Ordinary Human Beings

40: Breaking News! My Girlfriend Loves Me Back.

The start of 2025 may have been the most heartbreaking start of any year for me, but the end of it made up for it immensely.

Jo, Lynn, Isa and Sabrina were pulling down the Christmas tree in Isabella's living room while Mabel played in the background. I decided to let Kait and our parents go out for the holidays since this may be the last full holiday they'll spend with her, considering she'll be going to university soon. Kait visibly didn't want me to tag along for the one week vacation at Sunny Palm Resorts in Perth, and I respected that. I love my sister but we don't have to be in each other's company all the time.

Catering to Isabella, who asked me to check on the cookies, I was distracted by the doorbell ringing in the distance. I switched off the oven and excused myself, heading towards the door. Opening it, I found my girlfriend standing on the porch, popcorn and chips on hand.
My girlfriend.

It still felt surreal. Everything happened real fast; once school was out, Yasmina and I worked on starting a real relationship with everyone out of our way and only our emotions to focus on. Once Audrey backed off, we got to truly know each other without fear of judgment. I guess that's all she wanted from me: a genuine connection.

And I'm glad that I can now provide that for her completely.

She held up the bag of chips and wriggled her eyebrows at me. "I brought food."

"Popcorn?"

"Yes, it has to be popcorn," she stated, looking down at her bag. "And since you're not holding anything at the moment, I was hoping my girlfriend would take my bag inside?"

I rolled my eyes, lifting her bag. In the corner of my eye, I could see her mom narrowing her eyes at me, almost as if I did something wrong. Yasmina noticed the slight change in my behavior and looked back, waving at her mom. Her mom waved back and slowly entered her car, driving off into the night.

"She's okay with you coming here, right?"

Yasmina nodded. "That's not why she was staring at you, Kendall."

"Then why?"

Yasmina ignored that question, heading inside Isa's house for the slumber party she invited us to. I have questions, but I guess now is not the time to ask them. We're happy right now, and that's the most important thing. We're good.

We're happy.

Before I could close the door, a bag was thrown at the doorstep, with a crazy blonde running towards me. She fell on the porch, breathing heavily as she dropped her purse and candy jar on the ground.

"Rough night?" I asked her as she stood up slowly, fixing her hair a bit.

"You have no idea. The store was almost closed and I hadn't brought anything to the table," she explained. "Hopefully, this will do."

"It will." I helped her inside. "The rest are fixing up dinner, so it's either you go and help them, or prepare the bedrooms upstairs," Isabella said. Her parents  left the house for the evening to celebrate New Year's at The Plaza, but this time, Isa and I decided to sit it out.

"So we aren't going to see the fireworks?" Sabrina asked while chewing some popcorn.

"We can't go to The Plaza now. My parents left me with the house, I can't just leave the house unattended, Sab," Isabella explained. "We can see it from here though; we can go to the balcony or go outside and watch them."

"Fair enough." Joanna clapped. "Maybe we can invite the other guys if you want this party to be lit."

"It's a slumber party Jo, not an actual party," Lynn reminded her.