Chapter Text
“So, what’s the plan?”
Luna looks over her shoulder at Rosalya right before going back into the dressing room, her new, sparkly dress for the town fair still on.
“What plan?”
“The carnival, silly!” Rosalya sighs and hops off the store counter — and to think they aren’t even at Leigh’s shop but at the mall, yet she’s acting like she owns the place. “This is the perfect chance to finally solidify things with the boy you like!”
“But Rosa, you know—” Luna tries to no avail.
“Nuh uh! I won’t stand for this love triangle any longer!” Rosa claims with her hands on her hips. “You need to make a move on the guy you like more. Because I know you like one of them more than the other.”
Luna chews on the inside of her cheek before asking: “...Is it really a love triangle if the boys don’t like each other, too? Isn’t it more of a love ‘V’—”
“I know one ‘Love V’ that desperately needs some attention, so don’t get hung up on the details!”
Luna freezes, her cheeks growing so red and hot that one could fry an egg on them. She looks around to see if anyone’s there to see, but luckily it’s just the two of them in the dressing rooms.
“Rosa, you can’t just say stuff like that…”
“Just think about it, Luna. What if you take too long, and they’ve already moved onto someone else? We’re still in high school, you know, feelings switch fast!” Rosalya insists, effortlessly waking up a new fear inside Luna’s poor heart. She must see the change in Luna’s expression, however, as she comes near her and hugs her with a laugh. “Okay, I might be exaggerating, but you seriously need to do something about this.”
“Fine… Fine! I will!” Luna replies with a sigh. “I think… I think I know who I like more…”
“Great! Tell me who it is!”
Luna grins before disappearing back behind the curtain of the fitting room. “It’s a secret.”
-
Thursday, 6:49 pm
the Castiel haters club
Gay™: guys i’m making a playlist for tomorrow, do you want to join in?
punk rock asshole: aren’t they gonna play music at the fair tho
bonnie: Yes, I assume there might be a live band…
Gay™: buzzkills!!
Gay™: i’m gonna listen to some tunes while walking over there, so recommend me songs nevertheless
punk rock asshole: don’t you already listen to mcr? isn’t that enough for you?
bulba my saur: party rockers in the house tonight
Gay™: …thank you armin
flat earth: isn’t it “party rock IS”?
bulba my saur: great now i have to kiss you
bonnie: …?
Heartbreaker: huh
bulba my saur: …it’s a meme guys
bulba my saur: don’t you guys know memes…
clyde: even i knew that one.
apple of my eyeris: alexy you should check out arctic monkeys!!
Gay™: oh yeah i already like them!
sappho enjoyer: have you heard of death cab for cutie?
Gay™: i might’ve i dunno. i’ll download some of their songs tho, just for you priya!
sappho enjoyer: haha i’m glad
Gay™: anyone else?
Heartbreaker: uhh i kinda just listen to midwest emo
punk rock asshole: lmao ofc you do
Heartbreaker: oh yeah? what about you then?
punk rock asshole: idk misfits or something
bonnie: I’m not sure Alexy would like the music I listen to…
punk rock asshole: lmao yeah tell him about your radiohead addiction!
Gay™: what’s that?
bonnie: My favourite band. Kind of alternative rock.
Gay™: i’ll check all of these out, thanks guys!!
flat earth: i feel so basic when it comes to music lol
punk rock asshole: let me guess… taylor swift?
flat earth: …among other things
punk rock asshole: LMAO
bulba my saur: i’ll introduce you to some BANGER video game OSTs luna, don’t worry!
flat earth: …osts?
bulba my saur: …
bulba my saur: you’re lucky you’re cute.
-
The day of the town fair arrives rather fast, and sooner than she knows, Luna is saying bye to her parents and leaving out of the front door of her house, already a bit late after her dad’s questioning. She looks at her phone, searching up the quickest route to the empty field the carnival is being held at. It’s supposed to be at the edge of town to have space for all the—
“...Luna?”
Her eyes move to the side. A sheepish Kentin, wearing a black T-shirt and ripped jeans as well as his signature dog tags, stands next to her with a slight blush on his cheeks.
“...I thought that we could walk to the fair together. If— If you don’t mind,” he mutters, kicking the ground with his hands in his pockets.
“Oh, yeah, sure,” she smiles, eager not to upset him. His company will make her feel safer, anyway, as it’s already getting a bit dark and the walk might be long.
