Clara & Erin
Clara stood at the edge of the field, scanning the vast space for someone, anyone, she could talk to to not be alone at her boyfriend's football game. The game had just started and seemed to drag on slower and slower each play as the sweaty bodies packed with gear gripped the ground with grassy cleats. Her boyfriend, Adam, was the quarterback for this game and had been ever since the main quarterback broke his ankle while being tackled during a play. Although Adam enjoyed playing as the lead for his team, he always had this constant fear of ending up like the last one, who had been hospitalized for two weeks after his accident.
Clara directed her blank stare back at the game when Adam made a long, and successful, pass to a receiver deep in the field. She wished more than anything for someone to rescue her from this boredom. She hated watching sports, repetitive actions and too much energy in one small place. She hated football.
Erin sat leaned against a fence doodling cartoons of football players in her sketchbook, listing to music. She, too, hated football, but her mother arranged for her to catch a ride home with her cousin, who is on the football team. So, she was forced to spend her time doodling as she waited tedious minutes for the game to end so she could be at home doing better things. She had seen a girl on the opposite side of the field looking for someone or something in the few times she had glanced up from her drawing.
Having just moved from Idaho, Erin had been attending a new school with new people to observe for her personal entertainment. It worked most of the time because people were boring and predictable, but there was something about this desperate girl she watched from across the field. She was somehow different from the other people at school. She had qualities Erin had never encountered before, like her insecurities that were so obvious to anyone looking at her. Erin tried to focus on her doodles to push away the feelings that inevitably rose in the instances where her interest in someone peaked.
She usually feels these feelings for someone female, though that isn't the issue. Erin does not welcome these feelings for anyone because they fog her logic and cause her to act in strange ways. One last time, turning away from the girl, she took a deep breath to exterminate the butterflies swarming in her stomach.
Clara continued to stand awkwardly as the game continued and began to explore the lining of her leather jacket pockets with her thumbs. She had noticed the few other people at the game that weren't adults and studied them closely. One was the nerdy boy from her science class that sat in a camp chair between two heavily Christian parents. Another was a family of five, three younger boys and two parents, most likely gathered to cheer on their very own football star. Lastly, there was a girl sitting against the fence leaned over a book of some sort who she had seen she had seen staring in her direction. She hated being alone in public and she hated watching sports, two things she had to do twice a week. She also occasionally wondered if being Adam's girlfriend was worth having to attend all of his stupid games, then she would dismiss the idea and continue to stare blankly at the game.
At 7:34 the game ended as Erin checked the time on her phone. She stood up and shook out her sleepy legs nonchalantly, then walked over to where the players were gathering in a huddle. Luckily, she caught her cousin before he became lost in the group, and spoke him to quickly.
"I'll meet you out front."
"M'kay," he mumbled.
While she made her way to the front of the school away from the masses of people trying to leave all at once, she accidentally bumped into the girl from across the field and absent-mindedly apologized before noticing who she had hit.
Clara had run into Erin while being pushed along through the crowd and memorized her face from the split second encounter before moving away again. She finally made her way out of the sea of people to sit in her usual spot waiting for Adam to be done changing. It was against a brick wall in the corner next to the larger gym's entrance where the two gyms met. There was a slight breeze in the in the cool air and several streams of cloud stretched across the pale blue sky. It was a nice evening besides all of the waiting, Clara thought, and tomorrow will be even better. This evening being a Friday, she had the weekend to herself and could spend it how ever she wanted, usually watching cheesy Spanish soap operas while texting Adam or painting her toenails. Erin, in the other hand usually spent her Saturdays grocery shopping, making meals for the week, and doing other chores around the house, but didn't mind much, as her music kept her company and gave her motivation to work.
Saturday morning Erin woke up in her bed with the sheets wrapped around her legs in a mess. She reached for her phone and earbuds off the nightstand and swung her legs over the side of the bed. In a familiar way, she began to get ready for the day then left her room, ready to leave. She quietly opened the door to her mother's room and tiptoed over to her purse, taking several 20 dollar bills and shoving them in her pants pocket before closing the door with a soft click. Erin left the house with music in her ears and a hop in her step, and began the mile or so walk to the nearby grocery store.
Clara lay in her bed while the morning sun seeped through the curtains and fell on her face, but it was her mom who woke her with a shake of the arm.
"Clara, honey, wake up. I want you to go to the store with me," she said.
"Ugh, why so early," Clara moaned.
"Just be ready in 20 minutes, breakfast is on the stove."
"Alright," she sighed.
A half an hour later, Clara entered the grocery store with her mother. She walked through the the produce section, eyeing a stand of mangos that looked particularly ripe. She walked along dreamily. Meanwhile, Erin strolled down the bread aisle with a basket half full on her arm. As she turned the corner for some lettuce, someone crashed into her, spilling her basket's contents all over the floor.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Are you okay?" She heard a voice ask while gathering her groceries into the basket.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks" Erin said in her nice voice to the stranger. Just then, she saw the stranger's face as they saw hers. There was a silent moment of recognition between both of them before they went their separate ways. Jeez, that's the second time I've ran into her, Erin thought.
She stood wiping the dust from the floor off of her jeans and continued shopping. Clara had been across the store from her mother to grab a jug of milk and proceded to do so after the accident.
"Here," she said to her mother, placing the milk in the cart. "I just ran into someone from school, the new girl." Clara added.
"Oh, really? Do you have any classes with her?"
"Yeah, calculus."
"You two friends?"
"No. She doesn't talk much in class."
Her mother nodded her head and pushed the cart to the cereal aisle. Clara saw Erin at the front of the store checking out while picking out a few boxes of cereal. She came here alone? She thought.
Erin took the bills from her pocket to pay, then carried the plastic bags full of food through the door and began the walk home.
Erin opened the door to her house and quietly entered, not to wake her sleeping mother. She placed the bags carefully on the counter, took out several cans of soup, and opened them into a bowl. Setting the bowl in the microwave, she unpacked the rest of the bags into cupboards, on counters, and in the fridge. She opened the microwave, took out the soup, and rapped lightly on her mother's bedroom door before pushing it open slowly.
"Mom?" Erin whispered softly. She heard a quiet groan and saw the sheets on the bed move slightly.
"Mom, I made you some food."
"Errr," the sheets grumbled.
"Mom, I'm going to leave it here on the table until you are ready to eat it," Erin said as she placed the bowl down on the table. She left the room after that and headed upstairs to her own.
