Karma is super distracting and Amy hates that she can't figure out why

Amy is seriously coloring in the lines of her drawing during after school day care. Her tongue peeks out of her mouth a little bit as she delicately rubs the crayon against the flimsy paper. She promised herself that she would finish this drawing before she got home because Mommy and Daddy have been fighting a lot lately. This nice drawing of a platypus would hopefully make things better.

"What's that?"

Amy pauses in her intense art session. Blinking slowly she looks up and is met with wide eyes and curly brown hair. Karma is a new student who recently moved to Austin from Florida. Amy doesn't really know how to feel about the new girl but she's nice enough albeit a little bit loud.

"Did you hear me?" Karma asks loudly. "My Gam Gam has trouble hearing me too so I know how to talk louder."

Amy awkwardly shifts in her seat, before finally deciding on a nod.

"I heard you. This is a platypus."

Karma scrunches up her face and cocks her head to the side.

"Really? I thought it was a duck with a weird tail."

Amy feels vaguely offended at the criticism before she actually takes a look at the drawing. Point taken.

"The weird tail is a place for fat reserves," Amy murmurs quietly as she darkens the brown mass.

"Like a beaver?"

Amy pauses in her coloring. She beams at Karma.

"Yeah exactly! I was watching a show last night and they were talking about how platypi are really weird because they're a combination of all of these different animals! I mean it looks like a duck and then it has these webbed feet and a beaver tail and-"

"That's the most I've ever heard you talk," Karma observes drolly with a little grin.

Amy clamps her mouth shut and blushes. She always thought that whatever she has to say is stupid. That's why she thinks Daddy doesn't really pay attention to what she talks about. But she had forgotten for a little bit because Karma seemed interested.

"H-hey I didn't say that was a bad thing. I think that's really cool about the platypus. Where did you learn that stuff from?"

Amy bites her lip and tentatively glances at Karma whose face is pillowed on top of her arms as her eyes stay trained on the platypus drawing.

"Animal Planet."

"Is that on a tv? My mom is against television and electronic devices because it is a harm to the well-being of the earth. Or something."

Amy's brow furrows.

"You don't get to watch tv?"

Karma frowns and nods slowly.

"Yeah. Is that weird?"

Amy shakes her head vigorously.

"No! You can come over and watch Animal Planet with me if you want to." Amy doesn't know why her heart is pounding. She usually doesn't talk very much and she's never invited someone over to her house before. For a nerve-wracking second she think that maybe this is another one of her stupid ideas but Karma stops that train of thought with a huge smile.

"Really? You want me to come over?"

"Y-yeah. If you want to."

Karma's huge grin is Amy's answer and they talk for a while until Karma's mom picks her up. Amy doesn't realize until the other girl leaves that she had abandoned her platypus drawing the whole time. That girl was such a distraction.

"This is boring," Amy mutters tiredly. She could be watching Mythbusters right now. Instead she's helping sweep up after the second to last performance for the school play. It was Karma's idea to join the middle school production in order to get closer to Trevor Rodriguez, the apparently super cute lead. Of course Amy and Karma had got relegated to Bush 1 and Tree 1 respectively. Their practices with the rest of the cast usually consisted of Amy dutifully sitting next to Karma and not trying to think of the good shows she could be watching while her friend would moon over Trevor from across the room.

"Oh stop it. You're just grumpy because you're not watching Mythbusters right now."

Amy shuts her mouth to stop herself from confirming just how right Karma is.

"I don't understand why it's so important that we do this thing. We literally just sway in the background for nearly an hour and a half."

"Yes but we get to be the background for Trevor Rodriguez, Amy. What else could we possibly ask for?"

Amy lets out a tired sigh. She doesn't really understand what the big fuss is about this guy. Sure, he has nice hair and his smile is pretty white compared to some of the other boys. But what does that have to do with anything? Why did that make him so popular with all the girls?

"I could be watching The Guys dismantle a car right now," Amy mutters instead as she fiddle with a fray in her jeans. Karma huffs at her and crosses her arms over her chest, broom still in hand.

"Amy," she whines, eyes big and brow. It makes something strange stir in Amy's stomach and the feelings make her nervous. She licks her lips and quickly looks away.

"What?" she mutters as she squats down and brushes some popcorn in her dust pan. Suddenly she feels warmth blossom along her back as slim arms wrap around her shoulders.

"Thank you for doing this with me," is whispered softly into her ear. The sensation makes Amy shiver but she tries to hide it with a laugh. Biting her lip once to keep her grounded in reality, she glances over her shoulder and smiles.

"You're welcome, you lovesick dork."

