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Ugh, people.
Why did she have to be dragged to this party?
I mean, the only good thing was that Chance and Elliot were here.
Sage walked through the party, gave glares that could kill people to most of them…how did Elliot know this many people?
Hopefully, from this, you can understand that Sage was not your local party goer, nor did she like people either. The glasses wearer didn’t completely master the spell of “socialising”, nor did they want to. They were much better on their own anyway, as people thought she was weird. Who needs them!? They’re not worth talking to anyway with that attitude.
Sage had 2 small exceptions to their “non-existent social spells”, though.
Elliot,
And irritatingly, Chance.
Chance was the complete opposite of Sage; a social butterfly who wanted to attract people wherever they went like a magnet. Chance just sort of hung around Sage until she started to speak to them (which took WAY longer than it should of), and that’s how their reluctant friendship started.
Is it reluctant? She wasn’t sure.
Also, how was he WILLINGLY talking to people?
Ugh, that’s just weird.
This was how she ended up in the kitchen, sipping an alcoholic bloxy cola, ignoring anyone who tried to talk to her while trying to find a black and white fedora in the crowd.
Ever since she’d arrived at the party, for some reason, she would always try to find them in the flood of people, to…to get out of here, of course, not because she cared about them and actually wanted to hang out with them, right?
Right?
With this debate in her head, she didn’t notice a very drunk Elliot beside her.
“Sage! I didn’t think you’d come, you know, doing whatever the fuck you do in your free time…”
Sage turned her head to hesitantly look at him, his eyes slightly lidded and voice slurred from the alcohol, and yet, he still looked handsome. There was a reason that some people had taken a liking to him, or so she heard. She didn’t blame them though, his blonde hair and kind personality was more than enough to win someone over for him.
“Oh, Elliot, hey.” She replied, noting by the severity of Elliot’s cheeks that there was DEFINITELY something stronger than bloxy cola wafting around in here.
“Why so nonchalant? This is a party, Sage, have fun for once in your life.” He slurred, grabbing a bloxy cola from the cooler, pulling the tab and taking a big gulp from it.
“I’m just…not that interested in parties…” She hesitantly said while intensely scanning the room for a reason she couldn’t describe.
“…Looking for Chance?~”
Shit. She envied how observant he was, even when drunk.
She felt a warmth in her face as she crossed her arms, still looking for him..but it was normal, right?? Just friends, that’s all they were, why was she overthinking it? Just her and Chance, friends.
No matter how much she tried to convince herself, the word friend to describe them left a bitter taste.
“Look, I found them, he’s over there, talking to some girls. Maybe you should go to him and actually do something other than stand around ignoring people.”
She stared at the girls. They didn’t like her, she didn’t like them; it was a mutual matter that would probably go unresolved. They thought she was weird and unpopular, and they wanted to hang out with popular people. Simple as that.
“I never knew how he connected with people so easily, would never share their secrets with me…” He said amusingly, resting his head on the counter.
Sage looked at the young non-binary on the sofa in the living room, laughing with flushed cheeks while flipping their coin over and over and having a conversation.
Chance.
A sudden burst of heat rushed through them uncomfortably, consuming her flushed daze into something more ugly.
It almost felt like..anger, but more prickling on her skin and more furious than anger ever could be.
“I don’t see a reason why he would be able to attract attention anyway.” She snapped, taking a long swig of her bloxy cola before throwing it in one of the bins.
“Heh, have you finally felt jealousy, Sage?~” Elliot giggled, seemingly unfazed from Sage’s horribly disguised jealousy, mostly likely due to how drunk he was.
For Telamon’s sake, even a drunk person knew you were jealous, snap out of it!
“What? No, me and Chance are definitely 100% friends, nothing more, and never will be!” Her voice cracking every other word, trying to be as obvious as possible.
They were! Her and Chance-her and them, they were just friends!! No, acquaintances, they were just acquaintances, just normal, perfectly platonic roommates!
So why couldn’t she name the feeling that she felt whenever they smiled at her? The less..fake one, no matter what the context of the area was? That fluttering feeling she got whenever he was mentioned, or when she looked at them?
Oh for the love of 1x4.
Elliot smiled like a dog that had been given a bone, his eyes full to the brim with amusement. “You know I meant jealous of them, right?~”
Oh.
Oh.
The realisation punched her straight in the head.
She likes her fucking roommate of all people.
The roommate that she swore that they were only friends with her because they pitted her.
The roommate that was the complete opposite of her.
She absolutely fancied them, and she didn’t even realise it.
The dreaded feeling of blush creeping on her face as Elliot smirked. “Realised, haven’t you? Don’t worry, I remember my first time.”
She wanted to snap back at him, to tell him some bullshit about that they were indeed friends, but she knew it was useless.
She turned to look at Chance, their smile bringing longing and happiness to her at the same time.
“..He wouldn’t like someone like me back anyway, it’s not meant to be.” She whispered, trying to stop her voice cracking with vulnerability.
Chance would never like someone like her. He was popular with people, they were funny, people wanted them, heck, they owned a casino for fucks sake, she was a low-life compared to them.
Sage was the opposite. She was a complete and utter loser. People talked about her like she was a new myth like Noli. Sure, she was good at plant biology and psychology, but that was it. She didn't get attention, only envy.
They were the opposite sides of the coin, friend-zoned even. They couldn't be compatible.
Right?
“Ah, and here I thought you were smart, Sage.” a small smile forming on his lips. ”You do biology and psychology at Uni for Builderman’s sake."
The blank face on Sage’s face said for him to continue.
“Have you ever noticed that whenever he gets the chance to, he goes out of his way to help you even if you don't need it? How their teasing always has a tone to it that says “PLEASE for the love of Telamon just kiss me”?”
Sage gave a small laugh at that, not denying that she felt a lot better in a weird way.
“You’re drunk, you don't actually mean that Elliot.”
“You know I've always been truthful Sage!”
“I need to accept that they can't love me like that, ok?" She pushed, trying to force it into her mind that it would never happen.
“Mhm, then why would he be literally staring at you for the past 5 minutes?” He pointed out, making Sage turn her gaze back to Chance, who was indeed staring at her.
Even from across the room, the eye contact made Sage’s head spin; Chance probably left the same under those black clockwork shades.
As if reading each other's minds, Chance took a final sip of his bloxy cola, sat up and started to push away from the loud group of people to walk over to Sage, who did the same.
Maybe he was right.
Friends wouldn't do this.
Friends wouldn't feel like melting every time one of them smiled at each other.
Friends wouldn't put each other's hands around the other's waist casually.
Friends wouldn't be face to face and ignoring the whispers in the room.
Sage had her arms around Chance’s neck, and he returned the favor by putting their hands around her waist, fully closing the gap between them and their tension.
“Um, t-this isn't-” She took a deep breath, trying to hold herself back from what she wanted to do. “This isn't v-very platonic, you know?”
Chance’s low chuckle was a melody to her ears.
“Well, looking back at it, I don't think we were ever that platonic, Sage.”
Sage hummed under her breath in response, mainly out of nervousness than anything else.
“So….what should we do now?”
Chance looked back up under the shades. Sage had remembered how he trusted her enough to let her see his actual eyes, the golden iris swimming like waves.
“I think we both know, hm?”
That's when the final thread between them snapped.
Their lips made contact with each other.
Maybe 2 different sides of the coin aren't so different.