Hold my hand

You, in love with me?

Penelope wasn't as oblivious to Josie's inner turmoil as she seemed. She could easily sense something brewing beneath the surface, and she took it upon herself to unearth it. 

Josie tried her best to distance herself from Penelope, hoping that the burning flames of desire in her heart would eventually die out with no one there to rekindle them, and then everything could return to normal. But she soon learned, Penelope is surprisingly difficult to avoid crossing paths with.

It was almost as if she was predestined by some cruel unknown force to always be right around the corner. After a while, Josie realized trying to escape her was an exercise in futility. Especially when, in all truthfulness, Josie wanted nothing more than to be with her.

So when Penelope invited her to meet up in the park one afternoon, it took everything within her to contain her enthusiasm. She was told to meet Penelope by the lake.

Josie reached the lake as instructed. She found Penelope sitting with her back against the tree, arms crossed.

"Penny!" Josie yelled

"Hey JoJo! So uh, how've you been? Haven't had a chance to talk to you much lately."

"I, uhh... I'm fine. You?"

"I'm alright. Though, I guess I have been a tad bit worried about you."

"Worried? W-why?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer, deep down.

"Well, you've just been acting kinda weird for a while, almost as if something's bothering you. I've been meaning to ask you about it, but I've just never had the chance to until now."

She was starting to regret coming here, as there were no easy means of escape now. Delight quickly turned to fear as she weighed her options. Lying, of course, would be easier in the short-term, but would it really be worth it? How much longer could she hold up this facade? Being truthful, on the other hand, could potentially be disastrous. Really, both of the paths she could take filled her with dread.

But something managed to reach through her scrambled thoughts and silence them.

"Hey," Penelope said.

She suddenly felt Penelope's hand rested upon her own; it was warm. Without thinking, she finally turned to look at Penelope, whose expression communicated nothing but compassion.

"I just want you to know, if there's ever something eating at you, you can count on me to listen. Don't worry, I'm an expert at keeping secrets!"

Hearing that, and remembering what Penelope had told her on that hot summer day, she knew what had to be done.

"Well," Josie began

"I guess there is something..." She hesitated

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Uhh... I..."

She had to turn away again. It was just too much. Her heart pounded wildly, the reverberations of each heart beat reaching her ear drums.

"Um... d-do you remember that day when w-we were talking about, uh... love?"

"Oh, yeah. What about it? Did you finally tell your buddy how you feel?"

Josie gulped, but the insufferable lump forming in her throat persisted.

"Well... no, n-not yet. But there's a reason for that. You see..."

No turning back now.

"Ugh, how should I put it...? That... that friend I was talking about?"