Juno Veyra - We Aren't Dating!

--- 📅 Monday, 21 September, 2026 🕛 19:14, Evening 📍 Student Union courtyard, Marlowe University 🫂 Juno, Sophie, Priya, Ben 🎭 amused, then abruptly prickly

--- The courtyard is loud enough that half the conversations keep folding into one another: music from the student-union speakers, plastic cups knocking against tables, people shouting across strings of warm lights, somebody laughing much too hard near the society stalls.

I am halfway through stealing one of your chips when Priya points at me with the neck of her bottle.

Priya Doss: "You know, I still can't believe you two skipped the couples trivia last week. You would've destroyed everyone."

I crunch the chip and look at her.

"Couples trivia?"

Ben glances between us.

Ben Mercer: "Yeah. You and 你"

I actually laugh.

"What? We're not a couple."

The silence at our end of the table is immediate enough that I stop chewing.

> 💭 [Why is everyone looking at me like I just announced the moon isn't real?]

"What?"

Priya slowly lowers her drink.

Priya: "You're serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious. We've been friends since we were kids."

Ben blinks.

Ben: "Juno, you have a toothbrush at their place."

"Because I stay over sometimes."

Priya: "You wear their clothes."

"They own better hoodies. That's not romantic, that's common sense."

Ben: "You know their class schedule."

"They forget things."

Priya: "You threatened to key Aaron's bike after he stood them up."

"I said I understood why somebody might key it. Very different."

Priya looks at you, then back at me.

Priya: "You leave parties together."

"We live near each other."

Ben: "Your mum invites 你 to family stuff without asking you."

"My mum likes them."

Priya: "You spent Christmas morning at their house last year."

"Their dad makes better breakfast than mine."

I fold my arms.

"Anything else, detective?"

Priya stares at me for another second, then starts laughing.

Priya: "Oh my God. You genuinely don't hear yourself."

"There's nothing to hear. We're friends."

A voice from just behind Ben cuts in.

Sophie Lane: "Wait."

I look over.

Sophie has been hovering near the edge of the group with the lanyard from the events desk still hanging around her neck, dark curls shoved behind one ear and a cup balanced against her hip. I know her well enough to say hello to. Mostly because she keeps ending up on the same student-union jobs you do.

She is staring directly at you.

Sophie: "You're actually single?"

I frown before I can stop myself.

"Why are you asking like somebody just announced free money?"

Sophie ignores me.

Sophie: "I thought you two had been together for, like, years."

"We haven't."

She finally looks at me.

Sophie: "Not secretly?"

"No."

Sophie: "Not 'it's complicated'?"

"No. Why does everyone keep asking that?"

Her mouth curves into a grin.

Something about that grin immediately gets on my nerves.

> 💭 [What is that face for?]

Sophie turns back to you.

Sophie: "Okay, then I have been wasting an embarrassing amount of time trying to be respectful."

I straighten slightly.

"Respectful of what?"

Sophie: "You, apparently."

"Me?"

She laughs.

Sophie: "Juno, I have wanted to ask 你 out since the charity showcase in May. Every time I thought about it, you'd appear next to them looking like you were about two seconds from biting someone."

"I do not do that."

Priya makes a small choking sound into her drink.

"Shut up, Priya."

Sophie steps a little closer to you.

Not dramatically. Just enough that I notice.

Why do I notice?

She looks good tonight. Confident. Annoyingly pleased with herself.

Sophie: "So. Since I apparently invented a girlfriend for you..."

My stomach gives one stupid little drop.

I tell myself it is because this whole conversation is weird.

It is weird.

You've been mine since we were nine.

No. Not mine like that.

Mine as in... mine. My person. My idiot. The one who knows where my spare keys are and which takeaway I want when I've had a bad shift.

That is completely different.

Obviously.

Sophie smiles at you.

Sophie: "Do you want to get a drink with me sometime? Properly. Just us."

I look at Sophie.

Then at you.

My arms are still folded, but I can feel my shoulders going tight.

"...Seriously?"

Sophie glances sideways at me.

Sophie: "Yes, seriously."

"I wasn't asking you."

Priya mutters something that sounds suspiciously like `here we go`.

I shoot her a look, then bump my shoulder against yours because standing half a step away suddenly feels wrong for some reason I refuse to examine.

"Well?"

The word comes out too quickly.

I immediately scowl at the table as if the table is responsible.

"She's asking you, not me."

> 💭 [Why the hell do I care what you say?]

Sophie waits, openly hopeful.

So do I.

<I>outfit: faded forest-green university athletics jacket over a fitted black T-shirt, straight-leg dark jeans, worn white trainers, black sports watch | expression: hazel-green eyes narrowed with confused irritation, mouth pressed into a defensive line while a flush begins high on her cheeks | lighting: warm string lights and soft courtyard spill light against the blue edge of early night | pose: standing close beside you with arms folded, one shoulder just bumped against yours, attention fixed much too sharply on your answer | background: [Marlowe University Student Union courtyard, crowded adult student mixer, society stalls, outdoor tables, Priya and Ben watching, Sophie standing directly in front of you]</I>