kind regards | womanxgirl |

fourteen | i'm not bound anymore

"Why'd you bring me here?" Luca softly questioned, both students sitting on a ledge of a parking strip. "I wouldn't say this is a type of place you'd want to end up whilst we ditch."

Ivy genuinely didn't know why she brought Luca here, unlike most of her life, this constant plan she had in her mind finally went blank, similarly to when she met Ms Valentine. Her thoughts were no longer compacted and self-driven, from now on, she felt more freedom in her body and capabilities.

"You're right." Ivy muttered as she kicked pebbles below her feet, watching them disperse on command. "It isn't, really." She chuckled to herself, lost in her own confusion in the comfortable silence.

In this moment of silence, Luca was now the over-thinker. 

"We're drifting, arent we?" The older blonde whispered to herself, hoping her friend wouldn't hear it in the midst of the following cars below them. It was a stupid question to ask, however, Luca felt as if it was needed to say.

Quickly to reassure, Ivy hesitated in answering despite her obvious thought she dared to keep hidden.

Yes.

"What makes you say that?" Ivy mislead, trying to avoid the intrusive feeling within her.

Her eyes trained onto the horizon in front of them, Luca responded as loosely as she could, hoping Ivy couldn't pick up the tint of desperation in her voice. "You don't seem the same anymore. You've changed. Either for the better or for the worse."

The blonde couldn't voice the words she wanted to say, though they took no effort to be told. It was the matter of how she'd say it, and whether Luca would accept those words as a secret or an anchor to their friendship.

Feeling so powerless in her ideal friendship made Ivy more nervous than she already was, the sudden question in the very distantness they were experiencing couldn't mean anything good, in this case, she knew she had to tell Luca whether she'll take it the right way or not.

"I have changed." Ivy admitted lowly, both students not wanting to look each other in the eye. "And I don't know if you'd prefer me now."

Daring to let a lone tear slip, Ivy finally had the guts to look up to the other blonde - who in which had her fingers playing amongst the necklace that Ivy had a matching set in resemblance to their forever friendship they longed for. "What do you mean by that?"

Now in curiosity, Luca had turned to the other blonde, and as if on cue, Ivy had locked eyes with her best friend, tears almost clouding her vision. "If I tell you now, I can't guarantee you'll be thrilled with me."

Scoffing from her Ivy's vagueness, Luca believed she wanted the answer when instead, this was the only truthful friendship she had, therefore making her realise that she needed it. "Please, Ivy."

Collecting a moment to herself, Ivy felt a rush of emotions before she had answered. "There's someone in my life that made me want to be the person I believe I can be." Absentmindedly, Ivy had smiled just from the thought of Blake. "I hid this from you because I know I shouldn't feel this way for her."

"Do I know her?" Luca said, remaining as calm as she could knowing that this person might've changed the old Ivy she'd reminisce from time to time. "You don't need to hide anything from me, you know I love you enough to not leave you because of some girl."

"You promise?" Ivy asked trying to get some sort of reason not to trust Luca this last time, hoping to find a flaw in their friendship enough for her to hide her girlfriend.

Weakly smiling for Ivy, Luca responded. "I promise, Ivy."

"... It's Ms Valentine." She answered, confident in her relationship with her teacher, despite the immoral reasons that laid embedded in her head. "I thought it was another crush." She tried to justify in an effort to soften the sudden admission. "But in the end, she made me feel like I belonged again."

In the midst of this, Ivy knew the reaction she'd get, and she knew that this might've been the end of the only friendship she could keep, and it hurt her more than she would lose her best friend over someone who she felt so many emotions and feelings from. 

The no longer comfortable silence turned uncomfortable from the lack of speech, but as she felt the conversation coming to an end, Ivy had felt a hand resting on her shoulder. Turning, she was met with eyes filled with love.

"If she makes you feel like that, then I think she deserves you." Luca smiled in acceptance, hoping that her attempt to reassure and break the silence helped Ivy dearly, which in fact, it did. "I'm glad you told me this, Ivy."

Weakly, Ivy had pulled Luca in an embrace, both students' cries were muffled as they gripped in comfort, their friendship now more stable and nurturing, stronger than any hardship that may interfere.