Work Text:
Mei’s mom stayed at the door for one second longer than needed, eyeing the window, before slowly backing off and closing it. The girls started to relax when the door suddenly opened again, Ming’s suspicious face sliding into view one final time before she truly left.
“Dude, your mom’s never gonna let it go, is she?” Miriam asked, chuckling as she took a bite of the dumplings Mei’s mom had delivered to them.
“I don’t think so. It took quite a bit of convincing just to get her to let me close the door,” Mei sighed. Her mom was scared they’d run off together like they’d done last year to go to the party of an older boy. Nothing had happened other than the girls having fun, but Ming had been on Mei’s case for at least two months after the incident, and even nowadays she didn’t trust it when Mei’s friends came over for sleepovers.
Mei should consider herself lucky she could even have sleepovers anymore, really.
The night was a cool one, with early-fall temperatures that promised to get lower and lower as winter approached.
“I don’t care how much your mom mistrust us as long as I can keep eating these. They’re SO GOOD!” Abby suddenly shouted, shoving two of them into her mouth and munching loudly.
“Yeah, I never get tired of your dad’s cooking,” Priya nodded. She ate hers slowly.
“Hey, enough about my parents,” Mei interrupted. “We’re here today because it’s been like two months since our last sleepover but an emergency forced us all to come together. And by that, of course, I mean…” with a mischievous smile, Mei reached under her bed. More precisely, into a secret pocket she’d installed right under her matress, out of sight of her prying mother’s eyes. “The latest edition of Out Of Season Magazine!” she exclaimed, lifting the magazine above her head like if it was some kind of legendary treasure.
Out Of Season Magazine was entirely dedicated to pics of outfits that were already out of season. The important part, however, was that the first edition of Fall was themed around summer. That meant swimsuits, obviously.
And more importantly, half of the edition was dedicated to 4-Town. It was scandalous, and Mei’s mother would burn the magazine and probably the shop she’d bought it at if she ever found out she’d gotten it.
Her friends all stopped eating, looking at the thin book with sparkling eyes. A small piece of food fell out of Abby’s mouth as her jaw dropped. “I-It’s real…” Miriam whispered. “I went to every shop I could but they’d run out already. How…?”
Mei allowed a smile of satisfaction to settle on her face as she lowered the treasure, carefully putting it in the middle of the group and moving the tray of food aside. “You see, the guy at the bookshop is a huge fan of the red panda. A week before the magazine came in I went there and promised to give him a ride if he made sure to save one for me.”
The comment brought smiles out of Abby and Priya. “You’re evil. I love it!” Abby nodded, her eyes still nailed to the magazine.
“I wish I had magical powers to bribe people with,” Priya said.
Miriam, however, didn’t seem so amused. “Wait, you promised a guy a ride? You sure that’s ok?”
“Miriam, please, I’m fifteen now,” Mei shrugged and snorted. “What could happen? The panda’s twice his size and probably ten times as strong. Not like he could harm me.”
While she didn’t seem convinced, Miriam’s expression turned into one of acceptance. “I guess you have a point. Don’t let him take advantage of you though, alright?”
“Yeah yeah,” Mei made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “Now are we going to look at some half naked boys or what?”
“Let’s do it!” Abby nearly ripped apart the magazine as she opened it with the energy of a feral raccoon.
“Too bad Tyler couldn’t come. Wonder if he’d even be interested in this, though…” Priya said as they opened the magazine.
It was almost blindingly beautiful. As the pages of the members of the band in various types of swimsuits got turned, a great assortment of amused and excited noises escaped the voices of the girls. Mei was no exception, though if she was being honest, she’d expected it to be a little more… stimulating. The five members of the band were the most beautiful boys she had ever laid her eyes on, and she was still totally head-over-heels for Robaire, but…
As the excitement of the magazine slowly started to die down, they reached the end of the 4-Town segment and a few pages with advertisements began.
“That was great!” Abby exclaimed.
“Yeah…” Priya said. Despite what many thought, she didn’t speak in a monotone. She spoke in a wide array of monotones. And this one wasn’t her excited one.
“Eh,” Miriam shrugged, scratching the back of her neck. “I mean, it was fine, but…”
Mei nodded slowly. As the novelty faded, she started to realize it hadn’t been that great. “It wasn’t… quite what I expected?” She said, trying to still think positively.
