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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE a guide to giving up
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
WHEN NADINE WAS THIRTEEN, Luis Allemand discovered her kissing Colette Badeau behind the school. They usually did this in Colette's backyard when her dad wasn't home, because it felt like a wonderland there; with its grove of orange trees and a multicoloured array of flowers sprouting around them, it was a far cry from normal France, a place where they were untouchable. But today, Nadine had gripped Colette's hand—they had painted each other's nails last night in the same, matching cerulean hue—and pulled her behind the school after hours. "On ne se fera pas prendre," she'd told her girlfriend confidently. We won't get caught.
She'd always been the braver of the two; unafraid of who she was, while Colette had been a little more fearful of her sexuality. They had been drawn together, somehow, last year, and one look into each other's eyes had made their faces heat up, their hearts flutter. It had only taken two months before they were confessing their feelings. Three months after that, and they were testing out kisses; pecking each other's lips cautiously, as if they might be burned. And now, nine months later, they weren't out, but they were still together, and that had to count for something.
Colette had often told Nadine that she didn't think her crushes on girls would ever work out. That gay marriage was illegal in France, and she'd have to find a man to settle down with eventually. Meanwhile, Nadine, who'd never looked at a boy with any feeling other than disgust, had shaken her head, adamantly stating that they'd have to legalize gay marriage, or she'd storm right up to parliament herself. She refused to settle down with any man, and would do anything it took to be allowed to marry who she wanted.
Today, Colette's lips tasted like vanilla, and Nadine closed her eyes, leaning into the kiss. Her girlfriend was the most beautiful girl ever, she thought, with her long, straight black hair and cheeks like sunshine. And Colette's body was warm against hers, comforting, like a cup of hot chocolate. If she could've paused a moment and lived in it forever, it would've been this one.
Unfortunately, it had been broken up far too soon. Nadine was just deepening the kiss with Colette when a cry startled her into opening her eyes. When she whirled around, face hot, chest sinking, she found Luis staring back at her, his blond hair, as usual, sticking up everywhere, his freckled face scrunched up in disgust. He looked like he'd seen some gruesome animal give birth instead of two girls kissing.
"C'est dégoutant!" he howled, ever eloquent with words. That's disgusting! Colette shrunk back, curling in on herself as if she could just disappear, while Nadine found her hands curling into fists, her eyes narrowing. Luis continued, "Je dis!" I'm telling!
He moved to run back towards the front of the school, but Nadine lunged forward, tackling him to the ground. The breath was nearly knocked out of her by the fall, but she quickly regained her bearings enough to put a sweaty hand over Luis's mouth. "Non, tu n'es pas," she spat. No, you're not.
