She looked down at the campus, her feet waving back and forth. She smiled as they came together, imaging all the little blobs that were her fellow students being squished between her shoes. When she started high school she figured that it would be just like every other school she had been to. She would keep her head down and just do what she needed to do to get out of there. It wasn't until Karma had started on this popularity kick and they had been introduced to all of these other kids that she realized that she was wrong.
It was turning into a mess and she was starting to drown in the repercussions of their charade. Karma was probably still sitting there at the lunch table regaling their new "friends" with fake stories about their relationship. She clapped her boots together hard when a couple holding hands passed by, blocking them from her view. Being part of a pseudo happy couple was turning her bitter.
The wind masked Karma's approach so when she sat down Amy jumped and her grip tightened on the edge of the building. "You scared the shit out of me." She cast an accusing glance over at Karma, who chose to ignore it and the statement.
"So, up here again…" She looked over the edge and then pulled her head back quickly, closing her eyes. Now, queasy she tried to calm herself with a deep breath. Amy really was going to be the death of her with this top of buildings crap. "What's the matter? I thought everything was fine." Amy's hot and cold behavior was starting to get really confusing and therefore a little annoying. Either she wanted to participate in this or she didn't. Not that Karma would take no as an answer without arguing again.
Amy turned her head away. "Nothing's the matter. I just didn't feel like being in there anymore." Technically, it was the truth. She wasn't exactly sure what she was feeling and she wasn't going to analyze it too closely.
"Uh huh," Karma said. "Amy, it's me. You can tell me anything."
Amy's head swiveled around and their eyes. met. What she felt during that kiss, what she was dealing with now, and how jealous she got when Karma even mentioned Liam. "I know," is what she said instead. She could definitely not tell Karma everything. "Everything's fine." She smiled, mouth closed and tight. "Let's just go. Lunch is almost over." She spun herself around and stood up, walking off. With an eyeroll, Karma followed.
Someday she would get Amy to talk to her like she used to but for now it seemed that they were stuck in this weird space of non-communication. Most of their interaction seemed to be pretend anyway these days. Maybe they needed a best friend date night. Yes, she decided and began forming plans.
Amy couldn't focus on class but she tried. Sitting in AP history, she flipped through her text book and then opened her notebook but instead of taking notes, she just zoned out and started doodling on the clean sheet of paper. The teacher didn't seem to notice her inattention, probably because he spent the entire class with his back turned to them. The bell rang forty minutes later and her head snapped up. She couldn't stop doing that lately. When she reached down to gather her books she saw what she had written over and over. It covered the entire sheet.
Amy + Karma… Amy loves Karma… with hearts covering the rest of the page, their names inside them. This was bad, so bad. She flipped the notebook and text closed and shoved them in her bag. This thing was reaching critical mass. She pushed through the hall, not even bothering to go to her locker. Getting home was her priority, even if she did have to deal with her evil bitch of a future step-sister.
Karma caught her just as she was almost out the door. "Where are you going?"
Amy stopped short, sighing. "Home." She turned around. "I'm looking forward to changing into the most comfortable pj's I can find and doing nothing but watching Daria on Hulu until I fall into a catatonic state." Her plans sounded kind of pathetic out loud but she shrugged it off.
Karma's eyes widened and she reached out to take hold of Amy's arm. "You can't! We have to go work on the homecoming float with Shane and Liam." The plans had been set days ago and she wasn't going to let Amy get out of them that easily.
Just like that Amy's plans were replaced with the daunting task of pretending to be Karma's girlfriend while she made goo goo eyes at Liam. Did life ever get any better? She was dragged to the art room unceremoniously and now sat before two people who that she couldn't be herself around.
She sat at a table by herself while Karma, Shane, and Liam took all of the supplies out of the closet in the corner. She was giving this an hour and no more. Daria, pj's and ice cream were calling her name. Shane set an assortment of acrylic paint in front of her, and Liam came over with a roll of festooning that he sat next to the paint. She smiled up at them and moved her backpack down the table so it wasn't in the way. Karma set down a stack of poster board and brushes on the other side of her bag.
"Okay, I guess we should get started on the posters." Shane reached over and passed them out, giving a different color to each person.
"What are we supposed to write?" Amy had no idea and no artistic inclination. Even though this was technically in support of them, it wasn't like she signed up for this. "I suck at art."
Liam laughed and leaned over. "Just put whatever you feel like. Art is subjective anyway." He looked up at Karma, giving her a grin.
Amy's lips pursed and she resisted the urge to throw up. This was going to be a long hour.
Karma sat beside her and pulled some paint over. "You're better at this than you think you are," she encouraged Amy, kissing her on the cheek. "Just start and I'm sure whatever you do will be awesome."
Great, last time Amy just wrote she started drawing out her subconscious for an entire class. "Okay," she said.
Karma frowned down at her pink posterboard." I need a pencil so I can draw it out before I paint it." She looked around, finding nothing but paint and pens, but there right in front of her was the answer. She pulled Amy's bag over to her by the bottom and tried to flip it. Instead of turning so that she could reach into the front for a pencil, it tipped open and the contents spilled out.
Her history text went flying as did her notebook. They landed beside each other on the table, the text upside down and the notebook right side up, open to the page she had drawn on in class. Amy jumped up, staring down at her writing, all the little notes about her feelings for Karma stared back. Her eyes flicked from person to person. Liam just smiled, Shane thought it was the cutest thing ever and reached over to pick up the notebook. She was afraid to look at Karma but she did. There it was the look of confused questioning.
Amy let out a panicked laugh. How the hell was she going to explain this?
