OH MY DARLING! || LOUIS

4 | EPIPHANY.

"DO YOU LIKE MITCH?" Stephanie's voice is soft and cautious, a little heavy with fatigue. Jamie turns her head towards the side of Stephanie's room. The other girl is looking up at the ceiling, her hands folded neatly at her lap. Surprisingly very un-Stephanie like.

Jamie pouts her lips. "Of course, he's my friend." She knew what Stephanie was getting at but the thought of even being somewhat romantic with Mitch made her want to throw up. It wasn't anything mean and she knows that Mitch would react the same way. They were like brother-sister. Siblings. Stephanie knew that, or Jamie hoped she did.

"That's not what I mean."

"I know." Jamie pauses. "Do you?"

"Gross." Stephanie blanches. It was dark but Jamie could just picture the scrunch of her face. "He's such a little monkey."

They were only nine years old. Jamie has been in Ericson's Boarding School for a few months, probably edging towards a year before they watched a teacher get eaten at the front gates. She thinks that it's almost her birthday because the weather was starting to get even more chilly and her birthdays were always during the cooler months. Maybe she was finally ten and didn't even realize it. No matter her age, she never really thought about having crushes.

She knows that Stephanie had a small crush on that weird girl with braces, her name was always easy to forget—something with an E. Jamie doesn't know if Stephanie still has the crush since she hasn't talked about it in a while.

And Jamie knows she hasn't like-liked anybody before. At least, she doesn't think she has but she still wants to indulge Stephanie on it. It had to be a little important since it's keeping her awake.

"How do I know?" She asks, fully turning her body to the side to face Stephanie. The latter does the same, a giddy smile on her lips. Jamie is only considers four other people her friend—Stephanie included. The other three was Mitch, Marlon, and of course Louis. Even if she spends most of her time with Mitch and Stephanie now—the three of them had the most classes together—she still tried to stick around Louis and Marlon when she can. It didn't help that Mitch didn't particularly like Louis either.

"Well," Stephanie pauses with a dreamy look in her eyes. Jamie could tell that she's thinking of that girl with braces. Erin, she finally remembers with a smile. "It feels like someone is squeezing your heart when they even look at you. And your stomach feels weird."

Jamie giggles. "That doesn't sound nice."

Stephanie meets her gaze from across the room. Both their eyes finally adjusted to the dark. "Just...when you know, you know." She raises her eyebrows. "So, do you have anybody in mind?"

Jamie thinks it through properly. Liking someone meant wanting to hug or kiss them on top of the weird feelings Stephanie explained...right? She definitely didn't mind hugging Mitch but it wasn't like she actively sought after it. Jamie just liked the physical attention and she liked bothering Mitch on top of it all. She thinks she could have liked Mitch, maybe if things were just a little different.

Then, she shakes her head. "No. Mitch is just like my brother."

"What about the other two?"

"Marlon and Louis?" She questions with a tilt of her head. Marlon was just the same. He was basically family, the one that helped her when she was left alone in Ericson's. Louis was...Louis. He was a little annoying at first but she got used to it. He helped her open up when she shut herself out. "Nah."

"Maybe one day, then." Stephanie turns on her back again and Jamie guesses that the conversation is over.

Jamie hums. "Maybe."