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Only a crack in this castle of glass

Chapter 7

Notes:

I recommend reading this while listening to:
So high school by Taylor swift
Stripped by palaye Royale (here it’s in mental sense!!NOT physical…)
Jenny by studio killers (literally THIS!!)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Today was the day. Lora was doubting whether she should do it, but if she said yes to Emily, there would be no going back.

Going to the assembly hall with a guitar on her back, she bit her lip, holding tight to the handles of the guitar case. Approaching the person who was conducting the whole event, she asked if she could play. And they said yes. Deep down, Lora was afraid, but she also knew that her situation with bullying probably couldn’t get any worse. She was already the freak of the school. Everybody knew her as the weird girl. So why not show everyone that this weird girl had at least some talent? And perform for Emily. Show her that she wasn’t afraid to do it.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, our student Lora will play a song on the guitar!” the host announced when Lora stepped on stage.

The music started as a background so everyone would recognize the song, and it wouldn’t just be her guitar. When the guitar came in, Lora began playing. At first, she was really scared, her heart pounding. But a few seconds in, she felt a great rush of adrenaline. Lora had never felt so powerful before. It was like she could rule the world. All eyes were on her, and she was rocking this song, moving to the guitar, lip-syncing some of the lyrics, and smiling. As soon as the song ended, everyone cheered. Coming down the stairs and placing the guitar on the stand for the rest of the festival, she started looking for Emily but couldn’t find her.

“And now we have Emily on stage with a poem! Please welcome her!” the host announced.

“Emily?” Lora whispered. “I thought she was afraid of the stage?” She raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Emily stepped on stage and grabbed the mic. “This is a poem for someone who’s really dear to me. After I moved here, I stopped writing them because of a lack of inspiration. But she showed me that I can still do it. Because she’s my inspiration,” she said.

Lora’s heart was pounding. Was Emily talking about… her? Was Emily talking about the ‘school freak’? “I’m her inspiration?” Lora thought.

“In the quiet moments, you shine,
A melody without a rhyme.
You speak in chords I can’t ignore,
A language that feels like so much more.
With every note, you build a world,
Where strings and dreams are gently swirled.
You don’t know yet, but I believe,
Your music’s something I’ll never leave.
So here’s my wish, and it’s true,
To hear your song and stay with you.”

Emily said, finishing the poem. As soon as she was done, she gave the mic back and ran down the stairs of the stage and into the crowd. Lora ran up to her, her heart still pounding—if not more.

“Emily, that was amazing!” Lora smiled and hugged her.

“You think?” Emily hugged her back, her eyes widening.

“Yeah. That’s like… the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

Lora pulled out of the hug but kept her arms around Emily’s waist. She smiled and glanced at her.

“Thank you,” Emily said.

The rest of the evening was great. They watched other performances, and later on, danced on the dance floor with the gyrating disco ball lighting up the room. They both felt so happy and so free, not caring about others—just holding hands, jumping, spinning around, and singing the songs. Lora looked at Emily, smiling ear to ear. Emily looked so pretty in that light. Her blonde hair looked even brighter, and her eyes had a beautiful glow in them. It was as if Emily was shining that night. But so was Lora. Except Emily had become her own little disco ball, shining the entire evening, showing Lora how beautiful this world and the people in it could actually be.

 

As they walked out of the school after the festival, Emily asked "Wanna come to mine today?"

Lora smiled. "Yeah, l'd like that. Finally see your clean room, since you don't like my messy one," she chuckled.

"Hey, I didn't say that!" Emily objected.

"You sure thought about it, though,"
Lora teased.

"No, I didn't! I like your room!" Emily frowned, furrowing her brows.

"Sure thing," Lora smiled and unbuckled her bike.

As she stood up and started walking, she heard a voice behind her. "Hey, girls." They turned around to see Mathew. "What do you want, Mathew?" Lora said, sounding annoyed.

"Nothing. Just wanted to ask you something... you sure Emily was talking about your 'friendship' in her poem?" Mathew mocked Emily and looked at her.
"What do you mean by that?" Lora shook her head.

"Well, I'm sure your music isn't the only thing she's obsessed about," Mathew continued.

Lora looked at him, confused.

Mathew smirked, leaning toward Emily, as if he were about to share some juicy gossip.

"What, still not buying it? Maybe Emily will tell you. I mean, we all know how you get around her. Can't keep your eyes off her, huh?" He grinned looking at Emily.

"Oh my god, stop it. You're just talking nonsense, as always," Lora rolled her eyes.

"You think nobody notices your little obsession with your best friend, Emily?
Wait, let me guess... you just have a huge crush on her! Fucking fag!" Mathew said with disgust.

