I have a few general ideas that I want to write for this part, but besides that, I'm going in blindly. Let's see how this one turns out.
Also, I'm writing this chapter while the whole book has 169k reads. Which, thank you so much for that, and also, I'm flattered hahaha.
Emma's POV.
So, not only did I dig myself into a hole that I won't be able to get out of any time soon, but I'm also going to a party (?), hangout (?) with my crush, and a bunch of others. Whatever it is, it's going to be a mess of teenagers drinking and playing stupid games.
It's not my first rodeo. Half of the people that got invited to the party are also on the track team and we've started a few traditions over the years.
One, in particular, I'm very nervous about. It's 7 minutes in Heaven (or bathroom) and the people are chosen randomly. From my experience, I always ended up with people that I'm not really that close to, and we spent the whole time there just awkwardly waiting for the time to pass.
But now Lizzie is there as well and that is terrifying.
I'm not saying that I will end up with her in the bathroom, even though half of me wants that. It's the thought that there's a possibility for it to happen that's making me more nervous.
God, just thinking about spending time with her alone, in a bathroom where the others are kind of expecting us to at least kiss, gives me shivers. I mean, we are not forced to kiss or something like that, it's everyone's decision what they want to do with their time.
Would Lizzie even want to kiss me? If I was my sister, maybe, but me? Not sure about that.
Wait, why am I even making those scenarios? There's the smallest possibility for us to end up together in the bathroom. And she can always refuse if she wants to.
Shaking my head to get rid of my thoughts, I jump from my desk where I was sitting making the next doodle and I start to get ready for this hangout.
With a pair of baggy jeans, some high-top sneakers, and a patterned shirt, in which I left a couple of the top buttons open, I start to get ready while also trying to keep my heart from jumping out of my chest. I accessorize my outfit with a couple of rings and a necklace.
There, it doesn't scream that I want attention, or that I'm not taking care of myself.
When I get into the car with my sister, I notice her bad mood.
"Hey, what happened?" I ask while fixing my seatbelt.
"Melissa happened." She mutters in response and starts the car.
"What happened this time?" I ask again while trying to make a list of why they broke up in the past.
There was jealousy.
My sister didn't like the restaurant that they went to for a date.
Melissa said something that Erin, my twin, didn't like.
Some more jealousy.
Erin didn't get the ice cream flavor that Melissa asked for.
My sister wanted some space to think about things.
Even more jealousy.
Erin accidentally ripped one of Melissa's vintage magazines.
Melissa made a rude, but true comment about something that I did, and my sister didn't like that very much.
Did I mention jealousy?
"I posted a picture of us and she didn't like the caption or the picture. Apparently, she thinks that the candid picture that I decided to share with the world because she is so cute in it, is making her look horrible. That I should've put one with one of her best angles." She finally responds.
Ah, my favorite. Erin posted something cute that Melissa thinks is unflattering.
In all fairness, Melissa is trying the whole social media influencer and she thinks she can't have pictures that are less than perfect.
Which in turn is another reason for a few of their breakups. Melissa caring too much about social media and this whole fake persona.
"You'll be fine in a few days." I try to reassure her.
The thing about them as a couple, they are great for each other. They balance the other so great, and they work so well together. When they are in their good eras, they could literally be on top of the world.
Their problem is that they are two stubborn and hotheaded girls which makes them bubble over with emotions pretty quickly.
I think they need a proper communication system. And also to set better boundaries in their relationship. If they do that, they will be the best power couple this school has ever seen.
"Yeah, I know. It just annoys me how much she cares for this whole social media bullshit. She doesn't even look bad in the picture." Erin goes on.
"As I keep on telling you, you need better communication." I remind her. "Tell her the things that you are telling me."
"Maybe not tonight. I just want to drink and have a good time. No Melissa tonight." She pushes back the big discussion, yet again.
"So I'm guessing she's not coming tonight." I respond.
"Nope." She shakes her head.
This will be interesting.
She parks in front of Noah's house pretty soon. Everyone seems to already be here already.
I quickly scan the room when I get into the house. They all seem to have a cup with alcohol already in their hands.
"The Double B's as here. Finally!" Noah calls out which encourages the others to make a bunch of noise.
"You know the rule. Phone in the bag and take a drink." Claire comes with a pillowcase filled with other phones.
Both Erin and I let go of our phones and go mingle with the others with a cup of alcohol of our own.
