001 -- Nothing to lose
Winnie let out a small sigh, knowing Chase was going to bother her until she finished her sentence; she knew she shouldn’t have even began it but now there was really no way around it— Winnie could practically feel her heart thumping out of her chest, her brain going every which way with her racing thoughts, and wishing that the joint they had just smoked did better work with her nerves than they had seemed to in this moment. She chewed among her lower lip as she peeked at Chase from the corner of her eye, chuckling at his comments and nodding when he asked if that was why she had been glued to him for the past few weeks. “Maybe,” Winnie mumbled, her voice barely audible from the nerves that took over her current state. She allowed her lips to turn up into a small smile at his tone of seriousness for a split second before he of course came back with a teasing insult. “I don’t smell, thank you. But I won’t disagree with the obnoxious part.” Winnie rolled her eyes, now turning to focus back on the sky to put a sense of calmness over her.
She cleared her throat before speaking again, “Chase,” Winnie finally began, her teeth still prodding into her bottom lip, and her eyes remaining focused on the brightly lit sky, “Our friendship is strong enough to the point where sharing whatever is on our minds won’t break it, or make it awkward, right?” She asked, her tone soft and slightly shaky; causing her to clear her throat again. “Like I can tell you something and you’re not gonna freak out and run off?” Winnie quirked an eyebrow, her eyes still not meeting Chases’ own.
The sky was an extremely dark shade of blue, almost black, as Chase peered up at it. He mindlessly did so, as Winnie spoke next to him, and looked at the few stars that were visible to him. Everything seemed tranquil for the boy until a short silence occurred, followed by Winnie clearing her throat and addressing the blond boy beside her. Chase perked his head up slightly, turning his head to look over in the direction of the voice. Through the dark he could see that she wasn't looking at him, but he continued to focus his gaze in her direction anyway, waiting for her to finish what she was about to say. Something was different in the way she was speaking this time; it was less steady and much more quiet than she had spoken her words previously. It caused Chase to anxiously pick at the hem of his t-shirt until Winnie finished talking and another silence followed, waiting to be filled with Chase's voice and his response.
"Uh," he started awkwardly, trying to conjure up a coherent reply to Winnie's questions. "Yeah sure, Win. O' course." He said, trying to sound sure of himself. But he quickly added, "Unless, y'know, you're a guy. Then I might be a little shocked, but I'm sure we could get passed it." Chase couldn't help himself; sometimes the hardest thing for him to do was be put in serious situations. The humor and random remarks were his way of coping and, more often than not, his words left his mouth before he could even think of holding them within his throat. The boy let a soft chuckle sound from his lips, hoping to seem less awkward and maybe ease the tension but it was no use, really. "Kidding, again. But yeah." He was still looking at Winnie, curious as to what she'd say next.