So...I disappeared for a while (not that anyone probably noticed). My only explanation is that I got very busy, and when I wasn't busy I had other things to do. Don't expect another update any time soon, as I have to discipline myself into writing the next chapter. But there are only 2 more chapters left, so yay! The name of this chapter is a lyric from the song "girls" by girl in red. TW: Minor swearing

Lyrei.

She was all Zarina could think about these days. If not the main thought that consumed her, then Lyrei was at least always present in her thoughts, hovering there, a constant reminder of the questions Zarina had about herself.

It was mostly the latter. Schoolwork and the constant pressure to satisfy her parents (mostly her mother) relegated any thoughts of her best friend to the back of her mind.

But late at night, when she was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, Lyrei was all she could think about. Even when she did find herself able to drift into slumber, the thought of Lyrei always seemed to be able to find its way into Zarina's dreams. She was presently aware that this was not normal for friends, but something inside her could not accept that.

Besides, what if Lyrei did turn out to only like boys, and Zarina was just imagining everything? That was entirely possible; things like that had happened many times before.

Stop thinking. Stop. Thinking.

Zarina rolled over onto her side and exhaled slowly. Then, when that position became too uncomfortable, she sighed again and rolled onto her other side. This was what always happened whenever she was up late at night; no sleeping position could last for more than a few minutes at a time, especially when many thoughts were running through her head.

Eventually, Zarina jumped out of bed and opened up to the back of her Level 5 notebook. That was where she kept any drawings or other random things she did when she was bored. That way, there was no way it could interfere with her current schoolwork.

Underneath a small sketch Lyrei had asked her to do of the two of them at the end of Level 4, Zarina began to redraw it, except it was of them now. Both of them had grown a few inches since then—although Zarina was definitely still taller—and Lyrei had gotten her hair cut shorter, to about chin length.

The doodle made her smile, and soon she found herself back in bed, the world fading away as her dreams replaced reality.

When Zarina next woke up, it was to the sight of her mother standing in front of her bed, yelling at her to get up. The blinds on Zarina's bedroom windows had already been lifted, alerting Zarina to the fact that school would be starting soon.

As she was getting ready, she happened to glance upon the drawing she'd done last night, and finally recognized the feeling that it gave her when she looked at it.

Oh shit.

I have a crush on Lyrei.

This confession to herself, five small words, made it feel like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest, and only now could she properly breathe.

Now that she'd admitted this to herself, Zarina didn't know what to do with it. People didn't normally just tell their crushes they liked them as soon as the crush started right? But then again, when Zarina thought about it she realized that this crush had lasted for a while now. She just hadn't recognized it for what it was.

I'll tell her today, Zarina decided, after orientation.

But she didn't tell Lyrei after orientation, nor did she get a chance to tell her any other time during the school day. There were always other people around, or Lyrei seemed down from the relentless teasing about her status as a Talentless and it just wasn't the right time.

Luckily, however, Rei said just the right thing as they were heading towards the Leapmaster after school.

"Want to come to my house again?"

Rina nodded eagerly, then double checked with her parents just to be sure before linking hands with Rei and allowing the light to carry her away.

Rei immediately led her to the maple tree at the back of her house. Even now, in Level 6, it was still their favorite hangout spot. They'd started using it as their main spot to practice skills, which Rei leaned on even more now that she knew for sure she was Talentless. Rina wasn't as concerned with skills, nor had she ever been; her parents had raised her to rely on her ability instead. However, whatever made Rei happy made Rina happy, so she went along with it anyways.

Today, the chosen skill to work on was levitation. Instead of climbing the maple tree, the two friends took turns levitating themselves up to the highest branch they could reach and then bringing themselves safely back down.

Rei was definitely much better at levitation.

This caused her to be able to reach much higher branches than Rina, effectively ruining any chance Rina had of making conversation with Rei as the two practiced.

She almost wanted to laugh, it was so ridiculous. Every time Rina tried to get a moment alone with her friend, it was as if the universe was against her and was purposefully preventing that conversation from happening.

Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't tell her, Rina thought to herself at one point, but shook the thought away.

Finally, though, Rei became tired and opted to rest on one of the maple branches, high up but not too high that Rina couldn't join her. She did exactly that, sitting a few feet along the branch so she was facing Rei.

She couldn't look at Rei for a while.

Well, she couldn't look at Rei at all—at least not at Rei's eyes. Eye contact was too much pressure right now, and Rina wasn't sure she could say what she wanted to say while also holding eye contact with Rei. This kind of thing always happened whenever Rina had to have a serious conversation; she'd chalked it up to not wanting to be able to see the other person's reaction to what she was saying.

Rina took a deep breath. I can do this. I. Can. Do. This.

"Rei?" she said after five or six beats of silence. "Can I…can I talk to you about something?" She still wasn't looking at Rei, and she wasn't sure if she ever would again. That was much too scary.

"Sure." Rei sounded much too casual for what Rina was about to say.

"Okay."

She didn't say anything after that for a few seconds. Rei didn't either; they both seemed to be waiting for something.

"So…well, I don't really know how to say this, but I've realized that I…I don't like boys. Not like in a romantic way. I like girls." Rei nodded, a thoughtful look on her face, but Rina couldn't really tell what she was thinking. "You're the first person I've told," Rina said more softly, looking away.

A slight smile formed on Rei's face as she said, "I thought I was the only one."

"What! Really?" Rina sat up straighter, her smile widening to match Rei's. "You're being serious, right?"

"Yes. Well, not exactly. I do like girls, but it's not exclusively girls. It doesn't really matter what gender: boys, girls, or people who are something completely different. But I didn't realize there were other people who felt this way, who liked people other than who people think they're supposed to like."

They smiled at each other again, and Rina could feel a sense of victory growing in her, before she remembered that she'd only gotten over one of two very scary parts.

"That's not all," she said, breaking the silence and their smiles. "There's something else that I also need to talk to you about. It, um, it kind of ties into that other thing."

Rei suddenly took on a scary expression of realization and understanding.

Rina gulped and continued.

"So, I've known this for quite some time now, but…when I say I like girls, I don't just mean girls in general. Well, yes, I do like girls in general—" she shook her head and closed her eyes— "but I also mean that I like one girl, specifically."

She let that hang in the air between them before going on, not sure if she had the strength to keep talking.

In a softer voice, so soft it was almost a whisper, Rina added, "You."