Erin's room was moderate in size and had a dark mood. The walls were a deep blue which complemented the gray curtains that shaded the room from unwanted light. A bed sat in the left corner and a desk was adjacent to the foot of the bed. The desk was covered in drawings of anything Erin could think of to draw and a set of drawers wielded hundreds of more, some incomplete, as well as clean sheets of paper and many varieties of pencils.
Erin's favorite thing to do was to draw; anything from sunsets to doodles of people she secretly studied. It one of the only things in her life that she could control easily and whenever she wanted to. Ever since her mother became sick, she has had less free time to draw, but when she did, her pictures were deep and sad, not like her usual blend of mystery and calmness.
She sat down at her desk and cleared a spot for a clean sheet and a 4hb pencil. She began to draw and seemingly random lines turned into an elaborate picture of a farm growing acres of crop. As she drew, she imagined herself on the farm, not as a farmer, but someone escaping a busy life to relax and feel only the breeze. Sadly, she couldn't jump into her picture and escape life, she could only trick it into forgetting her for brief moments while she was drawing.
Clara arrived home from the grocery store, took a few bags in the house, then went up to the bathroom. Luckily, her little brother was at soccer practice, so she could have the bathroom to herself. She walked up to the sink and looked in the mirror. She looked at every aspect of her face, thinking quietly to herself about all the ways it could be different. It could be better. She touched her nose. Its bridge was far too high and made her face look narrow. She hated her nose.
Clara liked her face besides her nose; her hair was a golden shade of blonde, her eyes hazel, and her lips were pink against light tan skin. It was obvious to any onlooker that she was pretty, but her nose kept her from being beautiful. She thought about how different she would look with better nose. She could probably have any boyfriend she wanted.
After the bathroom, she went to her room and shut the door. Almost abruptly, she remembered that she had homework to do. With the lingering responsibility of work, she couldn't fully relax, so she turned on her tv to a soap opera with her favorite actor, Juan Martinez and his partner in entertainment, Paulina Romero. Expressive characters yelled at each other in Spanish, stopping occasionally to gasp or cry. Clara took her homework from her backpack and sat to work on a set of calculus problems in a thick packet. The next hour was planned in her mind as homework and television, and she was content, even, with homework.
Erin had finished her drawing, pinned it proudly to her wall along with a few others that deserved her special attention, and decided to work on homework, not to leave herself stressed on sunday night to finish it. She grabbed the packet from her bag and a pencil off the desk, sat on her bed, and set to work. Surprisingly, math was also another thing that was calming and distracting. She was also very good with numbers, opposite to her below-par writing, science, and history skills. So, from math and art classes, her grade point average was pulled up to a 3.2.
Clara on the other hand had excellent grades and excelled in every subject besides art due to her parent's insistant attitudes about school and her lack of creativity and imagination. And even though she enjoyed listening to music, she could never play with rhythm or feeling. This being the one place she fell short, her parents enrolled her in piano lessons and with each lesson, Clara grew increasingly frustrated with herself and her parents for forcing her to take them. She instead focused on her schoolwork and life at school. Along with academics, Clara was moderately popular socially, and had many admirers for her extrovert confidence and sarcasm. She was knee-deep in the strict practice of getting people to like her, and any wrong move visible to her onlookers could mean social suicide and back to being a nerd with no friends. Before seventh grade and before Clara knew how to be noticed, she was quiet at school, rarely speaking to her other classmates. As with most teenage girls, a single frightening bathroom encounter by ruthless bullies can entirely change the way one acts at school. By the seventh grade, Clara was building her reputation in the image of the girls that gave her a moment of realization. Flawlessness. With flawlessness came tons of makeup, meticulously picked outfits, a gang of followers, and one football star boyfriend. Even with all of this cover, Clara still managed to procure real feelings, ones which she masked with a smile and shoved in the closet. Those types of feelings were wished away, to be non-existent.
The weekend passed too quickly and Monday came to Erin as an ear-piercing alarm on her phone, just deafening enough to wake her. She crawled out of bed, put in her ear buds, and started the morning off right with fierce classical music. She ate a bowl of cereal, then went to the bathroom to finish getting ready. Her morning routine was as simple as brushing her hair and teeth, deodorant, and a damp washcloth to the face. She threw on a pair of tight black jeans and a dark t-shirt and headed out the door to school.
The moment the music in her ears ceased was the moment when her math teacher, Mr. Gint, raised his bushy eyebrows in her direction and mouthed, "put it away". As much as she wanted to block out the irritating chatter of sophomore conversation, respect for a great calculus teacher came first.
"Alright class, take out your homework packets. We will be reviewing the questions for all of today." Mr. Gint said.
Erin and the rest of the class simultaneously reached in bags and backpacks for the packet and placed it in front of them. She was constantly surprised at how much the students in this class, specifically, were so focused and almost seemed to enjoy the class as much as she liked math.
"Lets work in pairs," he continued and began naming off random people to be partners from the list of students.
"Erin... and Clara, you two," Clara looked up from her packet and scanned the room for Erin, who was already on her way over.
"Hey," she said slowly to Erin.
"Hey," Erin replied.
"Pretty easy, right?"
"Totally. Just grunt work, there wasn't much to think about."
"Yeah," Clara looked at her paper. "Let's compare our answers."
She scooted closer to Erin and set their packets side by side. She noticed a bracelet on Erin's arm and lost focus on the paper.
Erin's stomach fluttered. She could smell Clara's hair as Clara ran her fingers through it casually. Her heart beat faster. Their arms touched slightly, but neither of them moved away. Thoughts sprinted through her mind, only to halt at conversation.
"There are a few that don't match, we can ask Mr. Gint for the answers," Clara said.
"Uh, yeah, sounds good. I'll get them." Erin scolded herself for getting lost in daydreams.
Clara sat uncomfortably in her chair, crossing and uncrossing her legs. Why had she felt so... fluttery when Erin spoke to her? Why do I feel so uneasy? She thought. I'm not gay, I have a boyfriend, she assured herself. She took a deep breath to shoo the flutters away as Erin returned to her desk.
"The wrong answers were mine, and we don't have any other work to do," Erin said.
"What should we do then? We still have twenty minutes of class left," Clara asked Erin.
"No idea," Erin leaned back in her chair. Clara lightly tapped her pencil on the desk, then on the side of her head.
"We could listen to music, I bet he wouldn't care," Erin gestured at Mr. Gint.
"Sure," Clara put her pencil down and moved closer to Erin.
Erin pulled out her phone and earbuds, Clara wondered if she always had them with her. She put one in her ear, handed the other to Clara, and started to scroll through the music on her phone.
Clara put the earbud in and listened to the alternative rock coming through it. She glanced at Erin. Her eyes were shut. Clara shut her eyes.
