As the next afternoon rolls around, and classes end for the day, Crybaby, Ben, and Celeste pile into Angelita's car. She drives them to the park, and they walk the rest of the way to the treehouse.
The group gives Celeste a quick tour, before taking their seats on the floor, and asking Celeste for all the details she can recall from the party the night before.
"You guys are making me feel like a celebrity." Celeste boasts, ignoring the question she was asked seconds prior.
"Celeste!" Angelita whines. "Who's party was it?"
"Leo's." Celeste shrugs. "I barely know that guy."
"What?" Ben asks. "Did he somehow have a party in the dorm we share, without me noticing?"
"No, Benny-boy." Celeste waves a hand at him. "It was at his mom's house. I think."
"Leo's party?" Crybaby signs, raising an eyebrow. "And Fleur went?"
"Oh, she hated it." Celeste says. "She asked if we could leave after maybe twenty minutes, so Magnolia took us to get ice cream instead."
"What? Lucky!" Angelita pouts, nudging Celeste on the arm.
"You could've come along too." Crybaby signs a reminder.
"I didn't want to go to the party, but I always want ice cream." Angelita moves on the floor, until she's leaning against Celeste's lap, looki up at her. "Celeste, you should get me some ice cream." She pouts jokingly
"If you drive." Celeste says, wrapping her arms around Angelita's shoulders.
Crybaby feels Ben's hand, which has been holding her's, suddenly let go. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out his phone. A flash of panic crosses his face as he reads a notification.
"Shit." He mutters. "Um, Angie? Can you drive me back to school real quick?"
"Yeah, why?" Angelita asks, sitting up and meeting Ben's eyes.
"Speaking of Leo, he just told me that staff is doing room checks in our unit." Ben stands up, beginning to make his way towards the ladder. "I need to get back before they notice I'm not there."
"Damn, I guess we'll just have to go get ice cream without you." Celeste teases.
"Okay, Crybaby? Celeste?" Angelita's gaze jumps between the two. "Do you want to stay here while I drop Ben off? It'll be a bit faster than taking everyone."
"Sure." Crybaby signs. Her eyes move from Angelita to Ben. He gives her a quick smile, before making his way down the ladder.
"I don't mind." Celeste says.
"Okay, then I'll see you both in a bit." Angelita says. She quickly makes her way down the ladder, joining Ben on the ground.
Crybaby listens to their distant small talk grow quieter as they walk away, leaving her in a sudden silence with Celeste.
As the two girls meet each other's eyes, Celeste breaks into laughter.
"What?" Crybaby signs, slightly worried.
"It's never just the two of us." Celeste says, smiling.
Crybaby doesn't know how to respond. Her eyes linger on Celeste, before slowly drifting towards the window.
"You know," Celeste pulls Crybaby's attention back inside the treehouse. "If you're bored already, I could give you a super secret confession."
Crybaby tilts her head in curiosity. "A confession?" She signs.
"A super secret confession." Celeste specifies. A wide grin grows across her face.
"Why?" Crybaby asks.
"So you aren't bored anymore." Celeste shrugs. She looks away, seemingly deciding to avoid Crybaby's gaze.
Crybaby stares at Celeste silently for a moment, until she meets her eyes again. "What's your confession?" She signs.
Celeste's eyes widen slightly. "Ah, okay." She starts, interrupting herself with a giggle. "Okay, so..." She trials off.
"Do you like someone?" Crybaby guesses. She leans towards Celeste intimidatingly.
"Shut up!" Celeste whines, reaching over to nudge Crybaby's knee.
"It was your idea to give me a confession!" Crybaby signs in protest. She smiles as Celeste begins giggling again.
"Ah, okay." Celeste mumbles. A smile lingers on the corners of her lips.
"You don't have to tell me." Crybaby signs. "I don't need to be entertained by a "super secret confession". We can just hang out."
As Crybaby finishes signing, she scoots across the floor, until she's sitting next to Celeste.
"I..." Celeste says calmly. Her usual joking tone is suddenly gone. "I want to tell someone." She admits.
"Okay." Crybaby signs. "You can tell me."
Celeste takes a deep breath, before spitting out her words, like she's ripping off a bandaid. "I like Angelita."
Crybaby stares blankly for a moment. Long enough for Celeste to feel a need to fill the silence.
"I know it's weird. And, I'm probably really obvious about it, too. I know we're affectionate with each other and stuff, but she definitely means it platonically, and I don't want to make it weird. I meant it platonically, too, at first, but it's recently started to feel more romantic for me. I think? I just don't want to weird her out or make her uncomfortable, so I don't know how to tell her how I feel."
As Celeste rambles, her voice grows a bit louder and more shaky. She seems really worried. A way Crybaby has never seen Celeste before.
"-And I know you're really close with each other." Celeste continues. "I feel a bit bad telling you this, honestly, because I don't want you to feel like you're carrying a burden for me or something. I meant to bring it up as a silly space filler, until Angie gets back, but now I'm worried I'm just gonna make the rest of the day awkward for both of us."
Crybaby places a hand on Celeste's shoulder. She takes a deep breath, as if to inhale some of Celeste's courage, as she leans in closer.
"It's okay." She whispers into Celeste's ear.
Crybaby feels Celeste's body tense at the sound of her voice, before quickly relaxing into the reassuring words.
A mixture of pride and nerves quickly wash over Crybaby as Celeste turns, meeting her eyes.
"Thank you." She smiles. "And, I know this probably doesn't need to be said, but please don't tell Angie I like her." Celeste reaches her hand up, resting it on Crybaby's hand, against her shoulder.
Crybaby nods, too nervous now to speak to Celeste again.
The two girls attention is pulled outside, at the sound of footsteps approaching through the grass. As the steps travel up the ladder, Angelita's head peaks through the treehouse floor.
"He didn't get caught." She announces. "We should probably head back now, though."
ESTÁS LEYENDO
Night Mime | K-12 AU
FanficCrybaby has Situational Mutism and cannot speak at her boarding school, K-12 Sleep Away. Throughout this story, Crybaby gets into her first romantic relationship, has several conflicts with some of her friends, and sneaks out with everyone else to h...
