"Who do you love the most?" a voice questioned softy, as not to wake the other dozing girls who were in a cluster of multicolored sleeping bags and pure white downy pillows. It was a typical teenage sleepover, only all the girls had dropped off one by one, unable to keep their bleary eyes open for more fun. The rustling of a bag of Cheetos cut through the heavy silence and a pair of eyes, only illuminated by the dim twinkling of fairy lights looked up at the waiting girl in front of her.
"I don't really know, Shri. Levi seems like your type, but I'd choose Mikasa…imean, if she was a guy." The second girl said quickly, trying to keep her slipup on the low. Maintaining her usual façade was getting harder and harder before her best friend. Her recent blunders had included her gazing a minute too long at girls who were changing in the couple minutes before they headed out, clad in their drab blue and white outfits and running sneakers. Oh, how she wished the feelings would just stop, just disappear like a Houdini trick. Stop making her heart flutter every time she walked past one certain classmate of hers. Just make her love who she was supposed to love, love boys like anyone else. Now her latest crush was on the person she hope she'd never have a crush on.
"Anyway…I actually like Armin better. He'd be a better boyfriend than Levi. I'd feel like Levi'd be a one night stand that you'd immediately regret. But Armin'd be the thoughtful one and he'd balance out my personality, which would be nice." Shri responded in another low tone to her only companion. She smiled peacefully and looked straight at the girl with a straight face. "Hey, Ayano? Are you made of copper and tellurium?" she asked in a serious tone
"No, why?" said girl answered, putting a strand of her bangs behind her ear
"Because you're CuTe! Get it, the chemical symbols…you know…sciency stuff…? Yeah…maybe? Don't just ignore me! Hey! Ayano! Fine. Be that way. See if I care." Shri huffed, not knowing that the girl turned over in her frayed parrot green sleeping bag had turned a traffic light red with embarrassment. Ayano's heart raced as she squeezed her hazel eyes tight and tried to control her frantic breathing. She was pathetic, she told herself. Even the slightest comment could send her into a haze, her feelings getting the best of her. Ayano bit her chapped lips and just decided to try to sleep, snuggled in the padded folds of her worn sleeping bag until her own voice shocked her
"You know, Shri, they say people are controlled by chemicals around them. They're forced to take measures against them. So what are you going to do when I'm the one controlling you?" her voice said smoothly, the words gliding against her mouth freely while her finger seductively tapped Shri's chest. A second later, a humiliated Ayano sprung to her senses and bolted the room, her brain cursing herself. She locked herself in the nearest room she saw, which happened to be an elegantly furnished bathroom. Ayano slid to the ground against the polished wood door onto the frigid white marble floor, her pale hands running through both jet black bangs and hair.