Erin saw Clara and fell deeper into a void that disrupted her dreams and daily thoughts. She didn't want to like anyone the way she liked Clara. It made her vulnerable. Yet, when she looked at her, it seemed alright.
Clara stood in the hallway by her locker, uselessly rustling through textbooks and stray papers. It was the first week of March and the girl's choice dance was coming up. Posters plastered the walls to remind her of that. A reminder that she had to make a plan to ask out Adam, coordinate colors, and set dates for hair doing. She felt the burden like a rock on her chest and considered forgetting it all together, but that burden was also her social reputation. She was expected to carry the burden by her classmates, her parents. She steadied herself and walked into class.
Erin watched Clara in her distress and could only imagine how much pressure she must have to be involved in the dance. She would never have thought that before she knew Clara. She used to despise people like Clara. Always striving for things that were (mostly) unattainable. Maybe it was because she couldn't do everything well like Clara could. Erin had never gone to a dance before, which was strange for a sophomore. There was a spark of excitement in her stomach that told her to ask Clara to the dance. Are you insane? You can't do that! She screamed at herself internally. It's not like she would ever say yes. Well you won't know unless you try... I'm not trying. She fought the battle with the spark until it assuaged into a sizzle, then walked to class.
Erin found a seat diagonally back from Clara and took out her papers. Asking her to the dance would be as simple as a piece of paper with writing on it. Her fingers gripped her pencil over a sheet of blank paper. They started to write slowly, carefully: Will you go to the dance with me? She crumpled the paper. No. She said to herself. I can't.
Clara had three days to come up with a plan to ask out Adam. 72 hours, she thought. Some elaborate plan to ask for his hand in the dance, as the school ASB called it: "Ask for his hand in the girl's choice dance!" What if a girl were to ask out another girl? She thought to herself. Well, its not me. She hoped that the school would choose her and Adam for king and queen of the dance, and that could only be accomplished through a proposal that everyone would remember. She started making a list of things she could do, but her mind wandered. It wandered to the thought of Erin. What if Erin were to ask me? No, we're only classmates. That would never happen anyway, I'm not gay. Thoughts scrambled for a place in her mind.
As far as she could remember, Clara was always told she would someday date a boy. Her mother told her how she should act while her father joked about kicking his a*s if he ever hurt her. It had never occurred to her that she could date a girl, and was almost positive that her parents would freak out she did.
Erin's parents were liberal compared to the religious masses of other parents and could care less who she dated as long as they were a good person. By having this freedom, Erin knew from a young age that she liked girls more than boys, but never really felt compelled to date anyone at all. She thought that now, since her Navy father was away on a ship in the ocean somewhere and her mother was sick in bed, she could practically do whatever she wanted.
Erin sat at her desk in her room with a drawing pencil in her hand. She stared at the blank paper in front of her, thinking of what the paper could look like. Clara suddenly came to her mind, and she started to sketch an outline of her face, angular with soft features. She drew until her hand cramped and Clara appeared on the paper, leaning her head on her hand and staring forward as if to look into Erin's eyes. Erin folded the paper in half and put it in the drawer of her nightstand.
Clara opened the door to her house.
"Clara, honey, do you have a plan for the dance yet?" Her mother called from the kitchen.
"No, mom," Clara replied, exasperated from hours of racking her brain for an idea.
"Don't get an attitude with me, I was just asking a question." Her mother scolded.
"I wasn't, I'm just... nevermind."
Clara climbed the stairs to her room, too tired to argue with her mother. She took the notebook where she had been brainstorming and her thoughts inevitably started wandering to Erin. What if she did ask me? What would I say? She thought. I would explain to her that I just want to be friends. And I can't be seen with anyone but Adam at the dance. Yes, that's it. Or would I... Clara dismissed the idea from her mind and tried to focus on the notebook.
The morning came shining through Erin's window as her phone alarm screeched her to consciousness. She swung her legs out of bed, popped in her earbuds, and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Her mother was still in bed due to her lowered immune system that had her sick in bed for weeks at a time. Erin poured herself a bowl of cereal and started to think about the dream that occurred the night before. In the dream she was dancing with Clara in the middle of the dance floor and everyone was staring at them. Clara was wearing a sparkly blue dress and looking at her with the widest smile anyone could ever imagine. They leaned in to kiss just as Erin awoke. Thinking about the dream gave her flutters in her stomach and made the ends of her lips curl into a smile.
Clara was at her locker when a group of her friends walked up to her.
"Oh my god, I am so excited for the dance, aren't you Clara?" One of them asked.
"Totally," Clara raised the pitch of her voice.
"What are you wearing?" Another asked.
"It's this indigo strapless with sequins." Clara showed them a magazine picture posted in her locker.
"Wow," They all agreed.
"Yeah."
"Okay bye!" And they were gone.
Erin heard Clara talking to a group of girls and the dress in her dream. How could I dream that? She thought, I never knew she was going to wear a dress like that. Erin walked to class, Clara coming from the other way, and they met at the doorway.
"Hey," Clara said.
"Hey," Erin replied, careful not to stare too long into her hazel eyes.
They sat next to each other today, both repeating the same pattern of going over homework from the night before. More and more, Erin felt this aching need to spend time with Clara, where they could be alone. How could that be possible? She has only known me a couple of weeks. Erin thought.
"Are you going to the dance?" Clara asked casually, not looking up from her paper.
"Uh, I dont know. Maybe. I haven't asked anyone."
"Oh. Well, you should go anyway, it would still be fun even if you didn't have a date."
Clara thought for a minute. "And hey, do you want to come over to my house before the dance so we can get ready together?" She spoke calmly.
"Sure! I mean yeah, that would be fun," Erin tried to contain her excitement.
"Awesome, I'll give you the address. And is 6:00 okay?"
"Yeah, that'd be great," Erin smiled. Clara smiled and returned to her papers.
Erin stopped in front of the address written neatly in bubbly letters on the scrap of paper from Clara. The house was two stories tall and a pale blue color. She stepped up to the door and knocked three times. Clara's mother answered the door.
"Hello! You must be Clara's friend from school! Here, come in, her room is up the stairs on the right. My name is Teri, if you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen." Her smile was large and white, like the cheshire cat, Erin thought. She smiled politely back and climbed the stairs to Clara's room. She knocked lightly on the open door, stepping in to see Clara laying on her bed and typing on her computer.
"Hey," Erin said.
"Hey," Clara looked up, "did you bring your stuff?"
"Yep," Erin held up a duffel bag stuffed with clothing and makeup.
