Chapter Text
Beatrice had never seen OCS’s gym so full of light and laughter. Normally, its occupants were sweaty, grumbling kids, so different from the ones dressed in their best garments, chatting with huge smiles.
For a moment, Beatrice thought she was in an alternative universe, thanks to all the compliments she was receiving. People who usually wouldn’t look at her twice were know smiling at her and saying how beautiful she was.
“Nice suit, Bianca!” a girl she recognized as Channel, Ava’s best friend smiled at her. “It really suits you, no pun intended. I can think of some people who’ll lose their mind when they see you.”
The brunette felt her cheeks warming up. Camila, true to her word, had designed the perfect outfit for her. It was a dark green suit that hugged her in all the right places, paired with a black shirt barely visible underneath the jacket. Some silver accessories elevated the outfit even more. But what really made the suit perfect for her was the lapel pins she had added. Everything that made her, well, herself were represented there. A book, a skull, a bow and arrow, the two intertwined venus symbols, a pen… A representation of everything she was – and was proud of being – in her outfit.
“Thanks, Channel.” She answered. “You look great, too.”
“How are you feeling?” Mary asked her, an arm aroumd Shannon.
“I’m… good. Real good,” Beatrice admitted. “The compliments are nice, but I guess even if there were none, I wouldn’t care. I’m feeling so beautiful, so… me.”
Camila looped her arm around Bea’s. “Well, that’s all we want.”
Beatrice looked around in an attempt to avoid the happy tears she was feeling coming to her eyes. That was the moment her gaze landed on the person she just a few hour ago was dreading to see. Now, she actually was happy to see Ava. The smaller brunette was staring at her, standing with her mouth open in the middle of the room, seemingly unbothered by the crowd around her. She was wearing a navy dress that made Beatrice’s knees feel weak. It wasn’t too long or too short, and fitted her like a glove.
“I’ll be right back, guys.” Bea said to her friends and headed towards Silva. In the middle of the short walk, she had the displeasure of crossing paths with Lilith, who tried to talk to her, but she was quick to shut her down. When she stopped in front of the other teenager, the latter seemed to exit her trance state. “Hey. I could tell from across the room that we might be into each other. Now that I'm here, I'm sure. Your move.” Ava let out a bark of laughter, not expecting to hear that. “How was that?”
“That was… That was not bad at all.” She was able to formulate the words despite her clouded mind. “You look… fuck, you look amazing.”
“Thanks. You don’t look bad yourself.” They kept staring into each other eyes and a small silence fell around them. Beatrice broke it. “Look, about what I said the other day, of course we're friends, and that's cool.” She took a deep breath and gathered all the courage and confidence she was feeling. “But someone I know once told me that if you like somebody, you should just be straight-up with them and tell them that you're into them. So I guess that's kind of what I'm doing.”
Ava blinked a couple of times, surprised by it. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Wait, you’re into me? Really?”
Beatrice chuckled at Ava’s dumbfounded expression. “C’mon. That can’t possible be the first time someone said that to you, Ava.”
“No, but you… you aren’t just someone, Beatrice.” Ava shook her head, finding her composure. “Bea…”
Whatever Ava was about to tell her, it was interrupted by JC’s arrival. He was sporting a traditional tuxedo and, as always, his air of arrogance. “Wow, that is an interesting outfit. Who makes that, Build-A-Bear?”
“JC…” Ava tried to warn him.
“Hi, Jacob.” Beatrice seemed unfazed by his attempt to humiliate her. She was happy and confident in her own skin. “It was actually Camila.”
“Whatever. Since you can't seem to leave my girlfriend alone…” he started.
“You’re back together…” Beatrice couldn’t control the hurt in her voice, but she looked at Ava and smile. “If that’s what makes you happy.”
“Bea…” tried Ava again,
“Yes, we’re back together as it always should have been. Like I was saying, since you can't seem to leave my girlfriend alone, I cannot wait to release your video tomorrow.”
A couple of weeks ago, that would make Beatrice tumble. She could almost hear the jokes and laughs around her again. But this time, she couldn’t care less. “Good. I'm glad you're excited about it. Go right ahead.”
The boy seemed taken back by her response. “Well, I will.” His aura of confidence and mean demeanour came back. “Besides, Ava would never leave me for some DUFF like you.”
“JC!” Ava yelped, red with anger.
“It's okay.” Beatrice stopped Ava from intervening. “JC, you used to make me so upset, but now I just feel bad for you.” The boy looked at her like she was crazy, “Yeah, I'm somebody's DUFF. Guess what, so are you. So is everybody. There's always gonna be somebody prettier or more talented or richer than you, but it shouldn't affect how you see yourself.”
