Fred was currently going through a Crisis.
In which he was panicking and questioning everything he knew.
It all began last Sunday with the horrible rumours on the Forging Friendship app. In which somebody accused him of crushing on Alex, which was "disproven of" because Fred had been acting "normal" around Alex and Alex had a boyfriend anyway.
The second accusation was that Danielle had a crush on him. Or rather, she still had a crush on him after their embarrassing middle school ages. And thus people began to ship them again, which was actually pretty annoying.
Danielle had met up with Fred when they came back to school denying the rumours. "I-I don't like you that way, okay?" she mumbled, her face a furious red. "Those rumours are false and totally wrong."
"Got it," Fred said even as he stared at Danielle, thinking she sounded awfully embarrassed.
In all honesty, Fred had not consciously thought of Danielle in a romantic context. It was partially due to her old cringey crush on him in middle school, and Fred had believed she would be so embarrassed that she would never like him again. And it was for her benefit that he didn't bring that up, so he pretended she never had that dumb crush on him. And thus he viewed her as "off-limits." No dragging mortifying tween stuff back up. Got it.
But then—
Now that the rumours were shoved in his face, Fred began to connect the dots. Or at least, he tried connecting them. Danielle had always seemed nervous around him, which he chalked up to her being nervous around everybody, and the fact that Fred was considered "popular" could be intimidating to her. Yet, as time went on, Fred realized Danielle was never this nervous around other people, the Bailey twins and Eugene included. And she continued to be flustered around him when they had been friends for a few months now, and while Danielle was less familiar with Conner, she never was flustered around Conner.
If it was anyone else, Fred would be suspicious, but since Danielle was the one with the horrifically embarrassing past (or not) crush, Fred thought he was doing her a favour by never wondering if she liked him, because she probably didn't.
Fred, despite him pining for Alex, was aware that other people liked him. Most of them never did anything, but sometimes Fred could spot their feelings between the lines. Despite Fred's reputation as a flirt, he only flirted with people who weren't taking it seriously. Fred thought flirting was fun, as a way to get to know someone and to rile them up while cackling at the cheesiness. But once someone displayed signs of being genuinely invested, Fred would politely make his departure and then keep his distance. He'd been like that back when Alex was single, in a way foolishly thinking he was "saving" his most genuine self for her. None of the others mattered. Only Alex did.
But then, obviously, Alex found Arthur, and Fred naturally had to throw all of that out of the window. Gradually, he learned to get over his feelings. It pained his heart, but it was necessary. Thinking about Alex hurt and filled him with guilt, remorse, and nostalgia, so he trained himself to stop thinking about her. He couldn't waste all of his youth pining after one single person even if she was undoubtedly important to him. It wouldn't be fair to her, and it wouldn't be fair to him.
Still, Fred didn't consciously seek out romance post-Arthur. Fred did not consider himself as a mature person, but the fact that he didn't do romances because he was afraid of treating them like a rebound was actually a show of maturity. Fred did not think of himself as "ready" enough for a true romance, something real and big beyond casual flirting and infatuation.
But Danielle—
Danielle was different. For one, Fred kept subconsciously denying there could ever be anything romantic between them, so he acted with less restraint. As in: Fred did not think much when he complimented Danielle or did something nice to her. He was just being a friend. A dude. A bro. And Fred did feel accomplished when Danielle became less nervous around him. She was opening up to him! Yay!
Fred liked to think he got along well with Danielle. She laughed at his jokes even if he didn't think they were that funny. They had a lot in common, from sports to food to complaints about society to their mutual friends (prominently Eugene. Fred didn't know why they both kept on talking about him).
And perhaps Fred was thinking a little selfishly when he said he liked seeing Danielle smile because of him. It was probably an ego thing- Danielle used to be scared of him, but now she'd eased up enough that he could make her smile. Har har, Fred was so good at socialising! Wow!
