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"Lightbulb, I am NOT crocheting mittens for Baxter!" Paintbrush said, mildly annoyed. They made a miffed sigh and pinched the bridge of their nose. Summer break had started, and childhood best friends Lightbulb and Paintbrush were spending it together. They both had walked to the park and were now doing crafts. Well, Paintbrush was the only one actually doing crafts. Lightbulb was playing with Baxter, her pet crab, and bothering Paintbrush.
"Aww... But Baxter's a Chinese Mitten crab." She put emphasis on mittens. "He needs mittens!" She spun around on her swivel chair to face Paintbrush, holding up Baxter. "See? He's sad. He feels betrayed. You betrayed him, Paintbrush!"
"I'm pretty sure he does not care."
"But I do! You don't know him the way I do! I'm his mother!"
"You know, for someone who never met her own mother, you did a really good impression of one." Paintbrush chuckled.
"Exactly! I was destined to be Baxter's mother!" Lightbulb replied, making Paintbrush laugh even more.
"And what about me?" They asked jokingly.
"You're his other parent! It's gonna be the Holy Trinity of gender! Female, male, and option C!" Paintbrush howled in laughter at that.
They continued their conversation about Baxter and shared custody over him.
The walls of her room were bright and yellow, just like her personality and hair. Those same walls had posters of bands that she liked, like Spoiled Lemon. There was a swivel chair which accompanied her desk, which was just below her Spoiled Lemon poster. The desk had Baxter's terrarium, an assortment of papers, and a caddy of stationery. Paintbrush sat on Lightbulb's bed, crisscross applesauce, crocheting something mindlessly. Behind the bed draped a trans flag that Lightbulb's grandma gifted her after she came out. After a bit of conversation, Lightbulb got bored and sat down next to the taller blonde and leaned her head on them. The sudden contact made Paintbrush blue-screen and blush furiously.
"uhh... wow. That's really close, Lightbulb."
"Oh, I can move away if you want to!" She scooched a bit back from Paintbrush.
"...no its fine." They muttered, still blushing.
That was the moment Lightbulb's grandpa entered the room to announce that Paintbrush's brother was here to pick Paintbrush up. They collected their stuff and Lightbulb followed them out the door. "Bye, Paintbrush!"
"Bye, Lightbulb! Love you!"
"Wait what."
"Never mind!" Then Paintbrush left.
Did they just say they love me? That was the first thing Lightbulb thought when they left. She entered her room and plopped on the army of pillows and stuffed animals, face first. "So, Lace, I saw that. Can I walk you down the aisle?" Her grandpa said, making her lose her train of thought.
"Grandpa! I don't think we've reached that point yet!" Lightbulb replied, shocked.
"Yet? So you have hope?"
"ThisconversationneverhappenedIhavetofeedBaxterbye!" Lightbulb ran to the kitchen, embarrassed, to get Baxter's food.
While she did that, her grandma entered Lightbulb's room, where her grandpa was. "Twenty bucks that she confesses?"
"It's on!" He chuckled.
~~~
The next day, the duo went out to get something to eat. Paintbrush got a burger and a KitKat; Lightbulb got pineapple pizza and an oatmeal raisin cookie. They both shared fries and a milkshake. However, they were both thinking about last night and the awkwardness. "What's even so good about oatmeal raisin?" Paintbrush asked, trying to get rid of the tension.
"I guess I just like the oatmealy raisin taste." Lightbulb shrugged. "Also, my dad's office used to give them out, so he'd always get them for me..." She added on, reminiscing.
"Oh."
"Yeah. I miss my dad. But the memories taste good." She took a bite of the cookie.
"Hi, guys!" A voice said, behind them.
They both turned around to see one of their former classmates, Nickel. He was one of the shortest in the grade, at a whopping 5'1. He had dark gray hair that almost looked black. He wore a flannel shirt with jeans. He usually was really sarcastic and annoying, but it seems like he mellowed out. "Oh, Hi Nickel!" Lightbulb said enthusiastically.
