Emily's crying was loud, but luckily it only woke Sarah's grandmother, who had stayed up to wait for them but fallen asleep in a stiff camping chair next to the dying campfire outside. She was a beautiful woman, and the lines of old age that often appeared on her face only made her more so. But her usual laugh lines vanished under the lines of stress that appeared when she was startled awake by the shrieking sobs of her granddaughter's friend and the lines only deepened when she took in the sight of her granddaughter's bare foot covered in sand and blood. She hurriedly struggled out of the sunken seat of the chair and disappeared into the camper behind her.
Emily sat Sarah down in the chair that her grandmother had vacated and reassured her that everything would be fine. Sarah didn't cry, though her jaw was tense with the effort she was making to hold in her agony. Her teeth were beginning to ache, but with another glance at her friend's tear-stained face, she clenched them harder. She didn't want to seem weak, especially in front of Emily, who was already broken down enough for them both. If she hadn't been in so much pain, she would have teased Emily about being dramatic. But as it was, she was barely holding back her own tears.
And so Sarah sat quietly in the seat as her grandmother returned with a first aid kit and as her grandmother gently scolded her to be more careful and as her friend cried over her some more. She was still quiet as she was sent to bed, her foot wrapped in gauze and her hand wrapped in Emily's.
She remained quiet until she was finally curled up under her blankets with Emily sniffling beside her, the blonde having refused to separate from her side and now clutching onto her as if the claws of the crab would reach through the walls of the camper at any moment and rip Sarah away. Sarah calmed her friend's guilt and worry through hushed assurances that she was okay and it didn't really hurt even though she wasn't okay and it did really hurt. Soon, the assurances quieted to nothing, and Emily's grip relaxed, and both girls listened to the calm of the night and the distant waves of the ocean beating steadily against the shore, the rhythm occasionally interrupted by Emily's hiccups or sniffles.
Once Emily was sufficiently soothed, Sarah found it easy to fall asleep in the company of her friend's warm body, listening as her hiccups slowly settled down into deep breaths and watching as her eyes finally closed. Her own eyes followed soon after as she was lulled to rest with the steady rhythm of Emily's heartbeat, her mind drifting into soft, wispy dreams of a pretty girl sitting on the edge of their rock, bright yellow flip-flops swaying as she smiled, her hair surrounded by the golden light of the setting sun and her eyes sparkling as if the stars themselves had blessed them with their shine.
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Teen Fictiona few short stories of two girls who think the world of each other. features a toxic mother, a tired step-father, a determined grandmother, and of course two sapphic stars at the center of it all. might expand, might not. this is mostly the result...
