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Sam’s not sure how he finds himself standing in front of Ellen’s locker in the hallway one minute before their science class is set to start, but he decides not to question it and follows her.
“Can you hold this for me?”
She doesn’t wait for a reply before she’s shoving a small mirror into his large hands so fast he almost drops it.
“Uh, sure?” he responds belatedly.
Looking around he can see that most of the student body has dispersed and is either in class or heading to it. He’s never really cared much about being on time before, and he wasn’t going to start anytime soon.
She’s digging around in her bag, “Felix already went to class, can you just hold that up for me for five seconds?”
She's pulling out some kind of makeup pencil and he finally catches on, “Oh, yeah, totally,”
He holds the mirror so it’s level with her face, which is only the height of his own chin.
He’s done a similar thing for Mia so that she could fix her hair before, so he’s not really bothered by the request. The only thing throwing him off is that Ellen is actually talking to him. Just him.
They’d struck up what he’d thought was a little friendship since they’d begun to be in the same proximity more often due to Felix and the group's adventures. But she’d never really acknowledged him one on one before, so he’d assumed she had no interest in being more than acquaintances. Maybe that wasn’t actually the case? Well, come to think of it she did just say she’d only grabbed him because he was her only option, but oh well.
Sam was like a puppy sometimes in that way. He’d make friends with anyone and be happy with anything he got in return.
He found himself watching with interest as she began swiping at her lipstick with her thumb and using a smudgy looking black pencil to redraw the line of her lips.
He raised an eyebrow, “So, you put that on every day?”
He wasn’t sure if she was in the mood for conversation, but he had nothing else to do. And when he got bored, he talked. Or looked for snacks, but there was no chance for that here.
“Yep, every day,” she responded a little dryly.
He nodded.
The silence only lasted a few seconds before he spoke again. It was like a compulsion, really.
“But like… why?”
She looked up for a moment, shooting him a warning glare before returning to fixing her makeup, “Because I like the way it looks. And it’s fun,”
“Huh,”
He was thoughtful for a moment.
“I guess I always thought girls wore makeup for like… boys,”
Ellen looked mildly uncomfortable at that, going as far as to pause in the middle of a line to glare at him again.
“—But I guess I was wrong!” he quickly amends.
She sighs, fishing out another item from her bag. He realises it must be mascara when she unscrews it.
“What boy do you think would find this appealing exactly?” she asks.
His brows scrunch up as he watches her apply a fresh layer to her eyelashes. He’s a little confused by her question, and he’s also wondering how she’s not poking herself in the eye right now. She’s making a funny face while she does it too, it’s all quite distracting really.
“Uh, goth boys? Like… Felix?”
She shoots him a deadpan look.
“Oh, except he likes boys… and me. So maybe—I don't actually know,” he trails off.
She looks a little frustrated, but not genuinely annoyed. He’s glad. She’s Felix’s best friend, he wants to get along with her.
“Well… I like it!” he decides with a smile.
She raises a questioning eyebrow at him.
“I mean it looks good! Like, it suits you and stuff,”
He’s never been the best at giving compliments. He can recall a few times where he’d genuinely been trying to say something nice to Mia while they’d been dating and he’d actually ended up insulting her in one way or another.
“…Thanks. I try,” she replies, a little unsure.
“You’re welcome,” he grins.
He begins to rock back and forth on the balls of his feet after standing still for so long, but stops when he remembers he should keep the mirror still.
“It’s okay, I’m done now,” she says.
She takes the mirror from his hands and shoves everything back into her bag rather haphazardly.
“Oh, okay,”
She tucks her hair behind her ear and shifts her feet, “I don’t actually care what any boys think of my makeup by the way, I was just messing with you,”
“Oh, okay,” he repeats.
“…I care what girls think of my makeup. Because I like girls,”
A brief silence follows,
“Oh. Oh! I didn’t know that,”
Another silence. Ellen looks like she wants to disappear a little bit.