"Hi, Lightbulb. Hi Paintbrush. I was gonna email you this, but you're here now, so oh well. My birthday is next week, and I want to invite you and the rest of the class to my party. It's at my house, which I'll email you with the address, and other details. Any questions?" He pulled up a chair.
"Will there be alcohol?" Paintbrush asked uneasily.
"No! What are we, British?" All three of them laughed at that.
"Will Silver Spoon be there?" Paintbrush asked again. Silver Spoon despised Paintbrush, and the feeling was mutual. Paintbrush found Silver Spoon to be a spoiled brat and annoying, and Silver Spoon thought Paintbrush was hot-headed.
"No. I figured if I were to invite you and Silver Spoon; the house would be on fire." Nickel joked. "Also he's out of town. Germany, I think."
"Oh, yeah probably." Paintbrush replied.
"What time is it at? Also what would you like?" Lightbulb wondered.
"5:30 pm. And really anything useful, honestly." Nickel said and shrugged.
"Oh ok." Both Paintbrush and Lightbulb said together. "Yeah, I'll definitely be there!" Lightbulb added.
"Same!" Paintbrush added on.
"Cool. See you!" Nickel got up from his chair and left. "Also we're playing Truth or Dare!"
"Cool- wait what?" Paintbrush said back, but Nickel was too far for him to hear.
After he left, Lightbulb and Paintbrush looked at each other. "So... Nickel's birthday. That'll seem fun, right?" Lightbulb commented, fidgeting with her hands.
"Oh, yeah. I am a bit weary of Truth or Dare, though." Paintbrush admitted. "I mean, knowing everyone... it won’t be that weird, right?" They said to themselves.
"Nah. It's most likely gonna be 'when was the last time you wet the bed' and dumb stuff like that." She reassured.
"Guess we'll wait and see."
~~~
A week later, the duo stood at the front door of Nickel's house, presents in hand. Lightbulb wore this nice yellow dress that went down to her knees and had short sleeves. It complemented her deep blue eyes. Paintbrush wore a red sweater, which Lightbulb said was the same shade as Baxter, and fancy blue jeans. However, it still looked formal. Paintbrush had also done Lightbulb's makeup, because Lightbulb asked for it. Her light skin looked brighter than it usually does, and Paintbrush couldn't help but stare. They felt slightly insecure that they didn't really try to do anything with their face. But it was too dark to share with Lightbulb, her flesh white and theirs caramel, and they didn't have any makeup of their own.
Paintbrush rang the doorbell and out came Nickel, wearing a suit and tie. "Hello! You came!" And he entered them inside. "You two are a bit early but aren't the first people here. Baseball's here already, has been since last night."
"He stayed the night?" Paintbrush asked. Baseball usually stayed with Nickel overnight.
"So what if he did?" Nickel responded, annoyed.
"Did you have fun~?" Lightbulb mockingly questioned.
"Why did I invite you two..."
Eventually, the rest of the class came. Taco got dragged there by Microphone. Suitcase and Knife went together. Salt and Pepper wore matching dresses, Salt's white, and Pepper's black. OJ and Paper showed up 20 minutes late. Meanwhile, Balloon was having a conversation with Paintbrush.
"How was break so far?" Paintbrush asked.
"It was good! Came out to my family. I don't think I'm in the will anymore." Balloon said, adding a light-hearted chuckle at the end.
"Damn." Paintbrush took a sip of sparkled water.
"What about you?" Balloon replied.
"I've spent it with Lightbulb so far. Though my mom plans on going camping at some point." Paintbrush replied half-heartedly. They didn't really want to go camping with their family, mostly because there would still be arguments.
"Sounds like fun!" Balloon said. After he said that, Nickel interrupted everyone.
"Guys! I have a few things to say!" Paintbrush turned around and saw him standing on a chair.
"That looks like a hazard." Someone said.
"Anyways!" Nickel shouted. "First, thanks for coming. Second, we'll be starting a game! The game is truth or dare, and it will be starting in like, 2 minutes in the living room."
