verbomaniac (poetry + short stories)

untitled short story (gay romance!)

here's a short story i wrote earlier today. i am proud of it, since i worked hard on it. it's inspired by "meet cute", a lovely little novel about how future couples meet. it only gives their first meeting, where their story begins, and nothing else. i have done something exactly the same. here's the story of andrea and sara — or rather, just the prologue.

i'm sorry the main character assumes genders. i'm against making assumptions based on appearance but the main character doesn't know not to. a lot of people assume genders and really she's just average with that. i don't share this character's views on everything, remember.

The street festival is huge. Banners, shops, floats, stands, and crowds of enthusiastic people. The bunches of talking, laughing humans, a species of which I'm surprisingly a part, mingled with the warm August air and the strong scents of cotton candy and hot dogs, are making me nauseated.

"Andi!" Sadie's voice reaches my ears. She's just come from the bouncy castle while Angela and Bianca are still visibly flirting with older guys down the street. I'm tempted to roll my eyes — it's odd that I'm the same species of humans, but it's even stranger that I'm apart of the diverse and ridiculous fourteen-year-old population.

"Andi!"

Sharper this time. I'm always lost in my thoughts, and Sadie knows it.

I give her a nod as she approaches. "Salutations."

"Have you just been standing here?" she asks, her blue eyes wide with disbelief.

I'm tempted to remind her that she dragged me out here while I could be listening to music and doing nothing else, but instead, I allow my lack of an answer to speak for itself.

She laughs — at me, or with me, I'm never sure. "Well, Andi," she goes on, still refusing to call me by my full name, Andrea, despite my requests, "I met a group of girls our age. Some boys, too!"

Oh, naive Sadie, you still think I like guys?

"Come meet them!" she pleads, giddy and unknowing, as always.

"Alright," I reply, giving in. I have nothing better to do at this godforsaken street festival.

Sadie is famous in our friend group for being childish — it shows as she grins now. She's started early in everything except maturity, and not only is she taller and curvier than us, she's past the zits and braces, a [preposterously immature] blonde with an adult's appearance. I'm surprised she isn't flirting with Angela and Bianca's high school students/dropouts!

Apparently we're not waiting for the other two members of our group (they're most likely getting the dropouts' numbers, anyway) and Sadie again demonstrates the behaviour of a ten-year-old who excels at grade eight math, since she leads me, bouncing on her feet, to a group of people hanging around the bouncy castle.

"Hey, Sadie!" the dark-haired girl in a short skirt calls. She's clearly trying to mask an average face under a disgustingly unbelievable heap of makeup. "You got Andi to join us?"

I give them — there are maybe seven in the group — a small wave while Sadie nods exuberantly.

There's then a series of introductions, but I remember a grand total of zero names...except Sara. Yes, it might be Sarah with an 'h,' but with light brown skin, near-black hair that falls in perfect waves past her shoulders and bright, intelligent brown eyes, she radiates cool and must, MUST be a Sara. No offence to all the Sarahs out there, but she's just not the type.

Anyway, if I didn't make it clear, Sara is stunning. Another fact that might be foggy: I'm gay. I don't fall for people right away, but Sara's intriguing and the whole physical attraction factor is 400% present.