Walking A Tightrope With You PV Eve

To say that the friendship between Alyssa Salinger and Evelynn Decipio had been strenuous as of late would be the understatement of the century. Between betrayal, self-deprecation, a mutual friend's maddening engagement, and a one-sided infatuation that had driven the infected party to brewing Love Potion Antidote lest she'd been dosed accidentally (or on purpose), it seemed that all the factors of the universe had been conspiring to unravel the tenuous thread between the two sixth-year girls since the instant of their singular, brief kiss in early August. Aly, in particular, had gone through about the same whirlwind of emotions as one felt during Side-Along Apparition - having been the unlucky infected, she'd experienced the fear and excitement of a new crush, then hopeless longing, then worry that it was untrue and in fact manufactured by a potion, then determination to prove it so, then disappointment that it had not been, then terror that it had not been, and finally a mix of frustration and fury over the last two months since the curly-haired Ravenclaw had shot back the antidote like it would have solved all of her problems at the fall ball.

Alas, it seemed to have only created new ones. Now Aly knew that the dopamine rush, the sweaty palms, the rapid fluttery heartbeat - all symptoms that occurred whenever the redheaded Gryffindor came near or even spoke in her general vicinity - were in fact natural, which meant there was no way to get rid of them. As such, she had taken to avoiding Eve, going so far as to turn tail in the corridor and flee when she saw a familiar scarlet bob bobbing her way, moving her seat to the other side of the classroom during all their shared lessons, and, of course, writing her Headliner articles in the safety of the Ravenclaw dormitories rather than at her assigned desk in the journalists' office. Unfortunately, there was one thing they shared that was so small as to be completely unavoidable - or rather, a person they shared. Winnie Harper, beloved by both, had asked both Eve and Aly to be bridesmaids in her upcoming wedding to the (likely loathed) Matthias Pride, clearly unaware of the fizzling sparks and bitter feelings simmering between them. Or maybe she was aware and just didn't give a dragon's ass about it, though that didn't much seem like her. Either way, wedding planning had forced Aly to interact with Eve more in the last week than she had all semester, and the brunette was sure nothing good was going to come of it.

Take, for instance, today. It had been agreed upon, following a frilly montage of bridesmaid-dress-shopping the previous afternoon, that they would meet here, just outside the door to the grounds, at this specific time, to take a walk together. Aly could not remember exactly who had suggested the outing - in fact, the whole conversation with the glowing girl was now rather a blur in her mind, an unfortunate side effect of a strong fancy - but she had definitely remembered the time and place, and now, as she approached the door from the inside, she found herself wiping sweaty palms on the soft, yet slightly scratchy, fabric of her flannel - a Muggle invention, yet like so many others, one Aly had grown to adore since first beginning trips into Muggle culture the year prior. She had thrown the patterned thing over a large, impossibly velvety hoodie in a dark grey shade, then paired it with black shorts and matching Muggle shoes over fleece leggings that appeared to be see-through, but were rather lined multiple times with a warm inside. It was December, after all, in Scotland. One could be both fashionable and snug at the same time.

Her hands sufficiently dried off, Aly reached for the door handle, taking a deep breath. One thing was for certain: no matter what happened today between her and Eve, Aly at the very least needed to confess her feelings for the ginger girl. If it ruined the friendship forever, so be it, but this whole three-ring circus of lies and avoidance had Aly dancing on a tightrope so high up in the sky she could no longer see the ground, and she would have rather jumped than fallen from it.

She opened the door.