Matches | √

Chapter Three

twinkle | a light that appears continually to grow brighter

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1/23/17

THE SMELL OF coffee surrounds Francesca and me as we sit at the table, our usual table, in the back of the coffee shop.

Corner Cup is the local coffee spot we tend to gravitate towards for homework dates, and honestly just to step away from our lives. Francesca is perfect in many ways, and she prefers to let the public believe that. But I know how imperfect her home life is, and she knows the struggles I face living with a single mother. But this small coffee shop is where we escape all of that, and of course drink copious amounts of delicious dark caffeine.

Francesca thumbs through her college algebra book, and a small sigh slips through her lips.

"What?" I question immediately knowing she's stressed before she even needs to says it. Spending almost every minute of your life with someone makes it very easy to pick up on their emotional cues.

Her gold eyes meet mine as her dark brows furrow. "This class is already making me nervous," she admits. "Last semester was pretty easy with Mrs. Lancer being pregnant but now we have a new teacher while she's on leave and it's stressing me out cause I don't know him that well."

"Why? You have Roberts who's known to be easy and helpful when needed," I tell her about her new teacher in attempts to lift her spirits. "I should be the nervous one. I'm taking statistics with Granger this semester," I say with a scrunched nose.

Francesca's eyes widen. "She's a straight up bitch," she spits out her eyes now narrowed at the idea of my math teacher. Since Mrs. Lancer is out on maternity leave instead of the district hiring a long-term sub the teachers just switched up some math classes leaving a lot of students with a different teacher then they had the semester before.

"No disagreement over here," I smile at my best friend. "That's why you will have a great semester and if you need help you know I'll help you since I took that class last year," I say trying to reassure her.

A small smile tilts her lips upward. "You're the best Mae," she tells me.

It's something she says frequently, and yet I never know how to respond. So I always shrug as I'm not the best at accepting compliments, even from my best friend, because a part of me doesn't believe her words. I feel so average except when I'm with Francesca. She makes me feel important, and it's a hard feeling to secure even when we've been friends for years now.

"So any movement on the boy and or prom front?" I ask in attempts to change the subject to something Francesca always loves to talk about. Boys. I flip through my history book and begin to copy terms from my book into a word document on my laptop.

Francesca rolls her eyes. "It's only January Mae," she counters.

"And that makes a difference Franny," I state mimicking her tone with a raised brow.

She chuckles knowing she's been called out. "You know me too well," she states as she closes her math book and opens her laptop.

"And that's why I love you," I tell her with a wink.

"Well of course I've already had a few guys allude to prom when it's still months away," she drawls out as if I wasn't spot on in my assessment.

"Of course," I tease back with a small smirk tugging on my face. I don't call anyone out ever besides Francesca. I never challenge my peers, or play at sarcasm with them, only ever my best friend. She is the only person I feel completely comfortable with to show this side of myself to, because it's a rare side.