Normal

A Confession

She comes in and closes the door behind her. Her confused face instantly turns to fear, when she sees my body. Her hands shoot up to her face to cover her agape mouth as she let out a gasp. "What happened? Did Persephone do this to you? How long has this been happening? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" to many questions at once. Even though I knew the answers to all of them, it was too much. I could feel tears fall down my cheeks, there was no turning back now.

The next thing I know, I'm in Naledi's gentle embrace, she somehow managed to hug me without putting much pressure on my bruises. I could feel my heart racing, my cheeks flush, and I hug back. I put my face in the crook of her neck, and we just stayed there for a while. I want to be able to answer her questions, so I pull out of her hug, even though I still want to keep hugging her, and say, "One question at a time."

"Okay, so first, who did this? Was it Persephone?" I could tell that Naledi already knew the answer to that question, but I just simply nod in conformation. "How long has she been doing this to you?" she asked in a calm voice, I could tell though that she is on the brink of losing it. To be honest, I don't actually remember exactly how long it's been happening, however I do know how many bruises I have gotten. 32.

"32." Is all I say, but then I realized the confused look on her face, so I elaborate more. "I have gotten 32 bruises in total, but I don't remember how long she's been doing it though. Some days I get lucky and she doesn't beat me up, some days she gives me multiple bruises, and some days she hurts me, but doesn't give me any bruises." And then it all came flooding out. "I'm always almost late to the bus because she beats me up after school. The few times I've tried reporting her to the principle, she always wins because the principle is her father, and then she hurts me even more that day. A-and sh-she said th-that if I t-told you that she w-wou-would hurt you too." I started crying even more. I just felt her hug me gently, and I buried my face in her neck again.

"Does your mom know? About all of this?" Naledi has such a therapeutic voice, and you can see the entire galaxy in her dark eyes. "And if you haven't, that's okay as long as you tell her soon, but I'm not going to tell her if she doesn't already know, that is up to you to tell her. And you can do that on your own time."

"Not yet..." Is all I mutter, not even sure if she heard it. "Please, don't let her hurt me anymore." I grip onto Naledi even tighter, and even though she didn't, I could tell that she wanted to hold me tighter, but didn't in fear of hurting me because of my bruises. "Save me..." I squeaked out. I've never trusted anyone in my life as much as I trust Naledi, she listens before taking action.

After I return from changing again, I see Naledi on her phone, biting her nails. "What's wrong?" I say concernedly.

"Oh, you're back. I hate to break it to you, but I gotta go now. My parents want me to be home for dinner, and you know how your mom is when I'm here around dinner time." Oh yes, my mom always insists on feeding anyone who enters our house when she's getting ready to cook dinner. Occasionally she'll even do it when she's in the middle of making dinner. I'm surprised she didn't offer us snacks when we came in today. So we decided that Naledi leaves early if she isn't eating here on any given day.

"Okay, s-see you tomorrow." I wave awkwardly at her. "Oh, and don't forget about the field trip to the planetarium on friday!" Our science class is going so we can learn about astronomy. I'm not looking forward to it very much because Persephone is in the same science class as Naledi and I. But me and Naledi are in the same group so she1 can protect me from Persephone, who is also in the same group.

"Of course, why would I forget? And if Miss goddess tries to take you away from me, she'll have another thing comin'." She gets into a fighting stance and I giggle. Since when do I giggle?

I give Naledi a huge hug and whisper in her ear, "Thank you for listening. And not blaming me for this." Tears start dripping out of my eyes and onto Naledi's shirt. But I don't think that they're sad tears. They're tears of joy. Tears of happiness. Tears of love and acceptance. "Okay, now go before my mom makes you stay for dinner." I say half-laughing. We walk out of my room together and head downstairs. Right as Naledi reaches the door, I hear an all-to familiar voice behind me.

"Aw, why don't you stay for dinner, honey?" We're too late. What do I say? What do I say? What do I say?

And then Naledi's voice enters the room. "Sorry, but I have to be home in time for dinner. It's like a curfew thing. So, I should get going. Bye Mrs. Miller!" Naledi seems super happy, especially compared to how she looked fifteen minutes ago. But I decided to not think much of it. She quickly leaves before my mom has time to object.

I then start to wonder, why do I always feel like I have fireflies in my stomach when I'm around Naledi? "Hey, mom? What does it mean when it feels like you have fireflies in your stomach? Is there a reason? Am I sick?" I start to panic, realizing that I just asked her what I was thinking in my head. Welp, might as well be more specific. "And why so I always blush when they touch me?" And then I saw my mom's face light up in excitement. "Why do you look like you're going to die of happiness?" I giggle.

"My little baby has her first crush!!!!!!! What's his name?" she squeezes me in a big momma bear hug. Crush? Naledi? No it can't be. What does this mean? Girls can't like other girls, right? That's impossible! I don't have a crush on Naledi, do I? I realize that I've just been staring off into space for awhile, when my mom speaks up. "Are you okay, Nova? Hello?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I just need time to think. I'll be in my room, tell me when dinner's ready." I head off to my bedroom and close my door. I take out my phone and google, is it possible for a girl to like other girls? And it looks like the answer is yes. It says that I'm a lesbian. And I'm not normal. No. No no no no no no! I'm the least normal person on this planet! And I'm in love with my best friend, out of all people! And I'm going to ruin our friendship, my only friend. I'm a terrible human being. I don't deserve to live. And I go to bed without eating, knowing what is to come.