An Unlikely Pair - (Lesbian Short Story)

Chapter 6: Reality Check

Present Day

Buzz. Buzz. Groan. Buzz. Buzz. Brooke pulls her car over a block away from her house to answer the 50th phone call she's received since leaving school.

"Hello?" The blonde answers with strong annoyance.

"Finally, you answer." A rough male voice strikes through the speakers. He sounds equally annoyed. "What's up with you, B?"

"What do you mean 'what's up' with me?"

"You didn't want to go shopping with your girls today and I haven't had a full conversation with you in days."

Putting the car back in drive, Brooke rolls her eyes. "Days? Really? You've noticed my different behavior over the past few days?" Applying pressure to the gas, she drives herself to Jason's house. "I'm coming over, meet me outside." Brooke quickly hangs up before he could respond.

Five minutes later, Brooke is standing on Jason's porch for the last time. Shuffling on her feet, Brooke peers through the window adjacent to the door. Where is he? She wonders to herself in anxiety. A few seconds later, a bulky shadow appears on the wall and then opens the door.

"I told you to meet me outside," Brooke says in frustration when her boyfriend opens the door.

"Hello to you, sweetheart." He answers sarcastically.

"Look, we need to talk. Can we sit?" She gestures to the steps in front of his porch. Jason obliges, but doesn't looks happy.

"What's this about, Brooke?" He asks, now equally frustrated.

Looking down, Brooke spits it out. "I can't take it anymore, Jason." Her bright blue eyes shoot up to meet his dark brown eyes, now widened with confusion and anger.

"Take what anymore? Ugh, is this another game of yours? If you want to have sex, just say so. I don't understand your verbal foreplay--"

"Ugh! You idiot!" Brooke exclaims. "I want to break up. I'm done. I can't be with you anymore. Okay? Does that click in your head?"

"You can't break up with me!" Jason yells in anger. "We're Brooke and Jason, Jason and Brooke! Homecoming King and Queen. Soon to be Prom King and Queen. Do you want to give up Prom Queen?"

"Actually, Jason, I do. I'm tired of this high school spotlight stuff. It's all crap. It doesn't mean anything. All my friends are fake, they only like me because I'm popular and I bet none of them could even tell you my middle name. You don't even know my middle name, and how long have we been dating?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Brooklyn H. Jones and I am tired of everyone thinking they know me when they don't. Goodbye, Jason." Standing up, Brooke fixes her skirt and walks to her car without hesitating to look back. Tears well up in her eyes, but she sends them back. No one will see her cry today.

~~

"Have you heard from her?" Waverly's redheaded friend asks the sad brunette.

"No," Waverly mumbles with her face in a pillow. "We haven't talked since the concert. It's all really awkward."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Audrey asks, reaching out to rub her best friend's back.

"What have I told you already?" Waverly asks when she rolls over onto her back. Crossing her arms, she peers at her friend.

"Just that you said something stupid at the concert and she hasn't talked to you since."

"Wow, I haven't told you anything. Okay, are you ready for the full story?" Waverly sits up against her bed and invites Audrey to sit across from her. Accepting her request, the girls sit face to face as Waverly prepares to tell the story.

"So," Waverly begins, Audrey staring intently. "I invited her to the concert and she seems more than excited. I borrowed my mom's car to pick her up, which she usually finds charming, and we listened to Fall Out Boy the whole way just to get in the mood of things and it was so much fun. She looked so beautiful, Audrey. So beautiful. Like a perfect mix of Taylor Swift's old country cuteness and Mila Kunis's raw attractiveness."

"Ah, your two biggest crushes in one." Audrey says, trying to make Waverly feel more comfortable.

Waverly laughs a little. "Exactly! But yeah, she comes out wearing a beautiful red sequin, off the shoulder top and tight black jeans with red heels. I'm surprised I could drive after looking at her. Her hair was all pulled to one side and curly. She looked flawless. But that's besides the point. We get to the concert and it's already really crowded. We show the people our tickets, they scan them and let us through. The crowd grew from there so I reached for her hand, just to keep up with her of course, but she accepted it. Her warm, soft, perfectly polished fingers were interlocked with mine while we were in a different part of town at a concert on my birthday. Does it get more perfect than that, Audrey?" Waverly looks up from her story to gage Audrey's reaction.

"It sounds so perfect, Wave. What happened next?" Audrey wears a large expression of concern on her face.

"This is where it all went wrong. We get to our seats and it's great. I let go of her hand to put on the t-shirt I just bought. She got a matching one, but her outfit was perfect, so she just put it in her little bag. Before the lights went down and the main act came out, I looked over at her and just stared at her. Her eyes are such a beautiful shade of blue. Light and dark at the same time with a gold ring around her pupil. Anyway, I was looking at her and she smiled at me with her perfect shiny pink lips and asked what I was thinking. That's where I blurted it out.

"My stomach went into knots as I knew what the answer to her question was. I thought of a lie, but I didn't want to lie. The night was so perfect. It was my birthday, we had been hanging out for a while, she looked so mesmerizing, I felt like I was in a movie, so I thought it would be okay." Waverly pauses.

"What did you say, Wave?" Audrey asks, sitting up straighter in anticipation.

Waverly takes in a deep breath, looks down, and then back up to meet Audrey's eyes. "I told her I love her."

Audrey stares at her best friend in silence for a while before speaking. "Oh, honey," she finally says and reaches out to hug Waverly.

"I know! It was stupid! I regretted it as soon as I saw her eyes drop and her smile lessen. Now I've trapped her in this foreign city right next to me as Fall Out Boy begins to take the stage." Tears start to fall down Waverly's face. "The car ride was so bad. We turned the radio on, but she didn't look at me. She stared out the window and it was all very awkward. I dropped her off at her house, and she didn't look over her shoulder at me."