Aside from being suddenly cast into the role of "lesbian"- Amy had new responsibilities she had to take care of. (With great lesbianism comes great responsibility?)
Her new VIP status required some basic appearances; such as the the Homecoming Dance. But, thankfully, she had some leverage away from the situation considering she wasn't part of the School Activities Board, but, Karma was. And so- she could comfortably stay away from the whole planning situation, but show up, as she was expected to- being elected and all. But that didn't mean she was entirely out of the woods.

Lauren was also part of said Board, with Karma, and she had somehow managed to dictate herself to (Student) Head of the Board. However, Amy could see (and hear) that the tides were starting to turn; and Karma's word was being held higher than that of her vindictive step-sister. This, quite clearly, was causing problems; not for anyone but Lauren and herself, most remotely Karma. Because Lauren still held the sword of power she liked to call "Exposure" and she knew it was sharp and could cut deep; whether it was true or not.

And so, once again, Amy was left grasping at air to try to get ahold of something she could do to save her own skin. (No thanks to Karma...)

"Shane," She whispered from a few desks behind the boy towards the end of their Renewable Resources class. A few heads turned, including Shane, who raised his eyebrows in interest as a silent reply. "I need to talk to you after class,"

He nodded, giving her a thumbs up. Little asshat still thought he had blessed the world with God's greatest gift of lady love, and that he had wonderfully pulled Amy from the closet- making her a lovable figure of the public. "You're like gay Wonderwoman!" He'd once remarked, "Just think about all the people you could be inspiring,"

"And who's Karma?"

He paused, as if that wasn't the reply he was expecting, "Gay Black Widow?"

Amy had rolled her eyes, "Those two aren't even in the same universe,"

And while what he had said about inspiring others felt good, it felt even worse knowing that it was all just an act. Which is exactly why he (the shit) had to help her through this situation- he was the one who put her there first.

"Alone," She said flatly, just as the bell- no, the gong- went off. His smug expression faltered a bit, and he nodded again, gathering his books. Amy did the same.

"What is it?" He asked as they got into the hall, "Trouble in paradise?"

She wanted to reach out and grab him by his ear, shake him around and yell at him for the whole mess. But, she couldn't; that wasn't how she rolled. "Yes, actually," She muttered, glancing at him from the corner of her eye; they had to find somewhere more private.

"Is it you and Karma?" He countered just as quickly; sounding genuinely upset, "Is the fame getting to he-"

"No," Amy cut him off, changing course from her locker, and pushing on the door to the courtyard. Shane followed without question; it wasn't like anyone at this school went to class half of the time, anyway. "It's not me and Karma."

He raised his brows, "So... then what is it?"

Groaning, Amy wished she'd decided on her course of action earlier. Was it Lauren? Was it her mom? Was the problem going to be the whole situation in itself? She wasn't sure how much she should admit to Shane, considering she'd never had much of a conversation with him until he mistakenly outed her. And that, in itself, seemed like a rather untrustworthy thing to do; so maybe spilling the beans to him wasn't the right move... yet.

"It's..." She said slowly, looking for any sign of Lauren, or Karma- and wondering whether or not Karma was with Liam, since that was happening so often lately, "my mom."

"You're..?" He repeated slowly, not quite processing.

"I'm not... out," Amy finished, surprised at the way saying it out loud made her feel all... fidgety. Saying something so legitimate with it's false premises attached. "Not to her."

"Oh."Shane's cheeks flushed; he had realized the gravity of the situation (of Lauren) in split seconds, "And she's..?"

"Really," Amy sighed, knowing what she was about to say wasn't a lie. Not at all. And it was petrifying. "quite homophobic."

Shane nodded briskly, pursing his lips, "Okay," His tone had even changed, softer, less condescending; she let her shoulders drop a bit, "So what do you want me to do?"

"Can you pick me up?" Amy answered quickly, "Pretend to be... my date?"

The boy's mouth hung open slightly, and for a moment Amy wondered if she would have to start using threats to get him to help out, "Okay, but I'm not really into beards," He smirked, and she scoffed in return. But the deal was set. She wasn't sure how else she needed him to help her, but she was dead-set on finding something else for him to do... eventually. When she figured it out.

