I opened the door to my room, and immediately jumped on my bed, groaning from tiredness and loving the softness of my pillows.

"I'm sorry I left you." I told my bed, and rolled over so I could lay on my back. Dani was at my doorway, looking utterly amused at my actions, but let herself in anyways. "So this is my room." I stated, waving my hand.

"I see that." She said, nodding her head. "It's... neat."

"I like to keep everything organized." I replied. "If my room is not made, I get bothered by it because it's like the inside of my head, you know? To me, unorganized things means my life is a mess. I don't know. It's really hard to explain."

"You've been to my room. Does that mean that my life is a mess?" Dani asked, a hint of challenge in her tone.

"It depends." I said, grinning at her. "Do you know where everything is, despite the mess?"

Dani nodded.

"Then, you're fine." I answered, getting up and stripping my clothes off. I pulled my blouse on top of my head, and Dani fidgeted on her spot.

"Uh." She muttered, and immediately turned around. "Gay person here, remember?"

I burst out laughing awkwardly.

"Oh, whoops. I totally forgot. But it's not a big deal, you've seen me in my underwear already anyways."

"I told you, I feel very uncomfortable when girls change infront of me." Dani said.

"But why?"

"I feel like a pervert okay? Besides, I don't want you getting creeped out, if I accidentally checked you out."

"Ohhh" I breathed out in realization as I put on comfy sweats and a baggy tee. "So is that why you went in the stall when you changed in the washroom yesterday?"

"Obviously." Dani muttered.

I smirked, as I approached her from behind. As I put my hair up into a messy bun, I teasingly blew air to the back of her neck.

Dani jumped, and turned around.

"Oh my god, don't do that!"

I burst out laughing, and nudged her playfully. Dani sighed, her face flushed as she shook her head.

"You blush really easily." I commented, as I went back to my bed and sat on it with my legs crossed.

"Shut up."

"You're like an open book, but not really."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, as she sat on the floor, and opening up her books. I frowned. What did I mean about that?

"Nevermind. It's really hard to explain." I answered. "But I have a question."

"Mave, we have to do our English assignment." Dani complained, passing me the Hamlet booklet.

"Just hear me out." I said. "So, you're into girls right?"

"I answered this already, Mave. Yes I'm into girls, yes I like kissing them, yes I like their boobs, butts- I'm getting carried away here..." Dani chuckled, as she flipped a few pages on her binder. "But yeah, I love them."

"Okay. So you find them attractive right?" I asked, now laying on my tummy and resting my chin on the palm of my hand.

"How many times do I have to say yes?" Dani looked up, raising her eyebrow at me. "Your questions are very repetitive."

"Just listen." I told her, patting the top of her head. "Okay, so, as a lesbian, do you find me attractive?"

Dani froze. She stared at me carefully, and I frowned at the delay of her answer.

"Is that a no?" I asked.

"No." Dani said slowly. "No, I mean, yeah I think you're attractive." She cleared her throat and gave me a small smile.

"Do you think I could be in a relationship?" I asked.

"Are you asking if you're pretty enough to get into a relationship?" She asked, reading me.

"Yeah." I nodded. "I guess so."

"You are so dumb. So you think only attractive people can be in a relationship?"

"No, no." I said, shaking my head. "I just want to know if a guy would like me, that's all."

"I thought a guy already likes you?" Dani said, frowning. "That James kid."

"Oh. I guess."

"Do you like that guy?" Dani asked, her eyes narrowing.

"No way." I said, sighing. "You know what? Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

"Wait, hold up. Why are you asking these things anyways?" Dani asked, looking curious.

"Well, Nat and I talked... And she said I deserve to have someone that I could be intimate with." I said, frowning at the idea. "We talked about relationships, talked about dating, and she tested my kissing skills."

"Kissing skills?" Dani asked, totally amused. "Don't tell me you and Natasha made out...?"

"We did." I said, pursing my lips. "My score was three out of ten."

"Savage." Dani said, laughing hard. "Did you like it?"

"The fact that it was Natasha? No." I said honestly.

"Oh, so you'd do it again?" Dani continued, her face flushed again. "With a girl, I mean."

I took a deep breath and looked away.

"I suppose so." I admitted quietly. "It's just that... I feel insecure about it, ya know?"

"Why are you telling me these things again?" She asked.

"I honestly don't know." I replied. "Which quote are we picking as an inspiration?" I changed the subject, and I changed it so suddenly that Dani gave me an odd look.

"Which one do you want?" She asked, playing along as if nothing happened. Her eyes were now stuck on the book, and I'm glad she didn't push me.

"Well, I was thinking somewhere along the lines of Polonius' advice to Laertes." I said truthfully. "I really like that one."

"And these few precepts in thy memory." Dani read in a monotonous voice, and I listened. "See thou character, give thy thoughts no tongue." I closed my eyes as I remember the quote that I've memorized as a child.

"Nor any unproportioned thought his act. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. The friends thou hast and their adoption tried." I continued the quote.

"You are such a nerd." Dani said. I opened my eyes, and there she was, staring at me intently.

"Oh shut up." I said, grinning and poking the tip of her nose. "I think it fits both of us."

"The quote?"

"Well, yeah." I answered, and nodded my head. I laid on my stomach, and pushed myself forwards so I could rest my chin on Dani's shoulder. She flinched, but I ignored it because I was too comfortable, and I didn't want to pull away. Pointing at her book, I specifically gestured at the quote. "It's literally screaming, 'Maverick Bridge's' brain."

