Chapter 2
Part 1: A Celebration...Why?
Friday morning arrived. Amanda loved Friday mornings because there was no early morning workouts led by one, Atsuko Kagari. She loved the girl to death but that didn't stop her from wanting to strangle the energetic girl most mornings on the hockey field. She was a good leader, just a little...too enthusiastic...to put it nicely. But on Friday mornings, she could sleep in and waste the morning away with her coffee in front of their large television. Which her and four of her roommates were doing at the moment. They shared an average size house just off of campus. Although it got a little tight with 6 people living there, it was better than living in the dorms. Akko and Amanda each got their own rooms while the others shared the remaining two rooms. None of them minded the arrangement. Since it was Akko and Amanda who found the house, and Amanda's grandmother pays half of the rent each month.
"Hey, has anyone seen Akko this morning?" Amanda asks the others, sipping her coffee.
"No." Sucy says flatly, reading her book. "She's probably still asleep. It sounded like she was having quite the dream when I woke up."
"Sucy!" Lotte scowls at her.
"Wait wait wait…." Amanda leaned toward where Sucy was sitting. "Dream? And what kind of dream would you say it was?" She says with a wolfish grin.
Sucy looks up from her book, about to say something before noticing the death stare coming from Lotte. So she just shrugs and goes back to reading her book.
"Oh come oooon!" Amanda whines. "You can't just say that and..."
"Guys! Guys guys guys!" Akko barrels into the room making everyone jump. "Guys! I got an A! I GOT AN AAAAAA!" She jumps up with her hands held high.
"You got an A on what?" Sucy deadpans.
"My musical theory paper!" Akko says excitedly, looking around.
"Akko, I'm so proud of you!" Lotte claps her hands together.
"Didn't Hanbridge practically do that paper for you?" Sucy says, looking back down at her book.
"Noooo. He just helped….a little." Akko says sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Good enough for me. Sounds like a celebration is in order!" Amanda stands and pats Akko on the back. "I say we go to Luckys tonight and dance the night away."
"Luckys it is!" Akko says with an ear to ear smile.
There were murmurs of agreement throughout the room before a loud grumble came from Akko's stomach.
"But first….food!" Akko turns and leaves toward the kitchen.
'Where does she put it all?' Constanze holds up a notebook to Amanda.
Amanda just shrugs and sits back down to enjoy the rest of her Friday morning before her classes start.
Diana finished her second and last class of the day. Friday was the easiest day for her in terms of classes, but she usually made up for it by spending countless hours in the library afterwords. She made it back to her car and connected her phone via Bluetooth to listen to some music. She sat there for a moment browsing her music library.
'Tap tap tap'
The sound on her window made her jump a little more than it probably should have. She slowly turned her head towards the source of the noise.
"Hey hey, Cavendish!"
Diana stared at the smirking red haired girl waving at her.
"Can you roll your window down?" Amanda yelled, pointing downward.
The blonde just stared for another moment and then turning away, she pushed the button to roll down her window.
"Miss O'Neil. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Amanda chuckles.
"As proper as ever, I see. How ya been, princess?" Amanda leans over and puts her elbows on the door.
"You know very well how I despise that name." Diana scowls at her.
"Well I despise being called 'Miss O'Neil'." Amanda tries to imitate Diana's British accent.
Diana pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head. This girl always had the ability to bring on a headache in record time.
"Very well, Amanda. Was there a reason you wanted to talk to me?" Diana says, trying to hurry this conversation along.
"Ah...yes. Other than wanting to catch up with an old friend, can you...um...give me a ride?" Amanda grimaces, clearly not comfortable with asking for a favor.
"You don't have a vehicle?"
"Look, I do. But I rode with Jasminka this morning and my last class got canceled. Sucy has a car but she's in class for another hour. And Akko, well Akko's a freak of nature and rides her bike EVERYWHERE. All my roommates are busy. And I need your help. So please...pretty please can you give me a ride home?"
Amanda spoke so quickly that Diana missed most of what she said. But she heard that name. The name of the girl that has been dominating her thoughts this past week. She shook her head slightly and looked back at Amanda's pleading face. The girl had true puppy eyes and pushed her bottom lip out for good measure. Diana sighs in defeat.
"Get in."
"Whoo!" Amanda shouts loudly, making Diana grimace at the sheer volume.
Amanda runs around the front of the car to the other side. She opens up the back door to throws her stuff inside before closing it and climbing into the passenger seat. After buckling in, see looks around as Diana backs out of her parking spot.
"Damn, Cavendish. Nice ride!" Amanda smiles at her.
"Thank you." Diana says, rolling her eyes.
After Amanda gives her general directions to the house, the car falls silent for a few minutes. The music from Diana's phone played softly in the background. The blonde was the first to break the silence.
"So how have you been Amanda? It was quite a shock to see you earlier this week. I had no idea you were attending Luna Nova."
"Oh I'm just living the dream, Diana." Amanda chuckles. "I'm surprised my grandmother hadn't mentioned me coming here. She was so excited when I told her I was going to be playing hockey here." She says with a fond smile. "Of course, I'm also surprised it took so long before our paths crossed."
"Yes, that is rather surprising." Diana nodded her head.
"So, how have you been Diana?"
"I've been well. Thank you."
The car fell back into silence. Amanda had forgotten how Diana was not one for small talk. Which is why it surprised her when Diana broke the silence yet again.