The thing about Danielle was that Fred wasn't really thinking about anything in particular. They hung out together. She was friends with his friends. She was nice to be around. She was sometimes shy around him, so Fred did his best to make her comfortable. The way he acted around her was instinctive, natural even. So when he complimented her hair and won that plushie for her at New Year's Eve and all of those other tiny interactions...
Okay, Fred could see why there could be a misunderstanding.
And if Danielle indeed had feelings for him, he could sort of see why.
But what frustrated him was that Fred wasn't even trying. He didn't have ulterior motives when he bonded with Danielle. He never saw her as a replacement or whatever. Their friendship just happened. And Fred didn't want to distance himself from Danielle because in all honesty, he liked having her around. And since Danielle denied it, Fred should take her word for it. It would be rude to assume otherwise.
... If Danielle wanted to distance herself because of the rumours or her supposed-but-not-really feelings, then fine. Fred would accept it.
(Even if he would be a little upset.)
But there was nothing he could do right now except to support Danielle. But he couldn't even support her overtly because that would fan the flames more. And thus Fred was frustrated.
... His mind needed a break from all of this.
At least Alex seemed to think the rumours that Fred liked her were completely false and unrealistic. Fred didn't know whether to be heartbroken or be thankful.
Fred sighed. He tried to be as unaffected as he could since this was just stupid high school drama, but he couldn't help it. A certain thought had already slipped into his mind and took root there. It was a small, quiet idea, but nonetheless it was there, and that was what mattered. And driven by that new seed, Fred's outlook on his life began to shift miraculously.
... What if Danielle really did like him?
-
As Danielle had expected, people were talking about her when they all came to school on Monday. It was Wednesday now, but the discussions continued.
A mortified Danielle had told Fred to not worry about the rumours and she quickly denied her feelings. Still, there was an awkward air, especially when they all sat together during lunch. It wasn't like Fred was being awkward. The stares and whispers from their peers just made Danielle feel uncomfortable.
Danielle was seriously trying to remain cool and calm à la Bree Campbell, yet she refused to stand there and passively let people slander her. Danielle often glared at people ("You don't really have an intimidating glare." "Shut up, Eugene."), but kept her words short and candid. Danielle kept her chin lifted up high, but her close friends could see she was struggling to put on an act. Danielle's stomach churned with anxiety but she desperately tried not to show it.
Danielle told herself that people would soon find something else to latch on, and then they would move away from her. She just had to stay strong and unaffected for a few more days. But of course, saying it was easier than doing it.
To distract herself from the state of living, Danielle texted her online friend Quill. Sure, Quill had probably heard about the drama, but she didn't know Danielle was LilacBerry. And Danielle was so tired of it all that she decided to stop being Danielle for a while and be LilacBerry instead.
-
February 1. 12:14pm.
LilacBerry: hihi im kinda bored lol
TrueQuill is now online.
TrueQuill is typing...
LilacBerry: ohh hi didn't expect you to be on this soon!
TrueQuill: lmao I'm kinda distracted from class even though I know I shouldn't be
TrueQuill: Ughhh school
LilacBerry: so true
LilacBerry: btw can't believe it's feb already
TrueQuill: Academic burnout January has ended only for academic burnout February to come
LilacBerry: REAL
TrueQuill: There's been such a depressing atmosphere in school
LilacBerry: i mean the school always feels depressed but even more so now
TrueQuill: I'm feeling like a bad student now that I'm texting during class lol
LilacBerry: oh nooo rip is it my bad influence lol
TrueQuill: nah it's not you dw lol
LilacBerry: we can still text during lunch ig lmao
-
When lunch break came, Conner and Bree had to go to their writing club again. Usually, that would mean Fred and Danielle would sit together alone (since Alex would sit with Arthur), but now Alex was painfully aware of the awkwardness in the air. Neither Fred nor Danielle could do anything without people spinning new rumours about them. And besides, Danielle needed support, and Alex missed sitting together with her friends. So Alex told Arthur she would sit with her old group for a while, and Arthur said yes. Obviously Alex would miss Arthur, but her friends were important to her as well.