“What are you girls on about? That was the best thing I have ever witnessed!” Abby complained.
The other three stayed silent for a moment.
Mei wasn’t entirely sure of what was it. She was still a huge fan of the band, obviously, but something about the magazine just didn’t quite ignite the spark she’d been waiting for.
“I think it’s just that I have a crush on someone else now,” Priya broke the silence.
Mei froze.
Miriam slowly turned her head to her.
“WHAT?!” Abby shouted from the top of her lungs. “WHO?! No, wait, don’t tell me. Hmm…” She started tapping her temple, thinking hard.
“I think I know,” Miriam said, leaning back against Mei’s bed with a serious face. “But I won’t tell if Priya doesn’t want me to.”
Mei looked at Priya. Her impassive face had turned somewhat nervous, and she was slowly drumming on the floor with her fingers. “If I tell you, promise me you won’t laugh or think it’s weird.”
“We’d never do that,” Mei said, turning her entire body to face her and putting her most serious face. Abby did the same.
Priya took a deep breath. “It’s Jess.”
Mei blinked. Her brain went to Jesse from 4-Town first, but that was not what Priya had said. Realization slowly dawned on her. Next to her, Miriam nodded, clearly having predicted it. Abby’s mouth slowly opened more and more, and Mei wondered if her jaw could truly hit the floor.
“I knew it!” Abby said. “You’re always talking with her when you can and like exchanging goth tips and talking about vampires. And she’s very cool!”
Mei got past her surprise as a smile slowly grew on her face. “I always felt there was something between you,” she said.
“Yeah, I actually half-thought you were already dating,” Miriam added.
Priya stayed silent for a moment before smiling. “Wow. I didn’t expect you all to be so open-minded. I feel kinda guilty for not telling you all earlier.”
“Hey, it’s ok, it’s kinda hard to speak about… that, you know,” Mei reached over and patted her hand. “But you know we always got you, right? And hey, I’m sure she likes you back! You should try to ask her out.”
“Yeah, totally! And if she tries to deny it at first I’LL BEAT THE TRUTH OUT OF HER!” Abby offered. Last year she’d gone through a bit of a growth spurt, and she’d gotten somewhat leaner and a lot stronger. She was kinda scary when she got this hyper.
“Girls, girls, don’t push her,” Miriam forced them to back off. “Priya, have you tested the grounds yet?”
“Yeah,” Priya nodded. “I actually asked her what she thought of same-sex couples last week. She said she had no problems with them and she smiled at me. I think she may have been hinting at something,” she explained.
Miriam smiled. “Ok then it’s another matter, you should totally ask her out!”
“YEAH!” Abby added.
“Totally,” Mei nodded.
“Ok, ok, I’ll… try,” Priya sighed, leaning on her arms. “But enough about me. What about you two?” She pointed at Mei and Miriam.
Miriam nearly jumped in place. “W-what do you mean, us two?! There’s nothing about us!” she said, pressing herself against Mei’s bed so hard she may have broken it, as if trying to run away. Mei cocked her head at the weird reaction.
Priya blinked slowly. “I mean your reasons for not being excited.”
Miriam visibly relaxed. “Oh, that, yeah…” she chuckled nervously, turning to look at Mei with strange eyes.
Mei stared at her for a moment, and felt… something strange. A tug at her chest.
“Tell us!” Abby interrupted the moment, jumping in place. She’d taken the magazine at some point. Mei didn’t care too much, she could keep it if she wanted.
Mei thought of an answer, but she ended up shrugging. “Not sure, really. Maybe I’m just not that into them. I still love their music though,” she offered.
Miriam nodded slowly. “Y-yeah, totally. Same here!”
Priya lifted an eyebrow at her. “Hmm. Yeah, I’m sure,” she said with obvious sarcasm.
Even Abby had narrowed her eyes at her. Mei was confused at the reactions.
There was no time for further interrogation, though. The door suddenly opened with Ming bringing cups of tea. In the half a second it took for the door to fully open, Abby managed to shove the magazine down her pants. “Want some refreshers, girls?”
“Sure mom,” Mei hurried to take the tray. “ok thanks bye,” she said, backing off and forcing the door closed.