The two get to walking, light-hearted chatter filling the streets. It’s mostly Kentin, as if he was talking purely out of stress or something. As if he has something to tell her but he can’t, so he just says anything else that comes to mind.
“...You look pretty in that dress, by the wa—”
“So, Midwest emo, huh?” Luna accidentally interrupts with a small laugh. Kentin grows red before looking down and rubbing the back of his head.
“...They can be good, you know. I don’t really listen to much music, but those bands really resonate with me,” the boy explains. “They can be… relatable.”
“Oh, yeah?” Luna challenges. “Can you show me a song you relate to, then?”
“Um, yeah, sure…”
Kentin digs his phone out and finds a song from his library, looking intensely between two options before playing one of them. Luna listens as the tunes fill the air.
The lyrics seem to be about unrequited love, that much she can tell despite never being the best at analyzing during literature class. Her cheeks heat up a bit even if she’d never start a discussion about the lyrics on her own.
“Yeah, so, uh, that’s that,” Kentin quickly says, stopping the song only halfway through. People have started gathering around them, seemingly walking towards the same goal under the streetlights.
“I liked it,” Luna smiles. “Not my exact style, but still good.”
“Well, it’s hard to get on Taylor Swift’s level.”
“Are you teasing me, Kentin?” the girl gasps.
Kentin chuckles and grabs her wrist, pulling her along to the field that opens up before them, full of carnival rides, booths and flashy lights. “Come on, let’s find the others.”
-
Friday, 7:16 pm
Rosalya → Luna
Rosalya: where are you, i’ve been waiting for 15 mins!!
Rosalya: i am NOT letting you chicken out this time
Rosalya: both lys AND armin are already here so you better drag your butt over here STAT
Rosalya: oh nvm i see you and kentin!
-
“Ooh, holding hands, I see!” Rosalya announces as Luna walks up to her next to the grand ferris wheel with Kentin’s hand in hers. She quickly pulls her arm free, embarrassed. “Yeah, you’d better cut that out given that Alexy is nearby!”
“Cut what out?” Alexy asks, suddenly standing next to Rosa and balancing three slushies in his arms. A red, blue and purple one. He blinks when he sees Kentin with the group. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you’d be here so I didn’t get you a slushie.”
“It’s fine, I don’t really— I get brain-freeze easily,” Kentin mutters awkwardly as Alexy hands Luna her red slushie. She sips on it eagerly only to grimace right away.
“The vodka is strong, huh?” Rosalya smirks.
“What!?” Luna and Kentin exclaim in unison.
Alexy takes it upon himself to explain: “I ran into Castiel and he was looking suspiciously smug with his slush, so I was like ‘what’s good?’ and he let me borrow the bottle, haha.”
“...I didn’t realize the plan was to get drunk tonight,” Luna frowns. Alexy’s face drops immediately.
“Oh no… Did you not want to? I’m sorry, I can go get you another one!”
“No, no, it’s fine. I’ll drink it. It’s only… It’s only vodka.”
If anything, a little bit of alcohol might just give her the strength to actually go through with her confession. Even if arriving home intoxicated might be another issue entirely.
“Yeah, Luna, it’s only vodka!” Rosa grins and sips on her own purple slushie, hardly even making a face. “Damn, that’s cold.”
“I’ll, uh, I’ll go find… Nath or Armin or something,” Kentin says, troubled, before leaving the trio’s side. It’s true that he doesn’t have too many friends in the class. Luna frowns, but not for long as Alexy quickly pulls her into a tight hug.
“I’ve missed you, Luna!” he exclaims. “Sorry for being a doofus who was too sad to spend time with you!”
“It’s fine!” Luna giggles, hugging back with her slushie in hand behind Alexy’s back. “I get that you can have bad days. I’m sorry for not noticing and being there for you.”
“It’s fiiiine. Sorry for not telling you right away, I—”
“Are we done apologizing and ready to go ride the Gravitron while wasted?” Rosalya asks pointedly. “Come on, let’s go!”
“Actually, I’m going to find Lysander since he wasn’t with Castiel earlier, but you two go ahead!” Alexy says with a grin. “Don’t worry, Luna. I won’t tell that you loooove him.”
Luna glares at him as Rosa grabs her hand and starts dragging her away through the full crowd. It seems the entire town is at this fair, most in colourful outfits that get illuminated by the equally colourful bright lights.