"So...the girls that you mentioned earlier," Diana paused for a moment "you...live with all of them?"
"Yeah, they..." Suddenly a light bulb all but appeared over Amanda's head as a smirk appeared on her face as she turned to look at Diana.
Diana looked away quickly, focusing intently on the road before her.
"Yeah, there's actually six of us. Is there any of them...specifically, that you're so interested in?" The smirk never left her face, and her gaze never left Diana's reddening face.
"Surely I don't know what you're implying. I'm not acquainted with your roommates." Diana does her best to throw Amanda off.
"Are you sure, though?"Amanda leaned a little closer as she spoke. "Are you sure you're not the least bit interested in a certain Japanese girl who happened to pay for your breakfast earlier this week?"
Amanda was met with silence. She chuckled a little and turned to look out her window.
"Turn up here. It's the blue and white house on the corner."
Diana only nodded and did what the red haired girl said. She eventually pulled up in front of the house and stopped. It was a lot nicer than she expected. Amanda stayed put for a moment before speaking.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I was only teasing."
"Yes, Amanda. I am very familiar with your personality by now." Diana said curtly, still not looking at Amanda. "No need to apologize."
"Well, thanks for giving me a ride. It really saved me a lot of time." She opened the door and made to get out but stopped. "Hey do you..uh..want to come in and have some coffee or something? And ya know, catch up?"
Diana looked at Amanda with wide eyes. She wanted to catch up? That was unexpected. Due to their family's familiarity, she would see Amanda quite often during the summers. She would not call it a friendship. Only a mutual understanding of each other, and she hadn't seen her in years. To be honest, it sounded kind of nice to catch up with her old acquaintance. And maybe while catching up with Amanda, she could get a few questions answered about a certain girl, who just happened to be Amanda's roommate.
"Do you happen to have tea?"
"Um...actually yeah. I mean, it's Akko's Japanese tea. I'm sure she won't mind." Amanda smiles before getting out of the car and retrieving her things from the back seat.
Diana nods before turning off the car and stepping out to follow Amanda. She opens the door and steps to the side to allow Diana entry into the house. The small entry opened up into a massive room with very high ceilings. Diana stood in awe, taking in the size. Looking around she spotted an over sized couch and love seat sitting in front of a big flat screen TV hanging on the wall over a fireplace. In the corner of the room was a very expensive looking baby grand piano covered in books and papers. Something drew her to it. She had not played in the years since her mother had passed away. She walked over to it and was surprised to see that the papers that were strewn about were actually staff papers with hand written notes. She picked up a stack of the papers and looked through them. These were no simple songs, they were intricate. Whoever wrote these had talent. They looked almost professional.
"I..uh..wouldn't touch those if I were you."
Amanda's voice shook her out of her trance and she quickly set the papers back down where she found them.
"I apologize."
"Don't worry about it. Akko may be a little scatterbrained, but this" She gestured to the general area of the piano "is controlled chaos. It's actually more organized than usual, if you can believe that." She chuckles.
"A-Akko? She wrote these?" Diana pointed to the sheets of paper in shock.
"She did." Amanda nods at her, watching her reaction very closely. "Andrew comes over once in a while to help her out when she's stuck but that's more for moral support. If you'll follow me to the kitchen, I'll get you that tea." Amanda turns to leave.
"Andrew Hanbridge?"
"Mmhmm."
Amanda pours her coffee as Diana walks into the kitchen behind her.
"Right. Is he….are they...um.." Diana pauses to rethink her words.
"Are they what?" Amanda raises her eyebrow at her.
"I heard from a friend that they are in a….romantic...relationship."
"You know what, we thought so too until four days ago. Crazy right?" Amanda laughs. "Turns out she swings the other way. Who knew? I thought my gaydar was on point up until that moment." She snickers again as she sets Diana's tea on the table and gestures for her to sit. "You think you know a person..."
"Your...gaydar? So she's..."
"Gay. Like us." Amanda smirks and winks at her.
"I never said I was gay. Why would you..."
"Oh please, Diana. You were staring at her ass, and practically drooling." She laughs as Diana complexion reddens.
"I…she..." Diana is at a loss of what to say to that. "Her shorts...are too short. How was I supposed to not stare?" She almost shouts, and then she face palms.
"You know who doesn't stare at Akko's ass? Straight girls. That's who." Amanda grins at her. "Quite frankly, I don't blame you. You don't have to be so defensive about it."
"I'm not..." Diana was about to shout again, but instead takes a deep breath.
"If it makes you feel any better, I saw her checking you out in that line as well." Amanda shrugs as she takes another sip of her coffee.
If Diana wasn't red before, she was now. Her face and ears were burning. This was too much. All of it. Talking to Amanda, these feelings, what was she supposed to do with this information?
"I must take my leave, Amanda. It was a pleasure." Diana quickly stood up and moved toward the door.
"Wait!" Amanda called out standing up to follow.
Diana didn't stop.
"Hey hey." Amanda moved past her and blocked the door.
"What in the world.."
"Party." Was all Amanda said, cutting her off.
"Excuse me?"
"I mean, we are having a celebration for Akko tonight at Luckys. I would like to invite you."
"A...what kind of celebration?" Diana said hesitantly.
"She got an A...on a paper." Amanda grimaced when she heard how crazy that sounded.
"She got an A on a paper." Diana said flatly. "And that is grounds for celebration?" Her brows furrowed.