"Hey, you don't get to talk to her like that!" Lora shouted, stepping closer to Mathew and dropping her bike.

"What? You think this isn't true? I'm sure you know she's into you, but you're just too scared and disgusted to admit it to yourself, huh?" Mathew laughed.

"So what if she likes me? How does that affect you? Are you jealous because she’s into a freak like me and not a bully like you?" Lora lost it. "So what if she likes girls? At least she'll never have a boyfriend like you who bullies people just to boost his own self-esteem! You don’t talk to her like that, okay?” Lora reassured.

“I’m just saying the truth here, you two are–”

“Oh please, tell us who we are, Mathew. Like you know us better than we do,” Lora snapped. Not wanting to talk to Mathew anymore, she picked up her bike, and taking Emily’s hand, she said, “C’mon. Let’s go.”

Walking away from Mathew, with one hand on her bike and the other holding Emily’s hand, Lora smiled at her. “Thank you for standing up for me,” Emily said.

“Of course. You’re my friend. That’s what friends do, right?” Lora smiled.

“Right,” Emily said quietly.

“Plus, Mathew is a prick. It’s whatever,” Lora added.

“Oh, yes. He’s the one who’s disgusting,” Emily said.

“I know, right?” Lora laughed.

Taking both of her hands on the bike’s wheel, that’s how they walked to Emily’s house.

Once they got to her room, Emily said, “Well, now you’ll see my room.”

Opening the door, Lora saw the bed with pink bedsheets and a few stuffed toys on it, a few posters of Avril Lavigne and other artists, including one poster of Linkin Park.

“Hey, I know these guys!” Lora jokingly said, pointing at the poster.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure you do,” Emily chuckled.

The room was really cozy. Very Emily—colorful and tidy.

Lora sat down on the bed.

Emily walked to her CD player and grabbed a CD. “It’s Avril Lavigne. It’s called Let Go. I love it.”

“Ohhhh, nice. Put it on then!” Lora replied excitedly.

Emily did so, and made her way to the bed with Lora. “Here. In case you want to sing along,” Emily said, laughing as she handed her a booklet with the lyrics.

“Thanks,” Lora chuckled.

The next hour, they spent listening to and dancing along with the music. This wasn’t something Lora would usually listen to, but she loved that Emily could show her new music.

After the last song, Lora said, “Y’know, it was actually really good! I liked it.” She smiled.

“Really?” Emily asked, her eyes widening.

“Yeah! That was fun!” Lora replied.

Lora and Emily were lying on the bed, facing each other.

“Hey, about this situation with Mathew…” Emily started.

“Oh, forget it. He just wants attention,” Lora brushed it off.

“No, he was right about something… I do like you,” Emily’s voice quieted.

“As in… more than a friend?” Lora raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah… something like that… I was afraid to tell you because I didn’t know how you’d react, and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.” Emily was stuttering and blushing, worried about everything. She’d kept it all inside, not knowing how to say any of this.

“Well, I think this might kind of ruin our friendship,” Lora said, smiling softly as she looked into Emily’s eyes.

“What do you mean?” Emily’s heart dropped. She would understand if Lora didn’t want to talk to her again or if she felt uncomfortable and wanted to end the friendship.

“Emily…” Lora said softly and quietly.

“Yeah?” Emily answered innocently.

Lora placed one hand on Emily’s cheek and gazed at her. Emily’s heart froze. Lora leaned in for a kiss, supporting herself on one hand, slightly covering Emily with her body. When their lips touched, it felt so innocent and soft. It was so teenage-like, like they were both afraid of hurting each other. Emily’s lips tasted like cherries, probably from the cherry chapstick she always used.

After Lora pulled away, she was still halfway lying on Emily, using one hand for support, while Emily lay on the pillow, her eyes wide.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” Lora asked, not even realizing what she had just said.
Everything happened so fast and naturally that she hadn’t even thought about it.

Emily opened her mouth, not knowing what to say. She had just kissed the girl of her dreams. She’d never thought something like this would happen to her.

“Y-yes? Of course I will!” Emily chuckled.
Lora smiled and kissed her again, this time with a bit more confidence.

Afterward, Lora fully lay down, facing Emily and smiling at her. She looked at her hand, then took it and intertwined their fingers. Now they just looked at each other, smiling, happier than ever. They never could have imagined something like this happening to them. They didn’t know what the future held for them or how they would act at school while trying to hide their relationship, but they knew for sure that they loved each other and that is all that mattered to them. Just be together and enjoy this.

Notes:

Since I’m an author of this fic I can tell yall that Emily would be a fan of lady gaga, Taylor swift, Olivia Rodrigo,Conan gray and Billie eilish in our days. She would make Lora listen to them and she’d actually like it.

Thank you all who stayed<3

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