“Drink up, buttercup!” Rosalya says as they get in the long line of people in front of the swiftly spinning Gravitron. “You can’t bring that on the ride.”
“I’m going to get a huge brain-freeze, Rosa!”
“That’s part of the fun!”
“Oh, you two are here?” someone asks from in front of them. It’s Kim and a less-than-happy looking Melody, her hair in a loose braid. Jealousy is in the air, no doubt, and Luna understands why.
“Of course we are, we agreed on it in the group chat!” Rosa says.
Melody frowns. “I have the chat muted… Too much drama.”
“Sometimes, yeah, but it’s fun to be able to reach everyone outside of school,” Luna comments with a smile.
“But the drama is only a plus,” Rosalya continues. Melody is staring at her half-empty purple slushie, and the silver-haired girl grins. “You want some?”
“Oh, sure, thanks!” Melody greets her before taking the cup, followed by a sip. Her face soon turns sour and she hands back the cup.
Kim laughs and asks: “Did you poison her or what?”
“There might be a teensy bit of vodka in there,” Luna says quietly. Melody’s brows furrow.
“And you didn’t think to mention that before!?”
“I’m feeling so good that I already forgot!” Rosalya laughs before quickly pointing behind them at the Gravitron that’s growing empty, “Oh, look, we can get on board!”
“I hope I won’t throw up,” Luna mumbles as they start walking forward in line, eventually getting on the ride.
-
“Armin! What’s up!” Alexy greets as he chews on the straw of his slushie. He has an inkling his tongue and lips are already blue from the drink.
Armin scoffs, his arms crossed as he leans against the side of some kind of a game booth. “It sucks here. My game just got an update and I can’t play it because of all the noise! There’s nowhere to sit, either!”
“Armin…”
“What?”
“Don’t you think you could take one night off to actually, ya know, have fun with your friends!?” Alexy questions with his brows furrowed. “Shove that game console away and go play at all the booths! Go find Luna and confess! I dunno, just do something!”
Armin raises an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? Isn’t something exactly what I tried to get you to do just a couple of weeks ago but you were too busy moping over Kentin?”
“...You did not just compare my mental disorder to your gaming addiction!”
“Liking Kentin sure is a mental disorder, alright!”
Alexy playfully shoves Armin away, laughing. “You’ll hurt his feelings like that! He’s not that bad!” he insists. “If only he wasn’t head over heels for Luna… I could’ve had a chance.”
“There are plenty of other cute guys at our school, right? Maybe you could try your luck with Castiel,” Armin suggests with a grin. “Didn’t he lend you that vodka, too? How romantic!”
“What’s romantic?”
Armin jumps as both Castiel and Lysander emerge from behind the booth, Castiel throwing his finished cigarette on the ground before stomping on it. The two bandmates look at the twins, expecting.
“Nothing, I was just wondering—”
“We’re trying to get Alexy to get over Kentin so he can move on with some other guy!” Armin says. Alexy sighs.
“Good luck with that,” Castiel chuckles. “You’re probably the only gay guy in town.”
“Well, there is Priya, if we’re going to be specific. But that’s not exactly what you’re looking for,” Lysander ponders. Alexy can’t help but smile a bit. Lysander has been of great help to him lately, and he never would’ve even thought he’d get so close to the quiet, tormented poet!
“To think that the only gay or bi people weren’t even born here,” Castiel mutters. “This town breeds nothing but conservative straight folk.”
“You don’t know that! There’s always people like Iris, Amber, Luna… They could swing the other way too, you know?” Alexy starts. He feels his head is getting warmer despite the slushie being oh, so cold.
Lysander raises his brows. “Luna…? Well, she wasn’t born here, but still, I—”
“And Luna kissed me, so she definitely likes guys too!” Armin interjects. The looks on Castiel and Lysander’s faces are something Alexy wouldn’t change for the world.
“She kissed you?” Castiel asks, his arms crossed and brows furrowed. “When?”
“Woah, big guy, no need to get mad! Technically I kissed her, but she didn’t pull away!” Armin says, quickly darting halfway behind Alexy’s back as if Alexy could somehow protect him.
“Oh, that’s…” Lysander swallows, gathering his words no doubt. “Are you together, then?”
Armin thinks for a moment, emerging from behind Alexy whose head is kind of starting to spin. “Well, you know, it’s not official or anything, but I’d say we’re pretty close,” Armin grins.
