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“Dis haz to be da best sandwich ibe eber eaten,” Akko groaned as she bit into the giant golden baguette in her hands, the velvety barbecue sauce oozing out the sides.
“Bahn mi,” Diana corrected, “It’s not just any sandwich.”
Akko rolled her eyes and continued chewing. As Akko stuffed the last of her dinner into her mouth, her cheeks inflated like a chipmunk hoarding acorns, and Diana could only giggle. She loved watching Akko eat. Not in a creepy way, but watching Akko’s eyes glitter at the sight of food and the way she eagerly gobbled down almost anything always made her happy.
Diana was a slow eater, and while she still had about half of her bahn mi to go, Akko was already wiping the crumbs off her mouth.
“Bahn mi,” Akko repeated, clasping her hands, “has to be the best sandwich ever. The baguette is the perfect level of crispy and don’t even get me STARTED on the pulled pork inside – the sauce it was marinated in is perfect. God, I love you Diana! Without you, I would never have discovered this legend of a sandwich.”
Diana instantly felt her cheeks burn at the phrase “I love you Diana”. No matter how many times Akko said it, she would always turn red. She knew she didn’t mean it that way. Akko said it all the time, and not just to her, but to Sucy, Lotte and Amanda too. Friends say “I love you” to each other all the time… and yet, Diana didn’t want it to be just friendly…
She stared at the cluster of bubbles fizzing through her soda, fiddling with the straw protruding out the glass before sneaking a glance at Akko, who was leaning back in her chair… and staring right back at her.
Diana quickly looked back down and tapped at her phone.
Of course, her lockscreen was a selfie of her and Akko at the aquarium during the holidays. Akko’s favourite animal was sharks, so Diana suggested they visit the aquarium together to go shark-watching. It was just the two of them, and Diana was very ashamed to say that her eyes spent more time on Akko than on the actual marine animals. She constantly had to remind herself that it wasn’t a date, but just two friends hanging out together.
The numbers 6:07 stared back at Diana. Akko was starving, so they had dinner relatively early.
“It’s barely 6pm, what should we do now?” Diana asked, finally lifting her head back up to face Akko.
“How about the arcade?”
“Akko… didn’t you say you were broke…”
Akko slumped down in her chair.
“I could really play some games right now,” she sighed. “Gosh, does Nintendo sound amazing right now. Overcooked hates to see me coming…”
“Over what?” Diana frowned.
Akko shot upright in her seat, nearly knocking the table over.
“Of course you’ve never played – hell, of course you’ve never even heard of Overcooked before! It’s such a modern Nintendo classic, you have to play it at least once. Oh gosh, wait, let's just hang out at my house and I’ll teach you how to play it. I’ll tell my mom you’re coming over.”
Unlike Akko, Diana rarely played games. The only knowledge she had of games was through Akko’s constant raves and rants about whatever her new game hyperfixation was that month. She never really understood what made games so appealing, but if it meant she got to do something Akko liked together with her, she didn’t mind.
She leaned back into her chair as Akko dialled her mother. Akko spoke to her parents in Japanese, which was very much foreign and unintelligible to the French-speaking Diana, but she loved hearing how Akko’s voice seemed to go up half a pitch and sounded even sweeter in the foreign tongue.
“Both my parents are out now, but they said we can hang out at the house,” Akko finally said, reverting back to English.
Diana internally sighed in relief. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Akko’s parents, they simply scared her, like any other adult. Furthermore, she wanted to impress them if she ever met them, and today simply wasn’t the day.
—————————————————————————————————————————
“My treat.” Diana gently pushed Akko out of the way at the cashier and slid the cash across the counter.
“Aww, it’s like I got myself a girlfriend. Thanks love,” Akko winked and blew Diana a kiss, and Diana could only roll her eyes in response.
“Stop saying such corny stuff, Akko.”
“You wish,” Akko smirked, leaning in so close Diana could see the tiny freckles sprinkled across Akko’s skin. She could feel Akko’s warm breath against her face, forcing blood to rush to her cheeks. Akko’s hands reached out toward Diana and placed a gentle finger next to her quivering lips.