And, Amy wasn't sure how; Farrah bought their get-up of a normal heterosexual pair of teens going to Homecoming. Even more surprisingly, her mom really rooted for Shane. Like, they really hit it off.

"I like your mom," He mused as the door closed behind them, "She's fabulous,"

Amy rolled her eyes so hard she assumed it was a miracle they didn't get lost in her head, "Well, you don't have to live with her. I think you'd like it less,"

He seemed to process this sympathetically, "Well," He replied slowly, "Yeah, I could see how she could be a little bit... uptight about the whole thing. She seems like one of those people who really want to be living the model, normal life,"

"Yup," Opening the passenger door of Shane's beater, "That's her."

"I hate to tell you this," He sighed, moving around the front of the car, "But you'll have to face it eventually,"

No, Amy thought in exasperation, I won't, but, if I could avoid it for the time being, that would be great.
The ride to Hester was, for the most part, silent (Aside from the radio blaring. Turns out, Shane was a big fan of Katy Perry), and Amy found herself once again considering telling him the truth. But, also once again, she understood that this wouldn't be the time.
So, she thanked him for his service, as well as the ride, and the two of them parted ways. "You still have my vote for Homecoming Queen, though!" He hollered as she began weaving through the crowd, looking for the familiar red-hair somewhere among her peers.

Fucking Homecoming Queen, she thought bitterly, although she wasn't quite sure why. Maybe if he hadn't nominated them and tempted Karma with the idea, then the two of them wouldn't be pretending to be lesbians.

After about her third lap around the dance floor, Amy gave up- throwing her arms across her chest and groaning. She had managed to spot Lauren, however; being fanned over by Leila and Lisbeth like the primadonna she was. One of them was fixing her hair, while the other was holding her punch, listening to the short blonde talk about something animatedly. By the way her nose was scrunched up and there was an annoyed crease between her eyes, Amy figured she must be complaining about the two of them- again. Or about backwards Hester. Actually, most likely, both things at once.

Turning away from that direction, too, Amy cut through the sea of people and headed to the snack table. Observing the assorted snacks that included various cookies, fruit-kebabs, finger sandwiches, and punch bowls, she drummed her fingers against the surface, not entirely sure where to go or what to do. She was lost without Karma, as far as social gatherings went. (And, even at that; the two of them weren't exactly a spell-binding pair. Karma came off as a little bit too eager and pushy half the time, and half the time, Amy said nothing at all.)

Killing time, Amy plucked a fruit-kebab up, and tried to eat some pineapple and cantaloupe, before deciding she had no appetite, and, so, casually, she set the remainder of it down and covered it with a napkin. Next, she poured some punch into a recycled plastic cup, bringing it to her mouth, she noticed it smelled strongly of tangerine and... something much more pungent. Furrowing her brow, she put the cup to her lips and allowed the tiniest sip through her lips; before cringing and placing the cup next to her abandoned kebab.

"Spiked," She muttered to herself, still grimacing, "Definitely spiked. Okay,"

Sighing, she took a few steps back; and that's when she spotted Karma; back facing her, chatting with...

Amy felt something in her deflate.

Liam Booker.

That's so... predictable.

Pulling her lip between her teeth, Amy allowed herself a moment to look at the floor, try to compose whatever it was in her that got ticked off whenever she saw the two of
them together. If only it wasn't Booker, she figured, if only she stopped trying to get someone to like her and waited for the right person to come to her themselves. Karma deserved more than some egotistical douche-lord, but Amy knew too well that she was only after him for just as shallow of reasons. He was good looking. He was the ultimate prize.

And once Karma set her aim on something... well...

Inhaling sharply, Amy tore her eyes from the ground, at the same moment, Liam seemed to notice her. He jutted his chin outwards, as though to point to Karma who was behind them. Not even a proper greeting? I'm her girlfriend, after all.

Karma looked over her shoulder, and when their eyes met, she beamed. And Amy couldn't help but feel herself smile, just a little, in response.

And she couldn't help but feel that smile grow, just a little, when Karma waved goodbye to the boy and started towards her instead. She was holding something in her hands, carefully, as if to keep it safe from all surroundings.

"Hey," Amy said when she approached.

