the only exception

  "What are you wearing?" Emily asked, eyes wide as she approached Phoebe at her locker.

"A jersey, like you, and a skirt," Phoebe explained slowly, eyeing her friend to try and figure out why she seemed so spooked. They were literally wearing the exact same thing except Emily had red shorts instead of a red skirt and the jersey numbers were different. "Does the skirt look weird?" She asks before Emily can answer, suddenly feeling insecure without simple jeans or shorts. Hayley had helped her pick out the skirt and she really liked it, but Emily's reaction was making her nervous.

"No, not the skirt. The skirt is cute!" Emily quickly assured before shaking her head,
"But who's jersey is that?"

Phoebe scrunched her face, slowly shutting her locker, "Jay's."

"What?! What about Hayden?" Emily practically screeched, causing Phoebe to quickly shush her as passing students glanced at them.

"Chill out, dude." Phoebe reprimanded, "me and Jay are just friends. This doesn't change that."

"No, no, no, but you can't wear his jersey." Emily shook her head, glancing around, presumably for James and Hayden.

"Why?"
"Because you're supposed to wear Haydens!"

Phoebe let out a dry laugh, "No, I'm not. He never asked me to."

"He was going to today! He was gonna use it to ask you to be his girlfriend." Emily explained quickly, her face holding a desperation Phoebe couldn't quite explain.

"Well, then he should have asked me before Jay did?"

Emily's jaw dropped at the statement, "Jay asked you to be his girlfriend?"

"No, you dimwit," Phoebe shook her head, "About the jersey."

"Oh, good. Very good." Emily sighed dramatically, and Phoebe couldn't help but to crack a slight smile.

"It's fine. I'm sure Hayden will understand." Phoebe grinned, shutting her locker and slinging her arm over Emily's shoulder to lead her to their first class, "Where are the boys anyway?"

Emily started rambling on about something, jumping from one topic to the next in the short walk, but Phoebe couldn't seem to really focus on anything as it finally hit her what Emily said. He was gonna ask you to be his girlfriend.

Phoebe feels her cheeks pinken at the statement, a ball of nerves winding up in her stomach as they enter the classroom, but she quickly dismisses it. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about being Hayden's girlfriend, but there's no way she was going to say no. She's pretty sure she really likes him, and it just makes sense for the group dynamic anyway.

She lets herself dwell on it for a second. Imagining going on dates and talking on the phone late at night, really just anything she thinks couples do. Then, she thinks of kissing him and lets out a small smile, leaning back in her seat.

However, before she can let herself get too excited at the idea of being his girlfriend, Hayden and James enter the room, both of them slowing slightly at seeing her in Jay's jersey. James is quick to recover, moving to sit in front of Emily, but Haydens approach to sit in front of Phoebe is slow and standoffish.

He sends her looks throughout class, but everytime she looks back at him he just looks away, acting like a kicked puppy. Phoebe can't help but to feel sad at that. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings and really didn't realize how big of a deal the jersey thing was going to be.

She doesn't want Hayden mad at her, but she's not going to take it off. She already told Jay, her friend, that she was going to wear it so she wasn't gonna hurt his feelings. To clear the air, she asks to talk to Hayden after class, letting Emily and James go their separate ways with a quick goodbye.

"What's up?" He asked as they leave the room, and she can tell he's trying to act more casual compared to the sad eyes he was giving her in class.

Phoebe gave him a sad, apologetic smile, "Emily told me you were gonna ask me to wear your jersey."

"Oh," Hayden laughs a little, shrugging. "Yeah, but it's alright. I guess I just didn't realize you and Jay were a thing."

"We're not!" Phoebe quickly assures him. She thinks it's the right thing to say, really, she isn't sure how it could be wrong, but it seems to be seeing as Hayden just scoffs at her and shakes his head.

"You don't have to lie to me, I really don't care either way." Hayden tells her cooly, and this time it's Phoebe who feels like a kicked puppy.

"You don't care either way?" She asks slowly. Clearly she's hurt his feelings to the point where he thinks he needs to play it off, and somehow that only makes her feel worse.

Hayden just nods in response, already turning around, "I gotta get to class."

"Hayden, wait-" Phoebe stopped him, lightly grabbing his arm.

"Jesus, what, Phoebe?" Hayden asked quickly, clearly annoyed.

Phoebe shrinks at the tone in his voice, brows furrowing, "You don't have to be so rude."

"I'm just done with your games." Hayden shrugged.

"I'm not playing games," Phoebe quickly assured him, because now she was on a mission. She'd already decided she wanted to be Hayden's girlfriend and she wasn't gonna let it get screwed up by a slight misunderstanding, so that's exactly what she told him. "I want to be your girlfriend, not Jay's."

Hayden grins at this, leaning against the lockers. He searches her face for a moment and Phoebe nods in reassurance, partially freaking out on the inside because he's not saying anything and partially freaking out because she just admitted that out loud.

"Really?" He asks after a moment, in which Phoebe can only nod in response.

"Really."

"Okay," Hayden nods, "so does this mean you are my girlfriend now?"

Phoebe breaks out into a toothy smile, mirroring him as she also leans her shoulder against the cold metal, "If you want."

"As long as you aren't talking to Jay, then yeah." Hayden tells her easily.

"I'm not talking to Jay." Phoebe tells him, a little annoyed because it feels like the millionth time she's had to say there's nothing going on between them in a single day.

"Then I guess you're my girlfriend," Hayden tells her easily, and even though they'd been talking about it already, she still can't help but to feel giddy at the statement.

"I guess I am."

***

a/n

highschoolers can be sooo silly and dramatic