“This is bullshit,” Castiel scoffs before marching off and disappearing into the crowd.
Lysander sighs. “...I’ll go calm him down. Have a good evening.”
Once the poet has disappeared behind Castiel, Alexy takes it upon himself to push Armin, now less playfully than before.
“Ouch, what was that for!?”
“You lied to them! You have barely even talked about the kiss with her!”
“Well yeah, I couldn’t just let them know that she’s still available! That’d totally ruin my chances with her!” Armin says.
“You’re so stupid sometimes. What if Castiel goes up to Luna to ask about it and she discovers your bullshit?”
Armin looks like someone just threw a pebble at him. “Oh. I didn’t think about that.”
“You never think!”
-
Nathaniel gets on the unsteady ferris wheel seat, waiting for Iris to join him. They aren’t exactly close, but they ended up being together in line, and he’s not so rude as to tell her he’d rather go all by himself than with her.
However, right as Iris is about to sit down, someone dashes through the line.
“Sorry, Iris, you’ve gotta bounce,” Kim announces. “I need to talk to Mr. President.”
Iris frowns. “Oh, but I was just—”
“I’ll totally buy you cotton candy or something later. Just… do this for me, please?”
Iris looks between Nathaniel and Kim. The ride operator is starting to tap his foot against the ground, and finally Iris seems to realize something.
“Oh, oh. Okay. I’ll go. Have fun!” she announces before hopping off and going back to the front of the line, where Peggy stands and is looking at Nathaniel like she sees right through him.
Kim sits down, the operator closes the safety bar, and they start moving up. The seat creaks suspiciously, but Nathaniel is currently focused on the way Kim is looking at him.
“...Do I have something on my face?”
“You know, everyone thinks we’re hooking up.”
“Yes, I gathered tha— Are you drunk?” Nath asks, because the strong smell of alcohol coming from Kim can be sensed from a mile away.
“Not really. Just got a sip of someone’s vodka slushie for some encouragement,” Kim shrugs.
“Encouragement?” They’re now at the top of the ferris wheel, able to see towards the distant, dark town as well as the brightly lit up fair. “To do what?”
“This,” Kim says before leaning forward and smashing their lips together.
Nathaniel’s eyes widen, feeling the way the girl’s fingerless gloves rub against his cheeks. It’s a bit scratchy, but not unpleasant. Still, he pulls away.
“Kim, what if someone sees— Amber is here, she could tell my parents—”
“Who cares? I thought you wanted to get over that one little girl?”
“I do, but… I’m also scared of hurting your feelings,” Nathaniel admits. “I don’t want you to think that this is going to be serious or that I’m giving you mixed signals or—”
The hand that settles over his jeans rather close to his crotch says everything Kim needs to say. Clearly she doesn’t care. Nathaniel fears he cares a bit too much.
He looks around. The safety bar neatly hides exactly where her hand is, but this is way, way too risky.
“Kim… Do you really want this?”
“I do,” she says, “Probably more than I want to breathe right now.”
Nathaniel smiles a little. He can’t deny that it feels good to be wanted by someone. However, he is not about to get thrown out of a fair with children for getting up to no good on the ferris wheel.
“Okay, then… Wait until we get off this ride, and then we can go somewhere… private. Okay?”
There’s a spark in her eyes. He wishes he could reciprocate that hint of hopeful light.
“Okay,” she replies.
-
“Oh… Hi, Priya,” Luna starts, head still spinning.
“Well you sound less than enthusiastic,” Priya chuckles, only for Rosalya to basically fling the poor Luna into the other girl’s arms.
“I promised I’d meet Leigh. Can you make sure she doesn’t totally throw up and die?” the silver-haired girl asks. “I swear I’ll be right back!”
Priya holds onto Luna’s shoulders with a laugh. “I can do that.”
Rosalya thanks her before fleeing, and Priya carefully guides Luna over to sit down on one of the only benches in the area, located between a pretzel and a hot dog stand.
“I see the Gravitron got the best of you.”
“You could say that,” Luna mumbles as the tan girl sits down beside her. “It’s also because of the vodka.”
“Oh?”
“It’s… a long story. I’m supposed to be confessing to someone right about now.”
Priya raises an eyebrow, rather amused by this whole situation as she rubs soft circles into Luna’s shoulder. “Huh… That’s funny, because I have two boys I can see you with. Which one is it?”