"Let's do you first," she moved off of the bed and patted a place for the bag. Erin hesitantly placed the bag on fluffy sheets and sat on the bed. Clara unzipped the bed and quickly started pulling things out of it, making quiet comments like "nice" and "pretty".
"So, we start with makeup and hair. Have you dressed up this fancy before?" Clara directed her attention at Erin and fluttered her eyelashes.
"Maybe once or twice," Erin was surprised how outgoing Clara was out of class.
"It'll be fun." Clara returned to the various things of makeup at the bottom of the bag. She walked over to a chair and made a vast inviting hand movement for Erin to sit down. Erin giggled.
"You barely need any makeup at all, just a bit of eye and lip," Clara said, starting to sort through mascaras, eyeliners, and eyeshadows. "Close your eyes." She said softly. Erin closed them and relaxed. She felt Clara's swift and careful movements near her face, the heat of her body near her own. Erin felt the flutters again and tried to breathe through them. After several minutes, she awoke to a new face.
"Open."
Erin was mesmerized by the detail and how it enhanced her features.
"Wow," she whispered.
"Now for the dress," Clara picked up the dress she had hung on the edge of her bed. "Cute!" Clara exclaimed, holding the dress up to Erin. She looked her in the eyes, "This is going to look so cute on you."
"Here," she said, "bathroom's over there," she pointed to a door at the far end of her room. Erin took the dress, walked into the bathroom, and cracked the door closed. Clara sat patiently on her bed for Erin to finish dressing, genuinely excited to be helping her get ready for the dance. And to be with her out of class.
"All done," Erin stepped out of the bathroom and did a twirl, "can you zip me up?"
"What did I tell you? You look adorable!" Clara said as she fastened the back of Erin's dress. Erin felt warm hands on her back and shivered. Clara sat down in the chair to do her own makeup and started to ask Erin questions like, 'Where did you live before you moved here?' and 'How was your old school?' or 'did you have a boyfriend' along with 'really! I would have thought the guys would be all over you.' Each time Erin answered politely and wondered if Clara's obsession with dating was only skin deep.
It was true, Clara did want something more than just a 'boyfriend', but she had to be the girl in school that had it all, so people would look up to her. Whenever she thought deeply about what she really wanted, she couldn't pinpoint a specific thing that was normal.
Within minutes, Clara had finished her makeup and hair and was undressing to put on her dress. Erin busied herself with the ribbon on the side of her dress until she was done. Clara turned away from Erin and lifted her hair for her to zip the dress. Erin carefully zipped it, then turned to the mirror, as did Clara, and stared for a second.
"We look hot," Clara stated. They both exploded with laughter.
"Adam's picking us up soon," Clara looked out the front window. Erin excused herself to the bathroom. She couldn't believe she was actually at Clara's house and going to the dance with her, though her real date was with Adam. She took a few deep breaths and left the bathroom.
Adam was standing by Clara while her mother was taking a picture when Erin entered the living room. After their picture, Clara's mother shooed Adam away and pulled Erin in for a 'girls only' picture. Erin awkwardly put her arm over Clara's shoulder and Clara did the same, directed by her mother.
"Smile!" She shouted enthusiastically. Erin didn't have to fake a smile.
Adam drove Erin and Clara while Clara babbled incessantly about other people and what they might wear or who they are going with. Erin and Adam nodded occasionally. When they arrived at the school, Adam opened the door for Clara and took her by the hand to the dance and Erin walked behind them alone. Inside the dance, mellow dance music blared as people were filing in. Then the awkwardness struck, Erin had lost Adam and Clara and stood by the food table against the wall thinking of what to do.
Clara visited other groups of people with Adam and made conversation. She thought about Erin, then dismissed it, she'll be fine, she assured herself.
Songs went by, Clara danced, and Erin stood alone. Clara walked over to Erin and took her hand, pulling her into the moving crowd. Erin protested quietly, but was secretly happy to be away from the wall and to be dancing with Clara.
They were in the middle of hundreds of people, moving to the music. It seemed acceptable for Erin to dance with Clara as long as they were dancing as friends. The song changed from electronic pop to a twangy country tune and the dj came over the loudspeaker.
"Alright folks, find a partner! We're going to square dance!" He announced.
"Oh you're going to love this," Clara half shouted to Erin and took her hand, motioning to look forward. Erin had absolutely no idea how to square dance and stuck to copying the pair in front of her. Clara, who had learned from her parents, was amused by Erin's frightened state.
"Dont worry," she said to her, "just follow my lead."
Erin grinned at her and their eyes found each other. Clara grinned back. The music started, a moderate two-step, and Clara started swinging Erin around, just as all the other leads around her did. They danced for several minutes, doing swings and side steps; Erin was ecstatic, but had to be careful not to step on Clara's feet. Finally the dance was over and people started to clear the floor. Clara was breathing hard and guided Erin through the crowd to a nearby wall.
"That was fun, right?" Clara spoke between breaths.
"That was awesome!" Erin gasped.
They smiled at each other. Adam came over and Erin could feel Clara drop her hand from her grasp. She spoke a few words to Adam and turned to Erin.
"Hey," she said quietly, "I'm gonna go dance with Adam. I'll be back soon, promise." Erin smiled slightly, sad to see her go. Once again she was the girl on the side, awkward and dateless. She wondered what she would do if someone asked her. She wanted to dance, but only with Clara. She scanned the room and saw Clara with a group of couples and Adam chatting in a circle. A new song started and Clara jumped up and down. Erin could see her say to Adam: 'come on let's dance', Adam refused, she shrugged and walked to the floor anyway. She danced with the people in the crowd and Erin broke free from the wall to dance with them. She walked briskly to Clara, took her hands, and danced with her. They moved around to the beat as the minutes melted away. Before she knew it, people were leaving the dance and Clara was telling her it was time to go. They ended up in Adam's car and back to Clara's house in no time. She followed Clara into her house, then her bedroom. Erin smiled at Clara and took her clothes to the bathroom to undress.
Clara lay on her bed in her pajamas, running through the night's events when Erin stepped out of the bathroom. She sat up.
"That was really fun," Erin said to her and paused. "I should get home, it's really late."
Clara offered a ride.
"Oh, no thanks, I'll walk," Erin started out the door and smiled at Clara one last time before closing it. Clara lay on the bed again; happiness lingered long after Erin left.
Erin was smiling, still, the whole walk home and thoughts of Clara filled her head before she fell asleep.
Friday, the day after the dance, Erin sat to the left of Clara in calculus, in a trance of enlightenment from the night before. Clara was excited to relax over the weekend and looked forward to the end of the day. Erin decided to herself that she would ask Clara if she wanted to spend time together over the weekend, and resorted to a sleepover. Before Mr. Gint began class, she leaned over to Clara and said in a lowered voice, "Do you want to hang out at my house after school?" Clara smiled.