“There you go! There was something on your face,” Akko exclaimed, retracting her finger and brandishing the tiny piece of chili powder. Diana stumbled backwards, her face still flushed, but this time, with embarrassment.
“You’re impossible, Akko. I’m leaving.”
Akko giggled, grabbing ahold of Diana’s hand and swinging it as they left the restaurant.
—————————————————————————————————————————
Merely a kilometre away, the pair decided to walk slowly to Akko’s house and enjoy the sunset.
The butterflies in Diana’s stomach were unusually violent like a drunken clubbing nightmare. She punched herself lightly in the torso in an attempt to calm them but that plan obviously went to hell. She wanted to slap herself, but her eyes couldn't help but land back on Akko every once in a while – it was golden hour after all, and Akko was glowing.
“Miss Diana Cavendish, welcome to my humble abode,” Akko announced dramatically, her voice dropping an octave, the metal keys jingling sharply as she twisted the doorknob. She stood with her back on the ajar door, and bowed to let Diana in. To humour Akko, Diana gave a little curtsy as she strode into the house.
She had been to Akko’s house numerous times for school projects and to hang out, and she counted down to five before she finally heard it. The soft thudding gradually grew louder before a golden pound of fur pounced onto her, pushing her onto the floor. Diana let out a little shriek of laughter.
“Apricot, you little weasel! You missed me didn’t you? Didn’t you?” She crooned, stroking the golden retriever’s silky fur. She truly believed that dogs were like their owners – Apricot was just as hyperactive and enthusiastic as Akko, and could easily be distracted by food.
“Madame, onwards we go to my den. The dog may accompany us,” Akko continued in her deep voice, bending her elbow and holding her arm out horizontally for Diana to grasp onto while the other arm pointed the way. Diana, gladly, took her arm.
Akko guided Diana to her bedroom, contorting her face into several hilarious expressions Diana couldn’t hold in her laughter.
Akko’s bedroom was just as Diana had remembered. It was obviously not as big as her own, but Akko impressively managed to fit a small bed, an electric drum set, a TV, a desk, a shelf, and a closet into the humble space. Not a single spot on the wall wasn’t covered with band posters, letters, magazine cut outs and polaroids. Diana loved looking at the polaroids – her favourite was one of baby Akko smiling as she proudly sat behind a sand castle she made at a beach. Of course, she also particularly liked the polaroid that sat right above the light switch, one of her giving Akko a piggyback on the last day of school before the summer holidays.
Akko jumped onto her bed, which was overflowing with all sorts of unique throw pillows and knitted blankets. Diana sank into the bed next to Akko, grabbing the bright blue controller Akko passed to her.
“Okay, time to LOCK IN!” Akko exclaimed. “Overcooked is really easy as long as we communicate properly! I’m sure you’d be great at it.”
“You’re severely overestimating my gaming abilities,” Diana replied, raising at eyebrow at the Brunette and fiddling with the little semicircle controller.
“OK, first, you’ve got to hold the controller like this.” Akko took Diana’s hand and repositioned them. “There you go! You’ll get used to the buttons soon. This one’s for chopping, this one’s for picking items up…”
Diana quickly learnt the controls, but her reaction time was a different problem. Since the game started, all she did was chop a few cucumbers and constantly bump into Akko’s avatar or drop the food. And now, she also failed to reach the cooking rice on time.
“THE KITCHEN’S ON FIRE! QUICK! GET THE EXTINGUISHER!” Akko screamed as the overcooked rice burst into flames.
“THERE’S AN EXTINGUISHER?” Diana shouted back as she struggled to move her avatar on the screen. Of course, she somehow fell into an abyss.
“DIANA!” Akko burst into laughter. Diana couldn’t help but laugh too. She was absolutely terrible.
*******
Time’s Up!
*******
The two fell onto the bed giggling as the game ended.
“God, Diana, you weren’t joking. You reeeaaaaally suck at games!” Akko teased.
“I told you so!”
“You know what, let’s watch a movie instead,” Akko suggested, grabbing the television remote and switching from the game to Netflix.