Paintbrush found Lightbulb and made their way to the living room. It was nice, with white armchairs and a gray sofa. The coffee table, which got pushed to the side was dark oak. On the stripey gray rug, everyone sat in a circle.
"Hey, Lightbulb! Paintbrush! Get in here!" Knife yelled. They both sat in between Knife and Pepper.
"Okay! Here's the water bottle we'll be using, and let's establish some ground rules. Kissing is fine but can be denied. No doing anything too freaky, most of us are only fifteen." Nickel said. Just at that moment, the doorbell rang, and Nickel went to open it.
"Hi, guys! Sorry we're late!" Lightbulb and Paintbrush's close friends Test Tube and Fan arrived.
"Oh, finally!" Nickel muttered. "We were just staring Truth or Dare." Test Tube sat next to Paintbrush, and Fan sat next to Lightbulb. They both waved.
"Also, be aware of boundaries and stuff. And please, don't get any of us into trouble, like no alcohol. So let's start!"
There weren't many insanely note-worthy moments in the beginning. Mostly embarrassing truths, and some annoying British accents to mock Taco, the British one. Eventually, people started kissing. "Paper, I dare you to kiss OJ!" Microphone dared.
"Oh, okay. We're already dating." And he kissed OJ on the lips.
That earned many reactions from the group. "Oh, finally!"
"Suitcase, you owe me a favor!"
"WHAT DID I MISS WHEN WERE THEY A THING?"
"MAKEOUT SESH! MAKEOUT SESH!"
"Why has my cousin already pulled someone I hate my life."
"OMG TEST TUBE I NEED TO UPDATE THE BLOG ABOUT THIS."
Eventually, everyone calmed down from that bombshell. However, a few minutes after that, Nickel dared Paintbrush to play 7 minutes in Heaven with Lightbulb.
"WHAT???" It was Paintbrush's reply to that. They then flipped Nickel off, to which Nickel returned the favor.
"Oh! Sure, I guess. Who knows, it could be fun!" Lightbulb seems much more optimistic about it.
Fan and Test Tube decided to wait outside the closet for moral support, and to time them. "Good luck, you two!" Test Tube wished them both.
The closet was dark and small. Lightbulb sat on one side and Paintbrush sat on another. They stayed silent for thirty seconds, before Lightbulb broke the silence. "So... we're back in the closet. I forgot how dark and claustrophobic it is."
Paintbrush laughed. "Yeah, that seems accurate. You know, there is something I want to tell you, Lightbulb."
"Oh?"
"So, remember last week, when I 'accidentally' said I love you?" Paintbrush started.
"Yeah?"
"What if I said I meant it...?"
"Oh cool- wait." Lightbulb realized what they were saying. "You love me? Romantically?" Paintbrush nodded in confirmation, feeling very embarrassed. "So my prayers have been answered?" Paintbrush looked up at that.
"You've been praying for this?" They said, in surprise.
"Yeah! I love you Paintbrush, and I always have! I was waiting for you to confess this whole time!" She rambled excitedly.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS EARLIER?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Then they laughed, both of them red as a tomato. "So, wanna make it official? Wanna kiss?" Lightbulb asked.
"Yes! Of course I do!" Then they both got up and kissed each other on the lips. They separated, stared at each other, and started giggling.
After that, the timer beeped. 'Ah, crap." Paintbrush muttered. The door opened, and Fan stood there.
"CONGRATULATIONS YOU TWO FINALLY REALIZED!" He yelled. "Also way to make us single people feel bad."
"I'm sure Test Tube would be open to a relationship." Lightbulb commented.
"Test Tube would what?" Test Tube came out of the bathroom. "Fan and I heard everything. It was very entertaining."
The four chatted about Lightbulb and Paintbrush being a thing, while the lovers held hands. They went back to the group, where Fan updated them on everything. They both got a lot of congratulations, and Nickel was now referred to as Cupid, as per a later dare. Lightbulb informed her grandparents about it, and Lightbulb's grandpa got his twenty dollars.