ah!! your writing is very good ❤ if it's not too much to ask for, maybe a belarus/nyo iceland drabble please? something with a first date sort of thing?
Emily could hear the whispers from the other students in the halls. She keeps her face screwed up in a neutral expression as she heads for her first class. High school is bad enough but changing schools in the middle of the year could be ruinous to her whole life.
Luckily her first teacher doesn’t make her do a stupid introduction, letting her take a seat in the back. She keeps her eyes down, secretly texting her best friend from her old school. Ling makes fun of her instead of being consolidating.
A few kids try to talk to her but they are immediately put off by the fact Emily just gives them annoyed looks on reflex. Her face usually takes a turn for resting bitch face but with people she doesn’t know it gets much worse. They leave her alone with words of ‘rude’ and ‘mean’. Not that it matters much to her.
She manages to find the small locker the school provides. It takes her a few tries to open the contraption, a few other kids coming over to talk to her. She gives them the same looks. It doesn’t deter them and that makes it so much worse. Eventually she leaves them with a quick slam of the locker and going to her next class without a word.
This teacher asks her if she wants to introduce herself and Emily stares at her like she has two heads. They try to get her to say something.
“No?” Emily takes a step towards the back of the room while the teacher tries to make it a joke but it falls flat. Just before the bell rings, a girl walks in that looks much older than the rest of the sophomores.
“Ah! Everyone this is Natalia, she’ll be the teacher’s assistant for this hour.” The teacher shows Natalia a desk next to the front of the room for her to sit at and spread her things out. She does so with her lavender hair falling over her shoulders in a glossy curtain.
Emily can hear some of the crass boys in her class talking about how they can find ways to talk to the T.A. As rude as she thinks it is, she doesn’t say anything. The T.A. looks like they can handle themselves, a fact that is proven when they send a sharp glare to one of the boys who flinches when they catch her angry stare. Then she turns the look to Emily.
She had been staring and instead of looking away from the violent look directed her way, keeps looking until the angry expression melts from Natalia’s face and Emily’s heats up. She snaps her head down to her desk, hoping the short cut of her hair is enough to cover her face.
Emily jumps when her locker is slammed shut for her. Some random kid in one of her classes leans on the one next to it with a smirk on his face. She blinks at him unamused.
“Can you not do that?” She asks. The boy laughs and tries to give her one of those boyish charm smiles. Too bad Emily is far used to that from the looks her family gives her.
“So what are you doing after school today?” They ask. Emily doesn’t dignify it with an answer.
“No,” Emily says quick. She doesn’t even look at them as she opens her locker again to block them from her sight. She grabs her last book as it’s shut on her again. She doesn’t wait around for him to say anything, just walks away. On the opposite side of the lockers is Natalia, surrounded by her friends, a group of seniors and juniors of varying social groups. Emily does her best not to look at the T.A. but their eyes lock regardless.
Emily holds her books tighter at the feeling of someone watching her walk away.
“Come on Nat!” Emily looks up from her book. She managed to convince the teacher she needed to go to the library to study for classes. Since she had proven to be the least trouble making the teacher granted her permission. Too bad Natalia is there as well, rejecting some boy.
“No,” She says coldly. Emily has learned. Listened in on some of the talks her classmates have when the T.A. has her headphones in and they have time to talk. Natalia is a little trouble making in the sense she doesn’t care, an ice queen to end all tropes. Rumors spread she has knives on her at school and threatens people who bug her too much.
“No,” She says again just as bored. The boy groans and plops down next to her as she reads.
“No.” She snaps her book shut and stands to move to the opposite side of the library, just a table away from where Emily sits.
“Why not?” The boy whispers as he follows her. Natalia finally looks at him with a glare in place.
“I don’t like you,” She says. Emily hides her face to make sure the snort she lets out can be masked by the pages. Her ears burn red when she hears the boy ask if it’s because Natalia likes someone else. She doesn’t want to look but she does. She freezes seeing Natalia glance her way.
“Actually,” Natalia says in the most teasing voice Emily has ever heard out of her. Somehow her posture goes more rigid as Natalia stands once more to move to the seat right next to Emily and lean right into her space.
“Me and my girlfriend have a date later today.” Emily’s eyes go wide and she blinks between the two seniors with her mind in short circuit. The boy gives her a bad look, judging the accuracy in Natalia’s statement.
“I-” Her words get choked up and Natalia gives her an odd look. Possibly pleading for help.
“I- I’ve been meaning to ask, if it was your house or mine today?” Emily makes up words as quick as she can. Natalia’s shoulders drop in relief as she turns to fully face Emily in her chair.
“Mine would be best today,” She says and a genuine smile crosses her face that sends Emily’s heart pounding to another dimension. The boy gives up on talking to Natalia but she doesn’t leave.
“Thank you I suppose,” She says and drops some of the playful act. Emily finally feels like she can calm down not under the pressure.
“You’re welcome,” She mumbles. The book in front of her is desperate for her attention but it’s difficult with Natalia still beside her.