As Akko flickered through the array of shows and movies, Diana noticed how close they were sitting on the bed. All she could focus on was the little part of her shoulder that was in contact with Akko’s. She held her breath as she moved a little closer and froze as Akko shifted towards her too.
All she could hear was the soft hum of the air-conditioner, the soft, intermittent clicking of the television remote, and the rhythm of Akko’s breathing. Despite the gentle blowing of wind, the air felt still, hot and heavy. She couldn’t breathe. She reached out for the nearest throw pillow and squeezed the edge tightly in her fists.
Relax, Diana. Breathe.
It didn’t work. She felt like she was on fire – her lungs, her face, everywhere.
It physically hurt her – to be so close to the girl she loved so much, but unable to do anything about it. Unable to tell if she liked her back. Unable to tell if she meant everything to Akko like Akko meant everything to her.
Her love was an ocean and she was drowning in it.
“What are we?” The words escaped Diana’s lips. The bubble seemed to burst. At last she could feel the air again, but the room went silent. She could no longer hear the soft clicking of the remote controller.
Akko slowly turned towards Diana. Her face was contorted with confusion.
Shit.
Seeing Akko’s unreadable stiffness, Diana wished she could take it all back – but she couldn’t.
“Akko, what are we?” She repeated.
Akko remained rooted on the bed. Her lips parted like she was about to say something but the room remained silent as she averted Diana’s pleading gaze.
“Akko, please answer me.”
“Diana, we’re best friends, right?”
Her heart shattered.
Best friends.
The waves crashed onto her again.
Best friends.
She couldn’t breathe.
Best friends.
Is that all she meant to her?
Best friends.
Of course.
She needed to get out.
Diana jolted up from the bed and swiped her bag off the table, hastily slinging it onto her shoulder. Her eyes were burning and brimming with tears.
“Diana?” Akko called out.
Diana froze at the doorframe. She couldn’t bear to turn around and face Akko.
“I’ll see you in school,” Diana could only utter faintly before leaving the room.
Why did you do that? You idiot. She liked Akko so much she hated for their friendship to be ruined or have to end, but...Akko acted so much more like a girlfriend than a friend, she couldn’t help but think… but hope… but that was just how Akko was after all.
Diana fled down the stairs and unlocked the front door. She stepped out, only to be greeted by lashing rain. Without an umbrella, she could only pull her jacket hood over her head in a feeble attempt to stay dry, as if she wasn't already soaked. The tears in her eyes finally fell, cascading along with the rain. It was about 7.30pm, and the sun was almost fully set. Mixed with the sheets of rain, the sky had turned an odd shade of bruised purple.
Diana decided to take the long route to the bus stop. She walked through the park, glancing at the deluged plots of soil and the plants all bowed over. She had never seen the park look so lifeless before.
“DIANA!”
Diana stopped walking at the all-too-familiar voice. She heard the water splashing across the pavement as Akko sped towards her. Akko, too, was soaked, her dark hair pressed against her face. She stood about a metre away, umbrella-less, clothes dripping with rain.
“Diana, are we not best friends?” Akko tried, taking a step closer and reaching out to hold Diana’s hand, only for her hands to get slapped away.
“Don’t you get it Akko? I like you, idiot! I don’t want us to be just ‘Best friends’. I like you so much it hurts. You keep leading me on, and I’m a fool for thinking you liked me back too. Really, Akko, what does being ‘Best friends’ mean to you? Is it going out to do things couples usually do or acting all flirty and teasing each other all the time? Akko, I like you so much I didn’t want to ruin our friendship, so please, just forget all of this happened, okay? If we’re just best friends to you, just don’t.”
Diana turned away, her tears mixing with the rain and blurring her vision. She walked faster, only for someone to grab her hand.
Akko twisted her arm, forcing Diana to face her again. Before Diana could speak, Akko pulled Diana in and their lips met. It was mixed with the tears and the rain still hammering at them, but the feeling of Akko’s soft lips against hers took her breath away. Akko pulled Diana in tighter and whispered into her ear.
“Isn’t it such a shame? Looks like our friendship has to end.”