That had been close. However, with the mood broken, Mei decided to take out her PS2. Her parents had agreed to buy it for her after much insistence.
They played Kingdom Hearts for a while before dinner. It was fun.
All through the session, though, Mei kept feeling like something had been left to be said back there. What, though?
Miriam came back from the bathroom and carefully stepped around Abby and Priya before laying down on her own sleeping place, ready to go back to sleep. She let out a long sigh and stared at Mei’s bed for a moment. Her red hair shone under the moonlight streaming through the window. She was so beautiful…
“Hey,” she heard Priya whisper.
After a small heart attack, Miriam turned. “Ah, sorry if I woke you,” she whispered back.
“Your crush is Mei, isn’t it?” Priya asked.
The entire world seemed to stand still for a few moments. The rush of emotion the question brought to Miriam made her dizzy. “Whaaat?” She asked with a snort, still in a whisper. “Girl, I think you’re still dreaming.”
“I think even Abby noticed,” Priya said matter-o-factly. “Come on. I won’t tell her. I just wanna make sure.”
Miriam stayed in absolute silence for a long while. Priya’s eyes were impassive, nailed on to her like a pair of daggers. She could’ve tried lying, but it would’ve been a futile effort. “Ugh… was it that obvious?” She gave in, covering her face with her hands.
“Yes. I’d be surprised if she didn’t figure it out. Well, she is pretty dense.”
Miriam groaned. Of all the ways to come out, it had been accidentally. It wasn’t like she wanted to keep it a secret, she was just… scared. Scared of how it could affect their friendship and their group. What if Mei didn’t accept her? It was one thing to just have a friend who was attracted to girls. It was another to have that friend be into you specifically. “Please keep it a secret. She’s… she’s not like us. I don’t think so, anyways,” she begged.
“What do you mean?” Priya raised an eyebrow.
“She swoons over boys all the time, and she’s never even shown a hint of liking girls… or me,” Miriam explained with a defeated voice. She’d looked for signs, any signs, that Mei was into girls. She’d never found them “I’ve come to terms with my one-sided crush. No need to bother Mei with it.”
“Hmm. I won’t tell if you want, but you should do it. How long have you liked her, anyways?” Priya asked. She sounded amused.
“Since forever,” Miriam admitted. “I can’t even remember when I fell for her. It just… happened,” she sighed. The day she’d realized it had been wild, but she’d managed to come to terms with it rather quickly. “Ugh. If she ever found out, she’d probably feel betrayed. We’ve hugged and kissed jokingly so many times. She’d think I’ve been taking advantage of her…”
“She wouldn’t think that, idiot. Have some trust in her,” Priya chastised her. She had a point, but the fear was still there. “Still, you should tell her precisely because of that. Even if she doesn’t like you back you’ll still be friends.”
“I don’t think it’d be that simple…” Miriam sighed again. It was easy for her to say that. But this was a stupid discussion. They’d wake up the other two if they kept talking. “Alright, listen, it’s like three AM,” she said. “We can keep talking about this some other time.”
“Fine,” Priya agreed. “But you better tell her, got it?”
“Yeah, yeah…” Miriam’s voice trailed off. A few moments later she pretended to have fallen asleep. She really didn’t want to have this conversation right now.
“Alright, bye girls, sorry I have to leave so early,” Miriam waved goodbye from the door. Her father had come to pick her up early for some family activity.
“See ya,” Mei waved, keeping her awkwardness hidden
“HAVE FUN!” Abby yelled.
“Bye,” Priya waved too.
Mei kept waving until the car was out of sight.
As soon as that happened, all of her worries and bottled emotions finally broke, and the panda came out in a burst. Priya and Abby jumped back, coughing a bit at the pink smoke. Before they could say anything, though, Mei reached for Priya and pulled her close. “I heard everything last night.”
Priya’s face was impassive, as always. Until she realized what Mei meant, at which point her eyes widened. “Wait. You don’t mean…?”
“YES! OH MY GOSH I CAN’T BELIEVE WHAT I HEARD!”
“Oh?” Abby scooted closer with a curious look. “What’s this all about?”