"Sure, sounds fun."
"Great, I'll meet you out front after 6th period." Erin had to contain her excitement once again.
School dragged on seemingly longer than usual for Clara mostly because she glanced every few minutes to see how much time had passed. This was the first time they could really be together without an excuse or time constraints.
Erin stood outside the front of the main building as Clara walked up to her. Erin noticed how much her hair shone in the sunlight. They exchanged greetings and walked off campus to Erin's house. Clara made conversation first, telling Erin of the people she talked to at the dance, then Erin tood her about a person in her English class that had a mental breakdown over an interpretation of Shakespeare. Clara laughed out loud. They arrived at Erin's house. Erin led her through the house to her room and plopped on the bed, Clara did the same.
"So," Erin said blankly, "what do you want to do?"
"Psh, I don't know." Clara stared at the ceiling.
They laid in silence until Erin had an idea. She sat up.
"We could play go fish!" She spouted. "Wait here," and she rushed out of the room. Clara chuckled and shook her head. Erin returned with a deck of cards and sat cross legged on the bed. Clara sat across from Erin as she shuffled the cards and dealt out seven to each of them. The game started and ended within five minutes, and they were back to wondering what to do. Erin put the cards back in their box and looked at Clara. They kept a gaze for several long seconds. She leaned in. Hundreds of thoughts dashed through Clara's mind. She moved away from Erin and cleared her throat. Erin started to apologize.
"No," Clara whispered, "no, it's okay."
They sat away from each other and Erin left to get them some water. What just happened? Clara thought. She laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling again. Her stomach was in knots and her heart was racing. She had never been this confused over anyone. Erin entered the room with two glasses of water and set them on her table.
"We could watch some TV," Erin offered, standing over Clara. She had decided to pretend she hadn't just tried to kiss her.
"Yeah, let's do that," Clara replied.
On the couch in the living room, Erin flipped through the channels.
"I know what we can watch," Clara said and Erin handed her the remote. Clara put on her usual Spanish soap operas and sat back. Erin looked at her with confusion and giggled.
"You watch this?" Erin asked.
"All the time," Clara said literally, "it's hilarious."
"How do you know what they are saying?"
"That's what makes it funny," Clara said, and they laughed the awkwardness away.
Erin made sandwiches for dinner and they ate quietly at the table. She wanted to talk to Clara about her feelings, but she knew it would just cause more trouble. Knowing this, she glanced up at Clara occasionally between bites as a replacement for conversation. Clara did the same as she gathered her thoughts. Finally, she spoke.
"So, are you gay?" Clara stared at Erin.
She decided to not take offence to such a blunt question.
"Well, I don't really know. I haven't really thought of it that way, I just like who I like," Erin paused, "Are you gay?"
"No. I have a boyfriend," Clara stated.
"That doesn't prove anything," Erin said in a lowered voice and continued eating. Clara left the matter alone.
"What do you do in your free time," Clara asked kindly after dinner.
"I draw." Erin avoided eye contact.
"Really? Can I see?" Clara was afraid Erin was hurt from their previous conversation.
"Sure. Come on," Erin gestured to her room. As she dug out a few appropriate drawings, Erin thought on the conversation at dinner. She realized how differently she saw things, compared to Clara. She was so ignorant, Erin thought. Clara looked at the many pencil and pen drawings Erin handed her. Clara thought about what would have happened if she hadn't moved away from Erin. Does she like me? She thought.
"These are amazing," Clara said.
"Thank you," Erin blushed. Their eyes met. Clara moved the drawings over slowly and herself to Erin.
"Do you like me?" She spoke softly to Erin, taking a chance at the question. Erin wanted to say yes immediately, but didn't want it to ruin what friendship she had with Clara. What does it matter?, she thought, I already tried to kiss her.
"Yes," Erin said, looking Clara in the eyes. Clara gazed back. She had never been in this situation before and didn't know what to do. She thought what would happen if she kissed her. No one would know, Clara told herself. She repeated this to herself as she leaned into Erin. Erin's heart raced and her lips met Clara's. She fell back on the bed and Clara moved on top of her. Erin's fantasies were becoming real as they moved together. Clara ran her hands over Erin's chest and kissed her neck. All the oppressed feelings Clara had burst into feelings for Erin. She kissed Erin once more for several long seconds before moving next to her. They lay on the bed intertwined in arms and legs, and fell asleep together.
Clara woke up first. She looked at Erin, whose face was inches away from her own. She studied her dark features in the orange morning sunlight. Perfectly arched eyebrows, long, dark lashes. Her pink lips. She kissed them and Erin's eyes fluttered open. She smiled and Clara's eyes smiled back.
They ate breakfast and migrated to the couch where they sat for hours watching television. About an hour and a half in, Clara turned to Erin.
"Will you draw me?" She asked.
Erin, surprised by the sudden proposal, stammered momentarily before answering, "I'd love to." And she went to retrieve her pencils. Clara moved into a comfortable position on the couch and pushed her hair back from her face. Erin seated herself across from Clara and began to sketch. Erin glanced up every minute or so while Clara stared at her. She decided to ask her questions.
"How long have you liked me?" She said, lacking emotion. Erin's brow furrowed in thought.
"Since we started to talk in calculus." She didn't look up from the drawing. Clara thought about all the times she had feelings for people at school. She had never acted on them, other people acted on her. Like Adam, for instance, had asked her out on a date after his first football game when Clara was there with friends. She said yes, he was one of the most popular athletes at school. When she thought about Erin, she felt more than she ever had for Adam. But it's not real, she thought, she's a girl.
Erin finished the drawing and showed Clara. Somehow, Erin had copied all of her features exactly while making her lesser features more pleasing.
"Amazing," Clara whispered. Erin blushed.
A while later, after hours more of mind-numbing shows, Clara suggested dinner.
"You should come over to my house for dinner," she looked at Erin. Erin smiled slightly then looked back at her.
"Okay," she returned her gaze to the TV.
Clara walked Erin up to the front door of her house. Her mother answered.
"Hey mom, you got my message?" Clara affirmed.
"Yes. Yes, of course, we have an extra table setting. Happy to have you for dinner Erin!" She beamed at Erin, completely composed for company. Clara invited Erin on the couch until dinner was ready, careful to sit a friendly distance away from each other.
"Just smile and nod if you need to," Clara smiled.
Clara's mother called for dinner and Erin sat next to Clara on the same side of the table. Just as her mother started to put bowls of steaming rice and green beans on the table, her father came through the door. He looked around the room at dinner and at Erin.
