Eden and Bea (LGBT+)

🌳 x 17

After she had finished eating her grilled chicken, Eden leant backwards against the grass. 

"I am so full," she said. 

It was then that I realised that although Eden and I were the same height, more or less, her appetite was a lot smaller than mine was. 

I felt as though I could eat another grilled chicken or two, in all honesty. My body craved the protein. We had an eventful day, so I supposed that much was understandable. 

Eden was a slender girl and slightly toned from working out. I wondered when she found the time to do so, amongst all her studying, but she seemed to be the sort of person to have a fierce determination to succeed. 

That much had certainly been proven by her crossing the tree challenge, today. 

She combed her fingers through her blonde hair and her eyes fluttered closed, as she embraced the warmth of the golden setting sun. In that moment, she looked almost angelic. Almost. 

"I'm going to go to sleep. I'm totally beat," Ren spoke, breaking my focus. 

I turned back to Ren and nodded. Then, I managed a sincere smile. 

"Goodnight, Ren. Sweet dreams," I said to her warmly. 

"Thank you, Bea. You too," she replied, before she made her way off to her own tent. She had been partnered with one of the girls who had complimented her outfit earlier in the day. I was glad that she had made a friend. 

Eden's eyes soon opened again and she worked her hair into a high ponytail, before she took another sip of water. 

Her almond-shaped, hazel eyes appeared more gold in the sunlight and they soon looked into my own, causing my heart to jolt in a way that it never had previously. 

Alright, Earth to Beatrice, what was actually happening to me right now? This was not the time to stare at the girl who had been classified an enemy for me since I was twelve. No way. 

"There's a charging point over there," Eden said then, causing my thought cloud to sift away, "I'm going to charge my phone. Coming?" she asked me. 

I stood up before I could find a reason to say no. 

A hint of a smile appeared at her lips, but only momentarily, before she made her way over to the charging point and plugged in her phone. 

"Thank god. It was so close to dying," she said and then paused, "You probably think I'm just a spoilt rich bitch, don't you?" she asked me. 

"I don't think you're just a spoilt rich bitch," I said. I only realised how harsh it sounded after I had said it. "I mean-" I went to say, but she cut me off with a short laugh. 

"No. It's fine...you're probably right," she said. 

"No, I'm really not. I shouldn't have said that," I argued, "And I shouldn't have pushed you today, Eden. If I had known about your...anxieties about heights, then I would have been kinder to you." 

"No, you have no reason to be kind to me," she said. 

"Yes, I do. I don't want to argue with you," I said. 

"Then shut up," she replied, with some frustration in her voice, as she continued to tap away at her phone screen. "Combien de temps ceci va-t-il prendre?" she added quietly. 

I had taken enough French classes to know that meant how long is this going to take? 

Furthermore, I knew that Eden had frequently travelled to France a lot with her parents, when they had to go on business trips. 

After a few moments of typing away, Eden looked up again. 

She seemed slightly surprised that I was still waiting for her but, of course, I was charging my own phone by now. 

"Hello, Beatrice," she said, with a small, civil smile. 

"Hi Edie," I replied. 

She smirked. 

"I've got enough juice. Do you want to go back to the tent?" she asked me. 

I nodded in agreement. 

Eden then unplugged her phone, as did I, and the two of us walked back to our tent. 

We then made our way inside and I went to sit down upon my sleeping bag and pulled my reading glasses out of my backpack. 

"I didn't know you wore glasses," Eden commented. 

My hand instinctively lifted to adjust them on my nose. 

"Only for reading," I said. 

"They make glasses for dyslexic people?" she asked then. 

She had meant it to offend me, but instead I choked out a laugh. 

Eden chuckled too, then. 

"They make your eyes bigger," she said, "Which is sort of cool...you have great eyes." 

I was almost too distracted by her earlier comment to notice that she had actually complimented me. 

"I do?" I asked her, with some surprise behind my words. 

"Yeah," she said. "It's a good thing. Have you always had freckles?" she asked then. 

"What-" I paused. 

"Your skin's looking a little sun-kissed. I suppose that's what brought out your freckles," she said. 

I placed my slender hands together and then placed them in my lap. 

Alright, so now I was the anxious one. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. 

Eden was being nice to me. This absolutely hardly ever happened. 

At least, it had been an especially rare occurrence for the past twelve years. We had wasted so much time. 

"You were always able to go out and not wear any makeup, either, and look pretty," she continued. 

I wasn't sure what to say to that. 

I thought Eden was the sort of girl that just knew that she was pretty, but now I was beginning to realise she must have her own insecurities, too. We all did. 

Eden's eyes then glanced down towards my wrists. 

One had a scar from an accident when I was little. I instinctively covered it self-consciously. 

The other wrist had a birthmark. 

"You have a tattoo," Eden said. "How have I not noticed so much about you?" she asked me, "You're like some sort of walking art gallery." 

"I-" I went to say. 

"Of course, your tattoo's a bee," she said, as her eyes glanced towards the tattoo on my calf for a moment. "Bumble bee," she added, in a teasing tone. Then, she grinned.