Somehow after talking with some people that I know from the ones that are present, I end up on the couch next to Lizzie.
"So, I have a few theories." She says as soon as I sit down.
"About what?" I ask confused.
"About Pun's identity." She replies in a 'duh' tone.
Her response makes me choke on my drink.
"What do you got so far?" I respond while coughing in my fist.
"You okay there?" Lizzie asks concerned. When I nod she starts talking again. "So, I looked into the artists that this school has and I got around 5 people that could be the potential suspects." She explains.
"Um, okay? And who are those?" I ask and lean closer to her to make sure I hear her properly. The background music is making it a bit difficult.
"Tim, Anne, Vanessa, Lauren, and Melissa." Lizzie lists them. "And those are the only ones that kind of match the style of Pun. There were a few that I excluded because I know they only do charcoal art, only oil paint, or are only into realistic stuff." She explains further.
"That makes sense." I nod, grateful that I'm not on her list.
"But there's also the option of it being someone that it's keeping this talent a secret." And my gratefulness is out of the window. "For all I know, it could be you, or your sister." She jokes.
I let out what I hope is a normal laugh. "Do I seem like the pun type to you?" I challenge her.
"You got a point. You're more the broody type. Like, I'm mysterious and cool, and look at me and my leather jacket vibe." She compliments me?
"Thank you?" I respond confused and pray to every god that my cheeks are not red. "But I don't own a leather jacket." I continue.
"Well, you seem like the type that could." Lizzie nudges me teasingly while blessing me with her giggle.
Before I can respond, a voice interrupts us.
"Now that you got enough time to get some alcohol into you, we will start with a tradition of ours. For the newcomers, that's 7 minutes in Heaven." Claire starts talking while Noah lowers the volume of the music.
Erin sits down on the other side of Lizzie while sipping on her drink.
"Now, you are not forced to kiss or do anything, that's simply your choice. But, I mean, you are there for some time, might as well make it count. Also remember that what happens here, stays here." Claire explains while Noah comes with the pillowcase filled with our phones. "We set the vibe in the bathroom so you are welcome." She winked and put her hand in the bag to take some phones out.
"And because we are the hosts, we are the only ones to look at phones for the time. We'll be the ones announcing to you when your time in Heaven expired. Got it?" Noah asks all of us and in return gets a bunch of nods. "Great."
"Okay, first two." Claire pulls out a couple of phones. "Whose are those?"
A couple of Noah's friends raise their hands and they are soon ushered to the bathroom.
"Timer is set." Claire announces and Noah raises the volume of the music so it will draw out the possible noise from the bathroom.
While they are inside, some board games are placed on the table to help us pass the time.
A few turns later, my phone is yet to be picked, same with Erin and Lizzie. My best friend Claire had her turns with both her boyfriend then and some other acquaintance whose name I always forget.
One time, 4 phones were picked at the same time so they all went into the bathroom. It was funny to see them all come all messy from there.
"Okay, next up." Claire picks up a phone. "Who does this belong to?" She asks when she doesn't recognize the case.
"That's mine." Lizzie speaks up.
I feel my pulse quicken up at the thought of someone else going in there with her and having the chance to kiss her.
Claire gives the phone to Noah to hold for now and gets another one. "This one?" She turns the case for everyone to see.
"It's mine." Erin and I respond at the same time and quickly look at each other.
Fuck, I forgot that we have the same phone case.
Please be mine, please be mine.
I can't, or don't want to imagine Lizzie going in the bathroom with my sister and possibly kissing her.
"What's your background?" Claire asks me.
"A picture of Marilyn Monroe." I respond easily.
I may or may not be obsessed with her.
Claire looks at the phone for a second before dunking it in the bag. "Emma, it's you." She announces.
FUCK!
I know that this is what I wanted, but now that it's actually happening it's making me freak out.
"Come on." Lizzie gets up from the couch and offers her hands to help me get up as well.
"Have fun!" Claire calls behind us.
I sit on the carpet, next to a wall while Lizzie is still standing, taking in the whole aesthetic of the bathroom. There are some led lights that give the room a purple light. There are also some fake candles scattered around the room. It's nothing much, but it's a nice vibe.
"So." Lizzie says and sits down on the carpet too, living some room between us.
"So." I respond and turn my head to look at her.
She's looking everywhere else but at me.
