Lillia grabbed Oka by the hand and led her away.

“Hey, what are you—?” Oka asked.

“Shut up,” Lillia said.

“I didn’t say anything!” Oka said.

“No, but you were thinking about saying it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Oka said.

“You’re a bad liar,” Lillia said. “Don’t ever play card games, your tells are so obvious.”

Lillia took Oka to a private spot farther down the beach where they wouldn’t be overheard.

“I didn’t say anything.” Oka said. “I just saw you looking at Naomi.”

“Right, and you immediately pieced together what my look meant.”

“Whaaaat?” Oka asked. “W-whatever would I be piecing together?”

“Very bad liar.”

Oka offered some resistance, but Lillia’s mighty glare shot her down.

“Fine!” Oka said. “Sorry I noticed you staring at…your crush, right?”

Lillia continued to glare.

“Well, I have a crush too if that helps!” Oka said, hoping she could at least even the playing field.

“It’s not on me, is it?” Lillia asked.

“What?”

“That was a joke.” Lillia said.

“You make those?”

“You’re one to talk about comedy,” Lillia said. “I seem to remember a joke about the main character in Tables for My Dear Love that received an elongated awkward silence from the entire class.”

“Ouch.” Oka said.

Lillia burped, letting out a fireball.

“Whoa!” Oka said. “Forgot your Cani gift was fire.”

“Fire breath,” Lillia said, pulling a container of antacids out, quickly eating two. “Made worse with stress.”

"At least it's not a stress tail...right?" Oka said.

There was an awkward silence that rivaled the time in class Oka bombed that joke about Tables for My Dear Love.

“Sorry,” Lillia said. “I might have…overreacted.”

“Might have…” Oka said. “I just saw you staring at her.”

“I just like to keep…my feelings hidden.” Lillia said. “I want to maintain a professional image. Usually, I can break a stare on a crush before anyone notices.”

“Do you have enough crushes to strategize them like that?” Oka asked.

“Yes.” Lillia said.

“I’m sorry I caught you.” Oka said.

“You said you had a crush.” Lillia said. It came out more as a threat, and Oka felt her heartrate start to spike. She hadn’t spoken to anyone about any crush she’d ever had, ever, and she was pretty sure she’d only had one crush.

“I have a crush on…” Oka started. “Laenie.”

“Lying,” Lillia said. “Horrible tells, etcetera etcetera.”

“Fine,” Oka said, silently cursing Lillia’s power. “I have a ginormous crush on Zeta. There. Happy?”

“Not really.” Lillia said.

“Made your stomach drop a bit though when I said Laenie though, right?”

“Not even a little.” Lillia said. “You might need to have acting lessons if you’re going to actually be in a play.”

“Maybe, yeah,” Oka said. “You are a tough critic, though.”

Oka kicked at the sand. She thought about just leaving right there, but Lillia looked like she had more to say. And given how she’s been the last few minutes, I’m pretty sure Lillia doesn’t get many chances to open up like this.

“Is that why you joined the theater?” Oka asked. “Because of Naomi?”

“No, I joined because I love acting.” Lillia said.

“Also, Naomi, seriously?” Oka asked. “She’s stuck up, pushy, demanding, scary…oh wow, she’s perfect for you.”

“Shut up,” Lillia said. “And...don’t tell the others, please.”

“Obviously. If I breached your trust, you would, and be completely justified in, marching straight up to Zeta and saying ‘did you know Oka’s obsessed with you to the point that she’s written ‘Zeta Ohri’ and ‘Oka Faleur’ on enough pages to fill a whole notebook, watches you sleep sometimes, and writes deep, gushy letters to you that she immediately destroys? Because she does.’ And again, you’d be completely justified!”

“That’s more devious than I was thinking, but that’s my plan now.” Lillia said. “Also, how many notebooks do you go through then?”

“A lot!” Oka said. “So neither of us tell anyone about our crushes?”

“Deal.”

“And then…maybe we can talk to each other about them?” Oka asked.

“Explain.” Lillia said.

“Well, if I talk to anyone else in our friend circle about the crush, it’s getting back to Zeta quick, and I’m…not ready for that. And you…”

Oka squinted as Lillia lifted her nose to look down on Oka more. “And I what?”

“You could probably use an outlet to talk about this stuff with.” Oka said.

Lillia sighed. “That is true.”

“And we have theater together so like, we’ll be away from everyone!” Oka said. “Well, everyone except your crush.”

“We’ll figure something out.” Lillia said, extending her hand. “Shake on it.”

Oka obeyed immediately, too afraid to even humor the idea of delaying the handshake.

“Then I will see you in class and at practice,” Lillia said, somehow turning gracefully in the sand as she took off. This time she continued on towards the dorms without stopping to stare at Naomi. When she was out of sight, Oka sat down and hugged her knees. It hit her in that moment that she just told someone out loud about her incredibly massive, thought encompassing crush on Zeta Faleur.