Besides, it was just so natural to walk next to them. Alex missed hearing Conner and Bree talking about the most random of things (what was a rosary chicken?) as they all walked towards the cafeteria. Danielle was a little quiet and tense, but lit up when she saw Alex was with them. They idly chatted and it was like she never left. Alex found it nice to spend time with her friends.
Alex and Danielle said bye to Conner and Bree, then entered the cafeteria. Fred wasn't there yet, so the girls settled down first. They set down their lunch trays, then Danielle sneezed. The seemingly innocuous act caused blood to drain from her face, and when she and Alex exchanged looks, they instantly knew what was happening.
"That explains my mood swings," Danielle mumbled. "Look after my stuff please?"
"Sure," Alex easily answered as Danielle rushed to the washrooms. Danielle was in such a rush that she left her phone behind, but no matter. It wasn't like there were teachers in the cafeteria. Since there was no one else at the table, Alex took out her phone and sent a text under the table.
-
February 1. 1:00pm.
TrueQuill: Heyy you here?
-
Just as Alex sent the text, she thought she heard a noise so she looked up. No one was around, but she did catch it when Danielle's phone screen lit up.
Alex didn't mean to snoop. She really didn't. She really had no intention of violating her friend's privacy. But she couldn't help it because she already saw it:
"You have a new message from TrueQuill."
Alex stared dumbly. Danielle's phone screen dimmed. Alex stared back at her phone again and her unanswered text. The surprise set in after a few seconds.
Danielle was LilacBerry.
LilacBerry was Danielle.
...
WHAT?
Of course, that explained why they got along so well when they were both "strangers". They were both the quiet, shy girls who sometimes read romance. They felt comfortable with each other, offline or online. Perhaps a little too comfortable...
Alex blushed when she remembered all the conversations she had with Lilac (Danielle) online. All her stupid boy troubles and insecurities... Danielle had to know she was talking about Arthur. Surely.
Alex's heart was nervously hammering in her chest. She liked talking to Lilac because she was supposedly a stranger and could offer comparatively impartial advice, except Danielle was now literally not a stranger. Danielle could easily judge her now. And it was just embarrassing to be vulnerable in front of someone she actually knew, and she couldn't pretend they were just two faceless strangers virtually communicating via text.
Anxiety seized Alex's heart. What was she supposed to do now? Tell Danielle and admit that she'd (unintentionally) looked at her phone? Pretend nothing had happened? Stop replying to Lilac's texts? Alex sighed and pinched the area between her eyebrows.
Okay, Alex Bailey, calm down. This is not as bad as you think it is. Alex stared at her lunch tray, too absorbed in her thoughts to eat. At least she now knew the identity of her online friend, and she wasn't spilling her secrets to someone she didn't trust. And while it was slightly awkward that LilacBerry turned out to be Danielle, it could honestly be a lot worse. At least they were friends who got along well. Alex sharply inhaled-
"Hey."
Alex nearly jumped out from her seat. "AH!"
"Whoops, sorry for startling you," Fred's voice sounded from above. "And hey, you're eating with us again!"
Alex shifted to make space for Fred. "Ha ha, yeah..." Her voice trailed off. It felt wrong to say she came back to prevent awkwardness (and for Danielle's sake), so she kept quiet even if Fred probably knew what she was thinking.
Fred, thankfully, had already moved on from the topic. "I'm starving," he complained. "I had been thinking about food for the past hour."
"Too bad we only get the crappy kind of school cafeteria food."
"At least it's somewhat edible. And we've got the fruit salad today. Pretty hard to make a crappy fruit salad." Fred began to shove food in his mouth. Alex followed suit and began to eat as well.
"Hey guys, I'm back." Danielle had returned. "Thanks for looking after my stuff, Alex."
"No problem." When Danielle slipped her phone into her pocket, Alex was once again reminded of Danielle's secret that she had just unintentionally uncovered. She swallowed.