"Well you don't know Akko." Amanda laughed awkwardly. "Look, I'm sure she'd love to see you there. Just think about it okay? We'll probably be there around 8."
"I'll...consider it. Now if you'll excuse me, Amanda, I have things to attend to."
Amanda nodded and moved to the side and opened the door. Diana quickly moved passed and made her way to her car.
"I'll see you tonight then." Amanda yelled to her.
Diana just waved over her shoulder not looking back as she unlocked her car and got inside. She quickly turned it on and drove away.
Later that day on Luna Nova's hockey field, the women's team was running through countless drills. Different positions were isolated, working on their respective skills. A whistle sounded out through the shouts and chatter.
"Ladies, that's enough for today." Coach Ursula shouted. "Akko, lead the stretches and then you're all free for the weekend."
The girls cheered excitedly as they circled around their team captain. Minutes later, they were exiting the field in different directions, all wishing each other a good weekend. Akko, Amanda and Jasminka met at the bleachers as usual.
"Hey, coach Ursula, we are going to Luckys tonight for a celebration. You should come!" Akko said cheerfully to the older woman. Ursula and Akko had become very close in the past year, resulting in Ursula becoming more like an older sister to Akko than a coach.
"Oh? And what are we celebrating?" She asks curiously. Thinking hard to make sure she hadn't forgotten some important event.
"Akko here got an A on her musical theory paper." Amanda smiles and pats Akko on the back.
"That's great Akko. I'm so proud of you!" Ursula says, smiling proudly at her player.
Akko blushes furiously at the praise.
"So? You gonna be there coach?" Amanda asks with her arm around Akko. "Maybe you can get that shut in girlfriend of yours out tonight too." She smirks.
"Croix is not…okay. She may be a little bit of a shut in right now." Ursula admits sheepishly. "Only because she throws herself into her work sometimes."
"Then she can use a break, right?" Akko says enthusiastically.
"That's an understatement." Ursula mumbles under her breath.
"What was that coach?" Amanda asks knowingly.
"N-nothing! Nothing at all." She laughs nervously. "I will do my best to be there, Akko." She smiles warmly at the brown haired girl.
"Great!" Akko yells. "Well we better get going, I've got a celebration to get ready for!"
The three girls pile in to Jasminka's car and start driving home. Akko fidgets excitedly as they turn into the neighborhood where there little blue house resides. As soon as Jasminka parks the car, Akko jumps out and runs toward the door.
"Akko, slow down. We still have a few hours." Amanda laughs.
"I need to take a shower and figure out what to wear! You know how long it takes me to get ready!" She unlocks the door quickly and runs inside.
"Fair enough." Amanda looks at Jasminka, and they both shrug.
Akko runs to her room and grabs her things for the shower and then runs to the bathroom and slams the door. When Amanda and Jasminka walk into the kitchen, they are greeted by Lotte and Sucy at the table in the middle of the room.
"What was that about?" Lotte asks Amanda, gesturing toward where Akko disappeared into the bathroom.
"Eh, you know how excitable Akko is. She's just excited to go out tonight." She shrugs, sitting down opposite of Lotte. "Listen, I've invited a special guest tonight. I want Akko to look amazing, and I need your help."
"A special guest?" Lotte's eyes light up. "Oooh, who is it?"
"I...can't tell you, in case they don't show up." Amanda fidgets with her hands. "So will you help me?"
"Of course!" Lotte claps her hands together. "This will be fun!"
"Fun...right. I'm assuming you've never tried to get Akko to dress up for anything." Amanda smirks.
"And I'm assuming you've never looked in her closet." Lotte smirks back at Amanda, folding her arms.
"Huh? No, I haven't. What am I missing?"
Lotte just giggles and shrugs.
"Let's just say there's more than one thing she hasn't come out of the closet about." Sucy snickers.
"I'm...going to see if Akko is out of the shower yet. And...maybe look in her closet." Amanda stands up and quickly walks out of the room.
Lotte giggles again and gets up to follow. Sucy just sighs and goes back to reading her book and eating her favorite snack of sauteed mushrooms.
"I live with a bunch of idiots." she mumbles.
Akko finally gets out of the shower and walks back into her room with her robe on. She freezes in place when she sees Amanda rolling around on her bed, laughing. Lotte sits on the edge, shooting her an apologetic look while pointing to the closet. Akko glances to where she's pointing and her eyes widen in panic. She runs over and closes her closet door and turns around to lean against it.
"Ahahahaha You….ahaha...sundresses! Frilly sundresses!" Amanda grabs her stomach as tears of laughter start to form in her eyes.
"Amandaaaa!" Akko whines crossing her arms. "They're comfortable and light. I am a girl after all, I can...I can have sundresses if I want!" She yells and then pauses briefly. "Wait, why are you two in here going through my closet?"
Amanda is still trying to catch her breath while randomly giggling to herself. Lotte stands up and walks over to the closet and pushes Akko aside.
"We are here to help you look perfect tonight, Akko." Lotte smiles as she opens the door and starts pulling clothes out for Akko to try on.
"Eh?! Why would I have to look perfect? We are going to a bar." Akko says, watching Lotte in confusion.
"Hey, you never know who you might see there, yeah?" Amanda winks.