“Does it matter?” Luna whines, burying her head in her hands. “They’re not going to go out with me when I’m staggering and shaking like this! I’m a mess!”
“Luna, with all due respect…” Priya brushes a strand of hair from the other girl’s face, smiling at her. “You’re probably one of the cutest girls I know. That alone should be enough for any dumb guy to accept your confession, not even mentioning your bubbly personality. I think you’ll be fine.”
“You’re too kind, Priya,” Luna sighs, dramatically leaning against her shoulder. “I hope he’ll say yes…”
“Well, if he doesn’t, you’ll always have a second option, right?”
“...I wouldn’t want them to feel like the second option, though.”
Priya frowns. “Well, for now, let’s just hope the first choice says yes.”
Luna nods. “Okay, I— I’m going to go tell him. Right now.”
-
Alexy takes a deep breath in the hall of mirrors. All he can see is himself everywhere, which in retrospect doesn’t make this a very good place to calm down given that his worst enemy is all around him.
Sometimes things just get too much, and he needs some alone time. Lately his social battery has been running quite low even with an abundance of alone time.
So here he is, all alone, frowning at his millions of reflections, until he isn’t.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Lysander says, appearing from behind the boy, and suddenly there are endless reflections of Lysander as well. His different-coloured eyes look even prettier like this.
“Yeah, don’t mind me,” Alexy says. “Just moping.”
“Is it Kentin or just… in general?” The boy tilts his head. “Did you listen to Radiohead on your way here and absolutely hate it?”
Alexy can’t hold back from snorting as he chuckles. The two boys are slowly circling each other in the hall of mirrors, catching glimpses of each of their angles with every move.
“No, no, I actually… thought the band was really cool. Not fully my style, but I get why you’d like it,” he says. “I guess I was just taking a breather. That vodka really got to my head.”
“Castiel did mention lending you some of his… stash. I hope it’s not making you unwell.”
“Well, I feel better already now that you’re here!” Alexy laughs, honest. He does a small spin, accidentally bumping his shoulder against Lysander’s. “You’re like this… light. Like, not like sunlight, because that’s my thing, but… You’re like the moon, I guess.”
“That’s rather poetic of you,” Lysander notes.
“I’m coming for your job, that’s for sure.”
The silver-haired boy looks at him for a second before softly laughing. “If you want to be the one writing down lyrics while Castiel blows cigarette smoke in your face, be my guest.”
“...He does that?”
“Not on purpose, I don’t think.”
“I think that’d be hot if it were any other guy except for Castiel,” Alexy sighs.
“...You have peculiar tastes.”
“Yeah, yeah. At least I have the guts to spell them out.”
Lysander raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”
Courageously, Alexy grabs Lysander’s hands and spins the two around the opening in the hall. “I mean, seriously, how long are you going to pine after Luna without saying anything? You do know that she’s not going to wait forever, right?”
Lysander’s eyes dart away as their spin comes to a slow end. However, neither releases the other’s hands.
“...I know. And I know that I should say something, but… lately I’ve felt quite distant from her,” he admits. “I’ve started to wonder if these feelings are just passing by.”
Alexy’s jaw practically drops. It might be because of the slight intoxication, though. “Really? You’re not gonna fight for her?”
“...I’ve always been a believer in ‘if you love someone, set them free.’” Lysander ponders for a moment, eyebrows knit together. “However… I find it more difficult each day to feel that connection I thought we shared in the past.”
“Wow. That’s… wow.”
“That’s not to say I don’t still cherish her. She is very important to me, and I doubt that’s going to change.” Lysander finally shrugs Alexy’s hands off and turns to one of the mirrors. “I hope she’ll be happy with Armin, when they finally make it official.”
Alexy bites the inside of his cheek while the other boy adjusts his odd tie in the mirror.
“Well, if we were to find you a new crush,” Alexy tries, “what should she be like? Should she be more like Melody or more like Amber?”
“Ah, with all due respect… I’d prefer neither.”
“Okay, so… Should she be more like Kim or Iris?”
Lysander chuckles softly. “I’m not sure I have the eyes for any other girl in our class. I think what’s best for me is to just move on and not have anyone in mind for some time.”
“I can respect that. Maybe I should do the same. Just… be single and happy with that for a while.” Alexy groans and stretches his arms dramatically. “I’m done pining after Kennykins.”
“It seems to me that we have a plan.”
