This Love, This Hate (A Lesbian Romance)

TLTH Chapter Two

This Love, This Hate

Chapter Two

                Zoe watched as Raine skipped ahead of her, her curly ponytail bouncing with each step. They stepped back into the gym and Zoe couldn’t help but stare at all of the half-dressed girls helping each other stretch for whatever sport they would be doing today, though none of their bodies compared to Raine’s.

                “Zoe, do you want to help me stretch? Everyone else is paired up.” Raine asked, spinning around to face Zoe with a pleasant smile.

                Zoe swallowed hard, “Uh y-yeah! Sure!” She obliged a little too enthusiastically as she sat on the floor and spread her legs. Raine did the same and they put their shoes together. Zoe stubbornly clung to her self-control to keep her eyes strictly on Raine’s. Raine held out both of her hands and Zoe stared at them in awe like Raine was offering her the Holy Grail.

                “Oh! Sorry I was…I don’t know.” Zoe trailed off, slowly taking Raine’s delicate hands in her calloused ones and jumping a little at the electrifying touch.

                “Are you okay?” Raine asked with a concerned look in her eyes.

                “Yeah, yeah, of course.” Zoe replied quickly. They went back and forth with a few stretches until suddenly when it was Raine’s turn to bend forward again, she sat up straight. Zoe glanced up at her in confusion to see her face light up like the sun with her gaze right past Zoe. Zoe reluctantly turned to see the focus of her attention, still holding Raine’s hands in hers. Behind them was a tall, muscular guy with a blonde faux hawk standing at the entrance of the gym. Raine stood up and let go of one of Zoe’s hands before practically dragging Zoe off her feet and towards the strange teen, “I want you to meet my boyfriend!”

                “B-boyfriend?” Zoe stammered, feeling her heart drop into her stomach. That was the word she despised the most and it echoed in her head constantly, even before this moment. It was always asked by family, friends, church members, everyone. Why didn’t she have one? Had she ever had one? When would this ‘phase’ be over so she could start dating? And of course, moments like this when the object of her affections had a…boyfriend.

                “This is Randall!” Raine said, releasing Zoe’s hand to wrap both of hers around this ‘Randall’ guy’s neck. She practically had to stand on her toes to hug him—he stood over six feet tall. He leaned down and kissed her and Zoe found herself feeling a rush of jealousy rush through her body, making her face flush and cheeks redden like fire.

                “Sup?” Randall asked after their kiss in that sort of I-know-I’m-hot-and-everyone-wants-me type of voice. Zoe fought back the desire to roll her eyes and forced a smile.

                Raine giggled and took his hand, “Isn’t he the cutest?”

                “Adorable.” Zoe practically whispered.

                “Randall, this is my new friend Zoe! I think she’s new here!” Raine explained, practically jumping ten feet into the air to kiss him on the cheek---at least it seemed that way.

                “Hello.” Zoe managed to say almost inaudibly. This was so humiliating for her.

                “Well we have to get back to gym,” Raine said with an adorable pouting face as she motioned towards the coach’s death glare she was casting their way, “I love you!” She chirped, kissing him again and running back to where they’d been stretching before.

                “Oh great, she loves him.” Zoey murmured to herself.

~

                The rest of the day was pretty bland besides Zoe meeting a really cool and funny guy in her fourth period class. He was also in her last class with her and he was so friendly and inviting that she found herself telling him all about her present predicament.

                “It seems like you’re in quite a situation, despite it being your first day here!” He mused in his slight British accent.

                “Yeah, it does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Zoe allowed with a chuckle. The last bell of the day rang and Zoe gathered her things and stood, “Hey man, it was so nice to meet you.” She said, pulling him into a quick man hug.

                “You too, I can definitely see us being friends.” He agreed with a grin.

                While Zoe walked home, she listened to the steady beat of Adam Lambert humming into her earbuds and smiled. She was thinking about the day and Raine and how absolutely stunningly beautiful she was when all of the sudden, she felt someone grab her wrist and turn her around forcefully. She looked up in terrified awe to see Randall and his piercing brown gaze staring back at her angrily. “Hey.”

                “Uh, hi?” Zoe replied in complete confusion as she stared at his hand still painfully clenched around her thin wrist.

                “Walk with me.” He demanded, pulling her down an empty street and behind the fence of an abandoned house’s back yard.

                “What are we doing he—” Zoe started, but was cut off by Randall when he grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her briskly into a forceful kiss, shoving his tongue into her mouth and pushing her back against the fence. Zoe used all of her strength and managed to shove him off of her, but he just came right back. She tried to push him away, but the difference in their strength was just too strong. It was no use trying to get away from him. She balled  her hands into fists at her sides, praying it would be over soon, though she was not the least bit religious. He grinded suggestively into her and she winced, knowing better than to scream out and anger him. He forced his tongue into her mouth time and time again and she found herself fighting back the urge to vomit. This was one of the prime reasons she gave up on men years ago; they were so forceful and selfish.

                Meanwhile, Jesse had just got inside the abandoned house—he’d been living in it while he tried to find a job to be able to get a place for himself. He went inside the side door, which was concealed from the front street view by overgrown bushes and took out his headphones. He was about to make himself something to eat when he heard a boyish yet still feminine yelp from what sounded like the back yard of the house. He grabbed his pocket knife out of his pocket and clenched his hand around it, thinking that it was a couple of homeless people or something. He slowly turned around and walked out the back door of the house in the direction of where the yelp had been, speculating everything around him. He saw them back against the fence near the alley and sprinted forward, yet out of their line of vision. As he grew close to the pair, he heard the guy breathing heavily and the girl had much different, short uneven breathing. He wanted to make sure there wasn’t something funny going on here, so he made his way closer, seeing it was Zoe and that Randall guy she was talking about.

                He was confused at first, but the lone, humiliated tear trickling down Zoe’s face told him all he needed to know. For some reason, seeing this absolutely enraged Jesse and he violently grabbed the back of Randall’s shirt collar and shoved him against the brick wall behind the fence. Randall looked up in shock, baring his teeth when his eyes meet Jesse’s. He looked like a bulldog in that moment and Jesse couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. Randall caught his wits and reared back for a strong punch to Jesse’s jaw, but Jesse was quicker and punched him hard in the nuts before kicking him swiftly in the lower back after he curled over. Randall fell to the ground and Zoe stared in shock as Jesse helped Zoe over the fence before hopping it and heading for the park with her, his hand in hers in support. They’d just met, yet he was angered by the sight of her in danger. It wasn’t different, as if he’d seen a stranger. There was something there.