"Hi," The red-head replied, just as enthusiastically, "I got you this," She offered her hands outwards; on it, resting a beautiful, powdered jelly doughnut.

That, made Amy smile ear to ear- all of the moment's anger pouring from her body, "Doughnut?"

Karma laughed, "Yeah, I requested them for you, but, they were going fast," Touched, Amy plucked the dessert from her friend's hands, as she went on, "When I noticed that was the last one. I thought it had Amy written all over it,"

Biting into the powdered heaven, Amy nodded, "Thank you. You're like, the best friend ever,"

"Girlfriend," She corrected without missing a beat, and Amy nodded to that, too, feeling something in her shift as she thought about Liam. Some girlfriend. But she kept quiet.
"So when you're done that, let's dance?"

"I'd be honoured," She mumbled through the mouthful of doughnut.

"Have you seen Lauren?" Karma asked, and Amy continued nodding, "She's so pissed. She knows we've got this in the bag, she knows,"

"Well, we sure sold it," She responded softly, before taking another bite. Karma seemed to stiffen slightly, glancing at her from the corner of her eyes.

Was it something I said?

But then she turned, an earnest expression crossing face, "You sold it. Good job, I was... surprised."

Amy felt the heat rising in her cheeks again, the doughnut going dry against her tongue. "I didn't really think about it," She admitted, before stuffing the rest of the treat into her mouth- mostly to keep herself from maybe saying anything else regarding the situation that could make things worse.

(And I really liked it, perhaps.)

(Are we going to do it again, maybe.)

(She didn't know, but she figured it would be something stupid like that.)

Karma nodded slowly, mouth slightly open, and her eyes trailed away. For that, Amy was glad; because she found her eyes trailing down to the other girl's lips.

"Oh my God," Karma said suddenly, causing Amy snap her gaze away.

"Hrmph?" Was all she could muster around the doughnut.

"Amy," Karma turned and faced her entirely now, "Your mom's here."

She nearly choked.

Farrah Raudenfeld worked for the local news station, ever since Amy was seven years old. Picking up stories, here and there, and hey- at least she seemed kind of passionate about it. That was nice to see, since at home she was the equivalent of a friendless, perfectionist, serial dater.

Scratch equivalent. She was. And it wasn't really her fault, no- Amy didn't blame her.

Well, maybe she'd used to. When she was younger.

Her father had left not long before that; only a few months, right before her seventh birthday. There were tears- more from Amy than from her mother, but, still. She supposed that they were better off that way; without him, that is. And Amy's mother needed a new, better paying job. Being a single mother- she needed to spend a lot of time at work, which meant, for a few years, she'd spent a lot of time at the Ashcroft household.
So, maybe Farrah had an unreasonable expectation of perfection- maybe she just desperately wanted to keep things in order so that her child didn't think things were falling apart (Amy knew they were. She knew what it meant when a dad left. She knew it meant things weren't good enough.). So, maybe Farrah went through men like a whirlwind to try to replace the void he made when he left.

And so, at first, she blamed her mother for not spending enough time with her; she thought maybe she wasn't good enough, either; but her dad left before Farrah could, and so she was stuck with Amy. She'd formed the habit of hating being coddled by her mother. She couldn't shake the feeling of her presence being nothing more than a burden.
But, when she grew up, she sort of got it. Farrah was just doing what she needed to do to keep them standing.

But sometimes, she still had her doubts.

And sometimes, more recently, doubt came in the form of Lauren. When Farrah met Bruce, she'd been thrilled to find out that he had a daughter that was the same age as Amy. She'd come home one night after things had started getting serious (two months into the relationship) and sat down next to Amy on the couch when she'd returned from their date.

"I really like this man," She'd told Amy, putting a hand on her knee that felt like cold, dead weight. Amy had given her a very levelled, indifferent look. "I think he and I... I think he might be the one, Amy,"

She hadn't felt her mouth move, she hadn't felt her eyebrows quirk- nothing. Not a clue for her mother to interpret. She hadn't even thought about what her mother was saying, not a care, not an interest. She'd heard it a few times by now. "He actually has a daughter that's your age, too," She'd thrown her hands up in the air, unable to contain her glee. Amy felt a little selfish for not sharing it; but Farrah didn't notice, "Isn't that just the craziest thing?"