“Well, thanks for telling me. I like girls too. And boys,” he adds.
She actually laughs at that. It makes him smile that he’d been the reason for it.
“I haven’t told many people. People already think I’m the weird goth girl, I think I’d like them to stay unaware of the lesbian part,” she confesses.
“Huh, yeah makes sense. You’re not weird though,” he assures her.
She raises a thin eyebrow at him as if to say ‘are you sure about that?’.
“I’m dating Felix! That’s about as weird as it can get,” he says.
She laughs again and he’s beaming like a plant that’s just been watered.
“Well, does Mia know?” he asks.
Ellen suddenly freezes at that.
“No… Why, has she said anything about me?” she asks quickly.
“Oh, not really no I was just wondering if you’d told her since you guys have been hanging out,”
Ellen crosses her arms, avoiding his eye and doing that thing where she shifts her feet awkwardly again.
“Wait a minute,” he says, and she looks a little alarmed as she watches him connect the dots in his head.
“Do you… like Mia?”
She looks a little mortified, but she makes no effort to deny the accusation.
Sam laughs as he watches her usually pale cheeks begin to practically glow red, “Oh my God, you do! You totally do!”
“…You don’t think it’s weird?” she questions like she’s surprised he’s not ridiculing her. It makes him a little sad that she genuinely thought he would be upset with her.
“No? I mean, maybe a little. But I’m also dating your best friend all of a sudden, don’t you find that weird?”
She pauses to think for a moment, “Well, maybe at first. I didn’t exactly expect Felix’s type to be a popular goofball like you,” Sam grins like it had been a compliment, she really hadn’t meant it to be, but whatever, “But I mean… he’s really happy with you. And I can't really judge when I’m crushing on you know who,” she says the last part quietly like she’s afraid to say it out loud.
Sam tries to give her what he hopes is his most reassuring smile as he plays with the straps of his backpack, “Well, I think you two would be cute together,”
Her ears have now turned red as well.
“Thanks. I think. We should probably get to Science, I’m sorry I made you so late,” she says, glancing at a clock on the wall.
“Oh man,” he groans, “I really don’t wanna go. Miss will be pissed we’re late and I hate that class so much already,”
“We could always skip,” she suggests.
He’s surprised at how casual she is about the idea of that, but then he’s also seen her and Felix wagging school more times then he can count so it makes sense.
“No, I shouldn’t, I’m already so behind on notes. It just sucks, I’m already so hungry too, lunch is ages away,” he complains with a frown.
Ellen fails to mention that they just had recess, and instead begins fishing around in her bag again. It sounds like a pencil case in there with all her little items. He wonders why she carries around so much stuff anyways, come to think of it Felix’ bag is always in a similar state of disarray too.
His eyes light up when she pulls out a muesli bar and holds it out to him. It’s the chocolate chip kind, his mouth might be watering.
“Oh my God,” he says, holding it in his hands like it’s a bar of gold instead of a snack from the bottom of the girl’s bag.
She snickers at his amusing reaction, “Enjoy. Gotta have some brain fuel for this bore of a lesson,”
“You’re my saviour,”
He tears it open and it’s gone in about two bites. He hums and even closes his eyes dramatically like it’s the best thing he’s ever eaten.
She laughs at the display, but not in her usual judgmental way. She genuinely seems to be enjoying his company for once and it makes him feel an odd sense of pride. If they didn’t have to run to class he would have stayed and tried to make her laugh again. He was excited to tell Felix about this later.
“Thank you,” he says after throwing the plastic wrapper into the nearest bin.
Upon finally arriving at the class they’re greeted to the sight of a substitute teacher. The woman says nothing when they enter the room, and when her back is turned Sam fist pumps the air excitedly. Ellen gives him a wicked grin to match his energy. It’s their lucky day.
The rest of the class has decided to ignore the assigned seats thanks to the sub, so Sam and Ellen do the same. They sit together towards the front of the classroom and get started doing just about nothing for the rest of the lesson.