Akko opens and closes her mouth at the gesture. She simply nods, knowing there is no arguing with Lotte. Besides, it might be nice to dress up tonight. It is a special occasion after all. Lotte hands her the first batch of clothing to try on. Akko takes it and walks to the bathroom to try the outfit on. Outfit after outfit she takes to the bathroom to try on. None of them seem to be acceptable. Too girly, too boyish, too this, too that, she was starting to regret this.
"Why can't I wear my jean shorts and a tank top like I always do?!" Akko says, throwing the last outfit onto the pile of clothes forming on the bed.
"Akko, it's like 40 degrees outside." Lotte says, frustrated.
"And let's just say, for some people, all that skin you usually show might be a little distracting." Amanda snorts.
Akko just rolls her eyes and waits for Lotte to give her the next outfit.
"Guys, I've figured it out!" Lotte shouts, making the other two jump slightly. She grabs a few things from the closet, and then rummages through the pile of clothes on the bed, and then runs out of the room.
"Now you've done it, Akko." Amanda says, shocked at the scene. "She's finely gone mad."
"Hey! I didn't do anything but play dress up!" Akko sticks her tongue out.
Lotte then runs back into to room breathing heavily as see shoves a pile of clothes into Akko's arms. The brown haired girl walks slowly out of the room as Lotte falls heavily onto the bed with a sigh.
"Oh….my….god!" Akko shouts from the bathroom a few minutes later. "Lotte, you're a genius!"
She walks back into the bedroom imitating a model. Amanda's eyes grow wide with her mouth agape.
"It's perfect." She whispers.
"Mmmhmmm." Lotte smiles brightly.
Akko turns to look at herself in her full length mirror. She wore red skinny jeans, a dark gray tank top, a black leather jacket and black and white converse shoes.
"My baby's all grown up." Lotte jokingly says, pretending to cry.
"It's just missing one thing." Akko says, ignoring Lotte. She once again opens her closet and takes something from the shelf above the hanging clothes. A crocheted gray slouchy beanie that Jasminka had made for her. She put it on and stood in front of the mirror again, making sure her hair flowed perfectly out of the bottom. Then she smiles and nods excitedly.
"You look like a hipster." Lotte said flatly.
"Aww, come on Lotte, that beanie is so Akko. In fact, the whole outfit looks amazing. You're going to turn heads tonight my friend." Amanda gets up and pats Akko on the back.
"I'll have to admit, the beanie is a good addition for you." Lotte smiles as she joins Akko and Amanda at the mirror.
"Thank you so much, Lotte, Amanda." Akko says, tears forming. "This is going to be the best night ever!" She shouts and pumps her fist into the air.
Diana had been at the library for two hours. But after her conversation with Amanda, she only got about a half an hour's worth of work done. She reread sentences in her textbook time after time and she found it hard to write coherent sentences when she tried to work on her research paper. Her brain wasn't letting her think of anything but the brown haired girl and her celebration tonight. Her longing to see that girl again outweighed any motivation she might have had to do her school work. She decided it was time to quit for the day when she mindlessly drew a doodle of a girl with a brown little ponytail sticking up from her head on her notes from earlier that day. With a sigh she gathered her things and left the library.
She walked through the door of her apartment and walked straight to the living room where her roommates were sitting cross legged on the couch next to each other, with textbooks and notebooks in their lap. Diana sat down on the love seat and leaned onto the arm with her left elbow and rubbing her temples like a headache was coming on. Hannah and Barbara looked at each other curiously before speaking up.
"Are you okay Diana?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah, you don't look so good." Barbara stated,
"I am perfectly fine, girls. No need to worry." Diana sighs. "I've just had a rather exhausting day."
"Well then it's a good thing you came home early." Barbara smiles at her. "You need to rest!"
"Actually...to be honest..." Diana pauses "I was thinking about...maybe...going out tonight?" She didn't mean for that to come out as a question.
Silence. Hannah and Barbara were shocked into silence, which she had never seen before. Hannah's books dropped to the floor. Barbara look like she was about to faint, or scream with how far her jaw hung open. A good couple minutes went by before Diana couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Ahem. Girls?" Diana raised her eyebrows. "I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me."
Two sharp breaths and two loud squeals sounded out and Diana winced from the volume.
"Of course, Diana!" Hannah shouted.
"We'd love to!" Barbara added.
"Where are we going?" They shouted in unison.
"I believe the establishment is called Luckys." Diana said hesitantly.
"Luckys?" Hannah taps her fingers on her chin.
"Wait, Luckys. That's the little bar we passed when we tried out that new hairdresser, Hannah. I remember all of those horrid fluorescent light signs." Barbara shivered at the thought.
"Oh. Right. Why in the world would you want to go there, Diana?"
"I was invited to a...celebration. Of sorts. It would be rude of me not to attend." Diana raised her eyebrow to them. "It is quite alright if you do not wish to visit that particular establishment. I will still be attending with or without you."
"NO!" They both shouted.
"We couldn't let you go alone." Hannah says, determined.
"Surely I can take care of myself." Diana pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Of course you can, Diana. We would love to accompany you, though. If you'll still have us." Barbara says, sheepishly.
"Thank you girls. And I would appreciate your company." Diana smiles briefly, and then frowns. "Girls, what does one wear….to a bar?"
Hannah and Barbara's faces light up. They turn to each other and put their hands to their mouths. They stand up at the same time, each one grabbing Diana's hands and dragging her toward her bedroom.
"What are you two..." Diana says in confusion.
"Just leave it to us Diana." Hannah says as she pulls Diana along.