"Ah, I see we have a guest," he flashed a white smile at Erin, "nice to meet you, I'm John," he nodded at her. She smiled and nodded back. After a few minutes of preparation, Clara's mother and father were sitting across from them and asked questions while they served themselves.
"Did you guys meet at school?" Her father asked.
"Yes, we have calculus together," Clara replied seamlessly.
"Good, good." He gathered his thoughts hanging his coat on a hanger by the door, "You enjoy math, Erin, is it?"
"It's my favorite subject," Erin said evenly and added a smile.
A few minutes passed before the next question.
"Are you liking this school? Clara tells me you just moved here," Clara's father asked.
"Yes, the teachers are very nice."
"And the students?"
"They're okay too," Erin made occasional eye contact.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Clara's mother teased.
"Mom," Clara widened her eyes at her.
"Oh, I'm just messing, you don't have to answer that," she blinked at Erin.
"No, I don't," Erin faked a smile a little to obviously.
"Do you have your eye on any one in particular?" She joked.
Erin was getting agitated, dinner felt like an interrogation.
"That I do actually," Erin glared with a polite smile. Clara looked at her.
"Wonderful!" She looked around the table, but Clara and her father were staying out of the conversation. "Tell us about him, what's he like?" Clara stared at Erin and mouthed, 'don't'.
"Well," Erin grinned a devious smile, she was done being the victim. "She has this beautiful long, golden hair,"
"Excuse me?" Clara's father looked up. Clara kept her head down.
"And she is so smart, she gets straight A's in school," Erin continued.
"So you're a..." Clara's mother looked worried.
"Best of all, she is sitting right next to me," Erin finished and forked a potato.
Clara's mother was shocked now and her eyebrows looked like they could fly off of her face; Clara was still eating as if she hadn't heard anything.
"Clara dear, are you two," she glared at her, "involved?"
"Mother," Clara was a deer caught in headlights, "it's..." She struggled for words. "I like her, but..."
Her father exploded at her "How could you do this to your mother?" and kindly asked Erin to leave. Erin stood up from the table and Clara followed her out the door. Erin could hear Clara's parents arguing over who made Clara a "f*****g homosexual". She looked at Clara sympathetically and they made the walk to Erin's house in silence.
Laying side by side on the bed, they went over the events of the evening.
"I'm sorry. I made it worse by toying with your mother like that," Erin held Clara's hand tightly.
Clara was numb from feeling.
"You can stay here as long as it takes for it to cool down at home," Erin offered.
"It won't take long." Clara spoke for the first time since dinner.
Erin was at her locker on monday during passing period before calculus. She spotted Clara at her own surrounded by a few of her friends and walked over to them.
"Hey," she smiled at Clara.
"Hey," Clara said cautiously, glancing at her friends before smiling at Erin. Clara's friends looked disgusted in Erin's presence. Erin pretended not to notice and they continued with their conversation about colors of scarves. She reached for Clara's hand, but she pulled away. The bell rang.
"What was that?" Erin asked, walking into class.
"What was what?" Clara smiled. Erin furrowed her brow and sat down at an empty desk.
Erin was walking to her next class, English, after calculus when she noticed people whispering and looking at her. She had gotten used to being the 'new girl' at school, but it had been over a month. Suddenly "Dyke!" echoed the hallways and people around her burst into laughter. Erin's face reddened and she rushed to the safety of the classroom. She excused herself to the restroom as soon as class started. Three girls in the back snickered.
A girl was leaving as Erin entered the bathroom and gave her an empathetic look. Then she saw it. The thing everyone knew her for. 'Erin Roberts is a DYKE' was written across one of the mirrors in pink lipstick. She started sobbing and locked herself away in a stall.
After Erin's outburst during dinner with Clara's parents, they had told some other parents of her 'disgusting homosexuality' and warned them to keep their children away from her as she had come on to their own daughter. Children of those parents overheard, rumors spread, and someone vandalized a mirror to get the word out.
Erin sat hopeless in the stall when the door to the bathroom opened. She crouched on the toilet to hide her feet and stifled back tears. She steadied her breathing enough to listen.
"Oh my god look what someone wrote," one said.
"I know right, it's about time someone wrote it down," another mentioned.
"Is she really a dyke?" the first one asked.
"Garrett's mom said she was and to stay away from her," the second answered.
Erin suppressed a sob.
"Wait, Clara, wasn't she with you at the dance?" a third pointed out.
Clara! She thought. Why is Clara with these arrogant b*****s!
"Yeah, but it was just for pity. She was new here, I had to be nice," Clara refuted.
"You and your goody-goody reputation," the first one joked. They all laughed and left.
Erin diminished into another round of sobbing and sunk to the floor.
Clara was in calculus the next day when she noticed Erin wasn't in class with her.
"Hey," she leaned over to the person next to her, "have you seen Erin today?"
"No, she went home sick yesterday."
She went back to her work and worried for the rest of the day.
Twenty minutes after school ended, Clara was on Erin's doorstep. She looked around her briefly before rapping on the door. Erin opened the door.
"What are you doing here," Erin spat out.
"I wanted to see if you were okay, people said you went home sick."
"Sure, I'm perfectly fine," Erin's tone was like venom.
"Can I come in?" Clara asked quietly.
"I don't know, is anyone going to see you?" Erin pushed the door open and walked away. Closing the door softly, Clara followed Erin into the kitchen.
"Are you okay?" Clara reiterated. Erin was turned away from her at the sink. "Erin," Clara whispered and put one arm around her waist. Erin recoiled away from her touch and faced her.
"Am I just some pity case to you?" Erin shouted, already in tears.
"What?" Clara saw fire in her eyes.
"I heard you in the bathroom, is that all I am to you? Something for you and your friends to laugh at?" Erin was steaming.
Clara felt her stomach drop. "I didn't mean that. I had to say that or they would have known," she defended.
"Would have known what?" Erin shouted, "That you like me?"
Erin retreated to her room and slammed the door. Clara didn't know what to do. Her worlds were colliding. Every aspect of her life had its own place and up until now, they had existed in harmony. Erin wasn't ever supposed to know what she said about her to keep her social life afloat. She rattled the door handle. It was locked.
"Please let me explain!" Clara pleaded, though she didn't know what she would tell her given the chance. There was no answer. "Please Erin!" She pleaded. "They can't know!" Clara gave up trying, calmed herself, and left silently.
Clara had left by the time Erin came out of her room. She looked at her tear stained sheets and returned to them. Why can't she be with me? Erin thought. Why can't she like me openly? And she cried herself to sleep.