The woman has passed out some kind of work sheet, but as expected just about everyone all but outright ignores it in favour of talking to their friends.
Sam and Ellen follow suit, and he's barely stopped smiling since. Conversation just feels so natural for them all of a sudden for some reason.
“So since you have to do that on your face every day... how long does it take you anyways?” He’s returned to his habit of asking every question that pops into his head.
She’s casually leaning over the desk with her head in her hands as she mulls this over, “Hm… I usually get up early and take like an hour to get dressed and do hair and makeup. But I can do my entire makeup routine in like five minutes if I’m in a hurry,”
Sam’s mouth falls open in awe, “What!”
“Yeah, it’s like a superpower,” she says, and he can tell she’s proud of herself.
“No kidding,” he agrees.
She finds it funny how genuinely impressed Sam is over something as mundane as applying makeup when he can literally conjure a tornado with his fingertips if he wants to.
“I could do your makeup one day,” she suggests.
His eyes widen warily, “I don’t think I’m brave enough. Too many pokey things near eyes,”
“Felix might think it’s cute,” and she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.
“…Okay maybe I’ll think about it,”
They chat about a variety of things while doing their work, and an hour almost passes by in the blink of an eye. They talk about Felix briefly, and Ellen pretends to vomit when Sam starts gushing but he can tell she thinks it’s a little cute. They even help each other solve the worksheet question. Sam is hopeless at science for the most part but Ellen actually knows a surprising amount about what she’s doing.
He tries to embarrass her by asking her things about Mia, but she shuts him down pretty quickly. He successfully gets her to blush again though, and he would have teased her about it if he had an active death wish. Hey, just because they were getting along doesn’t mean she wasn’t still scary as hell sometimes.
“I just like how smart and cool she is I guess,” she mutters, “Shut up, stop looking at me like that!”
“I like that about her too! Hey! Don’t throw your eraser at me, I’m sensitive!”
After a short period of neither of them talking he holds up his worksheet to show her a drawing he’s done on the back of it.
“Look! It’s you,”
He’s quickly drawn a cartoonish version of her with lead smudged around the eyes in place of black eyeshadow and a pair of devil horns that he’s apparently taken the artistic liberty to add.
She laughs in disbelief, “You idiot, we have to hand these sheets in!”
He shrugs, “It’s on the back, the teacher won’t care,”
“No, I mean I would have kept it,” she says.
“Oh,”
For some reason that makes his stomach do a giddy little somersault and he smiles.
She resolves to take a picture of the drawing on her phone, and he tells her he’ll do a better one sometime if she likes it that much.
The teacher who’s long since given up on making the class work quietly walks around collecting the sheets shortly after. Before long they’re finally dismissed for lunch.
Sam is celebrating, but he waits for Ellen so she can walk beside him instead of rushing to the courtyard like he usually would. She walks a little slower than him thanks to their height difference, but he doesn’t mind.
When they finally find the boys Jake is having a conversation with Andy while bouncing a football against the concrete.
Felix on the other hand is lost in his own world reading his book of shadows and sipping a chocolate milk. Sam surprises him by tapping on his shoulder to get his attention. The raven's head snaps up but he’s smiling as soon as he sees the boy.
“Sam,” he greets fondly, but he pauses when he sees the girl beside him, “—and Ellen?”
He’s looking back and forth between the two of them suspiciously, clearly surprised that they’ve arrived together.
Ellen smiles. She pulls at Sam’s elbow and casually links their arms.
“Felix my love, you’ve been replaced,” she says matter of factly.
The boys face contorts in confusion, “Wh-“
“Sam is my new best friend,” she explains.
The boy in question grins as he catches onto the joke and nods in agreement, “Yep, sorry about that,” he adds.
Felix smiles cautiously “Right, well you've both definitely got some explaining to do. I’m a little confused about how I’ve been replaced so quickly,”
Ellen shrugs, smiling up at Sam who returns it easily.