For as much as I wanted to be alone with her here, I'm just now realizing that maybe this is not something that she wanted. Maybe she wanted someone else or to not get inside here at all.
So I need to make it less awkward.
"How come you haven't posted the art you found earlier? You know, on the Pun's page." I ask to break the ice.
"I don't know." She responds while shrugging. "I felt like that's a piece that was not meant for the world to see. I think it was an accident that I found it." She explains. "I don't want to put even more pressure on them by showing everyone that they might have a crush on me, you know?" Lizzie turns her head to look at me.
"Yeah, I get what you mean." I nod. "I think if they knew what you're doing, they would appreciate it." I add knowing that I do appreciate the fact that she's not making it public.
"I would hope so." She blushes.
"We are bad at this whole small talk part." I point out and make both of us laugh.
"Yeah, but I think it's better than awkwardly making out." She continues the joke.
"Yeah, that would be funny. Imagine if all of a sudden we are hardcore making out." I try to joke despite my heart beating so fast that I'm scared it might bruise my ribs.
"And it will be more funny considering it would be my first kiss." She adds while chuckling. A small blush on her face.
"We have that in common." I open up too.
"Really?" Lizzie fully turns to face me.
"Yeah." I nod and turn to face her too. "I know I have this whole closed-off vibe. But I've never kissed anyone." I tell her.
"I wouldn't be opposed to it." She says making my head swim with different scenarios.
"Kissing someone?" My voice is barely audible while I try to swallow my nerves.
"Kissing you." She mutters and leans even closer to me making me realize just how close we've been getting.
With a sudden burst of confidence, I raise my hand to the back of her neck and pull her until our lips connect.
I know it would be very cliche of me to say that I felt sparks ignite in my whole body, but that's the truth. I felt colors swarm around us while our lips danced with each other.
I suddenly realize something and pull back slightly. I try not to let out a victorious laugh when I see her chasing my lips.
"This won't make things awkward between us, right?" I mutter while looking deep into her eyes which are even more mesmerizing up close.
"No, it won't." She rushes out and pulls my head back for another kiss.
This time I feel more confident. I take the initiative and brush my tongue on her bottom lip and when she grants me access I swear I died and arrived in literal Heaven.
She pushed her tongue to meet mine and I'm quickly addicted. My hands have a mind of their own and before I realize it, she's sitting in my lap. The soft breaths that she lets out when I do something that she apparently likes, make me drunk. I barely had any alcohol tonight, but right now I'm feeling drunk with her.
Her lips are so soft and even though this is our first kiss, it doesn't feel like it. Somehow we both know what to do, when to apply more pressure and when to switch our attention from one lip to the other.
I don't know for how long we've been making out but I swear it feels like longer than we were supposed to stay in here. But I don't care.
If I find out that Claire let us have some extra time here, I will worship the ground she walks on.
"You're good at that." Lizzie mutters when I nip at her bottom lip, slowly sinking my teeth in it.
A knock on the door finally interrupts us.
"Time's up, ladies!" Noah's voice was heard.
Sadly, Lizzie pulls back from our kiss. She gets up from my lap but not before giving me a quick peck.
"That was fun." She says and helps me get up from the ground.
"Yeah, it was." I nod and smile when I see she doesn't make a move to let go of my arm.
Instead, she drags me toward the door and pulls it open.
I take a big breath of air and force all of the redness on my face to disappear.
Lizzie only lets go of my hands when we're sitting down. She's sitting slightly closer to me than before. It wasn't enough to draw attention, but enough for me to notice.
I hold my smile and make eye contact with Claire after she calls out the next people to go to the bathroom. She wiggles her eyebrows and I quickly shot her a wink.
The rest of the night passes up quickly with no other eveniment that comes even closer to the make-out me and Lizzie shared in the bathroom.
The whole weekend is spent with me recalling the kiss and blushing every single time. I even draw a few doodles to try and get out those mushy feelings that I'm having.
Claire spammed my phone with questions about our time in the room and I only told her that we kissed. I will eventually tell her more, but for now, it's something that I want to dwell on it alone.
Erin shot me a knowing look while coming home from the party, but she didn't say anything. That makes me curious as to how much she knows about the whole situation. Did she figure out that we kissed? Did she figure out about my crush on Lizzie? Does she know something from Lizzie that I don't?
Who knows. Definitely not me.