Karma wrinkles her nose at the name but says nothing as she nuzzles into Amy's shoulder.

"I love you so much, Ams."

Amy's breath hitches and she tries not to think about the way her heart stuttered at the word love. She just shrugs against Karma's tight grip.

"Love you too, Karma."

For the rest of the clean-up session Mythbusters does not cross her mind. All she can think about is Karma pressed warmly against her, whispering softly in her ear.

The game is almost over and the score is 2-2. Amy swallow as she picks some grass out of her cleats, eyes trained on the action in front of her. She's usually a forward but Coach took her out for a few minutes to catch her breath because she'd been working the whole game. Spraying some water on her face she sighs as she waits to be put back in. Not to be cocky, but she knows she's one of the best on the team. The word scholarship had been whispered reverentially by her mother since she's entered high school. She knows that a soccer scholarship is probably how she's going to afford to pay for college since her parents are divorced and child support only goes so far. Amy is a freshman but she has to be realistic about things.

"Woo go, Amy! Keep that bench wicked warm!"

Amy rolls her eyes as she glances at Karma in a floral dress with a bright pink head band pushing back her bangs. When their eyes meet the other girl waves the little poster she had made the night before with flourish. The action makes something in Amy's stomach flip flop. For one crazy second she feels like one of the guys who get to play sports and have their over-enthusiastic girlfriends cheering them on from the side lines. This must be what they feel like.

Immediately she kills that train of though with a quick shake of her head. Jesus where would that line of thinking get her?

"Raudenfeld, get in there."

Immediately Amy straightens and switches out with one of the forwards with a curt nod of acknowledgement. She tries to ignore the way her heart pounds when Karma's obnoxious cheering intensifies.

The ref blows on his whistle and the game resumes. Her mind goes on autopilot as she focuses solely on running to the other side of the field, weaving past girls as she tries to get open for a pass. Her teammate feigns a kick to the right and then Amy is wide open. She careens forward to receive the ball when she suddenly catches sight of Karma's flushed face and wide smile. Without thinking she trips over her feet and a girl swipes the ball right from under her.

"Fuck," she curses under her breath as she falls on her face, hard. The game goes on because everyone clearly saw Amy had just been stupid and tripped on her feet. But jesus that was humiliating and to top it off Karma is giving her a sad kicked puppy face. When they make eye contact Karma gestures as if to ask if she's okay. Amy gives her a weak thumbs up and returns to the heat of the game.

"Stupid distracting headband,"Amy mutters angrily under her breath as she tries to focus back on the game. They win 3-2 but she is still bitter about that fall. She stays after the game and runs for an hour, trying to burn that stupid fall and Karma's big brown eyes from her brain.

Karma has always been a major distraction for Amy. But this fucking takes the cake. They're sitting side by side, hand intwined and Karma's leaning forward for a kiss. To top it off the rest of the student body is watching.

Amy makes an irritated noise and Karma stops moving.

"You okay?" she whispers, brow furrowed in worry.

No I'm not okay. You're so damn distracting all the time and it's making me seriously question everything.

"Y-yeah," she mumbles, her face heating as Karma brushes their noses together, eyes practically gleaming with mischief.

"Let's give them a good show, yeah?" Amy's heart painfully squeezes at the words because of course that's what it is for Karma. But for Amy it is way more meaningful than a show. This is kissing her best friend of the past eight years. How could such an important thing be reduced to a stupid show for popularity in front of dumb high school kids?

Her neck is stiff with tension as Karma presses their lips together. But of course it dissipates in an instant as warmth spreads along the bow of Amy's lips. She shifts instinctually and she aggressively pushes against Karma's mouth, trying to burn this into her mind. She grips the other girl's waist possessively as her lips part and her tongue warmly brushes Karma's. Her heart pounds when Karma wraps her arms around her neck and the kiss deepens. She needs Karma to feel how much she loves her in this kiss, she realizes. Amy selfishly wants Karma to not be able to forget about the way their lips meld together as Amy's grip on Karma's waist tightens. She wants Karma to kiss Liam and think of Amy. For a dumb second she wants to be the one distracting Karma for once.

Amy is about to push Karma onto her back when the kiss is broken. Karma pulls away a little so that there's a sliver of air between them. Amy can still taste her best friend on the roof of her mouth. Karma tastes like spearmint gum and eco-friendly cherry lipgloss. Amy knows that no amount of brushing her teeth will get that addictive flavor from her mouth.

"That was really good," Karma murmurs breathlessly. "Maybe a little bit overeager though."

Amy laughs weakly, running a nervous hand through her hair as she nods.