Losing Game -Rosenali

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   Denali walked into her final party of junior year arm in arm with Olivia and Kahmora as always. Kahmora let out an excited squeal as they moved towards the kitchen.

"I can't believe we're basically seniors!" She gushed as they made their way to the kitchen after saying hi to Vanjie.

"I know," Liv agreed. "Time is moving so quickly. It's weird to think that we only have one more year together."

Denali felt the smile on her face falter a little bit at Olivia's words. Even though she knew that graduation was basically around the corner and she only had around a little over a year of her childhood left, the thought had never really hit her before. She squeezed Olivia's hand as they walked, trying to push her worries about the future down and have fun in the moment.

"Don't talk about sad, sappy stuff" Kahmora whined, "have fun!"

Denali's face broke out into a grin as she laughed at Kahmora's joke. She attempted not to think about how much she would miss those if they went to separate colleges.  When the girls finally pushed through the clumps of people and made it to the kitchen, they found Gigi and Crystal there waiting for them. Gigi, Crystal, and Kahmora all took a shot but Denali decided that she wanted to stay sober tonight. She always tended to make bad choices when she was drunk, and tonight she needed to be in a clear headspace.

Around thirty minutes later, the group of girls were dancing in the living room. No one was at the level where they were drunk but it was safe to say that Crystal and Kahmora were getting there and Gigi was definitely a little bit buzzed. Every time that the door of Vanjie's house opened, Denali felt her head snap in that direction. She was waiting for her to walk in but she didn't necessarily want the other girls to know that. After Olivia noticed Denali turn abruptly to the door for the fourth time in a row, the questions began. 

"What's up Denali? You basically jumping every time the door opens." Olivia asked, looking a little concerned but mostly amused.

"Nothing I-" she was cut off by Kahmora, who always spoke her mind but was braver when she was intoxicated.

"I bet she's waiting for Rosé," she taunted slightly with a tiny wink towards Denali who rolled her eyes in return. Denali felt her cheeks go pink as she blushed at the comment.

"I'm not," she defended but stopped trying at the looks on everyone's faces.

"You totally are!" Crystal cheered. "Oh my god, Rosé would be so happy if she knew that you still liked her." Gigi nudged her a little and Crystal slapped her hand over her mouth. "Whoops, I definitely wasn't supposed to tell you that but I'm sure you could tell anyways. It's like super obvious."

Denali zoned out slightly and all the noise, the party, the music, Crystal's drunk ramblings began to fade away as she thought about Rosé. So it was true, Rosé still had feelings for her. She had thought so all along but she could never be sure until now, until this moment when Crystal told her.

"Nals? Denali? Earth to Denali?"

Denali was snapped out of her weird trance after hearing her name spoken a few times.

"Sorry, " she replied, not quite knowing who exactly she was apologizing to. 

"So, what do you think you're gonna do? Do you and Rosé have a chance?" Olivia asked, a sort of hopeful, reassuring smile on her face.

"I don't know" Denali answered truthfully. And that was the truth, she didn't know what she wanted. On one hand, Denali really liked Rosé. She loved spending time with her, talking with her, looking at her. She loved catching Rosé looking at her and when the world seemed to stop when they made eye contact. She loved how Rosé could make her feel and she loved the idea of being with Rosé again.

But that was where she was at a loss. She loved the idea of being with Rosé again but in all honesty she didn't know if that would end well for either of the girls. Rosé had lied to her, what if Denali couldn't trust her again. Their relationship would never work if they didn't have trust. What if they did get back together but then went to different colleges and ended up heartbroken some how. Denali didn't know if she could go through another Rosé heart break. She didn't want to go through anymore heart breaks again, especially in high school.

"You'll figure it out, you have time" Olivia reassured her. Denali nodded half heartedly, right now time was moving so fast, it felt like she had the opposite of time. Her thoughts were interrupted again when Vanjie's front door swung open again and in walked Rosé. Perfect Rosé that made her heart flutter and her legs go weak.

Her eyes met Rosé's from across the room. She felt a heat rise to her cheeks as she saw Rose's nervous smile. She felt Olivia's hand squeeze hers and she turned away from Rosé, and towards her friends. "Go," Olivia mouthed to her. She nodded and turned back towards the door where Rosé was still standing.

It was then that she made up her mind. She didn't care that she had made a promise to herself not to put herself in a position where she might get hurt again because when her eyes locked with Rosé's, getting hurt didn't feel like a possibility. She looked at Rosé, and Rosé stared back with a smile on her face.

Denali cleared her throat, took a deep breath and made her way over to Rosé who was smiling nervously. Mik, Symone, and Jan, who she had walked in with had made their way over to Liv, Gigi, Kahmora and Crystal by now.

"Hey," Rosé said somewhat shyly.

"Hi," Denali replied.

Suddenly, Denali wasn't nervous anymore because judging from her heart skipping beats and Rosé's shy smile, she had nothing to worry about.