“I… don’t know if I should tell,” Priya said. Abby gave her a murderous stare for about two seconds before she changed her mind. “Ok, I’ll tell you, but if you tell Miriam I told you I will kill you.”
“Let’s do this in my room,” Mei said, taking both of her friends and rushing in.
Mei started talking as soon as she dropped her friends. “ImsorryforeavesdroppingitwasanaaccidentbutnowIknowthatMiriamlikesmeOHMYGODOHMYGODWHATSHOULDIDOOHMYGODOH-”
Priya slapped Mei to cut off her freak-out. Mei managed to stop, though she’d barely felt the slap through the fur. “Relax, girl, I didn’t understand a single thing you said.
“I understood everything,” Abby whispered, eyes wide. “Are you serious?”
Mei gulped, nodding slowly. She tried to return to her human form, but her emotions were so out of control she simply couldn’t. Last night had been wild for her half-sleep self. It was a wonder she hadn’t turned Panda in the middle of Miriam’s and Priya’s conversation.
“Oh. My. GOD!” Abby jumped. “I KNEW IT! I’ve known for a while I COULD FEEL IT IN MY BONES! I mean Miriam being gay, not liking you specifically. Now that’s a surprise,” she explained. She was apparently vibrating with pure excitement. “We need to-”
Priya reached to the side, putting a hand over Abby’s mouth to shut her up. “Calm. Down. We don’t need to do anything. Mei, you said you heard us last night?”
“Yes. I’m sorry!” Mei said, feeling like crying. “I woke up when Miriam came back but when I was gonna announce I was awake you suddenly asked if she liked me and it was so awkward! Oh my god, I didn’t want to find out this way! What should I do now?” She asked. Her head was spinning since she’d heard this all and it wouldn’t stop. Why had it happened this way? Sweet ancestors.
Her friends exchanged a look. Priya slowly released Abby’s mouth. “Alright, step one: Do you like her back?”
“I don’t know! I’ve… never even considered it,” Mei said, fidgeting with her fingers and looking down.
“Well think, girl! Would you like to kiss her? Hold hands? Fuck?” Abby asked.
Mei would’ve been blushing if she was in her human body. As it was, she wondered if her fur could turn redder than now. “Don’t be so… crass!” Mei said, hating how much she sounded like her mother. She covered her face with her paws. “I don’t knooow,” she cried. “We’ve kissed and held hands before, so it’s not like I’d dislike it! But… I don’t even know what dating’s like! What would we even do? We already do pretty much everything together!”
“She has a point there,” Abby conceded.
“And you’ve always been a little closer than us two,” Priya added. “It’s no wonder she likes you, really.”
“Then what do I do?! I… I don’t know how I’m even gonna face her knowing this. It was hard enough keeping it in all morning. She probably noticed I was acting weird.”
“Yeah…” Priya nodded.
“What if you just go and kiss her? But like, French kissing! That’s bound to make you realize whether you like her or not!” Abby suggested.
“And if I don’t then what?”
“Then you apologize!” Abby said. “Or you beat her with a bat until she loses her memories!”
Mei blinked. She was half-sure that’d been a joke… Well, perhaps more like one-quarter sure.
“Wait, Abby, we’re jumping ahead. Ok, let’s try this one-hundred-percent-guaranteed-to-succeed method for knowing if you like someone,” Priya stared Mei right in the eyes for a few seconds. It was kinda scary.
“What… is it?”
“Close your eyes,” Priya ordered. Mei did as told. “You’re all alone in the night. But wait! You hear something, from behind, approaching you. Who is it?”
Mei tried to picture the scene, trying to figure where she was going with this. Was it supposed to be scary? “I hear… a skateboard. I turn around. Miriam’s there, asking me to wait for her.”
“She gets closer and hops off her skateboard. She throws an arm over your shoulders and-”
“AND THEN SHE FRENCH KISSES YOU!” Abby suddenly interrupted, jumping on Mei while making loud kissing sounds. “‘Oh Meimei I love you please go out with me,’” she imitated Miriam’s voice.
Priya sighed. “Yeah, ok, let’s go with that.”
Despite it being so sudden, Mei tried to picture it. Miriam suddenly kissing her. Her face getting closer, the tug of her arm as she pulled on her. She knew how her lips felt, but how different could it be to truly kiss with intent? Would her braces be noticeable if they did that? She smelled so nice. Her hair was really soft, too, and she was so pretty…
Was that thumping her own heart?
