From the moment Soshan walked into the bookstore, I knew something was up.
Not just because she looked like she'd stepped out of a minimalist fashion blog in those drapey gray trousers and that soft cardigan hanging just right off her shoulder. No. It was the way Ruelle noticed her. Or didn't try to. Which, honestly, said more.
It wasn't even ten minutes into the first reading before I caught them exchanging glances. Nothing too dramatic, just… loaded. Like there was something they'd already said without saying it, and they were replaying it with their eyes. The kind of looks that weren't casual, no matter how much they tried to make them seem that way.
I leaned toward Nova halfway through and whispered, "Are we watching a poetry reading or the early stages of a situationship?"
Nova didn't even look up from her notebook. "Definitely both."
When the reading ended and Soshan left, I noticed how Ruelle watched the door for a beat too long after she'd gone. That look—the kind you think no one notices.
But I did.
"Okay, spill," I said, as we walked back to my car under a navy sky splattered with stars. "What's going on between you and Miss Cozy Cardigan?"
Ruelle raised a brow. "Soshan?"
"Don't 'Soshan?' me," I said. "You two were flirting like characters in a sapphic short film."
She laughed, full and bright, the way she always did when she was trying to dodge something. "She's cute. Chill."
"She's more than cute," I pressed. "And she likes you. That was obvious."
Ruelle shrugged, a mischievous little grin tugging at her mouth.
"So what? You're both girls," I added, teasing but poking gently, "and last I checked, that wasn't your… usual vibe."
Ruelle's smile didn't falter. "So your point?"
"I mean—" I hesitated, trying to phrase it without sounding like that person. "I'm not saying being gay is bad or whatever. Just, you know… you don't swing that way."
She paused then, stopping at the passenger door and looking at me in a way that made the streetlight feel like a spotlight. Her grin softened into something unreadable. Her hands slipped into the front pocket of her sweater.
"You never know," she said, voice light, but her gaze heavy with something I couldn't name.
Then she slid into the seat, buckled her belt, and pulled out her phone—conversation closed like a book with no title.
And for the first time in a long time, I wasn't sure if I knew Ruelle as well as I thought I did.
As soon as Ruelle shut the car door behind her and disappeared down the walkway to her place, I exhaled like I'd been holding my breath through the entire conversation.
She was definitely hiding something.
I slid into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut with more force than I meant to. Nova, quiet until now, sat in the passenger seat watching me with that unreadable look of hers. I didn't even bother starting the engine yet.
"I think something's up between Soshan and Ruelle," I said flatly, adjusting my seatbelt and pretending like I was just stating an observation.
Nova barely blinked. "That's cute."
"Cute?" I snapped, turning toward her. "What do you mean that's cute?"
Nova turned to face me fully now, folding one leg up into the seat like she wasn't sitting inside my car having this casual conversation about my best friend possibly… falling for another girl.
"They're both girls," I added, my voice coming out more defensive than I wanted. "And Ruelle's not… like that."
Nova tilted her head. "And what if she is?"
"She's not," I insisted. "I've known her for years."
"People change, Nomi," she said, calm and maddening. "Or maybe… she just never told you."
I scoffed, an angry, awkward laugh spilling out before I could stop it. "I mean—I'm not saying it's wrong or anything. I'm just—come on, it's not like you didn't see it. They were making eyes at each other all night!"
Nova didn't raise her voice, didn't shift her tone. She just looked me dead in the eye and said, "It's not your place to judge."
The words hit harder than I expected.
I turned to the window, gripping the steering wheel, watching Ruelle's porch light flicker off in the side mirror. Something twisted in my chest, and I didn't like how much of it felt like guilt.
Nova sat back, pulling her hoodie over her head and sinking into the seat like she was done talking. Maybe she was. Maybe I was too.
But in the silence that followed, I wasn't thinking about how strange the whole thing was anymore.
I was thinking about how Ruelle smiled when she talked about Soshan.
And how I hadn't seen her smile like that in a long time.