes. She felt a hand grab hers and looked over at Diya.
“We’re always gonna be here to support you, Noelle. Your feelings are valid and we appreciate you sharing. It’s hard to fully understand, but just know that Min and I are here for you, no matter what,” Diya said softly, rubbing Noelle’s knuckles to help calm her down. “Now, let’s get going before Akarsha gets suspicious. We can put this on hold temporarily and just try to enjoy our time together, especially since we’ll all be graduating soon.”
The three of them stood up as Noelle wiped the few tears she had in her eyes. “Yeah, you’re right. Thank you Diya, for being so kind to me. And thanks Min for absolutely nothing,” Noelle sneered as Min shoved her playfully.
“Alright, I’m sorry I’m not with the feelings stuff, but you better be glad I’m not relentlessly bullying you about it,” Min joked. The three exited the room and followed Akarsha outside to make a trek to Akarsha’s supposed “holy land”: the Taco Bell in Oakland.