floating

Despite her current dishevelled state Liberty was no fool, and she knew the sound of her brother’s voice when she heard it. At the mere mention of his insta followers she froze, and then stuck out her palm in an attempt to obscure the footage. “You can tell your followers that if they’re in the 9th grade, and their teacher tells them to read the instructions thoroughly prior to an experiment? They need to read the darn instructions over and over until there’s a genuine risk of their eyes falling out… so that mine don’t end up dyed red.”

Despite the immediate embarrassment of being caught out by her brother of all people, the towel sounded particularly good. “I have been given formal permission to raid the lost and found, and full access to the girl’s locker room… but in the meantime, a towel would be deeply appreciated,” Liberty huffed, lowering her hand, fully ready for the towel to be dropped into it.

“Noted..but you might wanna try and make the instructions more clear. There’s no way a 14 year old is reading about chemical warnings or dangerous white phosphorus can be.” He remarked, making sure his picture was saved, though h relented on publishing it to the world. For one, he wasn’t that cruel, and B, this could be use for blackmail in the future for sure. “..and I hate that I know about this science stuff because of you.”

He handed her the towel, stepping back so he didn’t get anything gunk on his outfit. “You know you can take it easy on the tutoring and extra credit stuff, right? It’s the end of the year, just chill out, relax. Shoot, being on Prom Committee with me sounds like it’s right up your alley.”

@thetobesterpodcast: So... thoughts on that first episode?

@llcdvz: thanks for the namedrop 🥳

marisol’s head tilted slightly to the side as she listened to him speak. “well, for what it’s worth.. you’ve always been cool to me,” she stated truthfully. she wasn’t good at this. she wasn’t used to this, was never one to wear her heart on her sleeve. quite the opposite actually, marisol very rarely allowed herself in vulnerable situations and she never would’ve imagined she’d be having a conversation like this with him, of all people, but she’s given so many wrong guys a chance they didn’t always deserve, she figured it was finally time to give the right one his chance with her. but before she could say anything she’s pushed up against the wall and with his lips pressed against hers, there’s only two things on her mind at that very moment. one, his kiss tasted so much better sober and two, perino would be livid if he only knew this is what his classroom was being used for. she let the feeling linger only pulling away to catch her breath and with her eyes casted into danny, “i was wondering when you’d do that…”

maybe some of it was all in danny’s head, the roadblock that he himself might have put their when it came to her. all along, he thought she was too cool for him, too popular, too..everything. but he was tired of feeling that way, and he felt like taking his friend’s advice and being bold and brave for once. the kiss was everything he hoped for and more, that spark even brighter than the last time they’d kiss, sober minds and all. he’s just thankful no one needs this classroom right now, because they’re in a very precocious position with eyes unable to be kept off one another. “shit, i’ve wanted do do that for years. just..working up the courage. but i’m glad i did.” he smiles, pressing his forehead to hers, just enjoying the moment with her. “let’s go on a date. i’ve already got an idea in mind..”

toby: Absolutely a big promposal.

toby: Assuming you want to go to prom w her and everything?

danny: i dooo.

marisol did her best to suppress her growing smile, but to no avail. there was no hiding it, her mahogany hues gleamed as she watched him trip over his own words in front of her. with both hands placed on her hips and taking a few steps closer to danny now, she stopped and listened carefully as he spoke. “it was kind of hard to take you seriously, danny…” she sighed and hoped he would understand where she was coming from. he wasn’t exactly the most mature back then and marisol excelled in protecting herself and her heart even if she didn’t always make the smartest decisions when it came to her love life. but she couldn’t say the thought never occurred to her because it had several times. “it wasn’t just that for me. i kissed you because i wanted to kiss you,” marisol put it simply. she’d never cop out and blame it on the alcohol. “look, i just.. don’t want things to be weird between us? so i don’t know what this means for us, but i really like having you in my life.”

danny didn’t want to admit it, but she did have a point. in his younger years, he was a bit obnoxious and tried way too hard at times to impress. it wasn’t him. but somehow, under all his bravado, they managed to maintain a good friendship over the years. "right, plus, you were literally born cool. i kinda had to work on..this.” he motioned to himself with his hand. he knew all about the social ladder and unfortunately for him, he had a much bigger climb than her. but hearing her say that it wasn’t just liquor, that she wanted it to, alleviated some of danny’s fears. maybe, just maybe, he did have a real chance here. remembering some advice he had gotten from toby earlier and wanting to test something as well, he decided to be bold. moving closer to her, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, gently pushing her against the wall as he deepened the kiss, pushing one leg up slightly. 

toby: 2 things

toby: That would be an AMAZING band name

toby: And I think you're cool enough to pull it off.

toby: But you'll need to IMPRESS, man

toby: If you like her, go for it

toby: But you gotta COMMIT. Cheerleaders get a lot of attention already, you need to stand out from the crowd

toby: Dude

toby: Prom is soon.

danny: marisol ft. katie and the asian baddies, huh you might be onto something.