"You feeling okay?" Alex abruptly asked just to cut through the increasingly awkward silence.
Danielle looked at her funnily, then remembered Alex knew she was on her period. "I'm fine, it's just a bit of bloating. Nothing painkillers can't fix. And at least they've got fruit salad today which is probably the least nauseous thing they can ever make."
"Uh huh."
Danielle sighed. "It's not like you can screw up a salad when it's literally just cut pieces of fruit."
That was similar to what Fred had said earlier. Coincidence much? Fred looked like he was about to reply in his normal, friendly way, but then shut his mouth. Annoyance twinged inside Alex. Because of course things were awkward now. Geez, was Alex supposed to be the messenger owl from now on?
... This could be painful to witness. Now Alex missed sitting with her boyfriend. But of course, Alex wouldn't abandon her friends.
Danielle didn't want her carton of milk (because she didn't want her period cramps to worsen) and Fred, who was hungry, gladly took it from her. People from nearby tables watched their purely platonic interaction with much interest. Somebody "oohed". Danielle scowled.
"Maybe mind your own business?" she seethed, her face red with anger.
People began to giggle and mutter among themselves. Danielle's face turned even redder. Fred frowned.
"Can y'all shut it?"
Of course, Fred's words only made the matter worse. The "ooohs" intensified, attracting the attention from tables further away. Danielle kept her head bowed low as she quietly shoved food inside her mouth like she was a timid squirrel. Fred slurped his milk extra noisily to show his annoyance, but kept his mouth shut. He knew everything he did to defend Danielle would just make people "ship" them more.
Alex sighed. "Stop wasting your time on gossiping," she said clearly in a stern tone. It was only when everybody stared at her that Alex remembered she was also tangibly connected to the drama when people thought Fred had feelings for her. When Alex was dating someone else. Clearly people were spinning rumours out of nothing.
(But Alex hadn't heard of Fred seriously liking someone, so maybe that wasn't his thing? Alex doubted she could be an exception. But at the same time, Alex knew she was special to Fred in some way. She could just see it from the way he acted. Anyways, it was just confusing and it made Alex feel weird so she didn't dwell on it.)
Eventually, people stopped looking in their direction. "This is so exhausting," Danielle complained. "I literally can't even breathe without people looking at me."
Alex gulped. She was a bit familiar with Danielle's situation. She remembered when she was seen as the "weird nerdy girl" in middle school and people looked at her oddly when she hugged books. When people branded you as weird, everything you did would be seen as weird. That was unfortunately the way it worked.
"Who's being annoying? Give me names," Fred offered.
Danielle hid her face with her hair. "I appreciate the sentiment, but those..." Danielle struggled to think of a civilized word, "braindead sheep will interpret it wrongly. Because of course they will. Will they just shut up?"
"You know how the adults are always like, 'oh, ignore them, they'll give up if they don't have new material to make fun of you'?" Alex said. "Well, that doesn't really work. You stand up for yourself, they bully you. You do nothing, they bully you. You tell teachers, they bully you for being a snitch. So this situation just really sucks and I feel so bad for you, Dani."
Fred coughed. "Yeah, I get it, but... let's be optimistic. Those annoying ass people with the attention span of a single YouTube Shorts will find something else after a while. Show them you're not tolerating them and soon they'll find it exhausting to bother you." There was a pause. "Hopefully."
Danielle moodily dug her fork into her food. "That's my problem! I don't tolerate them, but I'm not- I'm not scary! I'm short! I'm girly! I'm not intimidating like Bree is!"
"Eugene thinks you're scary, so maybe just pretend everyone is Eugene and glare at them," Fred offered, half-genuine, half-joking. At least his lighthearted tone added humour to the situation.
Danielle glared at Fred. "I can barely handle one Eugene, let alone a crowd of Eugenes! And it would be such an insult to compare him to... those people."
Fred seemed oddly pleased. "Exactly, you're now glaring at me. Do the same to everyone else."
