Can You Hear the Ocean?

Chapter 27

Leila and her friends huddled closely under the heat lamps outside of a seafood restaurant along the pier. Though it wasn't quite warm enough to eat outside now that autumn had begun, Ashlynn had been insistent they eat while watching the sunset. Leila hugged her body with her arms to try to conserve warmth. The illumination of the sun on the dark blue water was beautiful, even if she and Elena were complaining to Ashlynn about the outdoor seating choice.

"How was Gavin's wedding?" Elena asked as she cut into her fish dish.

"It was nice," Leila said. "He and Shannon are on a cruise to the Bahamas right now. I'm kind of jealous. I bet it's super warm over there."

"I wish I were in the Bahamas, too," Ashlynn complained. "But I'm glad the wedding was nice."

"It'll be refreshing not having to talk about wedding planning anymore during my family dinners," Leila noted.

"How many family members got on your back about being single?" Elena wondered. "I know you were worried about that."

Leila gulped dryly. "Actually," she said, setting her fork down, "I had the opposite problem."

"What do you mean?" Ashlynn asked.

Leila had refrained from telling her friends she'd invited Mia to the wedding, as she didn't want their teasing, but she had since realized it was stupid to be dishonest with them, especially when their suspicions about her feelings for Mia had turned out to be true.

"My mom told me I should invite Mia along, so I brought her. People thought we were girlfriends all night. I had to keep correcting them," Leila said, hiding her face in embarrassment.

Ashlynn raised an eyebrow. "You brought Mia along as your totally platonic friend date?"

"My mom suggested it!" Leila argued.

"That's kind of funny," Elena said, holding back laughter. "But how did Mia react?"

"I...finally told her I was a lesbian," Leila said. "Family members kept making comments. I realized it was stupid to keep hiding it from her."

Ashlynn gasped. "How did she take it?"

Leila glanced up, seeing her friends were staring at her with concern. "Oh, don't worry. She took it just fine. She thought it was funny more than anything else. In fact, she's still laughing at me about it," Leila said, thinking back to earlier in the morning when Mia started breaking out in laughter again. Leila was glad it amused Mia, though she wished Mia would stop reminding her of how silly it was Leila had kept her attraction to women secret.

"That's good then," Elena said. "Now you can be more honest with her."

"There wasn't a declaration of love to follow?" Ashylnn teased.

Leila glanced down into her food and grew quiet. Her friends quieted as well and stared at her.

"Sorry, Leila. I was just joking around," Ashlynn said.

Leila shook her head. "No. Um...look, I hate to admit it, especially with all the teasing, but...I realized a little while ago that I do have feelings for Mia."

Elena's eyes widened. "For real?!"

"Wait, what? I was just joking," Ashlynn said. "Don't feel like you have to have feelings for her just because I was teasing you!"

Leila took a deep breath. "No, it goes beyond that. I...I had feelings for her when we were children too, but I didn't really understand those feelings at the time. But now that we've reconnected, and I've gotten to know her again, those feelings have resurfaced, except this time I obviously can recognize they're romantic feelings."