“I’m no one’s DUFF.” JC seemed outraged by this prospect, but Beatrice just ignored him.
“You label everybody to try to keep them down, but you end up missing out on all this great stuff around you. You have Ava, and you treat her like she's some stupid pawn in your stupid popularity game, a trophy, but she isn't. And people don't like her because she's with you.” Beatrice smiled at the shorter brunette, “They like her because she's, like, an amazing person. She’s smart and funny and she can make a whole room light up with a single smile. And she makes football, the real football, look fun even to people that don’t like it.”
JC was redder and redder while Ava was looking at Beatrice as if she had hung the moon and stars in the sky. That gave the taller girl fuel to continue her speech.
“Look, I like myself. I wouldn't wanna be anybody else. And I realize now that none of this matters to me. But it does to you. It's your dream. And I totally support that.” She gave JC a kind smile, something she would never receive in return from the boy. “Just don't tear me down for not giving a shit about your labels, because in the end, they're meaningless.”
The three teenagers fell silent for a couple of seconds. Beatrice was still a little breathless from all she had said, while Ava was speechless with wonder in her eyes and JC looked like he was about to explode with how red he was.
“Whatever you said was meaningless, okay?” he mumbled out. “You don't even get it. This is not my dream. I don't need to…”
“Alright, Red Tarasks!” the principal’s voice cut JC’s sentence.
“Oh, my God!” JC exclaimed. “It’s happening! They’re gonna reveal the King and Queen. C’mon, Ava!”
As she witnessed Ava, who hadn’t stopped looking at her, being pulled towards the front of the stage by her boyfriend, Beatrice rolled her eyes at how easy it was to prove her point about JC. She smiled at Ava. She wasn’t lying when she said she just wanted the Portuguese girl to be happy and that they could be friends, but she couldn’t deny she didn’t understand what on earth made Ava happy in that relationship.
“Okay, Red Tarasks, it's time to crown our king and queen.” Said the principal.
“How did it go?” asked Camila, appearing with Mary and Shannon besides her.
“Actually, pretty good.”
“This year’s Homecoming King is… drumroll, please… Mr. Jacob Caleb Sakraya.” Clapping erupted all around the room. JC climbed the stairs to the stage as if he was actually being crowned King of Brittain. Not his dream, my arse… “And this year's Homecoming Queen is… Ava Silva!” This time no one appeared on stage. “Ava? Ava Silva? Where are you?”
Beatrice looked at the girl who was being called on the microphone and found her still staring at her. She could heard the principal and JC calling her name, but she couldn’t care less.
“Aren't you gonna go get your crown?” Beatrice yelled over the music.
As if she had just exited a trance, Ava shook her head. “No… I’m gonna get the girl.”
Beatrice didn’t have time to process what she had just heard, because – with weirdly large steps for her height – Ava reached her and, suddenly, her lips were connected to Bea’s. This time the kiss was tender and sweet, but didn’t lack the passion they shared the first time at Think Rock. Ava’s hands grabbed Beatrice’s face as if she was the most precious and fragile thing.
They knew everyone around them was now looking at the moment they were sharing and they didn’t care. Beatrice was sure she heard JC’s profanities over all the clapping, whistles and exclamations of surprise, but she didn’t even processed that thought correctly because Ava’s tongue asked permission to entered her mouth. She could die then and there, and she would die happy.
When the need for oxygen was stronger than the need for kissing each other, Ava barely distanced herself from Young, saying. “Let's get the hell out of here.”
In midst of congratulations and well-natured comments, they made their way out of the gym and Beatrice guided them to a room she knew so well. As soon as they closed the door behind them, their lips met again.
“Are we breaking into the newsroom to make out, Beatrice?” Ava asked in between kisses. Beatrice too absorbed in those soft lips only nodded. “What a rebel, babe.”
The make-out session got even more heated and Ava pushed Beatrice to the closest table, sliding in between her legs.
Suddenly, Beatrice pulled slightly from the kiss, but Ava was quick to follow her. “Ava… I need to… ”
“What?”
Bea spun in her arms and turned the nearest computer on. “I just need to do something.”
“Bea, they blocked all the good sites.”
“Shut up, you dorky perv.” Beatrice laughed and gave Ava another kiss to show she was just kidding.
“If you’re doing homework, Beatrice, I’m gonna feel really offended.” Silva grumbled but tightened her hold on Bea’s waist.
“It’s for my article.” She explained and looked at the shorter teenager with eyes full of light. “I’m feeling inspired.”
Ava just hummed and started to rub Beatrice shoulder. The British girl was able to write a total of two sentences when Ava decided she had enough and started kissing her neck. Beatrice lost all ability to think
The article could wait ‘til tomorrow.