the moral of the story

chapter twenty: confessions of a teenage celebrity

"oh, you're a lesbian. thank god." i sigh in relief.

"i've come out a good amount of times by now." diana laughs. "but no one has ever responded like that. something you wanna tell me, florence?"

i laugh at her, the tension in the room disappearing within a matter of seconds.

"it's just, i didn't realize it." i say with a smile. "i guess it makes sense."

"yeah, that poster of ariana grande above my bed isn't just there 'cause i enjoy her music." diana tells me with a giggle. i chuckle with her, now feeling more lighthearted than ever.

"so...you said things didn't work out with roman because he wasn't your type." i say slowly. "now i guess i know why."

"yup." diana sighs with a smile. "i like women and only women."

the both of us laugh again, and i realize i don't understand why i never figured out from the moment we met. diana's been dropping hints left and right that she's a lesbian. from that comment about roman, to even now, with laughing so hard at the idea of dating oliver. man, i really seem to attract queer girls as friends. not that i'm complaining. i think they're the coolest people to be friends with.

"so, you said that you've come out before." i say once we've calmed down. "does oliver know?"

"yeah. he's one of the first people i told, actually. it was mostly just so that he'd stop trying to impress me, but we're like best friends now, so i'm really glad he knows and is cool."

"that's good." i comment with a smile. somehow the thought of oliver being accepting to diana makes him about a thousand times more attractive to me. i know, talk about the bare minimum.

diana hums in response, glancing down at the game we seemed to have completely forgotten about. she's still smiling, but it's different. it's become more sad, and i wonder why. sighing, i begin to scan my eyes over the photos along her wall and a photo catches my eye that i didn't see before. knitting my eyebrows together, a thought crosses my mind that i never realized.

"oh my god." i say without thinking. "you dated hallie, didn't you?"

"what?" diana's head whips up. "wh-what makes you think that?"

"well first of all, your reaction." i laugh at which diana blushes. "and that photo on the wall tells me that the two of you were definitely a little more than friends. i mean, i don't pose with my friends like that. well, i wouldn't if i had any."

the photo in question is one of the two of them, taken on a polaroid. i has to be in hallie's room. i recognize the patterned throw pillows in the background to be from her bed. anyway, diana's all cuddled up in hallie's arms, her eyes are closed and she's smiling without her teeth, but somehow still appears so radiant. her face is right next to hallie's, who mimics the same expression. i smile at hallie for a second, happy for my former best friend that she found someone.

but something happened. that much is obvious.

"well i wouldn't say we dated," diana sighs, the melancholy look still on her face. "we weren't together long enough to call it dating. but yes, there was something. and yes, i had...really strong feelings for her. but it's over."

"i hope you don't mind me asking." i start cautiously. "but...what happened?"

diana breathes out for awhile, and i have to think about how she must be a singer as well, to be able to do that for so long. eventually, she stares at me. her blue eyes are iced over with tears, and i instinctively reach over to grab her hand.

"you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." i tell her, interlacing our fingers together. "but you should always know that if you need a friend who isn't oliver—aka someone who has two y chromosomes—i'm here. your own personal girl...friend."