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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 5, 2024 23:24:54 GMT
It was hot out, but it wasn't too bad under the shade. While Bella liked reading her own books on a nice day like this, she did have some English homework to catch up on. Her textbook that had several poems inside it lay on her lap, but she found her mind wandering every once in a while. Ever since the carnival, she'd been thinking about Zuko a lot, more so than usual. He'd been through some pretty bad things, stuff that would make anyone choose to be cruel to a world that had been cruel to them. But instead, he'd done the opposite, and wanted to make things better. She'd found herself glancing at him often in class and noticed little things about him, like the way his brow furrowed when he was thinking hard about something, or that you could feel the faintest bit of heat if you sat close to him. She'd never really known anyone like him before. Her eyes were still on her book, but she wasn't really reading the words, and she failed to notice the little orchids blooming around her in reaction to her thoughts.
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 6, 2024 2:49:11 GMT
Dorothea was listening to her Broadway hits playlist for about the…well, she lost count. Maybe it was because every musical had such a unique style. Beetlejuice was currently being poured into her ears. The clash between classical stylings and rock was interesting. She hadn’t heard a show have this much balance of it since Repo. Repo…that was a show Spike might be interested in listening to.
There it was again. She had been thinking about Spike. Of course. Another boy to fan the flames of love. But she could easily forget him. Easier said than done.
As Dorothea walked through the field, she paused. Orchids? Blooming here? She picked one of the buds and smiled at it. Then she saw the source. Bella was by a tree with books spread out.
“You know, orchids symbolize joy and love,” she mused half to herself, half to Bella.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 6, 2024 22:10:21 GMT
"Hmm?" Bella didn't hear the words, but she looked up at the sound of a voice. It was Dorothea, an orchid in her hands. Bella looked down and just then realized the flowers blooming around her. Weird, she hadn't even noticed her powers making them grow. "How did these get here?" she muttered. Was it because of...nah. Bella shook her head, clearing the thought from her head. "Hey. How's it going?" she greeted Dorotha before noticing an earbud. "Got some good tunes?" she asked.
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 7, 2024 5:25:13 GMT
There was the cute little puppy dog eyes that Dorothea loved. She smiled and sat next to Bella, tucking her legs underneath her on one side. "Hey, Bells. I guess I can't complain. Life's been full of all sorts of different music tracks." She swiped through her playlist. Broadway had a lot of reprises currently, but none of which were any she was dying to listen to again. "Got back into the Beetlejuice musical soundtrack. Well, save for Dead Mom. If I hear that song one more time...." Every musical had that ONE song that got overplayed. For her, she thought it was Dead Mom. She waved the thought away like a puff of smoke. "How about you?"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 7, 2024 22:19:01 GMT
Bella peeked over at Dorothea's playlist as her friend sat down next to her. She had a pretty good variety, some classic stuff, some new ones. She giggled at her Beetlejuice joke. "Every musical does have that one overplayed song," she laughed. Looking on the positive side, Bella figured that at least meant the composer was good at writing catchy tunes. She shrugged a little when Dorotha asked how she was doing. "Trying to get through some poetry for English class, but...eh, can't really focus," she replied, tossing the book aside. "Been...thinking about other stuff, I guess," she added, deciding to be truthful. She felt like Dorothea was someone she could confide in, talk about what was on her mind without being told that she was just thinking too hard, like Utena sometimes did.
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 7, 2024 23:20:47 GMT
Dorothea put down her phone. There was no need to look at it. Bella needed her. She knew well when people had secrets, that people trusted her to tell them and required full attention. Because God forbid her precious Bells could be getting into serious trouble. “Oh like what?”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 8, 2024 22:15:26 GMT
Dorotha gave Bella an awfully serious look. "It's nothing bad," she hurriedly said, not wanting to worry. "It's just...I don't know." She paused for a moment, trying to think of how to put her feelings into words. "I've never been great in the whole friends department. I mean, there's you and I guess Utena counts too in a way. But then..." She paused again. "You know Zuko, right? Tall guy, scar over his eye? I know he looks kind of intimidating, but once you get to know him...he's not like that at all, once you're friends with him. He's been through a lot, but he's really nice and thoughtful and he doesn't mind the quiet. And he gets this look sometimes like something's on his mind, and he won't say it, but...I want him to. I want to know what he's thinking." She stopped, realizing how much she had said in such a short amount of time. "I mean, everyone wants to know what their friends are thinking, but I've never...wondered about it so much with anyone else. Is that normal?"
