Leighton Foster rolled her eyes in annoyance as a sigh slipped her lips and just returned her eyes to her notebook. She again just busied herself with her flowers, praying for the G-ds to let this day end already. It has been just 10 minutes since the teacher entered their room. After introducing the transferee, she talked about her classroom rules, grading system, and what are the topics that they will tackle during the whole school year. She especially mentioned how much she hates late students, but Leighton was sure that the teacher would soon defy her own rules as well. After that, the teacher said that she would let them have some free time as she conversed with the students in the first row.
Leighton is the only one who wasn't happy with it. It's not like she was some geek that only knew to study. She just hates wasting time. When she reached the point of just doodling random things in her notebook, it would be a sign that her time was getting wasted, and that's what she hates the most.
"You must have really loved flowers." Leighton heard the person sitting on her left side say. Knowing that it was the transferee and not her annoying best friend, she looked back at her and asked, "What?"
Leighton arched her brow in confusion as her hand paused for a moment.
Harper suddenly gets embarrassed for a brief moment as she looks down at the drawing for a moment, scratching her cheek.
"Oh, it's just that I noticed that you've been doodling on your notebook since I sat here or maybe even before I sat here. So I kinda assumed that. And also, your notebook just confirmed that."
Leighton's gaze lowered to her notebook and saw that her notebook was really filled with flowers and some of them were already overlapping over each other. She had made a complete mess in her notebook and the only one who could be blamed because of that was her boredom.
Leighton was embarrassed to be caught doing that habit of hers. She will soon turn 18 already and yet she was still doodling on the back of her notebook like a primary student.
"I-It's not really like that. I'm just- I'm just really bored." Foster explained, shrugging her shoulders.
Harper leaned her face a little bit by resting her elbow on her armrest then her chin at her palm, staring at Foster's hazel brown eyes intently.
Leighton pushed the loose strand of her long wavy dark brown hair behind her ear as she started lightly tapping her ballpen on her open palm.
"To this. To everything. Specifically to what was happening on this first day of school."
Harper Peterson just nodded her head, convincing Leigh to say whatever she wanted to say.
"This was a waste of time. This was school and aren't we supposed to be learning instead of just catching up with friends or the teacher." Leighton just whispered those words. She was sure that if someone else heard whatever she said, she would be hated for being a killjoy and a geek. She wasn't afraid of anyone except her teachers, she just wanted a normal and peaceful life.
"But it was just the first day. Weren't we supposed to be just catching up with each other?" Peterson innocently asked, not taking her eyes away from Leighton even if just for a brief second.
Leighton groaned in a slight annoyance as she leaned her back on the backrest of her chair.
"I know but it's just- I just- I just really hate it." Leighton replied, losing her vocabulary as she also loses her patience while shaking her head in displeasure. If Leighton would be honest, Harper's stare was making her a little bit uncomfortable and self-conscious. Harper's eyes were just so deep that she felt like she was going to drown if she stared at them longer than two seconds.
"Don't you have friends?"
A loud laugh took Harper and Leighton's attention as they both looked back at Foster's right side and saw Riley laughing out loud. Riley was starting to get the attention of their classmates, even their teacher but she just kept on laughing, not caring about anyone. The teacher just glanced at Riley, probably wondering why she was laughing but she didn't bother mentioning it and just shrugged her shoulders as she continued conversing with the students in the very first row.
"You were funny Harper." Riley finally managed to say as she tried to catch her breath.
Harper's eyes widened when she finally realized her question. She looked back apologetically at Leighton as she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean my question to sound offensive."
Foster ignored Harper's apology since the question really didn't bother her. She didn't see it as offensive either. She was pretty cool until her best friend started to be annoying again.
Riley put her hand over Leighton's shoulder, grinning widely. "Oh come on. That's fine. But, to answer your question, this girl actually only has two friends."
Riley stuck out her index and middle fingers, gesturing for the number two.
Leighton snapped her head at her best friend, glaring at her as she spoke with an obvious annoyance in her voice, "Excuse me?"
