Oh Ruelle's POV btw (need to say because it informs my writing style)

We were on the other side of campus from her dorm, lying in the grass. The sun was broken up by the trees above us, filtering it into spots of light. A light breeze rustled the branches. I looked over at her. Her eyes were closed and she looked perfectly calm. It had been a couple months since we reconnected and I still thought she was beautiful. Her hair was tied into its regular two braids, and she was wearing a white crop top. We weren't talking about anything serious or paranormal. We were relaxing. "This is nice," she said. She laid her hand across mine. My heart almost skipped a beat. I didn't like expressing to my roommate that I was yearning on main, but I think she saw it anyways. "Yeah, it is," I replied. I didn't know exactly what to say, but then again I've never been eloquent. Beyond the trees mildly grey clouds drifted across the sky, but never obscuring the sun. The red-brick school buildings looked perfectly antique.

"How have you been holding up?" she asked, referring to everything that had been going on with us. "Just fine, now that I'm with you." I still hadn't asked her if she was straight or not. She had previously had a boyfriend, but I didn't think that changed my chances. "Are you... Flirting?" She said it with a little laugh like she didn't believe me. I looked over at her and saw that she was looking at me and a flush was climbing her neck. "You're blushing," I replied. She immediately looked away from me and focused on the camera next to her. I had caught her in the middle of a photography assignment. "I'm always blushing, I'm white," she said. I rolled my eyes although I knew she couldn't see it. "Do you have a boyfriend?" I asked, finally touching on the question I was avoiding at all costs. "I did, I don't anymore. He left me, remember?" "I didn't know if you'd gotten another one." One of the clouds passed over the sun. I looked around and saw a dark front moving in.

"I don't want to deal with boys, you know? Meeting them at parties, trying to get them to like me. I'm not attractive, Ruelle." I rolled over on my side to look at her. "I like you," I said, albeit quietly. She barely heard, and then she was red as a tomato again. And then the rain started. Abruptly, and with force. In the couple seconds of took for us to get up from the ground we were already getting soaked. Then we were running towards her dorm. Halfway through I flipped up my hood, but it didnt do much good. By the time we got there we were both dripping wet. There wasn't any fanfare about me being in her dorm for the first time. Her place was tiny. But I suppose I suspected that. She had a few succulents scattered around the place. The blinds were wide open. The sound of the rain was muffled. The sky outside was dark. I pulled my jacket off of me and dropped it on the floor. We both wrung our hair out onto the wood floor and she did her best to dry herself off.

"Claire," I said, taking a step towards her and laying a hand on her arm. "That shirt's all wet." She seemed to pick up on what I was implying and looked away. "Okay," she said. I took another step towards her and put both my hands on her arms. She made eye contact then. "You know, I've always wanted to know what being with a girl was like." She put her hands on my shoulders. I put my hands on her back and helped her take her shirt off. Then she kissed me. I leaned into it. I wanted to pinch myself and check if I was dreaming or not. "How long have you felt like this?" she asked once we pulled apart. "Since we met," I said. I wasn't lying. The whole of high school I tried to convince myself I could never be with her, she was straight and either way out of my league. "You should have told me," she said with a frown. The rain beat against the window. The wind had picked up and I could hear it around the building. The hallway was filled with sounds of students talking loudly, obviously drunk at

2PM. Someone played music through their speakers, and the sounds barely floated in to us. The singular lightbulb in the small living area flickered. I stayed over with her that night.