Monday comes quickly and in my bag, I have the next art that I will leave around the school to be founded. It's nothing much just a couple of pears with the message "We'd make a great pear". Not my best work but it will do for now.
It was either that or another drawing of Lizzie's eyes. But I don't want to put myself through that again.
While I'm at my locker, Lizzie comes to talk with me.
"Hi! Have you seen the new drawing?" She asks me while blushing.
"Yeah, a few minutes ago." I nod.
"I really wonder who it is." Lizzie says out loud while looking around the corridor.
"You really like them, huh?" I point out which makes her turn her head to look at me.
"I'll say that I'm flattered. I don't know them to be able to see if I connect with them or not. But I do love the drawings." She rambles.
Should I tell her that it's me? Would she like that it's me?
"Anyway, about Friday night." She starts talking and I just now noticed how nervous she looks. "I've been trying for a while to muster the courage to tell you this." She stops to take a deep breath. Her eyes are fidgeting which is another indicator of how she's feeling. "I like you. I've liked you for a while now." She admits.
I'm left dumbfounded. I did not expect that.
"It's okay if you don't like me like that. I really needed to get it off my chest." Lizzie rushes out when she sees that I'm not responding.
I finally snap out of my shocked state and go to admit my own feelings for her.
But just my luck, she gets called by someone and leaves as quickly as she can.
I look in the direction in which she left and finally let out the smile that was playing on my lips. The perfect plan already formed in my mind.
In the next couple of classes, I barely paid attention to what was going on. I sat at my desk, in the fack of the class, and made the perfect art for Lizzie.
When it's finally time for the lunch break, I quickly throw everything in my bag, except the paper with the new artwork that I will be giving to Lizzie as soon as I see her.
It a mix of two ideas I had and I hope she's like it and will say yes.
The first part consists of a couple of coffee cups with the message "I like you a latte", while the second part asks "Would you be mime?" with a mime holding a question mark.
I'm quite nervous to admit to her that I've been Pun all along, and to confirm to her that all of my puns were about her. But it's too late to back out. If I don't do it now, I will regret it for as long as I will live.
I rush into the cafeteria and see Lizzie sitting at the table with a few of her friends. My sister sits next to her and seems to be comforting her. The green-eyed girl had her face covered by her hands. I think she thinks that I don't like her back and now she's regretting her action.
I quicken my steps and go straight to her table, ignoring Claire who shoots me a questioning look.
When I get close to the table, Erin shoots me a confused look too.
"Lizzie? Can we talk?" I ask to try and get her attention.
"Now's not really the best time." Erin tries to subtly shake her head.
"It's important. Please, Lizzie." I rush out really determined to get her attention.
Lizzie finally looks at me and sits up from her chair.
"You left before I could give you my answer." I start sheepishly. Suddenly all of my nerves are back, and I'm also aware of a lot of eyes on us right now.
Lizzie looks taken aback by that but nods slightly.
"This is for you." I give her the folded piece of paper that I've had an iron grip on all of this time.
She looks confused but still takes the paper from my hand. She unfolds it and I see her eyes widening when she sees the content on the paper.
I try to hold back my smile but I fail miserably. I see her folding back the paper before looking into my eyes.
"Yes." She nods and rushes forward to hug me.
I hug her back just as tight.
"I can't believe that you've been Pun all along." She mutters in my neck.
"Suprise." I squeak way too excitedly.
"You're a dork." She pulls back and shakes her head. "But I like you just the way you are." She giggles.
"And according to my paper, I like you a latte too." I wink.
She shakes her head once again before leaning forward to kiss me. I can officially say that, that's the best way to be shut up.
I also know that even though we are together now, my drawings and puns for her won't stop any time soon, if ever.
Now that I've finally got her, I don't plan of letting her go.
Oh my god, I think this became one of my favorite one-shots. I've been smiling like an idiot for like, a couple of hours now. I hope you liked it just as much as I do.
I know I said I will not post as often as I used to, but I couldn't not write the next part of this one. I just felt inspired and figured that I could write it now that I'm in the mood for it. I also had time for it. It felt like all of the signs were aligning and screaming in my mind to write it. So I did.
I forgot to ask in the last chapter, but, have you guys seen the last episode of She-Hulk? I swear I thought I was tripping on something while watching it. It was such a weird sensation. I will try not to give too many spoilers, but there were definitely moments where I was questioning everything that I knew.
As always, take care of yourselves and I will see you in the next one!