Teen Titans Magazine Vol. 5 Issue 3 Final Copy-3 | Page 34

“Are you okay?” Their friend asked me. I think I’ve seen her around before, I think her
name was Ivy, or maybe it was Ivanna. Still quite unsure of the brunette’s name, I just sent her
a faint smile and nodded. An awkward silence settled in the air around us, and it was slowly
suffocating me.
“Uhm, Izzy? Can you go for a second?” They suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence
between us all. Izzy’s eyes looked up from her food and made eye contact with me, her emerald
eyes alternating between me and them. Their eyes kept flicking back and forth, making it seem
like they were arguing about something only with just their eyes. Seconds later, Izzy let out an
exasperated sigh and scoffed loudly, giving me a sardonic smile before storming off. I looked
back at her, my eyebrows knitted in confusion.
“Don’t worry about her, she was just trying to convince me not to do something.” They
turned my attention away from the huffing brunette and gave me a genuine smile, lifting away
some of the tension from my chest from what had just happened. What was her deal? What did
she want to stop? Thoughts swirled all around my head and I decided to speak up.
“What did she not want you to do?” I asked, now curious about the whole ordeal. They
slightly frozen in their tracks, stuttering as the words spluttered out of their mouth, “Uhm, er-
well you see- okay. I-Izzy wanted to stop me from a-asking you to the H-Homecoming Dance,
she thought it would ruin my reputation, but I don’t care about that, I-I like you.”
A smile took over my features and I chuckled at how nervous they were being, I couldn’t
believe they were doing this and it took everything I had to keep myself from jumping around
the room screaming like a little girl. My smile slowly faltered as I realized how much damage
they would have to go through when people see us together. They wouldn’t accept it, they’d
start to treat them the way they treat me, and I couldn’t have that happening.
“So, um, would you wanna go to the dance with me, Ethan?” A bright smile was on their
face and I could see that they were shaking from the anxiety, evident in their tone.
“Sorry, but I can’t go,” I gulped, seeing their face fall as I uttered those words.
“Oh. I shouldn’t have asked in the first place, that’s okay, I should’ve known you weren’t
into-” I interrupted what they were saying in the middle of their sentence to try and reassure
them that, that wasn’t the problem.
“No, no that’s not it, I swear. I-I do like you and I would love to go to the dance with you,
but you’ve seen how the other students here treat me, surely if you go with me you’d be treated
the same way and I can’t let that happen,” I explained, my voice hushed so no one would be
able to hear what I was saying. They smiled kindly, taking both my hands in theirs, opening
their mouth to speak.
“I don’t care about that stuff, they can make fun of me for all I care. Plus some of those
people are my friends and if they still have the audacity to do something like that in front of
me, then they’re not worth it.” Smiling at their words, I nodded slowly, making up my mind.
“You know what? I would love to attend the dance with you.” They smiled back at me, 34
their eyes gleaming in happiness.