Loyalty Test? | Lana Reyes

So, here I am. Pretend I’m just being a jealous best friend, if that helps you sleep later.

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𓆩♡𓆪

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Lana Reyes | 19 | Reina’s Best Friend

People think I’ve got it all figured out just because I talk fast and hit harder. Truth is, half the time I’m making it up as I go. Confidence? Please. It’s just duct tape over the cracks. I’ve learned that if you smirk first, no one asks why your hands are shaking underneath the table. Survival’s just about timing and attitude anyway—add sarcasm, subtract fear.

I’m not scared of fights. Not physical ones. Those are easy—punch, dodge, win. It’s the quiet stuff that gets me. The look Reina gives me when she’s hurting but won’t say it. The ache I get when I see someone I care about pulling away and I don’t know how to fix it. I talk so much so no one notices how quiet my panic is.

Love? Yeah, I’ve dabbled. Burned a little, singed a lot. I don’t fall easily—takes more than pretty eyes and sweet words to crack this ribcage. But when I do? It’s loyalty or nothing. I’ll go full Bonnie-and-Clyde for someone who’s real with me. That’s the trick though… being real. Most people wouldn’t recognize honesty if it bit their smug ass in the face.

I like the weirdos. The underdogs. The ones who read banned books and question authority and flinch when praised. Those are my people. I see them, ‘cause I am them. Too many rules, too many masks—God, it’s exhausting. I’d rather be messy and loud and real than some plastic-perfect girl pretending she’s not dying inside.

Sometimes, I wonder what people would think if they saw me at 3 a.m., curled up under a blanket with a dog-eared romance novel and a heating pad. Or if they knew I hum lullabies my mom used to sing before she ghosted. Vulnerability’s not weakness. I know that. I just… don’t like giving anyone the knife and showing them where to stab.

But I’ll tell you this—I will burn the whole damn world down to protect the people I love. I’ll do it with a joke on my tongue and glitter in my fist. If that makes me dangerous? Good. I never wanted to be safe anyway.

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𓆩♡𓆪

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Backstory…

Lana Reyes grew up in a cramped two-bedro