The craziest thing, Amy agreed when she met Lauren. In fact , she didn't even have to meet Lauren; she knew from the second she saw the other blonde emerge from her father's BMW, and envelope her mother in a polite hug. She was beautiful. She was girly, wearing a skirt, heels, and really- she was just dolled up. Amy could immediately pinpoint everything in her that her mother had pushed her to be, although, she'd never said the words.

And, well, when she sat on the sidelines of their conversations, and- good God, they shared interests- Amy knew she was hooped.

So, to repeat; the situation was a nightmare, nonetheless, when Karma pointed out Amy's mother. She felt the blood drain from from her face, her ears rang momentarily, and the doughnut stuck in her throat. In fact, she had to hack it back up; prompting Karma to give her a few rough smacks between the shoulder blades.

"I'll be back," Amy croaked, trying to swallow again. Karma nodded, watching her friend go. Amy pushed through the crowd towards her mother, who hadn't noticed her yet; and when she approached, she tapped the woman on the shoulder, "Mom?" She asked, feeling struck like a deer in the headlights, "What're you doing here?"

Please tell me I forgot something, she prayed to any God that might be listening, please tell me I just forgot my Epi Pen.

"Amy," Her mother greeted, apparently not so keen on her daughter's tone, "Well, I'm just waitin' to get the show on the road here,"

"What does that mean?" She inquired quickly, tensing.

Farrah sighed, "I'm supposed to be interviewing the Homecoming candidates- word is, is that there's lesbians running, is that right?"

Clearly her prayers went unanswered. "Uhh..." She croaked, struggling to keep the horror from sending her sprinting out of the gym, "Yeah..."

"Well, do you know where those two gals are?"

Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit

"No," She answered, turning away, quickly, "But Karma might- stay here,"

She didn't wait for her mother's reply, instead, she immediately started scurrying back towards her best friend, who had seemed to be watching from afar, wincing in a kind of silent shock.

"She needs to interview the lesbians, Karma," Amy blurted urgently as she approached, clutching the back of her own neck and squeezing, "Karma, my mom needs to interview the lesbians,"

"Okay, okay," The girl soothed, pulling a lip between her teeth and reaching out, prying the hand off of the back of Amy's neck, "Calm down. We can..."

"There's no way around it!" She felt hysterical; she hadn't imagined the encounter to cause her so much sudden stress. Sure, she liked not to imagine the encounter at all, but, she knew there was the slightest chance.

She just didn't expect it to be like this.

"Fuck," Amy hissed, stamping a foot against the ground in frustration, "Can we abort mission?"

But Karma wasn't looking at her anymore. She was looking past her. "I think it might be too late," She murmured. Amy turned, seeing Penelope chatting it up with her mother, beaming, and then waving a hand to indicate Farrah to follow her.

"Oh sweet bloody Mary," The disbelief coursed through her body as if it was in her very blood, and she dropped her head into her hands in defeat.

"Hang in there," Karma attempted to pacify her, but she seemed like she was at just a lack of tact as Amy. "We'll figure it out,"

"Well hi, Amy..?" Her mother's voice was full of confusion- Amy could imagine she was slowly getting the gears to process in her head, but not fully grasping the concept. She turned, grinning sheepishly under the weight of the doom that seemed to be pressing down on her, and solely her.

"Oh," Penelope twittered happily, "You two know each other?"

Farrah was unable to pull her eyes away from the scene; Amy, standing before her, next to Karma... The same Karma that had been friends with Amy for years. "Yes..." The older woman replied slowly, "Amy is my daughter,"

Penelope's smile gradually cracked as the awkwardness of the situation dawned on her, "Oh," She said a bit more flatly this time, casting her eyes downwards, "I see."

Amy saw the cameramen appear behind her mother, and he tapped the woman lightly on the arm. This seemed to pull Farrah back to reality, and she turned to face him- he put a finger against his wrist as though to indicate the time. Amy gave Karma a sideways glance; she looked like she was in pain for the sake of her friend, "It'll be okay," She insisted quietly, but Amy's breath was already catching in her throat, "Karms?"

"Yeah, Amy?"

"What do you think the chance is of me spontaneously combusting right now?"

Karma took a thoughtful pause, before replying, "Slim."