The boys smile at each other and nod before Alexy turns to finally escape the dimness of the hall of mirrors. However, he trips over his steps and ends up falling straight towards a mirror.
“Help—”
A strong hand grabs his upper arm, but it appears that Alexy’s bodyweight wins after all and brings both of them down; pressed together and just barely standing up against one of the mirrors.
“Ah—”
“Shit—”
Alexy scrambles to turn around in his awkward position, which is not the wisest choice because in his efforts he accidentally hits his head against Lysander’s, whose hands have ended up on both sides of Alexy, pressed against the mirror behind him.
They breathe heavily, foreheads nearly touching as they just look at each other.
Alexy hates to admit that it’s rather exciting. Being so close to someone who doesn’t hate him.
Lysander starts, his breath warm. He glances down at Alexy’s lips, which is no surprise as they are still blue from his drink. “Sorry, I should—”
“...Lysander?”
The two boys’ heads snap to the side. Luna stands there, all alone, looking at them in this compromised position. Suddenly she’s all around them, in every mirror, her eyes wide and glistening, and that makes Alexy sobers up rather quickly.
This looks bad. This looks really bad.
“Luna, it’s not what it—” he starts, pushing Lysander upright so he, too, can stand up straight.
“No, I—” Luna trembles. She wipes her eyes and then looks down at the way her mascara smudges her fingertips. “I shouldn’t have interrupted. I’m sorry.”
“Luna—”
She runs off.
It’s so quiet that Alexy’s ears begin to ring.
“Fuck.” He smacks his own head. “Shit. Fuck. Fuck, shit. This is so bad.”
“...I truly hope she doesn’t think we were—” Lysander begins, and Alexy snaps.
“Of course she thinks that, have you met her!?” he groans, rubbing his face. “I have to go clear things up or she’ll never talk to me again!”
Lysander takes a step back, smoothing out his coat. “Yes, of course. I hope you can set things straight.”
“Y— Yeah. I hope so too.”
Alexy spares one last glance at his companion before leaving, catching a glimpse of the faintest hint of a blush on Lysander’s cheeks.
-
“Luna!”
Kim’s eyes shoot open as an upset girl with a sparkly dress runs past them, not even noticing the fact that Nathaniel’s tongue is currently buried down Kim’s throat. Though, that doesn’t last for long as he pulls away.
Her eyes meet an alarmed Nath, and they both crouch behind the trashcan at the back of the food stand they were already hiding behind.
Alexy runs after Luna, and when the couple peers from behind the bin, the other two stand near the empty edge of the field but just close enough for their argument to be heard.
“That wasn’t— Christ, you’re fast—” Alexy puffs, leaning on his knees. Luna’s teary eyes can be seen from a mile away, and that turns Kim’s stomach. She has no doubt Nathaniel is thinking about going to comfort her. “That wasn’t what it looked like, Luna.”
“Really? Alexy, I— I was just coming to confess to him!” Luna says.
“Are they talking about Armin?” Kim whispers.
“And then I see you two mushed together like— Like mashed potatoes or something! It looked like you were kissing!”
“...Probably Lysander,” Nathaniel mumbles. “I hope it’s Lysander, at the very least.”
“But we weren’t! I wouldn’t do that to you!” Alexy claims. “I promise, Luna. I wouldn’t.”
“You know… if this is some messed up way to get back at me for having Kentin like me,” Luna sniffles and wipes her tears, “then it’s not funny. I’d prefer you stopped.”
Alexy’s eyes widen. Something in his posture stiffens. “What? So I can’t even get close to a guy you like without it having to be some sort of a payback? I can’t even have friends now?”
“That is not what friends do!”
The blue-haired boy’s brows furrow. “Whatever, I— Do you think I would really hurt you like that?”
Luna crosses her arms, shivering and crying. “...I feel like I don’t know that much about you anymore.”
“What the fuck, Luna?” Kim whispers under her breath, because this is not the girl she knows and loves. How much did her slushie get to her?
“Are you talking about my depression and how I didn’t tell you?” Alexy asks. Luna’s eyes widen, but the boy continues before she can say anything. “Nevermind. You know what? I kinda wish I was kissing Lysander. At least that’d be one person who didn’t judge me like this.”
“Alexy—”
“He doesn’t like you back, by the way,” he snaps. “Not really, anyway. You missed your shot, so have fun breaking my brother’s heart by telling him you were just dragging him along only to get rejected by the one you like anyway.”
