tea stained newpapers. mileven au.

sixteen.

"is it because you like him back?" max teased, her voice filled with pure amusement. in all honesty, the redhead wasn't trying to embarrass her friend at all. it was just extremely rare to see el flustered... especially over a boy.

actually, max didn't think she had ever seen her act this way over anyone. not even over a celebrity.

even though her best friend couldn't see her, the brunette rolled her eyes dramatically at the comment, taking a moment to sit up and pull at the fluffy white blanket she kept folded neatly at the end of her bed, "i never said that."

there was a slight pause, max completely too occupied sipping on her cup of herbal tea to answer straight away, "very true, but your lack of denying those feelings says otherwise."

the small girl couldn't help but to sigh loudly, wanting nothing more than to stop talking about her beloved writer boy who was currently not showing her any ounce of attention at the moment. of course he meant something to her. that part was obvious at this point.

but as of right now, she would rather live in her safe little bubble of denial than to ever admit her feelings out loud.

"i'm not judging you, ellie. as long as he's cute i think it'll be great for you to finally step into the boyfriend world." the fiery redhead reassured, the brunette shyly wrapping herself in her blanket as she pushed her knees close to her chest. "speaking of which, send me a pic of him. i need to approve."

"just google mike wheeler. i'm sure something will pop up." the artist mumbled into her phone, toying a bit with the soft fabric that was enclosing her small frame. she'd be lying if she said she had never thought about typing his name into a search bar, but she didn't think she had hit that level of obsessed just yet.

"oh shit, i forgot that he's famous." max admitted, chucking to herself before adding, "do you think he has enough money to fix your grumpy attitude?"

"hey! i'm not being grumpy you bitch."

"love you too." her best friend laughed, making el burst into a fit of giggles. "anyways besides the fact that you might have a potential lover, what else is new? how's the painting going?"

surprisingly, even though the brunette had devoted a lot of her time lately towards a certain raven haired boy who occupied her father's friday afternoons every week, she still had managed to set aside some of that time towards working on the entire reason she was even in new york in the first place. however, let's just say... that project wasn't going as well as she originally thought it was going to go.

the brunette leaned back further into her pillows, the cushions engulfing her so much that her voice was muffled when she tried to speak again, "don't even get me started. it's a mess, max. it looks absolutely terrible."

"you say that about all your pieces and they always end up being beautiful." the redhead giggled at her dramatic attitude. yet, her voice was still filled with genuine honesty.

the comment made the artist blush, the brunette pushing her head against one of the cushions next to her as she tried to formulate a sentence that hopefully didn't sound too coincided, "i know but i just - want this one to be special. to be more than just some simple old painting. but i got nothing."