Danielle deflated. "Urgh, I guess I'm one of those people who only seem scary to friends..."
Alex patted Danielle's back. "It's alright, I understand. I'm not very intimidating as well."
"But you're so cool and accomplished, and people respect you." Danielle stared at her hands. "That's another problem. I think some people just don't respect me for some reason."
"Then that's their problem." Fred had an angry tone to his voice now. "Prove them wrong. They're the sort to peak in high school anyway, living miserable lives off drama and gossip."
The three of them quickly finished their lunch, and to prevent people from staring at them, Fred moved away to hang out with his other friends. Danielle and Alex remained at the table. Danielle was slowly nibbling at a chocolate bar, her face tense.
"... To think this stemmed from a platform called Forging Friendships of all places..." Danielle muttered.
It was like a bolt of lightning had struck Alex's spine. The entire LilacBerry-Danielle thing slammed into Alex's consciousness. Alex's palms began to sweat.
"Okay, about Forging Friendships... I think we might know each other there?"
Danielle looked confused, then suspicious. "... What do you mean?"
Alex wished the ground would swallow her up. This conversation was uncomfortable, but necessary. "Okay, uh, I didn't mean to, but I accidentally saw your phone screen when a notif lit it up and... you're LilacBerry, aren't you?"
Danielle froze. Both of the girls' cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.
"Y-you know? Then who are you?" Danielle stumbled her words out in a panic. "Wait- CloudShift?"
"Huh? No." Alex vaguely recalled that name floating around but she wasn't familiar with them. "I'm TrueQuill."
"Oh."
And then they both just stared at each other in silence, awkward smiles on their faces. Every single conversation they'd ever had flashed before their eyes, and they slowly realized just how much they'd unintentionally shared to each other. From harmless opinions about a romcom book series to studying advice to... boy troubles.
Alex's ears felt hot. "... What we said there stays there, okay?" Alex asked nervously.
Danielle looked just as nervous. "O-of course!"
Weird, why was Danielle also nervous? Alex should be the one freaking out considering she was the one who'd talked about her insecurities in a seemingly perfect relationship.
Randomly, Alex remembered the conversations they had while she was in Scotland. They'd been chatting about the boys, and Alex recalled Lilac (Danielle) preferred the basketball team and spent an awful lot of time being aware of Fred and Eugene. Which made sense, considering she was friends with them. But...
The way Danielle spoke about Fred was sort of cute. She kept on slandering him, but in a defensive, almost affectionate way? Like she didn't want people to know she actually liked him—
Wait.
Alex's eyes bulged.
What if Danielle was so upset because the rumours were right? And thus she found it hard to defend herself? Alex knew she had no right to pry into Danielle's personal life, but she couldn't help but wonder:
What if Danielle really has a crush on Fred?
-
You have a new message from BlueInk.
"hallooo berry wanna play oasis origin? I wanna do some 2v2 to get my points up aha"
Sent: 9:33pm
Received: 9:40pm
-
Danielle glanced at her phone when the screen lit up. Truth to be told, she felt a little jumpscared now whenever she received messages from Forging Friendships. It was enough of a surprise that TrueQuill turned out to be Alex Bailey.
Danielle knew she shouldn't be surprised if she actually knew her online friends because they were all in the same school. But still, she didn't expect TrueQuill to be so close to her.
...That kind of coincidence wouldn't happen again, right? BlueInk was probably some random guy that she tangibly knew from chemistry or something. Probably.
-
You have 2 new messages from LilacBerry.
"sure, let's play :)"
"need to get my mind off stuff anyways"
Sent: 9:41pm
Received: 9:43pm
-
A/N: Fred has a heterosexual panic. I feel like I really have to emphasize that Dani is not a rebound. If anything she's helping Fred understand there's more to life than mindlessly pining after your childhood crush.
If you've noticed a lack of Eugene in this chapter and the last one, don't worry, he appears in the next one :)
Ooh, things are starting to go down! Secrets and identities revealed! ;)
Thanks for 6k views! <33