Before she could stop it, Amy heard a small whimper escape her throat, and Karma reluctantly placed her hand on her upper arm. But it wasn't enough of a vice.

Fuck it, she already thinks we're dating, she thought, grasping Karma's hand in her own and holding on. Tight. Her friend didn't complain this time, and instead pressed a smile as Farrah turned around; obviously she had taken the small amount of time to compose herself.

"Right, well, let's get on with it then," The woman proposed, now gripping her reporter's microphone with a white-knuckled fist.

Karma shuffled a bit closer to Amy, who was trying hard not to look absolutely mortified as the little red light on the camera blinked on.

"I'm here at Hester High," The woman started, but Amy couldn't focus on that.

Holy shit how was she going to clean this one up?

Beyond her mother's head, she spotted Lauren; who appeared to be both blown away but entirely satisfied that Amy had been discovered without any devious help from her. But, she was eating it up, nonetheless.

"-With one of our Homecoming Queens, Karma Ashcroft!" The woman announced, ushering Karma towards the mic. Shocked, she let Karma's fingers free of her own- by the way the red head's face gave a stunned flash, it was evident that the whole ordeal had been picked up and put on it's back. "Karma," Her mother said sweetly, "How does it feel to be part of the pair for Hester's first same-sex Homecoming Queens?"

"Uh," This was one of the few times she'd seen Karma rendered speechless. "It- uh," Nervous laughter escaped her; Amy cast a look at Penelope, who looked like she had been bewildered into an out of body experience.

And Lauren's mouth hung open in disbelief.

Did Farrah really somehow miss the point that... they were both the Homecoming Queens? Was she in denial? Or did it just go over her head?

"Well," Karma cleared her throat, stumbling over her words, "It's an honour, obviously. The support we-" Her eyes scanned the room, as though she wasn't sure how thin of a line she was supposed to be walking on to get around the elephant in the room (which was, obviously, that Amy was the other half of the ensemble) "-have had, has been incredible. Truly. Um,"

Farrah was nodding along, but when Karma trailed off again, she moved the mic away, back to herself, "Now, pardon me if this is too personal; but how has coming out changed your... perspective? Day to day life?"

At this, Karma's eyebrows shot upwards, "Oh," She laughed nervously, her cheeks gradually becoming a darker shade of red, "It's been... different, but... everyone's been very... accepting,"

There was no way Farrah couldn't know what was happening, she may be daft but she is purposefully avoiding it this time.

Purposefully sweeping Amy under the rug because she didn't want to face the facts the Amy could somehow not be the perfect daughter she dreamed of. She already wasn't.
But, this, to her mother- she knew that being gay would just be too taboo. People would stare at her. Farrah would be the parent of the gay kid, how humiliating.

Amy felt her hands curl at her sides, clenching, and releasing. Taking a deep breath in through her nose, she moved into the frame next to Karma, trying to nonchalantly intertwine their fingers again (Although her palms are clammy. Hopefully Karma doesn't mind).

"Oh, hi, Amy," Her friend greeted uncertainly- Amy could feel that the other girls hands are just as sweaty. Well, good. Let them be sweaty messes together.

(Not like that).

But, she slowly feels the courage drain from her. She leans forward into the microphone that was being held in front of Karma, "Hi,"

Her mother blinked frantically, trying to keep calm under the circumstances, "And this is..?"

"Amy," She said, voice only shaking slightly, "Daughter, sister, friend..." She peeked at Karma through the corner of her eye, and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat, "girlfriend,"

Saying it out loud was liberating, to say the least. She felt the immense weight being taken off her shoulders- faking it or not, it wasn't a secret anymore. Lauren wouldn't have that kind of power over her anymore. That, felt great.

And whether her mother had expected it or not; the sentiment seemed to startle her into a commercial break- and the two of them took off, only to be crowned twenty minutes later. For once, watching Lauren scowl at the two of them from afar felt absolutely lovely.

"That was awesome," Karma remarked, her arms slung around Amy's neck as they shared their Homecoming Dance. Amy was trying not to think about how nice it was to have her own hands around Karma's waist, "You totally owned it,"

She just laughed; she was also trying hard not to think about how deep of a shit pool she was going to be walking into when she got home.

