First Light

43 valentine's party

Saturday 12th of February 2022 (2 weeks later)

Faye:

The kitchen looks so pretty once we've finished decorating it. There are red and pink heart-shaped balloons placed randomly around the room, matching the banners strung along the windows and the cupboards. Gia has even gone so far as to find heart-shaped food like biscuits and chocolates, as well as anything on-theme like the pink frosting cupcakes that Jonah is currently eyeing.

My other flatmates helped with decorating too: Verity, Julianne and Corinne. Normally our interactions are quite limited, but Gia invited them and they all agreed it was a nice idea.

I am three shots in because of the amount of people in the kitchen right now. It's starting to get very claustrophobic.

Marlo grins at me across the room and my mood lifts instantly.

"So, are you excited for Valentine's Day?" Gia asks me in a seemingly innocent way, not being able to prevent the sly smirk that slips through the facade after a couple seconds.

She's asked me this before, but I think she just likes being able to gossip about it.

I smile at her question, not sure if it's the alcohol or the thought of the day making me feel stupidly giddy. "Of course. Are you?"

She sighs exasperatedly at this, touching my shoulder for a second. "Obviously I am, but this is your first proper Valentine's. You've had to put up with mine for 4 years."

"You know I don't mind that, though. I like seeing you be so happy."

Gia does a half-snort, half-laugh thing at this, and then pulls me in to hug her. "Awww, Faye. I love you so much."

I laugh, stepping back from her as she tries to steady herself against the counters. "I love you, too. How much have you had to drink?"

We both laugh.

"Don't change the subject. I wanna make sure Valentine's is the best day for you, you deserve it," She leans in a little closer to me, dropping her voice to a whisper-shout. "Tell me if anything interesting happens."

"Gia," I fake-scold, but I laugh nonetheless.

She's joking of course, I know she'd never try and pry into my privacy, but thinking about the possibility of that happening makes my mouth go dry.

Marlo suggested going ice-skating, which I agreed to. I haven't ice-skated in a while, not since one of my ex-friend's 15th birthday party, so I already know that I'll be bad at it, but Marlo's tried to reassure me by telling me he's decent at it. He promises to catch me if I fall, and to hold my hand so he can keep me steady. I don't know how well this will work.

"We can always go to Camille's if it gets too cold." He had said.

It sounds like it'll be a very good day.

Gia on the other hand, is going with Mikel to a fancy Greek restaurant for dinner. She said we should have a little catch-up and story-time the day after. Girls tell each other basically everything.

Marlo:

To be able to introduce her to people as "my girlfriend, Faye" and talk about her to people is one of my favourite things ever. She is always one of the first things I bring up in conversations. I just feel like I have to say something about her all the time.

Now is one of those times.

There is a girl blatantly flirting with me right now. It's making me feel uncomfortable, and a bit sick, actually.