About an hour and 20 outfits later, Diana falls face first onto her bed and groans.
"Who knew that being too classy was a bad thing sometimes." Barbara sighs.
"We can't give up!" Hannah shouts at them. "One more Diana. I think I have it this time."
Diana reluctantly gets up and takes the clothes from Hannah and walks into her bathroom. After a few minutes, Diana walks back out into her bedroom and twirls for the two girls.
"That's it!" Barbara exclaims. "Hannah, that's perfect!"
"I know, right?" Hannah flips her hair victoriously.
"You don't think this is still a little too fancy?" Diana looks at herself in the mirror, cocking her head to the side.
She wore a tight black jeans, a light gray tank top, with a darker gray blazer over top with the sleeves rolled up, and gray high heels. Her blonde hair was put up into a ponytail. She turned from side to side, but slowly a smile crept onto her face.
"Girls, you've outdone yourselves." She turns to them and her smile widens. "It's perfect."
Hannah and Barbara jump up and down squealing happily and clapping there hands before they hug each other. Diana chuckles at the sight.
"Okay, now I suggest you two get yourselves ready quickly." She says, shooing the two squealing girls out of her room.
After all three girls were ready, they stepped out of their apartment.
"Wait, who's driving?" Hannah asks.
"I have hired a driver for the evening ladies. We can all enjoy ourselves tonight." Diana says with a smile.
They walk out to the parking garage where a black car with tinted windows is waiting for them. The driver steps out and walks around the car.
"Good evening, Miss Cavendish. It's good to see you again." He says as he opens the door for them.
"Good evening, Timothy." Diana nods.
Hannah and Barbara slide in followed by Diana. The driver gets in and starts driving. Fifteen minutes later, they arrive at Luckys.
"I will be calling you when we are ready to leave, Timothy. We do appreciate your services."
"It is my pleasure, Miss Cavendish. I will be awaiting your call."
With a nod, Diana exits the vehicle followed by Hannah and Barbara. They stand in front of the big wooden double doors to the bar. Diana can't walk any further yet. Why was she so nervous? The girl she has been longing to see is just on the other side of those doors. What will she say? Diana wrings her hands together nervously.
"Umm, Diana? Are we going in? It's cold out here." Hannah says, shivering.
"Oh...yes. Yes, let's go." She takes a deep breath and pushes the door open.
The sight they are met with when they walk in leaves them standing in awe. It's bigger than it looks from the outside. A high vaulted ceiling looms over them and loud music fills the air. The bar is directly opposite them at the back of the building while the tables and over sized booths are to their right. I large dance floor sits to their left and beyond that, a stage for live music. It was quite the sight as Diana nor Hannah or Barbara had never stepped foot in a place like this. It wasn't unpleasant, however. It felt comfortable, homey. It was not like anything Diana had expected. She looked around, hoping to see any familiar faces in the crowd when suddenly the song changed. It was a song she rather liked. Havana by Camila Cabello.
"I love this song!" Barbara exclaimed behind her. "Let's go dance, Hannah!"
"We can't just leave Diana here by herself, Barbara!" Hannah shouted over the loud music.
"Then it's a good thing she ain't alone, right Cavendish?"
Diana jumped at the unexpected voice near her right ear and the arm dropping on her shoulder. She turned and saw the fiery red haired girl smirking at her.
"Good evening, Amanda." Diana smiled at her.
"I'm glad you made it! I see you still have those sheep nipping at your heels, huh?" She whispered and then snorted.
"Well if it isn't Amanda O'Neil." Hannah said in an icy tone. "You are the last person I expected to see here. Is this who invited you, Diana?" She scoffed.
"Ladies, do go and enjoy yourselves. I must speak with Miss O'Neil for a moment."
"Yeah, run along little sheep." Amanda shooed them off.
The two girls glared at her before turning to leave for the dance floor.
"Please do try to be civil, Amanda. They are still my closest friends after all."
"Yeah yeah. I'll try." Amanda says dismissively.
Diana looks around the bar searching for the reason she was here. If Amanda was here, then surely Akko was close by. Amanda taps her on the shoulder and she turns to look at her.
"She's on the dance floor." Amanda winks and points.
Following the direction of the pointed finger, Diana's eyes fall onto a very interesting sight. Akko was indeed on the dance floor. And she was indeed dancing, very erotically dancing, with another girl. Although she was not an expert, if there ever was a definition of dirty dancing, this was it. Diana was in literal shock. Her eyes were wide, her mouth couldn't open any farther than it was, and she was frozen to the spot. And she was sweating. Her stomach did a back flip and her heart was racing. This...was new. She would never be caught dancing all over someone like that, but seeing Akko sway her hips with someone else...she wanted that someone else to be her. And she wanted to walk over and tear that girl away from Akko. 'I'm in deep trouble' is her first thought.
"...ana."
This was confusing. 'I haven't said more than twenty words to this girl and I'm jealous?!' was her second thought.
"...ianaaaa."
'I need a cold shower' was her third and final thought, before hearing a loud snapping noise by her ear.
"Oi! Princess! Snap out of it!" Amanda said, snapping her fingers a few more times.
Diana shook her head while pushing Amanda's hand away from her head. She pulls on her blazer to straighten it out and clears her throat.
"Welcome back to earth, Miss Cavendish." Amanda snickers.
"My apologies. I don't know what came over me."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure I have an idea." The red haired girl chuckles. "Sooo….I feel like I need to tell you something.