When Mei opened her eyes again, she’d gone back to her human self. Her heart was still pounding with energy, but it was no longer nervousness or uncertainty. “You look more relaxed,” Priya said.
“I feel more relaxed. I think your idea worked,” Mei nodded.
“I’m surprised it did,” Priya turned to Abby.
Abby just looked smug. “What can I say? A girl needs some true action to know what she truly wants, you get my meaning?” she waved her eyebrows suggestively.
“Anyways, tell us. You like her? Please say yes,” Priya said.
“I WILL BEAT YOU IF YOU SAY NO!” Abby threatened.
Mei shrugged and gave them an awkward smile. “I… think so? I don’t dislike her, at least,” she explained. “I think… I think if I could have a proper chat with Miriam I’d be able to figure it out.”
Both of her friends exchanged a look and smiled mischievously.
Mei didn’t like where this was going.
When I said I wanted to have a proper chat, Mei thought, nervously fidgeting with her tail, I figured I’d get to do it in private.
She was currently sitting alone on the steps to the main shrine of the temple, trying her hardest not to hyperventilate as she patiently waited for Miriam. It was the middle of the night, so she wasn’t even sure if Miriam would show up. Plus, they had school tomorrow. Ancestors, what was she thinking?! She couldn’t waste her time like this! She had to-
The sound of a skateboard outside cut her thoughts short. She turned completely panda for a second, but she took a few breaths and managed to relax enough to go back to only having her ears and tail.
Miriam knocked on the door of the temple a few times, subtly. “Go get’er, tiger,” Abby whispered from around the corner.
“I would’ve said panda, but yeah,” Priya added.
I should’ve kicked them out, Mei thought, putting on her best smile and walking over to the door, opening it enough for Miriam to come in and then closing it again.
She looked worried. “Mei, are you ok? The message sounded serious.”
“Did it?” Mei asked. Of course it did. You sent ‘we need to talk, can you come over?’. It sounds as if you wanted to break up. But you’re not even dating her…
“Yes it did. Is everything alright? What was it that you needed to see me right now?”
Miriam touched Mei’s shoulders and turned her around as if to check for injuries. Mei’s face started to burn at the touch, the sudden self-consciousness of how touchy-feely they were with each other making one of her arms turn panda suddenly.
She forced it to disappear before stepping back and giving Miriam a wide—and fake—smile. “Relax, Mirianator! Everything’s fiiine,” she said with a dismissive gesture. Mirianator? What the flying fuck? What’s wrong with you? Where’d THAT come from?
“You sure? You seem… weird…” Miriam gave her a narrowed-eyes suspicious look. “Why did you message me if nothing’s wrong?”
Mei took a deep breath, walking over to the center of the temple’s patio. From behind the main shrine, her other two friends gave her two thumbs up. They were just out of view of Miriam. “Come here,” Mei said, turning and gesturing Miriam to get closer.
She did so, though she still looked suspicious. Ok, here goes nothing.
“Miriam, I… I’m sorry,” Mei started, bowing her head.
“For what?” She really sounded worried now.
Mei’s face was burning up. Her heart started beating faster, and her hands started sweating. The night was cool, but not cold. The sky was clear. And all of these were meaningless thoughts to avoid saying what she needed to. “I heard you.”
“You heard… what?” Miriam’s voice dropped in volume, becoming confused.
Mei rose her head. Miriam had such pretty eyes. They sparkled under the moonlight. Having her this close, Mei really started to realize just how meaningful this whole thing was. Her best friend liked her. “That you… Eh, the other night I… overheard and…”
Miriam’s face slowly turned from confused to dreadful realization. Mei could almost see her brain figuring it out as her expression kept changing. “Wait, you mean on the night of the sleepover? When I was… talking with Priya?” She asked it with such fear in her voice that Mei cringed. The redhead still nodded weakly as an answer. “Oh,” Miriam’s voice turned completely monotonous and her expression became a perfect poker face.
“I didn’t want to overhear, I promise! I woke up and I was about to announce myself but then Priya asked that and it was awkward and-”
“It’s ok!” Miriam suddenly smiled like she always did. “No worries. Hey, just forget you heard anything, it’s not a big deal. You know, sometimes we say stupid things late in the night and all that,” she laughed.