She watched her friend's eyes wander past her momentarily, catching ahold of something else; Amy let out a small puff (which Karma didn't notice), she didn't have to guess what it was.

"Things are going well with Liam and I," She stated happily, "I think we might... take it to the next level,"

Amy's breath hitched in her chest; with images of what the hell that could mean flashing through her mind, along with what the hell level had they already been on?

"Wow, that's..." She tries to push those images out of her mind- immediately, "fast, don't you think?"

Karma shrugs in response, not catching onto the way Amy's fingers gripped her waist a little bit tighter, "I don't think so. Popular people sleep with popular people- it's like, the circle of life,"

And she really wished she hadn't heard any of that come out of her best friend's mouth. Not only was she wrong- on so many levels- it was just... awful.

"You only want to sleep with him because he's popular- and you're now popular?"

"Well, no, that's not what I mean,"

Amy raised her brows, "Then what is?"

Leave it to the universe to make a shit situation somehow worse. Even when she was trying to make the best of just fake coming out for the sake of her fake girlfriend so that she could... do this very thing.
Be popular. Get the boy.

And that's when it occurred to Amy- what did she get out of it?
(Well, it had occurred to her on several instances before now, but, she went with it. And she knew she still would. But just now, it occurred to her again, and it pissed her off, a little. A lot.)

The universe, she concluded, is a fucking dick.

Karma sighed, giving her friend a pleading look, "I like him, Amy. And for once- he likes me,"

He likes the person you made, she wanted to point out. But as the song ended, Karma dropped her hands; their mandatory dance was over. A bit more hesitantly, Amy did the same.

And she noticed the way Karma was basically itching to go running over to Liam.

"Go," She sighed, "Go dance with him. Have fun,"

She'd go home. Her work was done here. She'd came, she'd been crowned, they'd had their dance, and she'd come out to her mother. Every necessary thing Karma needed her
for had been fulfilled- and more. So she could leave; Karma could stay and have her night with Liam.

Lord knows that Amy would much rather be at home watching a documentary in her pyjama's anyway. Sure, she'd have the most uncomfortable face-off with her mother when she got there, first, but- regardless, she could be in bed by eleven o'clock. That was a lot more appealing to her than staying and watching Karma tear up the dance floor from the sidelines.
And so she found Shane, she asked him to drive her home- and he patted her on the back for her "courage". She'd resisted the urge to mock the entire situation while she took off her kitten heels and walked barefoot to his car. But resisting the tears that came with it was even worse.

Karma had learned a few things about Liam Booker.

One of those things was that he had a way with words. And, that way with words involved him constantly putting his own foot in his mouth and getting away with it because of his charming good looks. It was just a fact. Karma knew it was a fact because, hey- she let him get away with it. No matter how many times he blundered over something borderline asshole-ish. (Recall: I've always wanted to sleep with a lesbian.)

But, to be fair, she didn't exactly have a great track-record of always coming across like she meant to. (Recall: popular people sleep with popular people.)

She didn't want to think that she was being one of those girls; the kind who genuinely just wanted to sleep with a boy because he was popular. She liked Liam- despite his many blunders. He had... good intentions, but when he'd said what he'd said; Karma had to reevaluate.

Liam wanted to sleep with a lesbian? Fine.

But Karma had to make sure he actually liked her first. They could sleep together. Fine. They could sleep together while she was a lesbian and then she could come clean- call herself bisexual or experimenting or whatever it was- and no one would ever know the harm. Sure, the initial shock of his statement had sent her reeling a few steps backwards, but she came to her conclusions pretty quick; it wasn't very difficult.

Liam Booker was still Liam Booker. And he was starting to like her; Karma Ashcroft.

At first she was worried she might be reading into it all a little too much; but she couldn't help but notice the way his eyes softened when they were together. Or the way he'd sneak glances at her lips while she spoke (It wasn't like she wasn't doing the same, because she so was), or the way even his voice would become more gentle in the way he spoke. She was pretty sure that when she'd asked to take some time apart, Liam may have realized what he could have been losing; because since then, they'd taken it a bit slower. Sure, they still hadn't kissed, but the sexual tension was killer. They were building up to that; which would only make it better when it finally happened, Karma knew.
And she thought it was going to happen the night of Homecoming. After Amy had given her blessing, she and Liam shared a few dances, a few snacks, and at the end of the night, he'd accompanied her outside to where her parents were waiting in the Good Karma van. They had stood on the steps in front of Hester, and their goodbye had lasted longer than usual, and it had a lot of wistful lip watching. Karma had wondered that if her parents weren't eagerly waiting her proud return as reigning lesbian Homecoming Queen, if they would have.