Diana is surprised at her serious tone. She furrows her brows as Amanda continued.
"We may have taken a few...pre celebration shots back at the house, and Akko is pretty buzzed already."
"….And?" Diana urges her to continue after a moment.
"She's...um...well let's just say that Akko is a very very friendly drunk. Very friendly indeed."
"Is that...a problem? Being a friendly drunk?" Diana was confused.
"Oh Diana..." Amanda says as she face palms. "You know what, this could be interesting. Let's see how it plays out shall we?"
She grabs Diana by the arm and drags her toward the tables and booths. She spots Akko on the other side of the bar walking in the same direction. She was taking off a black jacket as she went. Diana could see the muscles in her shoulders and arms from here. They shimmered from a bit of sweat she had accumulated on the dance floor. Her red pants hugs her curves in all of the right ways. Just then, Akko looked over, and her face lit up with the biggest smile she had ever seen. Diana swallowed nervously. That smile couldn't be for her could it? Closer and closer. She was about to meet this girl once more, face to face. What was she going to say?
"Well well, is that the famous Diana Cavendish?"
And then she heard it. A voice she hasn't heard in a very long time. But even to this day, it never failed to irritate her. She looked down and to the side and it was in fact, who she thought it was.
"Hello Andrew." She said rolling her eyes and sighing.
"It's been a while." He says smirking.
"Indeed."
"Dianaaaa! I can't believe you're here!" Akko shouts happily as she comes closer.
"Yes, I...oof!"
The blonde was cut off when she was pulled into a very tight hug. Her arms were trapped in the embrace and all she could do was just stand there awkwardly. Amanda and Andrew put their hands to their mouth to cover their laughing.
"That blush on your face suits you, Diana." Andrew grins evilly.
"Friendly." Amanda whispers into her ear.
By now, the hug lasted longer than it should have, and Diana's face and ears must have been glowing red.
"A-Akko."
"Hmm?"
"If you wouldn't mind, could you possibly..."
"Oh." Akko finally let's go. And then she looks up at Diana in complete shock. "Oh...my...god. I am so sorry. Wow. You look hot tonight. Wait, I-I mean...uh...heh heh." She rubs the back of her neck. "It's...uh...v-very n-nice to see you...again."
"It's quite nice to see you again as well, Akko." Diana finally pulled herself together after seeing the nervous, flustered girl. It was an amusing sight. And quite cute, if she was being honest.
"Diana, we got you a drink!" Hannah shouted as her and Barbara walked up to the small group.
"Oh, thank you girls." She takes the drink before continuing. "Girls, this is Akko. Akko, this is Hannah and Barbara."
"Nice to meet you." Akko smiles brightly at them.
The two girls only stare. Diana grins as she takes a sip from her sweet mixed drink. And then grimaces, because that mixed drink was very strong.
"Wow." Barbara said, looking over Akko. "You..um..that outfit looks really good on you."
"Thanks so much!" Akko says happily.
"Oh, Andrew! We didn't see you there." Hannah says as she sits down next to him.
"Hello Hannah, Barbara." He nods and smiles. "So Diana, are you here to celebrate your birthday?"
He did not just say that. If looks could kill, Andrew would be dead ten times over from the glare that Diana had shot him. He knew very well that she did not like celebrating her birthday. It had come and gone a few days ago. Hannah and Barbara had wished her a happy birthday in the morning and that was it. Just like she liked it.
"Oh, yeah, you're birthday is close isn't it?" Amanda asks curiously.
"It was three days ago." Andrew mumbles, sipping on his bourbon.
Diana takes a very large gulp of her alcohol. This was going to be a very long night, she was going to need to be drunk for this. When she sees the cute brown haired girl bouncing on her heels and smiling at her, she slowly takes another drink.
"Happy late birthday, Diana!" Akko says excitedly. "You know what this means Amanda?"
"Umm….more shots?!"
"Yeeesss! More shots!" Akko gets the waitress' attention. "Heya Jennifer."
"What can I get for you Akko?" The waitress smiles warmly at her.
"Another round of shots for my me and my friends pleeeease." The brown haired girl flutters her eyelashes.
"And two double shots this time, yeah?" Amanda adds.
"Of course. I'll be right back."
"Thank you soooo much Jen." Amanda runs her hand down the waitress' arm. The waitress winks at her and turns away to walk to the bar.
Diana almost spit out the last of her drink at the action. Since she had all but chugged it after the mention of her birthday. Looking around, nobody else seemed to think the exchange was odd at all. Looking down at her glass, she was disappointed to only see ice. With a sigh, she set the glass down on the table. She could feel the warmth washing over her from the alcohol as she relaxed slightly. Until a certain brown haired girl latched on to her arm with both of hers. Akko stood on her tiptoes and pulled Diana down slightly.
"Don't worry Diana, this will be the best birthday ever." She whispered into the blonde's ear with her lips brushing slightly on the shell.
Diana shivered involuntarily at the contact. She could feel her face burning again and she knew it was not from the alcohol this time. The blonde was starting to get an idea of what Amanda meant by a 'friendly drunk'. She would usually never allow such actions toward herself, but from this girl, she welcomed them. 'How can anyone be so damn cute?!' She screamed internally.
"Come on, Diana! Come and meet the rest of the crew!"