Mei paused. “What…?”
“Yeah, you know. Anyways,” Miriam turned around, taking her skateboard and walking to the temple’s door, “it’s pretty late and we’ve got school tomorrow, and we all know how you hate being tired for math ha ha. Don’t worry about anything, I’ll just see you tomorrow,” she spoke faster than she normally would and, without giving Mei a chance to do anything, she left the temple and closed the door behind her. A second later Mei could hear her skate going away.
She was left there more confused than she’d ever been. What was that feeling in her chest? She felt… sadder than sad. Was this heartbreak? Why did she feel like crying?
“The hell are you doing?!” Abby suddenly came out from behind the temple. “Go after her you idiot!”
Mei turned to her friends. “But she just said I should forget it-”
“Uh, she is obviously deflecting, stupid. You made it sound so serious that she probably thinks you were going to reject her,” Priya explained.
“You think so?”
“We know so!” Abby claimed.
“Sht, mom’s gonna hear you,” Mei chastised.
“I DON’T GIVE A CRAP! GO AFTER HER RIGHT NOW, SHE’S GETTING AWAY!” Abby shouted even louder.
“What? But-”
Mei’s objection was interrupted by Priya walking up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Mei. I swear in the name of all the members of 4-Town that if you don’t go after her right now we will never talk with you again,” she threatened.
“AGREED!”
Mei didn’t need to be told twice to understand how serious that was.
And they were right. If Miriam really had misunderstood, then she needed to clear things up right now.
“Got it,” she said, nodding. She turned around and jumped in the air, releasing the panda and running in the direction of Miriam’s house.
Miriam couldn’t focus. Her mind was nothing but static, her thoughts sounding like white noise. She couldn’t have a breakdown in the middle of the street. Her sole focus should be getting home.
Nothing more.
Nothing else.
Mei knows.
The thought assaulted her like a truck. She stumbled on her board, having to stop and run a few steps to regain her balance. She started breathing heavily. Not here. Relax. It’ll be ok.
No matter how much she tried to convince herself it’d be fine, her entire body reacted like it wanted. And it wanted to freak out. Her legs were wobbly, her hands felt weak, her chest and face burned. Mei had looked so awkward back there. She was probably going to tell Miriam something like ‘sorry, but I don’t feel the same way’. Miriam didn’t need to hear it, she already knew. She… She had no chance.
There was no way in hell Mei would ever like her.
One of her breaths caught in her throat. She sniffled, holding back a sob. Not yet. She could cry once she was home. She wiped the tears that escaped her eyes and steeled herself, ready to hop back on her board and keep going on her way.
“Miriam!” the voice, followed by the heavy steps, told Miriam that Mei had given chase.
She didn’t even turn, instead instantly taking off. Luckily for her this street went down, so she started gaining speed on the board. A reckless speed, in fact. Why did she come? I don’t wanna deal with this right now, she thought.
Despite her efforts, though, Mei was a literal giant panda that was as nimble as a small one and she could also double jump. The steps kept getting closer, and a moment later, Miriam heard the familiar sound of Mei transforming a couple times. Her shadow passed overhead before she fell back in panda form in front of Miriam, forcing the brunette to crash into her.
Of course, with how fluffy she was, Miriam barely felt it, even though she crashed face-first into her. If the impact hurt the panda, though, she didn’t let it know.
“Why didn’t you wait for me?” Mei asked in a low voice, reaching down to hug Miriam. “Are you ok?”
Miriam hummed in acknowledgement of the question, annoyed by how much she was enjoying this stupid hug. She felt like crying. Mei smelled really nice even as a panda since she’d started bathing in that form once a week.
“Miriam?” Mei asked.
Miriam didn’t want to leave the comfort of Mei’s tummy, but she stepped back and looked up at the panda’s worried gaze. “… why did you come after me?” she asked with a low voice.
“Why did you run?” Mei asked in return. After a few seconds, she turned back to normal.
She reached forward and grabbed one of Miriam’s hands, as if to stop her from getting away.
“I didn’t want you to…” she sighed, looking down. “I didn’t want to get rejected.”
