Ambi One Shots

Saturated

                                   By: brunnhildc

For the first night in far too long, Andi had a dream. Whether it truly counted as a dream or not could be debated, but she knew she saw something. It was like a picture that she couldn't completely see. She saw colors, too, but they were painfully saturated and mind numbingly bright. The only thing comparable to it are the blotches of color you see when you stand up too quick. But this.... this was still a bit different.

But she still went to school like nothing happened, quickly joining Cyrus and Buffy. She forgot about what she had seen—until it was the end of the school day and she was about to start home with her fellow good hair crew members. Jonah and Amber. She saw the two at a table, simply chatting as friends do.

Suddenly, there was a weight in her chest. Her throat closed up for a moment and she gulped. She turned away, knowing all too well that Cyrus would have probably commented that she's staring and that's a little rude. But then some force drifted her eyes back, and upon that second look, the feeling of being shut up inside herself retracted and the entire feeling shifted. Suddenly the weight in her chest felt not of guilt or envy, but of simple nervousness. And a pinch of cockiness. And there were butterflies in her stomach now, but it was like those butterflies laid eggs and there were thousands more than necessary. She was oddly aware of every breath she took when she finally turned to her friends.

Walking back home, it felt surreal. She had to admit it was an incredible feeling, like her feet would float off the ground in a moment if she didn't put her effort into keeping them grounded. It was wonderful.

But on the other hand, what if she wanted to stay grounded? Yes, it was a feeling like no other, but she couldn't decide if that was good. She knew the feeling of liking someone like it was the back of her hand, and this surely wasn't it. It was similar, though. Similar but amplified. Just thinking about it made her a bit dizzy. After the situation between Walker and Jonah she'd decided she'd had enough of looking for love and that this would be the end of it.

But it burned in her mind. Why had she never felt anything like this before? What was it and what did it mean? The only logical conclusion was Jonah. Maybe she wasn't over him completely; so what? He seemed happy now and ruining it wouldn't do anyone any good. Besides, she was young and dumb and had plenty of time to figure it all out.

As she lied in her bed that Thursday night, she had no other choice but to think. She pictured the scene in her mind, but her mind kept getting carried away to... Amber? No. It's Jonah, right? Yeah, definitely.

So she waited tomorrow for the feeling to come back and confirm her thoughts. Except Jonah was out sick that day. No big deal at all, since it didn't return anyway. Just one thing lingered in the back of her mind—oversaturated colors.

After school, the good hair crew took a vote over where to get some baby taters and the overwhelming, unanimous result was The Spoon. So there they went.

Only problem was, Amber was their waitress. Then the feeling came back.

"Oh, I forgot! I have to, uh," Andi trailed off, "be right back." Cyrus and Buffy furrowed their eyebrows and followed her outside.

"Andi, what was that?" Buffy asked.

"This is gonna sound crazy. Like, really crazy," Andi warned them. She took a breath and began to explain. "Two days ago, I had this weird dream. But I couldn't make out any of it. And yesterday, I saw Jonah and Amber together, and there was this feeling, so much more incredible than anything else. And whenever I think back to that moment..."

She looked down at the sidewalk in thought. "I have to go." And then she ran back home, ready to think and think some more. She'd think about what that feeling is and what it meant until she knew. But nothing was becoming any clearer. That is, until she received a knock on her door.

Amber?

"Hey," Amber smiled a bit, "just wanted to clear anything up. If what happened was because of something I said or did or whatever, then—"

"It wasn't you, trust me," Andi assured her, attempting to regulate her breathing enough to hold a conversation. "I've just been a little off for the past day or two."

"Care to spill?" Amber urged, giving a smile and a small nudge. Andi took her hand and—ignoring the burst of electricity it sent off through her nerves—led Amber to her room. They sat opposite one another.

"What I say doesn't leave this room, okay?"

"Absolutely," Amber agreed, "that's a direct violation of girl code."

"Okay," Andi took a few deep breaths trying to pin it all together. Then she explained it all—the dream, the colors, the unvivid-ness of it. She explained yesterday and seeing her and Jonah and the outstanding feeling she got, and that she hoped all day it wouldn't return because she wasn't looking for love if it wasn't from Jonah. But what she didn't include was that it did return, but only when she saw her waitress at the Spoon and that was where all the complications lied. She told Amber most of it, and yet she still didn't know what it meant. She expected a long response from Amber, but all Amber said was this:

"Don't worry about it. Stop trying to figure it out, it'll only be more confusing. Just let it be."

And with that, she said a swift goodbye and was gone. Of course, that didn't stop Andi from trying to figure it out. Maybe she'd just have to try her luck in different places. Surely the saturated colors formed a picture, and once everything was resolved it would all be clear. But in the back of her mind that girl lingered. Why did she have to always be there, in the back of her mind?

So, walking to a class that she knew was across the school from Cyrus and Buffy, she purposely dropped her books dramatically and waited for someone to help her. It must work, that way it wouldn't be in every single rom-com ever. But she got nothing. All day she tried to recreate the feeling, but it never happened and was starting to frustrate her. So this meant it had to be Jonah. Definitely. It's the only thing that made sense. Unless...

Andi rushed home from school. She'd explain to Buffy and Cyrus later. She texted Amber to meet her by the lake, at the place they talked before canoeing.

When she arrived, there she was. Amber was perched on the big tree branch, soaking up the small spring breeze. That's when it came back. The butterflies and the electricity in her fingertips and the feeling of floating, and at first it was a lot, but it settled a bit and she took a deep breath.

"I think I cracked the code," Andi said.

"Oh, did you?" Amber prompted.

"Yeah. You know..." she trailed off, coming to her actually final conclusion, "I could never seem to make up my mind, yet the answer was right there in front of my face. I've just been looking for love in all the wrong places. The feeling was what I telling you about— it was outstanding, but misplaced. What I didn't tell you about was how it came back at The Spoon, and I didn't tell you about the burst of energy I felt last night. But I finally put it all together. It was you, all along. The things I saw in that dream, those colors, that's how it felt when I saw you. It wasn't Jonah. It was never him, and saying it was didn't feel right. That's how I know it's you. Because it feels right with you. It feels perfect."