danny: stand out, above the crowd? even if i gotta to shout out loud?

danny: hmm.

toby: Can I know who the barista is because I feel like that'll totally change my advice here

toby: Well, that's tricky.

toby: I'm assuming in this allegory coffee is like a secret menu item for this barista

toby: Probably think hard about the friendship and think about times she may have been hinting that coffee was an option? And if you can't think of any, assume it was because you were both drunk

toby: Also think-- did you always want coffee from her? Specifically?

danny: it just felt like a secret menu item for /me/, but she was cool with ravine jerk slurping from the cup..

danny: i mean..sometimes you think coffee was an option..but then it's like, can you handle coffee when you've only had hot chocolate?

toby: Yes.

toby: From personal experience, if you act like it was normal and NBD they match your energy.

toby: I've been kinda floating on that principle for the past few weeks and it's worked so far!!

toby: In my experience, women are like baristas

toby: They don't like complicated. Complicated happens without them wanting it. So don't be the one to make it complicated!

toby: If you just walk in, make what you want clear and simple, the only reason it'll get messed up is if that barista is new on the job

toby: Don't be Tall, Half-Caff, Soy Latte At 120 Degrees guy.

danny: alright, that makes sense so far. you do be getting kinda apparently laid sorta now..

danny: who gets coffee at an exact temp anyway?

toby: The new hollingsworth or the OG hollingsworth girl

toby: And OOH LA LA what is this other thing ur confused about?

danny: the one with the twin who's a huge creepy dweeb. but both are pretty cool tbh.

danny: you ever made out with somebody while you were drunk? and like now you're not sure what to say to her?

she smiled a small smile as he acknowledged her question. as the bell rings at last indicating to the class that their torture was finally over (for today, anyway), she’s relieved with her classmates, but for slightly different reasons. marisol’s quick to shut her notebook and tucked it away nicely in her bag, following was her big fluffy pen and brightly colored highlighters that were hardly touched during the entirety of today’s lesson she’s sure their teacher prepared so hard for, but marisol knew she had to at least play the part, make it look believable even if it was the last thing on her mind. “okay, um… talking out loud,” there’s a soft laugh that parted from her, nodding her head at his words before deciding to just rip the bandage off. “so, was it good.. bad? not enough? do you want to forget it ever happened?” although she wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to forget it happened, she just wanted them to be on the same page.

any shenanigans in my classroom, i’ll make sure you see your sister graduate from a livestream detention session. are we clear, mr. van zandt? perino tells him candidly, pointing two fingers at him before he exits the room, to which danny responds “crystal..”, slightly rolling his eyes once he’s out of sight. spill a guy’s coffee once running in the hall and you’re on his shitlist for life apparently. he turns his attention back to marisol, hoping they can figure this out. “huh? no way it was bad, you’re an amazing kisser! like just so freaking..i mean, uh, you aight..” he spoke excitedly at first correcting her, but he tries to play it cool at the end, leaning against a desk with his arms folded. even now, he couldn’t let her get too big a head on him. “but i don’t know if that was just us being drunk or more..i mean, we’ve been friends for years and i had a thing for you, but you’ve always kinda laughed it off. like, you’re kind of always been in a league of your own to me, mare.”

toby: Do you have any gossip rn?

toby: Ugh I feel CATTY today. Gossipy. I want to hear TEA today....

danny: idk if i have gossip.

danny: i made out with that hollingsworth girl at that party i guess?

marisol’s teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she slowly opened the piece of paper that was passed back to her because she’d anticipated every second after initially passing it over to him, worried that their night together might’ve caused some sort of rift in their relationship. so he was confused, well… that made two of them. and as bad as it probably sounded, there was just a small part of her that had been relieved that she wasn’t alone in feeling this way. ‘i get it. do you want to talk about it?’ marisol wrote carefully, a bit hesitant to pass it back to him. she wasn’t so oblivious to his crush he’s had on her since grade nine, finding it endearing more than anything but they’d never crossed that line until recently and she wasn’t sure what it meant – if it meant anything but leaving the ball in his court, she dropped her pen on the desk as she pretended to listen to their history lesson, mind obviously elsewhere.

danny watched intently as she wrote her own note back to him, glad at least that the lines of communications were open again, if it simply pen to paper. he put on a good front at times, like he knew what he was doing and had the mysteries of life all figured out. but even as he matured, this was entire thing was still new to him, especially when it came to her taking him seriously, if that’s what this was. he grabs the note off the floor, pretending to scratch his ankle as a cover and reads it. the fact that she isn’t brushing this off must mean something..right? he nods, but before he can write something else, the bell rings. he gets up, grabbing his things and heading to perino if he and marisol can have the room for a bit. lunch can wait, even on pizza day. once he and the rest of the class are out of the room, he turns his attention back to her. “i like actually talking out loud, my hand hurts from writing so much..”

toby: Should I watch gossip girl

toby: Or should I just get into Degrassi gossip?

toby: I'm in such a gossipy mood today. I feel like my aunt.

danny: huh?