Mei stepped closer, apparently about to say something, when the horn of a car scared the shit out of them. They both ran off the street and panted for a second before looking at each other.
A weak laugh came from both their mouths for a few moments before it faded and the tension from before returned. “Mir,” Mei took Miriam’s hand again. “Why did you think I was going to reject you?”
Miriam cocked her head, confused. “It's just, you sounded so serious, and you looked sad and…”
“I didn’t look sad! I looked apologetic!” Mei argued. “I feel really bad to have found out you liked me that way.”
“Eh, shit happens,” Miriam shrugged, absurdly self-conscious about the held hands. “I’m sorry I couldn’t confess properly… assuming I ever did.”
“Well, I’m glad I found out that way, then,” Mei looked at her with determination.
Miriam frowned. “What do you mean?”
Mei opened her mouth, but stopped. Her face slowly started to get red, and her free hand got fidgety. “I…” the words got caught up in her throat for a moment before she seemingly forced them out. “I wasn’t going to reject you!”
Miriam’s brain short-circuited. “Huh?”
“I admit I could’ve been more clear in my intents, but you should’ve let me finish!” Mei said, looking annoyed. “Will you please come back to the temple?”
“Uh… sure…”
What was even going on anymore?
Mei and Miriam stepped into the temple grounds with their hands still tangled. Mei’s face had been burning for a while. They’d walked several streets hand in hand—which wasn’t actually new, but it felt different this time.
“Alright, before we move on,” Mei said, pointing towards the shrine. “You two, please leave us alone, will you?”
Miriam frowned in confusion. Mei smiled apologetically as their other two besties stepped out of the corner and waved awkwardly. “Hey,” Priya said.
“You were here the whole time?” Miriam asked.
“We wanted to see you make out!” Abby admitted.
“Dude, that’s… very much like you actually,” Miriam said. “Still fucked up tho.”
“Sorry, we just really wanted to know how things turned out. Also if we weren’t here this idiot wouldn’t have gone after you so you should be thanking us,” Priya said, pointing a thumb at Mei.
Mei chuckled nervously. “She’s right. We’re both kinda screw-ups.”
“Hmm, I suppose I can forgive you,” Miriam said with a faked harsh tone. “Now seriously, we should have a serious private talk,” she added.
“Alright, alright. But you’re telling me every last detail of it first thing tomorrow!” Abby said, pointing with her fingers at the two of them as she ran off the temple.
“If you ever need a private place, I can teach you how to break into the school at night,” Priya said with a slow wink as she followed Abby.
Mei’s face, already hot, started to burn at the idea.
Then, silence.
After a few moments, Miriam cleared her throat, turning slowly to Mei. “So, uhm… you… you said you weren’t going to reject me?” She asked with an awkward and confused tone. But her face showed something more. A bit of hope.
Mei stared into her eyes and nodded, taking her other hand and pulling her close. “I should’ve made it much clearer. Miriam, you’re an amazing person. You’re cool and smart and beautiful and funny and- Hell, I’d be here all night if I had to list everything I like about you. Because… well, I like you. And I mean like like, not friendship like.”
Miriam nodded, her awkward expression slowly turning into a smile. “You mean it?”
“Yes! I wasn’t sure earlier today, but seeing you try to run away crushed me. It actually made me realize how serious my feelings are,” Mei explained, squeezing Miriam’s hands. “I don’t want you to run away. I want you to… to stay here. And I want to hear how you feel. Correctly, this time.”
Miriam licked her lips, then bit them thoughtfully for a moment. “You know, I always imagined I’d be confessing to you by singing ‘Nobody Like U’. But I guess that’s sort of ruined right now. Still, the feelings on the song are true. I love Abby and Priya, don’t get me wrong, but… See, what you do to me is… different,” she let go of her awkwardness, leaning forward a bit. Mei had to look up to meet her eyes. “I’ve loved you for as long as I’ve known you, and I don’t even know when that became romantic. I know it’s… weird, because we’re both girls. But I also know this is serious.”
“It’s not weird,” Mei whispered, interrupting.
“I’m glad you think so,” Miriam grinned. “Because I really like you, Mei. More than everyone else. More than I’ve ever liked anyone.”