Akko dragged Diana over to a large booth where five girls and one boy sat. She recognized the boy as one of Andrew's friends from school, Frank. And also Amanda, who had sat down on the outer edge.
"Hi, Diana. It's nice to see you again." Frank smiled.
"Hello, Frank. It's a pleasure to see you again as well."
"Next to Frank is Lotte, and then Sucy, and Jasminka, and Constanze, and Amanda! Everybody, this is Diana." Akko pauses. "Cavendish. Diana Cavendish."
Diana raises an eyebrow at her.
"Did you forget my last name, Akko?"
The residents of the booth break out into laughter.
"No no no….I didn't...I just...d-didn't know if I should introduce you as just Diana or..." She trails off blushing furiously.
"Trust me when I say that she has not forgotten your last name. She talks about you constantly." Sucy says in an uninterested tone.
"Sucy!" Akko yells, horrified!
"Oh? Do go on." Diana smirks as she sits down next to Frank. She puts her elbow on the table and holds her chin inquisitively.
"She's always talking about how pretty you are. You are very pretty by the way." Lotte says smiling at her.
"Thank you Lotte, I appreciate that." Diana smiles up at Akko, who is now covering her face with both hands. But judging by the red color of her ears, she could imagine what color her face is right about now.
'She loves your hair.' Constanze holds up her notebook for Diana to read.
Diana giggles at the statement. She knows she should stop this, but it is too entertaining.
"Tell her about the dreams, Sucy." Amanda says laughing.
"Oh my god! Stoooop!" Akko says through her fingers.
Luckily for Akko, the waitress, her savior more like it, came back with a tray full of shots for everyone.
"Now it's a party!" Amanda exclaims as she passes out the shots. "And a double for the birthday girl", she sets the shot glass down in front of Diana, "And a double for my girl, Akko." She sets the last shot glass down in front of Akko.
"Excuse me Amanda, what...is this?" Diana asks hesitantly as she lifts the glass up to inspect it.
"Only the finest Irish whiskey." The red haired witch grins. "Cheers everyone!" She shouts, holding up her glass.
"Cheers!" Everyone shouts before taking their shots.
The sounds of empty glass bottoms hitting tables turned into coughing as none where expecting the severe throat burning quality of this particular whiskey.
"I should have warned you that it burns like a son of a bitch." Amanda says half coughing and half laughing. "But it will mess you up quick."
"I found it quite enjoyable." Diana says calmly.
Every one went silent, looking over at Diana, who didn't seem at all affected by the potent drink.
"Hell yeah Cavendish!" Amanda shouts. "Another drink for the birthday girl!"
"Yeeeah!" Everyone cheers.
A little time passed, although Diana didn't know how much. She decided to take it slowly after that double shot she had taken, knowing that she was somewhat of the lightweight. But even with drinking slowly, the effects did not come slowly. She sat safely at the booth with Akko's friends, enjoying the banter between them. She found herself laughing more and more as the alcohol affected everyone's personalities. Every now and again she would glance over to the dance floor to find Akko. That girl seemed to have more energy than the energizer bunny. She wished she could spend some time with Akko, but couldn't find the courage to walk out onto the dance floor with her. She was not familiar at all with any kind of dance she saw in that bar, and she doubted they would play anything you could waltz to.
She found herself spacing out and staring quite a few times, but this time she was staring because Amanda had walked up to Akko and whispered something into her ear. Akko then looked directly at Diana and smiled very mischievously and nodded her head. The two of them parted ways, but she couldn't take her eyes off of the brown haired girl. She held her hands behind her back and slowly walked towards the blonde, never breaking eye contact. Diana swallowed nervously. It took a painfully long time for Akko to stride the length of the bar with how slowly she was walking. Was she doing this on purpose? What was going on? The anticipation was driving Diana crazy! Suddenly her view was block by a fiery red haired girl. Said girl grabbed Diana's hand and pulled her up out of the booth. She could see that Akko was close to them now, and she could only describe the smile on her face as….evil. Diana swallows the lump in her throat, noticing just how dry her mouth was.
"Say Akko?" Amanda said as she pushed Diana down into a lone chair in the middle of the isle between the booth and the table.
"Yes, Amanda?" Akko responds in an innocently sweet voice right behind the blonde.
"As you know, we missed Diana's birthday. I think we need to make it up to her" Amanda smiles and leans down to look Diana in the eyes. "And I think I know of the perfect gift." She smirks.
Diana feels hands on her shoulders and she can only presume they're Akko's. She can't move and she can barely breath. Her inebriation is making it impossible to think clearly. Suddenly she feels the hands on her shoulders move and arms come around to hug Diana's neck from behind.
"Oh? Do tell, Amanda." Akko speaks into Diana's ear in a low seductive voice.
The blonde intakes a sharp breath. Her fingers grip the sides of the chair next to her thighs. She glances to her right towards the tables. Hannah and Barbara look as shocked as she was, but Andrew looked very amused. She then looked to her left toward the booth. Frank only looked mildly shocked, Lotte and Sucy were both covering there mouths, no doubt laughing at Diana's expression. Jasminka was smiling as she eating her chips and salsa, and Constanze didn't look interested in the scene at all.
She turns back to Amanda still smirking at her. Suddenly a slower song comes over speakers and Akko lets her go. The red haired girl leans in to whisper in her ear.
"Enjoy the show, princess." She then straightens up and steps back a few paces.
