Sara’s POV

What had we just witnessed? There was already plenty of gossip going around the school pairing those two together. Nastya had carried Fleure in a princess carry to the infirmary after all, but I never took it as more than a joke. I thought Fleure was still focused on Lise. My heart was racing and a spiral of negative thoughts was taking over my mind… I could not help but ask the question “Why Nastya?”

“Come,” Axelle said, while she guided me inside her room.

“Are you okay with this?”

I nodded. Even if I did not feel okay. Next to sad, I started to feel guilty that I did not feel happy for Fleure. I should be supportive of this kind of thing for my friend. It meant she was getting better, didn’t it?

“Then tell me what is wrong.” I looked at Axelle. She was the spitting image of Lise who I always saw as a big sister. I always told Lise all my secrets and she’d always have advice at the ready. I always thought it was a two-way street until I found out about her and Fleure, but I like to believe that she would have told me if she was still here. Lise was after all my closest friend in those days.

Her resemblance to Lise made me feel like I could trust Axelle. Maybe that was stupid of me. Basing my trust on a nostalgic feeling, especially since I knew well enough that Axelle wasn’t Lise but it was what my feelings dictated.

“I had hoped to spend more time with Fleure, but I feel I am bothering her, and after what we just witnessed, I think I am nothing but a third wheel.”

Axelle looked at me pensively before saying “The way I see it, you are her best friend. I am pretty sure she does not feel like you are bothering her.” Then she paused before saying “Maybe you feel like this because you wanted to be more than her friend?”

I felt my face grow warm. What on earth was she insinuating? I never thought of myself in that kind of situation. I looked at Axelle and imagine what it would be like to kiss a girl. My eyes started to focus on her lips. My face grew hot immediately. I think steam must have been coming out of my ears.

“I have seen the way you smile at her. It says it all. You have such a bright beautiful smile.” Axelle continued.

I mulled it over for a second in my mind before replying.

“I like Fleure, and I would love to be like her, sure... But I don’t think my feelings go further than friends. I just felt sad that my best friend was connecting to someone else more than me. If she got a girlfriend, I was pretty sure she would abandon me again soon.” For a second, I let myself pretend Axelle was Lise. The person who felt like a big sister who always used to comfort me when I felt bad. Always there with the right advice. I put my head on her lap while Axelle caressed my hair.

“There there, ” Axelle softly whispered.

This felt all so nostalgic and slowly but surely a smile started forming on my face. “Thank you. I am glad we became friends. You are pretty awesome to be around.” I nuzzled my face against her stomach to give her a hug.”

Now Axelle started blushing. “D-Dangerous.” She whispered. “Wh-What’s dangerous?” Did something happen?

Right then, there was a knock at the door and the door opened. Immediately after it, Fleure and Nastya entered the door. “We came to clear up the misunderstanding and join you for dinner.”

I looked up and Fleure and Nastya looked at us with big eyes.

“Sorry.”

They both turned around and went back out closing the door.

I started to blush heavily. What did they think was going on? This situation felt very familiar for some reason...

“It seems like we jumped to conclusions, just like they are doing now,” Axelle said a little amused. I felt she looked a bit disappointed when she spoke her next sentence: “Let’s go before this whole situation spins out of control.”

I got up from her lap to chase after Fleure and Nastya.

Fleure’s POV

We had to hurry. Who knows how fast gossip like this would spread? But Nastya took her time to close the buttons of her shirt again and to put her necktie back. She walked over to the mirror to make sure she was looking the way she wanted to look. I couldn't help but admire the dignified way in which she always carried herself. Always attentive to all the details. It was a little bit like the way she approached music. I could never do that. Even though I paid attention to the details, my first focus was always on the emotions in the whole that my music projected. It’s probably why I always looked like a chaotic mess in comparison to someone who was as much in control of herself as Nastya.

I realized we were lucky that she thought of putting her uniform straight. Just imagine the gossip that would start if she should leave my room with disheveled clothes. Realizing that Sara and Axelle just saw us in that state made my sense of urgency grow even more.

“Please stop staring like that,” Nastya said with a faint blush.