“Hey.” Emily almost expects it to be one of the boys from her grade but the cool voice tells her it’s not. She blinks up to Natalia who switches from foot to foot awkwardly in front of her.
“Hi?” Emily says. She catches sight of the group Natalia usually talks with watching and smiling between themselves.
“Do you like movies?” Natalia’s words are tight lipped. Emily shrugs, holding her arms to her.
“I like more scary ones,” She admits. Natalia nods her head and grabs a strand of her long hair to run her hands over in nervousness.
“Have you seen Mindless yet?” Emily shakes her head with confusion growing every second.
“Do you want to come see it with me?” The senior asks. Emily bristles with no idea how to react. With her face turning red she nods. Natalia lets out a soft sigh.
“It’s a date then.” She turns on her heel to walk to her friends who smile brightly. Emily closes her locker quick to go to class, a small bit of dread in her stomach when she realizes Natalia will be right in front of her the whole hour.
It’s easy when Natalia only offers her the slight smiles and gives nothing to anyone else.
“My friend tried to brainwash her ex once,” Natalia says on the way to the movie. Emily snorts into her hand and watches the trees as they pass. Natalia gave her a little card with her number on it. After a few texts they found a day and time for their date. Lukas almost had a fit but he couldn’t when Natalia rolled up in a nice car and Emily ran outside and told her to step on it before he could ask questions.
“I think my brother has his best friend brainwashed,” She says. They looked up the plot to the movie to make sure they would both really want to watch it. Interesting sounding enough they decided to keep it.
“So do you really bring knives to school?” Emily asks. Natalia gives her a side glance and the corner of her mouth twitches up for a second smile.
“Oh.” That ends that conversation. Emily fiddles with her fingers.
“Any other rumors you have questions about?” Natalia asks once the car is parked and the theater looms in front of them. Emily shakes her head.
It’s a little awkward at first but with Natalia set with her sour candy and Emily with her licorice, they hold hands on the arm rest between them. Emily is thankful the lights go out so her face can’t look as red.
The scarier parts of the movie make her twitch but nothing she can’t handle. The psychological parts make her cover her mouth in shock that someone, even just a movie character, would do such a thing. Natalia snickers beside her at her reactions.
“Who does that!?” Emily exclaims once they exit the theater. She puffs up her cheeks once she realizes how loud she is but Natalia just smirks at her outbursts.
“That was fun,” She says. Emily lessens her anger to smile softly. Their hands remain linked as Natalia drives her home. She parks on the street.
“Thank you? I guess..” Emily says unsure if she should say anything else. She’s never done much of a date thing before. She glances up at Natalia to find a hand on her cheek and pulling her closer.
The kiss is soft as a first. There’s a soft air between them when Natalia pulls back.
“See you tomorrow,” She says. Emily scrambles for the door handle. At the front door she stalls to watch Natalia smile from the street then drive away knowing she’s safe inside.
“Who was that?” Lukas scares the hell out of her. Emily glares at him as her hands fidget about.
“Someone from school,” She pushes past him and his prying questions, especially because she doesn’t know how to answer them. Whatever they are now to each other will have to be discussed another day.
It’s a little weird the day Natalia walks into the classroom and holds out a plain white envelope to her. Emily blinks up at her dumbfounded. They don’t interact in class, trying to keep some sort of personal and work boundary between them. They’ve gone on a few other dates, all fun in Emily’s opinion, and since Natalia keeps asking her, she must think they are fun too.
This is a bold interaction, bold enough that the class has gone quiet to watch them. Emily looks at the envelope, taking it with a confused look to the giver. Natalia just shrugs to an unasked question.
The envelope isn’t closed completely and Emily flips the top to pull out the contents. Her eyes go wide as she recognizes the ticket inside.
“Only if you want to,” Natalia says to her. The prom ticket stares Emily in the face. Carefully she looks up to the senior.
“Okay,” She manages to say. Natalia smiles softly at her then. Her hair drapes across Emily’s desk as she leans down casually to give her a quick kiss to the shock of everyone around them. The T.A. goes back to her desk with a bored look on her face as if she didn’t just show a public display of affection. Emily keeps her head down to hide the smile on her face.
Emily is sick of being fussed over. Lukas has tried to pin up her hair in three different styles, twice each in an annoying way. She smacks him away as the doorbell rings. She carefully walks downstairs in the slight heels but Lukas beats her there. Her breath gets caught at Natalia in a long purple dress that has a black sequined sash running around her torso to make her look thinner than she already is.
“Hi,” Natalia says blankly to Lukas. Her face actually lights up at seeing Emily. Her dress is shorter and more frilly, down to her knees in a dark blue that wraps around her neck to leave her sleeveless. She can’t help the smile on her face. Her parents get a few quick pictures in and they are out the door.
The limo they are in is bustling with life. Most of Natalia’s friends are there and then some Emily has only seen in passing. She gets properly teased for being so young going to prom but nothing malicious. It’s made better by Natalia sticking close to her, keeping their hands locked the whole night.
She has never danced before, but being able to tuck herself into Natalia while swaying back and forth has to count for something.