Diana sees Akko walking around her right side and proceeds to climb on and straddle her lap as the chorus of the song begins.
Am I outta my head? Am I outta my mind?
If you only knew the bad things I like
Akko runs a finger down the side of the blonde's face while serenading her. Wide azure eyes locking with seductive crimson red ones.
Don't think that I can explain it
What can I say? It's complicated
Don't matter what you say
Don't matter what you do
The brown haired girl then takes Diana's face in her palm and leans in close to her ear.
I only wanna do bad things to you
So good, that you can't explain it
What can I say? It's complicated
The first verse starts, and she can hear Amanda start to rap in the background. Akko smiles at the blonde and lifts herself off of Diana's lap. She turns around and walks toward Amanda and begins to rap with her. She then proceeds to walk around the table behind Hannah, Barbara and Andrew and then back behind Diana, out of sight. The blonde couldn't make out most of the rap as her focus was on Akko the whole time. Just then she hears the brown haired girl in her ear again.
I want you forever even when we're not together
Scars on body so I can take you wherever like
Akko circles around Diana once more but sits on her lap side ways this time as the chorus begins again. She puts her right arm around the blondes neck and begins to sing. For good measure, she runs her finger along the line of Diana's defined collarbone this time. As the chorus ends for the second time, the brown haired girl gets up once more and starts rap with Amanda. And again Diana loses track of the words until the browned haired girl gets very very close and runs her finger nails up the blonde's thighs.
Let me paint the picture
Couch by the kitchen
Nothin' but your heels on
Losin' our religion
At the last line, Akko winks and smiles while she bites her bottom lip. Diana's heart is about to pound out of her chest and her face and ears feel like they are on fire. She can't take this anymore. She closes her eyes tightly. She hears a low chuckle in front of her.
I want to you forever even when we're not together
Scars on my body, so I can take you wherever like
Diana can hear more people joining into the song now. When she opens her eyes, she sees that a crowd has gathered. 'Oh my god, this is so EMBARRASSING' she screams internally. 'Why am I still sitting here?!' Just then Akko straddles her lap again, seemingly staring into her soul. 'Oh, that's why.'
Don't matter what you say
Don't matter what you do
I only wanna do bad things to you
This time Akko was grinding her body onto Diana's. The blonde tried and failed to lean away and was confused as to what she should be doing with her hands at this point. She knew what she wanted to do, but she was in public. None of that. So she wrapped her fingers around the back side of the chair with white knuckles.
The way we love, is so unique
And when we touch, I'm shivering
And no one has to get it
Just you and me
'Cause we're just livin'
Between the sheets
Again, Akko winks and starts grinding once again as the whole bar it seems joins in for the rest of the song.
Am I outta my head? Am I outta my mind?
If you only knew the bad things I like
Don't think that I can explain it
What can I say? It's complicated
The blonde looks around at all of the people singing, even Barbara and Hannah were singing and swaying from side to side. She sends a glare at the traitorous girls. Their eyes widen and they stop immediately. Diana then looks back at Akko, who takes both sides of the blondes head in her palms, staring longingly and leaning in.
Don't matter what you say
Don't matter what you do
I only wanna do bad things to you
So good, that you can't explain it
What can I say? It's complicated
The bar goes silent for a split second before it roars to life with cheers, whistles and hands pounding on tables. In the middle of it all, Akko is still straddling Diana's lap, face in hands, faces so close that their noses are almost touching. They are staring into each other's eyes intently. Hannah and Barbara have their hands to their mouths, wide eyes anticipating what's going to happen. The rest of the girls barely visibly nod, trying to force the action with their stares. Amanda face palms in the background.
Diana's mind is running a million miles an hour. 'She's so close. Is she going to….oh god, is she going to...' Her eyes widen a fraction and she involuntary holds her breath. 'Why is she just sitting there? Just do something!'
Akko's mind is running equally as fast. 'WHAT DO I DO?! Her eyes are so beautiful! And she smells so nice. I wonder what kind of perfume she wears. Her face is really soft. I should probably ask her what kind of products she uses. Wait, am I supposed to be doing something here? Oh gosh, I'm so close to her. Her lips look so soft.'
"Ah geez, just do it already!" Amanda loudly intervenes. She uses her pointer finger to gently nudge Akko's head forward. Well, as gently as possible. But it still results in Akko's lips smashing into Diana's roughly.
"Nnnnn" Akko makes a strained sound at the contact as she releases Diana's face and flails her arms as their lips break contact. She's so flustered that when she tries to dismount the blonde's lap she loses her footing and starts falling to the side of the chair.
"Akko!" Diana grabs onto the brown haired girl but instead of catching her before she falls, the force of the fall only pulls her along. Gravity does what it does best and Diana ends up on top of Akko on the floor.
"Um...oops." Amanda says backing away slowly.
Hannah and Barbara shriek in unison. The rest of the group let out fits of laughter as Diana stares down in shock at Akko beneath her.
"Are you okay?" She whispers.
"Heh...heh. I'm...um...I'm fine. I just….can't...breath..." Akko replies breathlessly.
Diana notices the position they're in and immediately pushes herself off of Akko and stands up straight, brushing out the wrinkles in her clothes. The brown haired girl does the same. They both clear their throats, not able to look each other in the eyes.
"My my, that was quite a show, Miss Kagari."
The laughter stops as everyone turns toward the direction of the voice.
"Croix?! Ursula?!" Akko shrieks in embarrassment.