I snapped out of it. I hadn’t realized I had been staring at her while I was in thought. “Sorry,” I muttered while I quickly straightened out my own uniform. It was safe to say that the nervous way in which I did it stood in stark contrast to the way Nastya had just done it.

When I was finished and wanted to get going Nastya stopped me. She picked up my mother’s hairpin from the table and attached it carefully to my hair. “You don’t want to leave without this. You should keep your mother close.” She said while touching her chest. I knew she was touching the locker of her parents.

I looked at her and nodded gratefully.

The second we left the door of my room, I noticed Nastya’s demeanor changed into the haughty perfectionist we usually got to see. I was a bit taken aback by the transformation because I felt she created that same distance toward me too. Just when I thought I was finally starting to close that gap. At least she wasn’t avoiding me anymore. So, I guess this was a step forward, but still… I wondered why she couldn’t just always be the way she acted in those moments where it had been just the two of us.

Before going to the cafeteria, we quickly checked if Sara and Axelle were still in the dorms. As we heard voices coming from Axelle’s room, I knocked and opened the door.

I was shocked to see Sara nuzzling Axelle’s belly while Axelle was caressing her hair. Whatever it was we were witnessing, it was clear we were interrupting something, so I apologized and got back out. It seemed the proper thing to do.

When did this happen? That Axelle sure moved fast. I did not even realize that Sara was into things like romance, let alone with girls. In any case, she never talked to me about it. I saw Sara’s bright smile flash in my mind and realized I would have to have a one-on-one talk with that womanizing Casanova. I needed to make sure her intentions were honest because I would hate for Sara to lose that beautiful upright smile just because Axelle wanted to add another trophy to her collection. I felt like this needed to happen. I needed to protect Sara. That is what a good friend would do, wasn’t it?

While more confusing thoughts were flooding my mind Nastya and I made our way to the cafeteria. But even before we reached the elevator Sara and Axelle had caught up with us and Sara had made sure to make us come to a halt.

“Stop! You are misunderstanding things!” Sara shouted dramatically.

Nastya and I stopped. I could see that Nastya was bothered by the big scene that was being made in public.

Sara ran toward me and hugged me. I could see Nastya look irritated at Sara. “There is nothing going on between me and Axelle. She was just comforting me and telling me that you weren’t the kind of person that would dump me as a friend now that you and Nastya are a couple.”

All eyes in the hallway were pointed toward us. If the gossip had not taken root. Now I was 100% sure it had. I facepalmed.

“Now listen. The only reason we barged in on the two of you, was to clear the misunderstanding that Nastya and I were a couple to prevent a stupid rumor like that from spreading. But you just shouted that out for the whole school to hear and I doubt that gossip will ever stop now. Just imagine that if what you were saying were true, you would have outed us for the entire school.”

“But…”

“That’s enough Sara. Fleure is right. And if your friend says she’s not in a relationship, she isn’t. It was the exact same thing that happened to us a minute later.”

Sara thought for a second, and then got a bright smile on her face “So the two of you aren’t dating?”

“No, we aren’t, we are friends and rivals” Nastya answered.

 She called us friends. But why did she say that in such a sad tone? Nevertheless, a smile crept on my face. I felt glad that I finally made friends with her and that she had acknowledged it.  She had helped me a few times now, and I loved playing music with her. I hated the fact that every time I thought I got closer to her, it always backfired, but this time it seemed to stick, even if she had become rather silent now that we were walking together with Sara and Axelle.

I looked Nastya in the eye and said “That’s right, we’re all friends. I took her and Sara’s hand and wanted to continue our walk toward the cafeteria only to hear Axelle shout “Hey, not fair! And she took Sara’s hand too. I noticed Sara’s smile shine even brighter. Axelle gave me a defiant look. I was not certain what that was about. Then I looked at Nastya. She was a little red in the face so I worriedly asked, “Are you feeling okay?”

“I-I’m fine.”

While we were fooling around some more in the way that teenage friends do in the school hallways, we quickly arrived at the cafeteria. The room went instantly silent the second we entered. I felt like everyone was staring at us. What was it with this atmosphere?