She liked to think so.

"See you later," He'd murmured eventually, breaking the silence, offering her a sheepish grin. It was the darn cutest thing Karma had seen since that time Amy fell in the mud outside of Nando's and pouted up at her (while she, of course, couldn't contain her giggles, but dutifully helped her to her feet).

Now there's a thing; Amy.
She hadn't actually seen her since she gave said blessing- Karma just assumed she went home to enjoy her alone time- maximum social outings for her best friend usually consisted of three hours, tops. Not that there was anything wrong with that- the excitement was over, anyways. Although, she did feel a little bit bad for her; Amy's mom was going to flip- fake lesbians or not.

But, she supposed, Amy wouldn't have done it if she knew she couldn't handle it. She admired her for that. And she was glad that, clearly, she was starting to become a bit more courageous as far as actions went.

Who knew coming out as lesbians would give her that little push?

She wished Amy could let loose a little about the Liam thing, however. It wouldn't take a psychic to see that Amy remained begrudgingly unimpressed with the guy despite all of the good things Karma has told her. Maybe it would just take a little bit more time for her to warm up to it, she thought, things were happening pretty quickly.

But quick didn't necessarily mean bad.

And that was in regards to all situations, really. She'd talked to Amy about how things went with her mother, and she had shrugged, although, Karma could see something close off in her eyes, "Oh, it was... well, how you'd expect," She said dryly, "But, short-lived."

"Oh?" Karma wasn't sure how to interpret that, "Care to explain?"

Amy sighed, the two of them were inspecting the grass in the courtyard for a flat spot where they could eat their lunch. Karma even packed a small picnic blanket under her arm; she was ready to set the picture perfect scene- and Amy didn't even seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't say anything about it.

"To be honest, she just got kind of wigged out and shut it down," The blonde explained, "Which was fine with me. The less of this crap I have to deal with, the better,"

"Excellent way to look at it," Karma agreed positively, coming to a halt. Here would suffice. "Sorry it got kind of weird, though,"

Casually flipping the blanket out onto the grass, Karma watched as Amy halted to, mouth opening and closing a few times as she mentally tried to get a grasp on a reply. "Well, I mean," The girl started, before bending down to help straighten out the corners of the blanket, "It's a bit.. different, you know? I kind of feels like I'm being... someone else. But it kind of feels good," She admitted, appearing lost, "I don't mind it,"

Amy. Good, good, Amy. "Well, I'm glad you don't mind," She said- sincerely meaning it. How lucky she was to have a friend as selfless as Amy- she wouldn't want to be fake girlfriends with anyone else.

It was honestly a relief to know that Amy didn't mind it- Karma had been worried that their ruse was causing her friend more stress than it was worth. After all, while it may have been allowing her own fantasies to come true- Amy wasn't really reaping the benefits. She knew she didn't care much for popularity. And she wasn't using the newfound fame to capture any cute boys.

"We should find you a secret boyfriend, Aims," She mused thoughtfully. The girl froze momentarily, one hand reaching into her backpack, before she lifted her brow quirkily, "I don't think I need another secret relationship,"
At this, Karma noticed the way her friend shrank a little; twisting her lips uncertainly, and removing lunch box (so Amy) from the depths of her bag. Amy must've been just as aware that she was getting about as much out of this as a bucket without a bottom.

But she didn't mind.

Well, easy. Karma just had to figure out what Amy really wanted- what she could get out of this- and help her get it. Or, even better, gift her friend with it- so to speak. Game on.

And a little plan spun in her mind- she would figure it out. She would be hell bent on it. But, to do that; she had to get Amy out there a little.

Sighing, Karma straightened up a little, "Okay, yeah- maybe not,"

Amy wasn't looking now, but she was nodding, focused on deciding which piece of food she should have first. Apples, or Oreos?

