Something didn't feel right. Was it that everything had been wrong for so long that anything good was unfamiliar?
Either way, she almost fell off the bed when Mason spoke up from beside her. "Good morning, beautiful." Why was he still there?
She wouldn't call it morning, either; the clock on the wall showed 4:21 AM. But then again, he was a vampire.
Trying to lighten the heaviness that was suffocating her, she forced a dry chuckle through her throat. "I thought it was sweetheart."
He chuckled. "Maybe it's interesting to switch things up sometimes." The suggestion was unmistakable, but something else lingered under the surface. Could he also be talking about the fact that he stayed?
She wasn't sure she could handle the answer. This was supposed to be easy, without questions and double meanings. He had fun, she had fun and that was all that mattered.
She was overthinking. He probably just forgot to go. It didn't mean anything.
"You're awfully quiet." Mason snapped her out of her thoughts, which was probably for the best. She shouldn't have lingered on such things.
"I'm tired." A half-lie, but he either didn't notice or didn't care as he simply shrugged and wrapped an arm around her.
"Maybe you should go to sleep again then, just so you don't lose your energy." She focused on his returning smirk, the only thing at the moment she could understand. That should have been the end to their conversation.
But her mouth betrayed her. "You're leaving when I fall asleep." It wasn't an accusation, merely a fact of their whatever-they-had and its terms. It was a night arrangement, nothing that had its place in the light of day.
She couldn't quite make out his expression in the dark, but she almost thought he frowned. "I guess."
It was too much for her to handle right then, so she just buried herself into her pillow.
Summary: Teenage AU! They're all part of the same friend group, so obviously chaos and feelings ensue. (Approximate ages: 15/16)
pairing: Kira x Adam, Jayné x Felix, Mila x Mason and Zinnia & Nate (not paired yet)
words: ~1k
Wonderful. It was Monday morning, and Jayné wanted nothing more than to turn the bike around and go home already.
It was bad enough that it was Monday. Did she really need to elaborate? Mondays sucked. From being the first day of school to being their longest day of the week. But in addition to the obvious, they had a test today. Math was one of her best subjects, but it was still tiring.
It was cold outside, and the wind didn't make it better. When she finally got off her bike in front of the school, her hands were shaking. Ugh. It was warm inside, at least.
She wasn't quite sure where to hang out before class, so she ended up just wandering the halls absentmindedly. Having gotten used to the solitude, she almost jumped into the air when a voice sounded behind her. "Hey, Jayné!"
She spun around to see Felix grinning at her, and against her better wishes, her heart did a little flip. Stop it. She cleared her throat and tried to smile back as inconspiciously as possible. "Hey, Felix. What's up with you?"
"Yeah, it's great. Just came over to tell you that Adam, Nate and I are playing soccer. You wanna join in?"
Even after all the years, being included in things made her feel incredibly lucky. "Sure!" She sped up a bit to match his pace, stiffening slightly when he slung his arm around her shoulders. It's probably a bro thing.
Nate was a nice guy, immediately greeting her with a "Hello, Jayné" as soon as she and Felix came into sight. Adam simply nodded at them, bouncing the ball on his foot. "Hey."
"So, do we play in two teams or...?"
Adam suddenly threw the ball to her, and she almost didn't catch it from surprise. "Yeah, of course. Who do you want to be with?"
Felix. Ugh, she couldn't say that. This was so embarrassing. Couldn't he just choose himself?
Felix, the wonderful guy, saved her from panicking. He gave her a megawatt-smile and said, "She's with me. If that's fine with you." She could only nod, thanking him silently.
Then she kicked the ball to Felix, effectively starting the game. She would consider herself good at soccer, but seeing him speed across the tiny field made her feel suddenly inadequate. Only when Adam came into motion, running towards their goal, did she unfreeze and move to stop his advance.
It was easier in theory. In practice, he kicked the ball between her feet and went on to score. She hung her head, not daring to look at Felix. Would he think she was bad at this?
"Jayné!" She gratefully looked up to see Kira, Zi and Mila walking towards them, an unfamiliar boy trailing behind them.
"Hey, guys. Who's that?"
Mila grinned and slowed down to walk beside him. "This is Mason Lykos. He's a year older, but that's not a problem, right?" Kira rolled her eyes and mouthed, "Another one of Mila's boy toys." It was ridiculous, really. Sometimes Kira made bets on how long they would talk to each other.
Meanwhile, Jayné had liked the same boy for a year now, with no clear sign of returned interest. It was unfair.
---
There was obvious tension between Mason and Adam, which Kira found absolutely hilarious. The sporty kid disliking the gangster? Wow, never heard that one before. It wasn't very nice, but she almost laughed at the hostility on Adam's face.
Zi broke the silence. "Can we join?"
Nate, much more diplomatic than his best friend, smiled at them. "Of course. You'll have to split up into teams."
She gave Adam a grin, and he stiffened. "Maybe Zi and I can be with Jayné and Felix, and Mila and Mason with you two?" He gritted his teeth, but only said, "Fine."
Mostly, she enjoyed beating him. It was her way of proving herself, wishing someday he'd put her as his equal. Not that she'd ever tell him that. But she really wanted to be as good as him, to show him that... what? That she was a worthy friend? Something like that.
She already had a better attitude, anyway, she noted as he didn't even bother to hide his disgust for Mason. Yeah, he smelled of cigarette smoke, which was both illegal and disgusting, but if Mila wanted him there, Kira would tolerate him for as long as she needed. Her friend had... unconvential interests, but they tried to at least give the guys she brought a chance before dismissing them.
Then Nate kicked the ball into the air, and the match began. Adam rushed toward it, but she passed it to Felix before he had the chance, who tried to score but ultimately hit the goalpost. "Ah, it's good anyway!" Jayné shouted from their goal. Of course she did; it was Felix. All of them except those two knew what had to be up.
She was so preoccupied for a moment, she didn't notice when the ball came towards her until Adam crashed into her in an attempt to get it. "Sorry," he muttered, quickly backing a couple of steps backwards. Ugh. It wasn't that big of a deal; why did he act like she was poisonous? They were friends, weren't they?
Huh, they actually hadn't hung out in a while. She would have to fix that, but later. In the current moment, everything that mattered was beating him, and the other team. Refocusing her attention on the ball, she pushed forward, absentmindedly noticing her skin burning slightly. Ah, well. That wasn't important right now.
When Zi scored a few minutes later, she had forgotten it entirely. It was nothing special; it happened all the time. Or did it? Suddenly she was unsure, but there was no time to examine her doubts.
