𝐁𝐀𝐆𝐒 | 𝐉𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐌𝐈'𝐈𝐊𝐄

twenty-one.

"how was school?" eden dropped her bag on one of the kitchen chairs before turning to face her mother who was slicing tomatoes on the countertop. "is that an actual question or are you angling for gossip?" her mother raised a brow. "no it was me asking as subtly as possible if everything went ok," she smiled a little. "well regina is apparently going to be ok," eden leant against the table. "but everyone still blames cady for her even being hit by the bus in the first place and also she decided to admit in calc that she wrote in the burn book about miss norbury being a drug pusher."

"no one actually believed that last part," her mother laughed at the idea. "well obviously no one thinks miss norbury is a literal drug pusher," eden rolled her eyes. "she only wrote it because of some random boy who currently hates her guts." her mom had resumed slicing the tomatoes. "what about you?" she asked. "do you feel the same?" eden paused momentarily, it was hard to explain her current feelings towards cady because her mind had been such a jumble ever since regina had been hit by that bus. "i don't know," eden sighed. "she really hurt janis, i've never seen her that upset."

her mother nodded slowly. "so no more fighting between you and janis?" she had her back turned to the girl, focusing on spilling the tomatoes into the sizzling pan on the stovetop. "you talked everything out?" now was eden's perfect opportunity, she'd been waiting for a moment that was right and it had been dropped into her lap. "yeah, um-" she trailed off awkwardly, causing her mom to spin around to face her. "what?" she asked. "nothing," eden shrugged. "we talked it out, everything is fine." her mom looked unconvinced but turned her attention back to the pan while eden felt a pang of guilt shoot through her body. her mom had never been anything but supportive so why was she finding it so hard to tell the woman about her and janis?

✭

"what do you mean, you couldn't tell her?" damian asked, panic in his tone. he was leant against the locker beside eden's as she pulled out her french textbook. "i don't know," eden groaned. "she wouldn't care that i'm with janis, she's been rooting for it for years, what is wrong with me?" she slammed her locker door shut, gaining a couple of curious glances from the students milling past them. "ok, calm down," damian sighed. "you're serious about janis, right?"

"of course i'm serious about her," eden replied. "what if she's not serious about me, what if this doesn't last and then i have to go and tell my mom to forget all about that relationship because she broke up with me!" damian frowned at her. "is this what your brain looks like 24/7?" he asked. "because if it is, i'm sorry." eden scowled at him, snapping damian back to the current topic of conversation. "you're overthinking it, as usual," he patted eden sympathetically on the shoulder. "everyone can tell that she is madly in love with you." he tilted his head before a small smile spread across his face. "but you two really haven't got the chance to just date," he grinned. "with all the drama going on, maybe you should plan something?" he nudged her. "and maybe i could help?"

eden considered it, damian was right. with all the plastics drama, janis and eden really hadn't gotten a chance to just be them without all the pressure looming over them. she had spent years wanting to be with janis, planning a date wouldn't be the worst idea. "ok?" eden replied, her tone coming out more quizzical than she had intended. damian clapped his hands excitedly before pulling out his phone. "ok give me your best idea."

✭

janis had channelled everything into art for as long as eden had known her, it was what she loved and it was what she excelled at. eden on the other hand was not the most artistic, but she loved watching janis and how happy being able to create things made her. so naturally eden's best date idea was taking janis to a pottery class. she had seen it on janis' list of things she had wanted to do a couple of months back and it seemed perfect, artistic enough for janis to love it while eden could paint with one solid colour and not fail miserably at the same time. it seemed like a win-win scenario.

"you're cute," janis smiled gently at her as eden held open the door for the girl. "and this is a cute idea." eden blushed furiously, something that was becoming a regular occurrence which janis found incredibly amusing. "even if damian might've mentioned it earlier." eden rolled her eyes and made a mental note to strangle her best friend the next time she saw him. "i'm never telling him anything ever again," eden sighed. "what did you expect?" janis laughed. "it's damian, he doesn't know how to keep a secret."

eden checked in at the desk before she led janis to two empty stations. "any specific reason for this?" janis asked, settling down beside eden. "well technically we haven't actually been on a date," eden shrugged. "i don't think your garage counts when we've been there constantly since middle school." janis laughed a little. "and also we've been a little overshadowed by everything else," eden continued. "i mean we were dating for a week when everything with cady went wrong, it's been stressful." janis bit down on her lower lip.

"yeah i think i've wasted enough time on her," she replied finally, a small smile on her face. "i want to focus on us, i don't care about anything or anyone else anymore." she took her hand off the wheel for a moment, turning to face eden. "why are you looking at me like that?" eden asked, averting her eyes to avoid blushing like a complete fool. "well i was going to ask you to spring fling but if you're going to be a-" eden's 'yes' cut off the rest of janis' playful mocking. "seriously?" janis asked. "you're not going to make it hard for me?" eden rolled her eyes. "i'm your girlfriend in case you'd forgotten," she commented. "it's pretty obvious we're going together." she grinned at her. "and when have i ever made anything hard for you?"

janis leant forward and kissed her softly before she pulled back. eden had never been one that was great with public displays of affection but she never really cared when she was with janis. "we're doing matching outfits, right?" eden asked. "because if we're not, that's a dealbreaker." janis rolled her eyes. "we are not doing matching outfits," she replied. "at least tell me what colour you're wearing," eden pleaded. "we can't be mismatched, damian will literally kill us." janis shook her head. "i'm already regretting asking you," she joked. "oh please," eden nudged her. "you couldn't regret anything with me if you tried." janis bit back her smile. "i guess you're right," she sighed. "you're lucky i'm in love with you."