Clara could feel the hostility as she opened the door to her house. Her father was sitting on a chair in the living room, waiting for her.
"Where were you?" He asked calmly, but his face showed anger.
"I just came from school," Clara lied.
"You're lying. Were you with Erin?" He raised his voice.
Clara swallowed.
"I told you not to see her ever again!" He rose from his chair. "She is a bad influence on you and your ethics!"
Clara's face turned a dark shade of pink as she clenched her teeth, and she ran to her room.
"Come back here! I am not done!" He yelled, but her door was already shut.
Clara packed a bag and climbed out her window, jumping from the second story into a soft flower bed. She winced at the pain, but continued at a slow jog to Erin's house.
Erin heard loud knocking at the door and crawled out of bed. She opened the door at burst into tears again. Clara put her foot in the door before Erin could slam it shut.
"I don't want you here," Erin said, opposite to what she really felt.
"Can we talk?" Clara asked sincerely, "Just for a little while?"
"Fine," Erin wiped her eyes and opened the doors. Clara followed her into the living room and sat on the couch. They stared at each other for minutes before Erin spoke.
"Well," her voice lacked emotion, "what do you want?" Clara bit her lip and took a deep breath.
"People can't know that I like girls," she started, "that I like you."
"Why the hell not?" Erin fumed.
"You saw the way my parents reacted." Clara searched for empathy in her eyes. Erin locked her gaze on a lamp behind Clara. "This whole town is like that," She went on, "scared of anything that's different, anything that's not normal."
"Is your reputation more important to you than me?" Erin prodded.
"No." Clara looked down at her hands set in her lap. "It's just..." She had never told anyone what had happened to her in middle school, the reason for the huge change in the way she acted around other people. Clara told Erin everything and when she finished, a weight was lifted. Erin hugged her.
"I'm sorry," Erin whispered, still holding tight.
"I'm just so sick of having to be someone I'm not." Clara cried and Erin held her until she stopped. They fell asleep on the couch.
The next morning, Erin woke to her daily alarm and sat up. Clara's eyes fluttered open.
"School," Erin groaned.
"Fun," Clara yawned. She stood up and stretched. Twenty minutes later, Erin opened the front door and stepped outside. Clara took her hand as they walked to school.
"I think I want people to know," Clara said.
"Okay, how?" Erin asked. Clara looked at the trees in the distance.
"I could kiss you in the hallway." The sound of their feet penetrated the silence before they both burst into laughter.
They walked into the main hallway at school hand in hand. They stopped at Erin's and Clara looked at her with one eyebrow raised.
"I'm going to kiss you now," Clara whispered and leaned in. Erin felt her lips. A rush of adrenaline coursed through Clara's body as they kissed, she didn't care who saw her. People stopped in hoards to see what they were doing. They didn't stop kissing until a teacher pulled them apart and ordered them to the principal's office.
Erin swung her legs, sitting in a chair across from the grim faced principal. She had separated Clara and Erin to talk to them individually.
"Did you think what you did in the hallway was acceptable?" She hissed.
"I've seen plenty of other people make out in the hallways before," Erin said.
The principal reacted as if she had been bitten.
"What you did was unacceptable. I will be contacting your parents." Her eyes shot daggers at Erin. Erin was convinced that everyone in this town was homophobic. She sat in the chair and gazed lazily out the window.
"Get out," the Viper spoke through her teeth.
Erin left as Clara walked in and raised an eyebrow playfully at her. Clara wasn't smiling, she had already gotten herself in enough trouble with her parents, this stunt was merely to out herself to the school, quietly and calmly.
"Sit down," the principal spoke softly. "Are you alright?"
Clara was confused. Hadn't she just committed some sin against the normal people at school?
"How long has this girl been coming on to you? Why didn't you report this earlier?" She looked sincerely concerned.
"What?" Clara shouted.
"You have definitely been spending too much time with those homosexuals."
She said 'homosexuals' like it was a disease, Clara thought.
"You've got to be kidding me," Clara said under her breath.
"Clara, you are one of our top students. You do realize that you need to set a positive example at this school, don't you?"
"Yes, I do," Clara said, glaring.
"I need you to set boundaries with this Erin girl and if you can, stay away from her completely. Homosexuals are as contagious as the flu," the principal was dead serious.
Clara couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Erin was given a week of after school detention and Clara two days. In the nearly empty classroom, Erin sat next to Clara, hidden behind a larger student that was napping in the desk in front of her. She saw Clara motioning to a blank piece of paper with a pen and raising her eyebrows at her. Erin nodded and Clara began to write, then handed the folded paper to Erin. The teacher who was supposed to be watching the students was sunken behind his desk with his nose in a book on 'Modern Philosophy'.
'What did the principal say to you?' was written in small letters on the paper. Erin wrote a reply and returned the note.
Clara mouthed 'what!' to Erin; Erin shrugged. Clara wrote and passed the note once more. 'Follow me to the bathroom in two minutes' it said. She excused herself to the bathroom and the teacher grunted approval without looking up from his book. Erin counted ticks on the clock then did the same. Clara was leaning against the wall in the bathroom when Erin walked in.
"She really said that to you?" Clara was exasperated.
"Yeah," Erin said, "what did she say to you?"
Clara chuckled, "She asked if I was okay, and how long you had been coming on to me."
Erin scoffed.
"And she said 'homosexuals were as contagious as the flu'" Clara added.
"Oh my god," Erin shook her head, "everyone in this town is insane."
Clara idled a few seconds before moving towards Erin. Erin smiled and kissed her. Clara pushed Erin gently against the wall and pressed into her. Erin felt her from her hips to her face and floated on the feeling of her kiss.
"We should get back" Clara whispered and left the bathroom. Their kiss lingered for the two minutes Erin was alone in the bathroom. Damn, she thought.
Detention was soon over for the day and they left together. Clara took Erin's hand as they stepped out of the classroom. Erin smiled. A guy with his bag halfway on his shoulders and his hood up walked out of a nearby classroom and went to his locker. He stopped fiddling with his lock to stare at them. "F*****s" Erin heard from behind her. Her smile faded. Clara held up her other hand backwards, middle finger extended. They kept walking.
The sky was a light purple to the east and gradually became yellower to the west. Clara led them through a wooded shortcut and pine needles crunched beneath their feet. Erin breathed in the fragrant air, holding tight to Clara's hand. They exited the trees onto a main road and walked to Erin's house. Clara broke the silence with a question.
"Can I stay at your house again tonight? I really don't want to deal with my parents." Clara sounded tired.