Karma knew Amy would pick the Oreos first. She had this dilemma almost every day; junk food, or healthy food first?

Which was why Karma had to act fast- unlocking her cell phone, she opened up the camera feature, "We'll figure it out," She promised, carefully making her way across the blanket towards Amy. And now- she had paused, looked up, and paid attention; the faintest crease forming between her eyes in curiosity.

They'd kissed once in the gym already. What was the big deal? That was for something- and so was this.

She closed their lips together; thankfully, Amy didn't question it, like Karma half expected she would.
Softly, she held Amy there (and this is where it got tricky) and sneakily raised her arm- the one she'd been clutching her cell phone with- and blindly snapped a photo. If all went well, she would have actually caught something; not just space and air.

And, it would be even better if the photo was half decent.

Pulling away, Karma felt her pulse slow down a little- good. It went without a hitch. Grinning, she brought the phone back against her and observed the image.

"What was that?" Amy inquired- but she was still smiling. It was such a good thing Amy didn't mind.

Karma was ecstatic; the picture had turned out in the best way possible- although, it felt strange to look at herself kissing Amy. It looked... right wasn't the word she was looking for- but it looked natural.
God, she wondered, how many other friends would look this good kissing?

It was so on, "Our new Instagram picture," She replied, wiggling her eyebrows- extending the phone towards the blonde to see. She squinted at it, but didn't take it in her hands.
"Looks good," She replied, before taking a bite from the Oreo. It was fortunate to see they both agreed.

When it came to Liam; quick didn't seem quick enough, but, Karma had to compose herself and remember that she was playing hard to get for a very good reason.

She'd stopped by the art room after lunch, which was always where he seemed to be around that time (he was in there most of the time, anyway. Karma really had to ask him about his classes...), and hung around in the doorframe for a moment; watching him sculpt... something.
"So what's this piece about?" She asked, after the moments of trying to decipher it had come up blank. Liam jumped slightly, startled; but when he saw her, he broke into a grin.

"To be honest," He carefully put a clay-crusted instrument down on the table, next to his... whatever it was, "I don't really know."

It looked kind of like those sculptures from Beetlejuice; all abstract and without true figure. But, honestly, it didn't come off as one of those obscure "decide for yourself" type art pieces; it just seemed like Liam didn't know what the hell he was doing.

"Well," Karma smiled, "It's nice."

"Thanks," The boy tried to dust some of the clay off of his hands, "So what brings you here?"

She raised a coy eyebrow; she'd been coming here so often lately that he knew the excuse, "Oh, you know- Geometry. Same old, don't wanna go,"

"Fair," He laughed, catching onto Karma's playful tone, "Should've guessed it,"

"Yup," She rocked on her heels- they were the only two in the room- also, as usual around this time. He must have had a free block or a spare key or something to always be in
here. She drifted over to the little sofa in the corner (for an art room, it was always so dark. You'd think they'd invest in some better lighting), "So I thought I'd come see what was up,"

"Oh, well," He gestured to the sculpture vaguely, before making his way over, "As you can see; not a whole lot."

"So we'd have time to squeeze in a chat?" Karma asked hopefully, blinking up at him. See, she'd come to the conclusion that her and Booker were definitely happening. No matter how much skirting around the bush that they were doing- and going to continue to do. They'd taken it sufficiently slow for the last two weeks. And things were going to happen on her terms.

His eyes widened, "What kind of chat?" He sounded pressed- like he had done something wrong.

But the real problem would come with how to ease into it. Karma wasn't very good at easing. She liked to take the leap of faith- or, as Amy referred to it; jump head first into the water without checking whether or not it was shallow.
 She had a point. It had been shallow a few times. But she didn't think it was so shallow this time.

The breath hitched in her throat as a dozen ways she could potentially maybe start the conversation buzzed through her mind. But none were right.

So she'd jump.

"Can we kiss?"

Liam appeared astonished, his jaw dropped- and Karma was immediately kicking herself for not being a bit more God damn smooth about it.

That was, until he grabbed her by the chin and tilted her head upwards to meet his and-

Yes.

The moment was finally here. She was finally Karma Ashcroft- kissing Liam Booker.

Point, set, match.