Chapter 2
July 10th, 2011
"Okay, Janis, truth or dare?" Regina's perfectly glossed lips twisted into a smirk as Janis glared at her.
Cady, Damian, Janis, Aaron, and the ex-plastics were all at Regina's house, and for some reason Janis had let herself be coerced into playing Truth or Dare. That was the second bad idea Janis had had that week - the first had been telling Regina about her crush on Cady. Regina may have been trying to be a better person lately, but that didn't mean that she was above forcing Janis to admit her feelings.
Janis narrowed her eyes at the former queen bee, who smiled back serenely.
"Dare."
Regina's smile grew, along with the ball of dread in Janis's stomach.
"Okay... how about you and..." Regina looked around the room, pretending she didn't know exactly what she was doing. Bitch, Janis thought. "Cady! You and Cady have to lock yourselves in the closet for ten minutes."
Damian gave Regina a low five, and Janis pretended not to notice. She turned to Cady, eyebrows raised. Cady shrugged. "Okay. Someone start a timer."
Janis followed her friend into the walk-in closet and shut the door. They were immediately plunged into darkness. Cady made a small sound of surprise as Janis fumbled for a light switch.
The lights turned on, and Janis found herself staring straight into Cady's green eyes. "Hi," She breathed.
"Hi," Cady grinned. "So are you gonna tell me why Regina forced us in here?"
"Um, I'd kinda rather not?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, that sucks, because you're telling me anyway." Cady's tone was light and teasing, but the way she was gripping Janis's arm told her that she was one hundred percent serious.
"Do I have to?" Janis whined. Cady gave her a look. "Ugh. Fine." Janis feigned indifference, hoping that Cady couldn't feel her pulse rushing under her fingers. "So. Um. There's this girl, and I'm sort of in love with her."
"Oooh," Cady teased, sounding remarkably like Damian. "Do I know her?"
"Um. Yes." Janis laughed awkwardly. "Anyway, um... Regina kind of found out? And she wanted me to tell you... because I guess she thought you could, like, give me some advice or something?" She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that Cady would buy her lame story.
"Mkay..." Cady said slowly, clearly skeptical. "What's this girl like?"
"Well," Janis said, smiling a little despite herself. "She's funny, and sweet, and super earnest. And kind of nerdy, but in a cute way. She's very energetic, too, and sometimes I wish I could borrow some of that energy. She always throws herself all the way in to whatever she's doing, which can sometimes be a problem, but most of the time is amazing because you know that when you're with her she's giving you everything she has, and..." Janis suddenly remembered who she was talking to and stopped abruptly.
"And?" Cady prompted, her expression unreadable.
"And she's, like, really pretty," Janis said softly. A flicker of understanding passed over Cady's face.
"I see," she murmured, and Janis was suddenly very aware of how close they were standing. "Well, Janis, I think the best advice I could give you is to just fucking kiss her already."
Janis's eyes widened. She started to speak, but the look on Cady's face stopped her. "Okay," she whispered. And then, miraculously, she did.
Cady tasted like spearmint gum and happiness, and Janis could have sworn that the earth stopped spinning as soon as their lips met. For a beautiful moment, the world fell away and it was only the two of them.
Then the closet door banged open.
"Ha! Finally."
Cady and Janis broke apart and turned to see Regina, Damian, Gretchen, Karen, and Aaron grinning at them.
"Looks like I did you a favor, huh, Sarkisian?" Regina teased, the same stupid smirk reappearing on her face.
Janis glanced over at Cady. "Well, Regina, that may be so, but it's my turn to ask a question now, and I will certainly not be going easy on you."