"Sure," Erin smiled at her, but she was looking forward. Clara texted her mother when they arrived at Erin's house to tell her that she was at her friend Julie's house. Erin shut the door behind them and walked into her bedroom. Clara was already face first on the bed and kicking her shoes off. Erin changed into her pajamas and held up the covers for Clara. She undressed to her shirt and underwear then climbed in close to Erin.
"Let's talk," Erin suggested, "and cuddle."
"Alright," Clara wrapped her legs around Erin's.
"How many people have you dated?" Erin yawned.
Clara thought momentarily. "Three," she said. "You?"
"Just you."
"Are we a couple?" Clara asked.
"I guess," Erin had to think. "We do the same things as other couples."
"Does that mean you're my girlfriend?" Clara giggled.
"Only if you're mine," Erin flashed a mischievous smile.
In the silence following their conversation, a yell came from another room in the house.
"Mom," Erin's face flushed pale and she shot out of bed. Clara followed her out of the room to see Erin leaned over her mother who was laying on the floor, sweating with pain.
"Call 911!" Erin shouted.
Clara was in the back of the ambulance with Erin, her mother, and a few EMT's. She braced herself from the bumpy ride by holding onto a cool bar on her left, and texted her own mother to meet her at the hospital. Erin was clutching her mother's hand and crying silently into her shirtsleeve.
When they arrived at the hospital, Erin's mother was carted to the emergency room and Erin was left to worry in the waiting room. Clara found her hand, guided her to a row of chairs, and sat next to her. She wanted to tell her it would all be alright, but nothing could calm Erin. Clara took in the sounds around her as she closed her eyes: squeaks of rubber-soled shoes, the lowered chatter of desk secretaries, a women near them who was sobbing loudly, and Erin's foot tapping the ground at a quickened pace.
Erin couldn't think. She felt like she couldn't breathe and the overwhelming smell of antiseptic made her nauseous. She had been to the emergency once before for her mother's illnesses, but her father had been around to comfort her. She put her elbows on her knees and tried to relax.
Clara's parents walked in the door and looked around almost frantically for her.
"I'll be back," Clara said, patted Erin's hand, and left to talk to her parents. Erin tuned out the things around her, shutting her eyes tightly. She felt a light tap on her shoulder. It was a doctor.
"Hello," he spoke softly to her, "are you the daughter of Marie Roberts?"
Erin swallowed. "Yes, I am."
"Okay, we have just put her in for Emergency surgery. Her appendix burst approximately 30 hours ago and the fluids had started to leak into her abdomen causing extreme pain. The surgery is common and should be over in about two to three hours." The doctor looked at her for a sign of comprehension. Erin nodded. As the doctor left, Clara and her parents walked over. They stood over her momentarily before she started to speak and they sat down.
"The doctor said she's in surgery and should be done soon," Erin said flatly. Clara took her hand again and squeezed it tightly. Clara's mother looked down at their hands, then back up at Erin, not changing her sympathetic expression.
"Erin, are you alright?" She asked kindly, "Can we get you anything?"
"No," Erin looked up, "thank you."
The next three hours crawled by, Clara's parents took occasional walks and Clara squirmed uncomfortably in the chair, but never left Erin's side. Halfway through, Clara leaned her head on Erin's shoulder and fell asleep. Erin stayed alert.
The doctor emerged from the swinging doors casually and made his way over to Erin.
"The surgery was successful and your mother is in a stable condition. She is still asleep from the operation, but you may see her now if you'd like." The doctor waited for Erin to shake Clara awake and stand. Erin, Clara, and her parents followed the doctor through the labyrinth of hospital halls to room closed by a blue curtain. Erin rushed to her mother's side and took a long moment of gratitude. Clara and her parents filed in and stood away from the bed.
"She may sleep until morning. There are blankets in the closet," a nearby nurse said. Soon after, Clara’s left and erin curled up with Clara on the sofa.
“Do your parents know that we…” Erin said in a low voice. Clara paused before speaking.
“I think they suspect the worst,” she started, “but I don’t care anymore.” The edge in Clara’s voice remained, not even the darkness could remove the sting.
Morning Light crept through the window and illuminated the room. Erin moved off of her temporary bed and to her mother. Her eyes flickered open when Erin took her hand.
“Sweetie pie,” she said tiredly.
“Mom,” Erin started to tear. The stillness of the room was disrupted when Clara’s parents returned. Clara’s mother walked briskly over to her sleeping body and shook her awake.
“Honey, we’ve come to pick you up,” she whispered, then turned to Erin’s mother, handing Erin a ‘get well’ card.
“Thank you,” Erin’s mother beamed and held out her hand for introduction. Clara’s mother approached.
“Susanne,” she said.
“Teri,” Clara’s mother replied. Clara’s father stepped in.
“Jim,” he said with a dry smile, “nice to meet you.” Clara was awake, standing next to Erin and reaching for her hand. She squeezed it tight and raised her eyebrows at Erin when she turned to look at her.
“Mother, I have something to tell you,” Clara spoke with intensity to her parents. Her mother narrowed her eyes, but Clara started again before she could say anything.
“Erin and I are dating.”
“I really like her mom,” Erin said to her mother.
“And you can say that it’s not okay, or that it’s not real, but there is nothing you could say to make me not like her.” Clara finished. Her parents were squirming with anger and embarrassment. Clara’s mother tried to explain her daughter’s ‘rebellion’ to Erin’s mother, but she was cut off again.
“I think it is wonderful that you two like each other. When I was your age, I had no idea what I wanted,” Erin’s mother said cheerily, diffusing the situation. Clara’s parents were in shock.
“Ladies, would you mind stepping out of the room for a moment? I would like to speak to Teri and Jim,” she said calmly. Clara and Erin left the room quickly and quietly. They embraced in the hallway, then tried to listen to the voices in the room.
“What is your mom saying?” Clara peeked through the window.
“I’m not sure,” Erin looked in through the window, “but she can be very persuasive.” The conversation dragged on for the next twenty minutes, then Clara’s parents walked out of the room. They looked sad and beat. Clara’s mother stood in front of Clara. Clara dropped her guard and hugged her mother,
“I’m so sorry,” her mother sniffled. Erin slipped into the room.
“What did you say to them?” Erin laughed.
“What needed to be said,” her mother replied.Erin hugged her.
“I love you, mom.” Erin started to cry.
“I love you too.”
School arrived the next day and Erin stood outside Clara’s house. Clara grinned as she stepped outside, kissed her, and took her hand. They breathed the cool morning air and made their way to school with a hop in their step. Clara and Erin walked through the main hallway to their lockers hand in hand. Their happiness was known by everyone, and nothing could stop them.
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