Drowning

Paint the Fence

Finley stared at the text message on her phone. It was already typed, all she had to do was press send. Miguel had already promised that he would keep whatever she said a secret, and she trusted that he would, but she had never admitted this to anyone else before and for some reason it was terrifying. She wasn't ready to say it out loud yet, but she figured she could handle texting it. She took a breath and pressed send, sending those 5 little words out into the world, escaping her mind for the first time.

I'm in love with Eli

She clicked her phone off and stared up at her ceiling from where she laid on her bed. It was done, out in the world, no taking it back. After a few minutes she felt her phone buzz, but she didn't look at it right away. Having to face Miguel's response would make everything that more real. And Eli was one of his best friends. Her having a crush was one thing, but saying she loved him? She had no idea how he would react. Finally she looked at her phone.

Miguel 🕷
Really? That's awesome!

Finley smiled slightly.

Finley
You're okay with it?

Miguel 🕷
You're the one that knows
how you feel. And if you
love him, that's adorable

Finley
Shut up 😝

Miguel 🕷
🥰🥰

Finley rolled her eyes. He was such a dork.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was no secret that Finley prided herself on being as good a friend as she could possibly be, so when Demetri called her up asking if they were friends, well needless to say she was a little concerned. She had been extremely confused when the call request popped up on her screen as the boy rarely even texted her, let alone called her. But regardless, she had answered, and was immediately asked if they were friends. After Demetri received the confirmation that they were in fact friends, he proceeded to ask her a favor — one which she had denied Miguel of constantly.

"Look I'm always the weird kid, the odd one out, and we all know I'm not athletic. I'm just asking you to go with me so that maybe it's not so awkward."

Finley's brow was furrowed as she stared at one of the walls of her bedroom. "Karate?"

A heavy sigh answered her. "All of our friends are doing it, and I don't want to be left out anymore. And I have tried Cobra Kai, twice! After being assaulted both times, I figure maybe it's time to look into another dojo."

Finley rubbed her temple. She had avoided getting caught up in karate this whole time, and now he wanted to drag her into it. How could she say yes to him when she had said no to Miguel so many times? Granted Miguel had wanted her to go to just have fun and hang out with them, Demetri was asking her so that he wouldn't feel so alone. She couldn't blame him. Every single one of their friends was at Cobra Kai, but he just couldn't fit in there.

"Why do you need to do karate again? We've been doing just fine without it." Her voice was calm, just trying to figure out where he was coming from.

"It's not really a surprise, I'm not popular, I've never had many friends, but I've always had Eli, and I had Miguel for awhile too." The boy sighed slightly, his defeated breath sounding over the receiver. "But now I feel like I've lost them to Cobra Kai, and I just- I want to be able to protect myself."

Finley couldn't stop the snort that escaped her. "You act like it's gang warfare. It's karate, it's not that deep Demetri."

"Ya know what, just forget I asked."