Can You Hear the Ocean?

Chapter 26

Mia's hair had flattened since she had curled it in the morning for the wedding. She ran her fingers through her hair, staring at herself in her bedroom mirror. Her eyes looked dull with tiredness. She glanced over her shoulder at her bed. Though it looked ready to welcome her, she wasn't so sure she was ready to fall asleep just yet. Perhaps she'd make herself a cup of tea and -

Knock. Knock.

Mia's thoughts were immediately interrupted. Her face twisted in confusion. Strange. She'd thought Leila had already gone to bed.

Slowly, Mia turned the knob of her bedroom door. Leila was in her pajamas; however, she was very much awake.

"Everything good?" Mia asked, briefly concerned. She didn't expect Leila to be awake at this hour, and she figured after a busy day, Leila would be passed out in bed. The lights in her room were usually always off by the time Mia found her way to bed.

"Oh, uh, I just wanted to thank you again for coming with me to my brother's wedding. I had a lot of fun. I imagine it would've been unbearable going alone," Leila explained.

Mia smiled. "Thanks for inviting me. I had a good time," she said. She paused, then giggled slightly. "Though I'm still laughing about the fact you tried to hide you were a lesbian."

"Stop!" Leila exclaimed.

Mia chuckled and opened the door farther, inviting her in. In a matter of minutes, she and Leila were comfortably seated across from each other on Mia's bed, listening to Leila recount tales of failed first dates and her frustrating dating history.

"So you've never been in a relationship, then?" Mia asked after Leila finished sharing a quite humorous first date story.

Leila shook her head. "No," she said.

Mia sensed disappointment in her voice.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Mia assured her. "I mean, my whole relationship history is a mess. I dated shitty guy after shitty guy in high school and college. Those relationships always self-combusted. And I knew what I was doing too. I knew none of those relationships were going to last, but I just fell into them anyway." There was something else on the tip of her tongue that she wanted to say, but she bit down and decided against it.

"Well, hopefully your current relationship won't be like that," Leila said.

"Thanks. And I'm sure you'll meet a nice girl some day," Mia said. 

Leila's face seemed to visibly color at that response. Mia pretended not to notice and instead slapped the the top of her thighs. "Well, I don't want to keep you up too late past your bedtime."

"Oh. Yeah. You're right," Leila said, standing up from Mia's bed. She walked to the door, briefly turning back to say, "Thanks again for coming. Good night."

Mia nodded, though as Leila moved closer toward the door, Mia frustratingly twisted her hands into the fabric of her pajama pants. She winced as she said it, but the words finally managed to slip out.

"Leila?" she asked.

Leila turned around in confusion.

"Um...I mean...I didn't think it was appropriate to tell you this earlier in the evening, but I'm not under the impression I'm 100% straight either," Mia said. 

Leila looked more unnerved than she did earlier in the day when she'd taken Mia aside and admitted she was a lesbian. "Huh?"

Mia glanced upward at her ceiling to avoid eye contact with Leila. This was something she had barely admitted to herself, let alone anyone else