"Which one?" Dani asked, rereading the quote again.

"All of it. All of Polonius' advice." I answered truthfully. "He's saying to not speak your mind, like, don't say what you're thinking, because people will judge."

"Wait. So... Are you honestly saying that you're not being true to yourself?" Dani asked, her shoulders moving as she took a peek at my face.

I frowned. I honestly haven't thought about it that way. I've translated the quote as something like, to keep judgement to yourself, but I guess what Dani interpreted can be true too.

"Maybe." I answered, sighing and still resting my chin on her shoulder. What could possibly be the truth that I've been hiding to myself? I don't know. Or maybe I know, but my mind is too stubborn to reveal it. "Why did you say that? Now I'm over thinking stuff." I complained.

"You know Mave, I think you have a lot of issues." She said, pulling out a loose-leaf and started to write on it. "Since this is a slam poetry assignment, I want you to write what you have in your mind lately. We need this to be personal, and passionate- uh, don't think about spelling errors, or mistakes. Just write what comes to you."

"Can I write, Dani is really nice and I want her to get me water downstairs?" I asked, while passing her my empty water bottle. "If you don't mind?" I chuckled as I sheepishly gave her a pleading look.

She rolled her eyes, her cheeks naturally flushed as she handed me the loose-leaf and pen. She said,

"When I get back, you better be writing stuff down."

"What is the point of this?" I asked, staring at Dani's writing on top of the page. It says, 'Maverick's Brain' in neat printing. "And why is your writing so nice? Mine is gross."

Dani sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I told you I have a plan for our assignment. Just do as I say-"

"But I wanna know the plan." I insisted. "This is our assignment after all. This is not your plan. It shouldn't be your plan. It should be our plan."

"Calm down, holy crap." Dani said, narrowing her eyes, but a stern look came into place as soon as possible. "You know, maybe you should stop complaining, and write everything down."

"But-"

"Shut up Maverick."

"Don't talk to me that way-" I narrowed my eyes but Dani cut me off again.

"Shut up and write it down." She said, smirking.

"You are so rude-"

"I am going downstairs to get you water, and I'll be back." Dani cut me off again, and walking away before I could reply. I made ugly faces at her retreating figure and shook my head in disbelief. Huffing, I stared at the page and wrote,

Dani makes me mad.

Just reading it makes me feel silly.

But I can't stay mad. I added. I can't stay mad at anyone. They get mad at me, and sometimes I feel like that I should be mad at myself too.

The fuck...

My hands are becoming clammy, and somehow my heart rate had started to rise. I paused for a second, took a few deep breaths, and finally let myself write. I'm not sure how I became this focused. Maybe the topic had me intrigued, or maybe the opportunity of sorting out what's wrong with me was actually appealing.

I wrote,

Normally I would say, 'it's not a big deal' or, 'don't worry about it', or 'I'm fine, how are you?' Really though, I'm still not sure what those words mean.

At this point, I didn't even care what I wrote. It's like my brain became someone I didn't know was there, and my hand has been dying to write what my brain was voicing out. I let myself get lost, and I didn't even realize that Dani had come back.

I immediately stopped writing, and realized that I was on the flip side of the page.

"Your mom's home. She's mad at you for not taking the garbage out." Dani chuckled and handed me the water bottle. "She made me bring this up." She added, holding up a bag of vanilla goldfish crackers.

I wasn't even listening to her. I was shocked, and confused. Staring at the paper, then staring at Dani, I quickly shook my head back and forth in disbelief.

"I don't think I want you to read what I wrote down." I said.

"Lemme look."

"No." I said, crumpling the page and tossing it in my garbage can nearby. "You may not."

"You're so complicated." Dani said. "Lemme look, and and let me help you."

"Help me?"

"Yeah. Obviously this is troubling you. I can help you."

"I don't want help."

"You're saying that now." Dani said, crossing her arms. "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know."

"You're so weird." Dani said, sighing and sitting beside me. "We can work on the assignment some other time, if you want?"

I remained quiet, and stared at her.

"Can I have a hug?" I asked softly. Dani opened her arms and I hugged her.

"This is so awkward." She whispered.

"Shut up. You're ruining it." I whispered back.

"Mave, you have to stop over thinking stuff." She muttered, only for me to hear. "It's messing you up in the head. You're stressing out about something that doesn't even exist."

"You don't know that."

"I know a lot of things, thank you very much."

"But you don't know me." I said, resting my head on her shoulder and hugging her closer. I really feel like crying at the moment, but I held it in.

"Well, I'm starting to know you." She said.

"What do you think of me so far?"

"See, that's your problem. You always think about what other people think. You should learn to not care." Dani said.

"It's not that easy though." I said, pulling away now, and standing up. "Anyways, wanna watch Netflix with me?"

"Netflix and chill?" Dani blurted out. I raised an eyebrow. "Kidding, gosh, you're so sensitive."

I rolled my eyes, and pulled her arm and dragged her behind me. Dani followed, commenting on how aggrassive I can be. I could only scoff. I lead us through the living room, and together we sat on the couch and started to watch Mean Girls. Dani commented on how pretty Regina George was.

"But she's a bitch." I said.

"Yeah, but she's still hot." Dani said. I burst out laughing. "What? I can't help it."

Midway through the movie, Natasha entered the room, stared at both me and Dani, frowned, and maneuvered herself in between us and forcing herself to sit in the middle.

"Dani, you were right." Nat said, sulking and crossing her arms. "Thomas and Dennis are a secret gay couple."

A/N:

Unedited.