Mei couldn’t help the dumb grin that started growing on her too. “That was so clichéd. I loved it,” she said with a smile. A moment of silence gave the two of them pause, and Mei realized that they were forgetting what the next step should be. With a stuttering voice, she asked, “S-should we… k-kiss? Only if you want, of course.”
“I’d love to! I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long! And I mean like a serious kiss, not the silly pecks we’ve been giving each other for fun,” she explained.
Mei nodded. Her heart, already racing, started to threaten to get out of her chest at the idea. “I… Don’t know how we should do it…”
“Well, we just… kiss… like always, but…” Miriam looked as hesitant as Mei felt. After an extra second of waiting, the two of them laughed together. “We’re stupid, aren’t we?”
“I think so,” Mei nodded. “Oh, I know! On the count of three, we close our eyes and just do it! No thinking!”
“I’m game,” Miriam agreed.
“Alright. One… Two…” Mei closed her eyes and readied her heart. “Three!” she shouted, and lunged forward.
Her nose hit Miriam’s, and the two of them bounced back from each other with an ‘ouch’ in unison. Letting go of one of Miriam’s hands to rub her nose, she cracked one eye open to see the brunette had done the same. They met eyes and started laughing again.
“We’re so lame,” Miriam said in between breaths. “Thank lord Abby and Priya left.”
“Imagine if Tyler had been here, he’d never let us forget this,” Mei added, wiping a tear from her eye.
When their laughter died down, they met eyes again. “Ok, just let me do it, I’ve been wanting it the longest.”
Mei chuckled. “Sounds fair,” she conceded. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned towards Miriam. Almost instinctively, she reached around the taller girl’s neck with her arms, and Miriam reached down to grab her by the waist.
“We almost look like a couple,” Miriam said.
“Aren’t we?” Mei asked.
Miriam’s smile widened. “I guess we are,” she said. Still smiling, she leaned forward, and Mei let her.
Their lips met.
And it was totally different from every other time they’d done it. Mei had never truly realized just how soft Miriam’s lips were, or how warm they could get. She pulled down on her, pressing their lips harder. The kiss tasted like… toothpaste. Had Miriam brushed her teeth just before coming to meet her? How thoughtful of her.
This thought made Mei smile into the kiss too. And once again, a few moments later, the two of them had to break it to laugh. “Sorry, sorry,” Miriam said. “I’m just so… so happy! I can’t help it.”
“I understand. I’m giddy too,” Mei pulled down on her head. “But please, let’s keep going. This is so nice…”
Miriam, still chuckling, went a little to the side this time, kissing Mei’s cheek. “I… I really want to keep going,” she said, “but tomorrow we do have school.”
“I’m not gonna sleep anyways, so I don’t see the harm in this,” Mei said, pouting. She never figured Miriam would be the responsible one.
Miriam hesitated for a moment. “I… also think we should stop for… other reasons…” she looked away, biting her lip. “Because if we keep going I’m… not sure if I’d be able to contain myself… you know…”
Realization dawned on Mei. A hard blush covered her entire body as she slowly nodded. “Oh, yeah, I get it now. Uhm…” she decided to lean forward and peck Miriam before stepping back. “Alright, that’ll do it for tonight. Want me to take you home?”
“And make you work out in the middle of the night?” Miriam laughed. “No, don’t worry, I’ll just skate back. So… I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Obviously.”
Miriam stood still, looking at Mei. “So, Mei, does this mean we’re… g-girlfriends?”
Mei felt more embarrassed by the word than she expected, but she nodded slowly. “Y-yeah, I guess.”
“C-can I call you pet names?”
“Like what?”
“Like, uhm… sweetie, or babe, or…”
The mere idea made Mei hide behind her hands. Which, she now noticed, had turned to paws at some point. Well, that explained how hard she was tugging on Miriam. “I’d love that,” she admitted with a strained voice.
Miriam laughed. “Alright, then I’ll see you tomorrow, babe.”
Mei squealed a bit. “S-sure. See you tomorrow, cutie.”
Miriam stumbled over her skate as she tried to get on it at the term. Grinning like an idiot, she waved before leaving the temple.
A few seconds later, Mei dropped on her butt—using her tail to cushion the blow.
She really needed a pillow to scream into for the rest of the night.