Luna freezes. Her arms fall to her sides. “...What?”
“Yeah, must be awful for the perfect Luna to not have every guy thirsting after her anymore.”
Kim and Nathaniel share a silent look. The blond’s brows are furrowed.
It must hurt for the one he likes to be talking about other guys like this. It must hurt to have to settle for someone like Kim, who he probably wouldn’t like romantically in a million years.
“...That’s really mean, Alexy,” Luna says.
“I guess we’re both saying things we’ll regret tomorrow.”
A single, soft sob escapes into the air before Luna runs off, leaving Alexy standing alone near the dark edge of the fair, rubbing his face.
But this isn’t Kim’s concern right now. She turns back to Nathaniel and asks: “Wanna find another quiet spot?”
“Actually… I should probably find Amber. I promised to spend some time with her, too,” he mumbles, and slowly straightens up from behind the trash can. “Take care, Kim.”
And that is the story of how Kim gets left alone behind a carnival stall, looking at a crying and cursing Alexy and kind of wishing she had the strength to cry and curse as well.
-
“Luna, hey, hey— Where are you going?” Kentin asks as the girl dashes past him, barely slow enough for him to grab her arm. At the sight of her tears, he freezes. “...What happened?”
They’re near the entrance of the carnival, the fair still in full swing with their classmates nowhere to be seen in the huge crowd.
Luna sniffles: “We— We had a fight. With Alexy.”
Kentin raises his brows. That’s new. He’s quite sure the two have never fought before.
“Oh. Do you… want to talk about it?”
“...Can you just walk me home?” Luna asks quietly. “It’s getting cold and I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“Yeah, of course,” he says, dropping everything just for her as per usual. For that one sliver of hope.
They start walking in awkward silence towards the empty streets as the entire town is probably at the fair. Luna shivers in her short-sleeved dress, and Kentin curses at himself for not bringing a jacket.
“Your fight with Alexy… Was it about me?” he asks curiously, because the guilt of rejecting the other boy less than kindly still burns at his throat.
“...Not really. I don’t— I don’t know, it might’ve been a huge misunderstanding and I might just be too tipsy to think straight,” Luna whines, wiping her smudged mascara that Kentin hadn’t even noticed was out of place before now.
“Did you drink a lot?”
“No, I just wanted to take the edge off.”
“Oh. Yeah. Totally. I do that all the time,” Kentin says, rolling back his shoulders.
Luna finally cracks a small smile, looks up at him and chuckles. “No, you don’t.”
“...Yeah, you got me,” he laughs back. “I don’t.”
They walk past the shops, looking at the dark windows with no life behind them. That’s when Luna groans.
“...I didn’t tell Rosa anything. She’s going to worry when she can’t find me.”
“Just text her at home. Say you felt sick or something if you don’t wanna tell the truth,” Kentin suggests.
“But what if Alexy tells her before me? I— I said such horrible things to him… I don’t want both of them to hate me.”
“Luna.” Kentin stops walking. Luna turns to him with those curious, wet eyes that have made him fall in love with her deeper and deeper every day. “Who could ever hate you?”
Luna’s eyes are wide, lips parted, and Kentin really wants to kiss her. He knows this is not the time — she’s vulnerable and crying and they’re very close to her house where her parents might be watching through the windows. But that doesn’t stop him from hugging her tightly.
She sniffles into his shoulder. He doesn’t know the details, but he knows that Luna is good. She’s always been good. Defending him from bullies, spending time with him when he was a lame nerd… She’s amazing.
He loves her.
That makes it hurt especially bad when Luna whispers against him: “Kentin… I’m saying this as your friend… You really need to get over me.”
He exhales deeply, closing his eyes briefly while still holding her. Subconsciously knowing this all along doesn’t make it any easier.
“Yeah. I know.”
Pulling away, Kentin looks down at Luna. She shyly looks away as his hands still rest on her shoulders.
“...I really hope you can find some girl who likes you as much as you like her,” Luna says, “because you deserve it.”
“...Thanks, uh,” Kentin looks over at the door to Luna’s house, not far away, “can I leave you off here? I might need to listen to some music and reflect on things.”
“Yeah. Thanks for walking me home.”
“Anytime.”
The two smile at each other before turning to go their separate ways. Kentin’s heart burns, but he’ll be brave. He’ll be tough. He’ll be a man and get over it.
Even if all he wants to do is curl up on the ground and cry.