R&D

Chapter 27

Monday came and like Roshi predicted Kaya sought Belle out. She passed her number to Belle during their joint Chemistry class so they could text. Kaya told Belle to come over to her house after school so they could hook up.

Belle was so nervous but Roshi told her she didn't need to do anything she was uncomfortable with, and just go slow if she needed to go slow. Belle assumed that but still felt nervous being with her.

Senior year was getting busy and Roshi and Dev couldn't afford to lose an hour  so there were days when they'd just do homework so they could still see each other. Today was one such day as they sat at Dev's dining room table. Roshi was doing her Calculus, or attempting to do it, but was completely lost in thought and wondering what was happening with Belle.

What did you get for number 5, Dev asked. Roshi didn't respond as she stared out the window. Dev looked up and saw. Where are you, he asked tapping her book. Huh, she asked. What's wrong, he asked. Nothing's wrong, she said. What are you thinking about, he asked.

Nothing, she said. It's obviously something, he said. Roshi debated. She told her friends about her secret relationship with Dev. Shouldn't she be able to tell Dev about her friend's secret relationships in return? But this situation was much more complicated since it involved one of his friends. And also the fact that they were keeping it secret because they were trying to figure out their sexuality.

One of my friend's is going through something and I'm just wondering what's going to happen, she said vaguely. Hm, he said, okay. He went back to his homework. Really, that's it, she asked. Yeah, he said. You're not gonna ask me to tell you more, she asked. No, that's not my business, he said.

Roshi was surprised. You always wanna know everything, she said. I wanna know everything about you, if you don't wanna tell me about your friends that's your choice, he said. Roshi pondered this. In a weird way, she felt a little offended. She was so used to Dev being interested in her that it felt weird that he didn't want to know this.

That night Belle came on the group chat to tell Peyton and Roshi what happened.

B: I met her at a spot a couple blocks from school and we drove to her house in her car P: You rode in the Angel Mobile! R: Is that really important? P: Sorry R: What happened after you got to her house? B: Her parents were at work so the house was empty. She has a nice house. It's huge.

Peyton sent two rolling eye emojis.

B: It is!  R: Then what? B: We went to her room. Got on the bed. She was on top. Just kissing at first. I didn't know where to put my hands. P: Her ass? R: Peyton! P: That's what I would have done... B: She asked me if I wanted to take my shirt off, but I said no. She asked if she could take hers off, I said okay. She took it off. Her boobs were a lot bigger than I remembered. P: That's, nice? R: Peyton! P: idk what am I supposed to say? B: It was nice. It was, really, hot. R: Then what happened?
As Belle's texts were coming in Roshi was wondering why Belle felt the need to explain every little thing. When she was with Dev she had no desire to tell Belle or Peyton any of the details. She felt uncomfortable telling them what she and Dev did together as she felt it was too private.

But here Belle was laying it all out for them, step by step. Maybe because Belle was confused about the situation she wanted confirmation that what she was doing was okay and not anything to be concerned about. Even Peyton didn't go into this much detail after her experience with the senior class president last year.

R: Did you talk afterward? B: She told me she'd never been with a girl before and she didn't know what this was. She was confused. I said I was also. She asked if we could keep this a secret for now, I said I wanted to do that also.