Leigh's voice was a little louder than usual but no one minded their presence anymore and just busied themselves in their own world.
"As far as I can remember she didn't specify it as best friends. I have hundreds of friends, Dixon." Foster air quoted the words best friends as she tried to kill Riley in her mind.
"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever." Riley answered, accepting her defeat as she removed her hand from Leighton's shoulders.
"Anyway, we haven't introduced ourselves right?" Dixon asked and without waiting for Harper to reply, just proceeded with the introduction. "The name is Riley- Riley Dixon. And this best friend of mine was Leighton- Leighton Foster."
Riley pinched Leighton's cheek but her hand immediately got slapped away and glanced at the transferee after glaring at Dixon once again.
"Nice meeting you two." Peterson sweetly said and held out her hand, waiting for them to shake it. Riley was the first one who shook it very briefly and when it was finally Foster's turn, Harper wanted to squeeze her hand or at least hold it longer but Leighton was too quick to pull her hand away after shaking it twice. Harper stopped herself from frowning but deep down she was really disappointed over that.
"So why did you transfer here Harper?" Riley asked, leaning closer as she rested her chin on her palm that was on the armchair, looking so interested.
"Personal reasons." Harper answered timidly.
Riley just nodded her head, understanding that she can no longer push that subject.
"You must have been pretty popular in fluids in your previous school." Riley instead said, arching her brow and grinning widely.
Harper was surprised at the overstatement. She didn't expect that Riley would say that, or at least even get the vibe that she belonged in the rainbow community, especially with her pastel pink hair. She thought that because she dyed her hair in that color, everyone will no longer see or at least get the idea that she was gay, but she guessed, she can't fool everyone. She didn't dye her hair in that color for that purpose. It's not like she doesn't want people to know that she was gay, she was just hoping to not get too much attention, and yet she did. While Harper was surprised, Leighton was confused. She didn't understand what Riley was referring to when she said the word "fluids".
"Not really." Harper lied, scratching her cheek in embarrassment.
Riley squinted her eyes, not buying that reply.
"Were you swinging in both ways or-" Riley paused, thinking of a better term that won't easily give away what she meant to say. For some reason, she doesn't want Leighton to understand what they were talking about.
"-pure?" Riley finally finished her question, tilting her head a little bit, finding the term she used funny but that's really the best term she could think of that won't be too obvious for Foster.
Before answering Riley's question, Harper Peterson glanced at Leighton. When she saw that Foster still looked confused, actually looked even more confused, that's when she only replied, "The latter."
Foster was nervous. She doesn't want to talk about this thing in front of the girl that she likes. She doesn't want Leighton to know that she was gay, at least not yet.
Dixon's lips formed a letter o in amusement as she rested her back on the backrest but after a second, she leaned closer again and held out her hand.
"We're on the same page." Riley uttered, wiggling her eyebrows while grinning widely.
Harper's eyes widened a little bit in surprise as she accepted Riley's hand and shook it for the second time. No wonder she already realized that I'm not straight.
"That's... Nice."
Riley giggled at the uncertainty in Peterson's voice as she shook her head.
"How about-?" Harper paused. She didn't have any intention to finish it and just looked at the still-confused Leighton Foster from the corner of her eyes, hoping that Riley would understand what she meant to ask.
The corner of Riley's lips arched up, sensing something. She slowly shook her head stealing glances at her best friend.
"Nah. She isn't just pure. She was madly in love with someone else."
Riley saw how Harper's deep black eyes were enveloped by disappointment while pursing her lips a little bit.
"But who knows. Maybe you can make her bend, a perfect line doesn't exist after all."
"What are you guys talking about?" Leighton asked, she had finally found her voice and the right timing to interject into the conversation.
"Just some nonsense things." Riley answered, shrugging her shoulders. She put her hand over Leighton's shoulder and whispered something in Leighton's ear, just to shift the subject.
Riley glanced at Harper, giving her a challenging look. Riley doesn't know but she sensed that something will change, she was just hoping that it was a good change.