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 9, 2024 17:06:14 GMT
Bella was quick to answer, and Dorothea gave her the undivided attention she needed. It felt nice being the one that could be confided in. She wouldn’t say anything about having less friends. If anything, smaller more loyal friends were preferable to popularity. It was something she learned as an actress. But then Bella brought up Zuko. Dorothea knew exactly who she was talking about. The scar made him hard not to miss. "Yeah, I know who you’re talking about. He always looks so…angry, but I’m glad that he has someone to chat with who’s not into dangerous things, maybe steer him from going down the wrong path. If anyone can do it, it’s you, Bells.” She twirled her brown hair. “As for thinking about them that deeply…it shows that you really care, which is normal. But when it gets into more, how do we say, personal thoughts, then it might be more than just friendship on your mind.”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 12, 2024 23:02:32 GMT
"Yeah, I know," Bella said, nodding a little. Even she'd been a little intimidated by Zuko when she'd first met him. But he was different once you got past his rough exterior. Dorothea mentioned Bella might be good for him in case he ever went down the wrong path and that made her look up. "What? No, he'd never do that," she said. "No way." Although a small part of her wondered if she really knew that or if she was just biased because she cared about him. But she'd be like that with any of her friends, right? She always saw the best in them. Dorotha suggested that maybe she felt more for him than friendship and that made her blink in surprise. "Wait, what?" she asked. That possibility hadn't even occurred to her. Did she like Zuko? She hadn't really had a crush on anyone before except maybe a few fictional characters, but those probably didn't count.
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 13, 2024 2:31:30 GMT
Dorothea raised an eyebrow at Bella. So quick to jump to his defense too. It didn’t take much for the fits to be connected. But a little chatting would make it more friendly. Besides, she was one to talk about falling for the bad boys. She was conflicted about Spike after all. “I’ve been where you are, Bella. I’ve liked someone but had to step back and realize what I felt was…more than friendship. I’m…well…” her heart skipped a beat. “..I’m there now.”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 13, 2024 22:18:15 GMT
Dorotha sounded so sure, Bella didn't want to doubt her words. But did it make sense? Her brain tried to connect the dots, trying to see how she'd been acting around Zuko from an outside perspective. Was she really in love with him? It only felt like the sun coming out when he smiled, or this giddy feeling swelled in her chest when she saw him, or her face got hot whenever his hand held hers. or she only wanted to know everything about him and be there for him and see what was going on in his head and...
"Oh." The word came out quietly. Everything connected in Bella's head. How could she not have seen it sooner? "Oh God," she groaned, burying her face in her hands. Of course she was crushing on Zuko, it was so obvious. Had anyone else been able to see too? Did Zuko have any idea how she felt? "I'm such an idiot," she muttered. Before she could start trying to untangle her feelings though, Dorothea's last words finally clicked. "Wait...you said..." Bella looked up. "You...like someone too?"
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 17, 2024 3:33:53 GMT
Dorothea let a small smile cross her face as Bella processed the information given to her. She put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder, careful not to crush any of the orchids around. "No one said you were. Besides, it's normal to have a crush on someone. He must have left quite an impact on you to feel this strongly about him." She hesitated when the conversation was directed at her. Her heart sped up slightly and she stammered. "Uh...er...well...kind of. I don't know....we started hanging out...and I felt this...you know...click."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 18, 2024 15:07:40 GMT
Dorothea assured Bella she wasn't dumb for not realizing her feelings before, which made her feel a little better. But now there was a big question looming over her. "What do I do about it?" she asked. "If I tell him how I feel and he doesn't feel the same..." Bella couldn't even finish her sentence. Was it even wise to confess at this point? She still didn't know everything about him, although she wanted to. Or worse, what if Zuko didn't want to be friends anymore if he didn't like her back? The thought of not being able to spend time with him anymore was crushing.
Bella blinked. Dorothea actually seemed at a loss for words. It was so unlike her. Whoever it was she liked must have really gotten her into a tizzy if she was stammering and nervous instead of her cool, confident self. "Who is it? Do I know them?" she asked.
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Post by zuyuri on Aug 19, 2024 0:59:12 GMT
Dorothea looked at Bella with a calm but firm look. She knew exactly how it felt. The anxiety of going up to someone and confessing feelings. It was one that was just uncomfortable. "Bella, he'll never know if you don't tell him. But do it when you know the timing's right." She offered a reassuring smile, one that turned slightly goofy as she thougth back about Spike. "Well, he's...a loner, not unlike Zuko. He tends to skip class a lot. Upperclassman. Usually has a flask?"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Aug 19, 2024 22:12:22 GMT
The right time...Bella sighed. Who knew when that would be? She'd probably be anxious anytime she tried, she'd never feel 100% ready. She knew some people would say that was okay, but Bella felt like she could at least get to a point where telling Zuko how she felt didn't make her feel like she was about to fall off a cliff. Dorothea described the guy she liked, but didn't give a name. Bella thought for a moment and her eyes widened once she realized who Dorothea was talking about. "Spike Spiegel!?" she asked in astonishment. That was the last person Bella had been expecting.
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