The trio’s conversation is interrupted when Sam catches sight of Mia slowly making her way across the courtyard towards their group.
He rapidly elbows Ellen to get her attention, careful to not be too rough with her but excitedly nudging her all the same.
The brunette’s face falls flat as she realises what Sam is going on about, “Sam shut up, stop, stop!” she warns through gritted teeth.
“She’s coming this way!” he teases in a slightly higher pitched voice that makes her groan.
She makes an attempt to free her elbow from his grasp but he doesn’t let her escape that easily, “Stop you’re making it obvious! Let go before-“
She goes still and silent once Mia has reached their group.
The curly haired girl looks between the three of them skeptically, her eyes lingering on Sam and Ellen’s looped arms for a second too long. The boy releases the shorter girl with one last nudge to her ribs, and she resists the urge to shove him. If Mia wasn’t here she swears she’d-
“Hi Sam. Um…” she begins awkwardly in her soft way of speaking.
“Hi Mia,” he greets sweetly.
“Uh, can I borrow Ellen for a minute? Or are you guys-“
“We’re not busy!” he cuts in.
He gives the short goth a gentle but obvious push in Mia’s direction. Ellen shoots him a dangerous glare over her shoulder which she quickly schools into her calmest expression she can manage when she turns back to face the girl.
“Let’s go,”
They leave the group quickly with Ellen speed walking and Mia jogging slightly to catch up with her.
Sam and Felix watch them go with amused smiles. Even Andy and Jake look away from each other for a few seconds to watch the commotion.
“So,” Felix starts, “I’m guessing she told you about Mia?”
Sam takes a moment to look over his boyfriends appearance now that they’re somewhat alone, “Yeah, we’re besties now,”
Felix laughs shortly, “Besties, huh?”
The goth looks around them before discreetly putting his arm around Sam’s shoulders in what he hopes looks like a completely platonic display of friendship. The boy grins at the contact. Once again, he’ll take what he can get. They make the best of things when they’re in public. The fire sign is warm all over just like the flames he can conjure. It’s immediately comforting.
“Yeah, we’re the best of friends now. Too bad for you though,” Sam jokes.
Felix shakes his head in disapproval, but his smile is mirthful, “Well, I am raging with jealousy right now. Seriously though, it’s nice seeing my favourite people get along. Ellen doesn’t open up to just anyone,”
“Really?” Sam says fondly.
He sort of really wants to kiss his boyfriend right now, so he looks at the ground to avoid the risk of giving in to that particular temptation.
“Mhm,” Felix definitely isn’t looking at his lips, “Now you've just got to convince Oscar and everything’s perfect,”
The way the word ‘perfect’ sounds when Felix says it makes Sam blush for some reason.
“Wow, I’m doing pretty well so far. Good thing I’m so lovable,”
Felix hums and takes a thoughtful sip of his flavoured milk, causing their faces to be closer for a few seconds.
“You’re not wrong about that” the goth agrees, “You want the rest of this?” He offers the half-drunk milk out to his boyfriend.
“I think I’m in love with you,”
Felix laughs and reluctantly detaches from the boy, handing him the drink and watching his eyes light up with pure unfiltered joy.
“If that’s all it takes remind me to buy chocolate milk from the canteen more often,”
“I won’t complain,”
The milk is quickly emptied after that, and the pair move to take a seat near Andy and Jake who’ve settled underneath the closest jacaranda tree.
A few minutes later Sam watches Ellen make her way across the playground towards them again, her face red as a fire extinguisher and Mia nowhere to be found.
“Do I have time to run?” Sam mutters to his boyfriend who’s just spotted her as well.
Felix shrugs, “You can try. She’ll always find you though, trust me,”
Even Jake pipes up, “Yeah you’re in for it mate, nice knowing you,”
“Sam Conte!”
His hands are raised in surrender, “How’d it go, bestie?” he asks meekly.