Way Forward (GirlxGirl) [E-book available on MEB]

Don't mock me

"What are these?"

Charlie's voice precedes her presence. The tone she is using is filled with confusion and curiosity as she makes her stop in front of the girl who is occupying half of the steps leading to the main entrance of her apartment. Next to her, there are bags of goods that are meant for boys; 8-year-old boys to be exact. There are too many for one boy and Charlie is about to object so hard for all to land in Blake's possession.

"Your brother's birthday presents." Emilia looks up from her new phone to Charlie whose eyes are still exploring each bag and the things inside. "I can't just go to his birthday party with empty hands. That's a bit rude, don't you think?"

"I have one brother; not ten." Charlie raises an argument that is hard to rebut and hands Emilia a cup of iced coffee from the best coffee shop in the area. She starts digging through one of the bags to see different baseball gloves and a baseball.

"That one glows in the dark." Emilia explains with so much pride on her face. It is not exactly a rare item but she is glad she found it. The clerk told her that it would definitely be a great gift and she is convinced without any doubts.

"Oh." Charlie exclaims quietly and looks at the ball intriguingly. Then, she holds it in her hand without any intention of putting it back into the bag.

"Really?" Emilia gestures to the ball in Charlie's hand and extends her hand out to recall what rightfully belongs to Blake. "You're stealing from your brother."

Charlie cries quietly like a small kid and hands the ball back to Emilia. In exchange, Emilia hands the coffee that was intended for her back to Charlie. "I got it for you. This is from the best coffee shop in this area."

"Thank you but I don't drink coffee."

Charlie looks at Emilia with the widest eyes as if she has just heard something so unbelievable. She struggles for words to comment on the strangest thing for her. After a moment, she starts with the over-the-top Italian accent along with the over-the-top hand gesture. "But you are Italiano. Italiano loves their caffè."

Emilia furrows her eyebrows and lets her laughter sound. It starts to hit her that every time they spend time together, she gets to see different sides of Charlie. It gets her intrigued. It gets her want more glimpse of it. "I was born in Philly."

"Vito Corleone was born in New York." Charlie sips the coffee and raises her eyebrow as if she is declaring the victory over the argument. "He is still an Italian."

Emilia shakes her head and throws the baseball at Charlie. "He was born in Sicily. Just help me with these bags, would you?"

"No." Charlie puts the baseball back into the bag where it originally came from and steps away from Emilia who is getting up on her feet and looking at all the bags on the steps. "You're not giving him all of these. So just get one and put the rest back in your apartment. I'll help you refund them or something."

Emilia crinkles her nose and sighs while her eyes are on the bags and her hands are on the hips. She is thinking hard; too hard to realize that a pair of green eyes are watching her with a little smile that comes out of nowhere. The smile immediately goes in hiding when another pair of green eyes turns to find hers. "Can you carry one of them? I'll get three. Your car is nearby, isn't it?"

"Emilia." Charlie whines.

"I already bought them, Adkins." Emilia explains with a smile that she hopes will change Charlie's mind. "I don't want to appear like a lunatic refunding a bunch of stuff."