"Hey girl" Erin answered her phone.
"Eriiiiiiiiiiiiiin!" Ashleigh squealed. "You won't believe what happened?"
"What?" Erin asked.
"I think I've made a little friend group!" Ashleigh bounced up and down. She knew her friend may not have been able to see her, but definitely knew that she was.
"Shit that's fantastic Ash," Erin said. Ashleigh could practically hear the smile in her friends voice. "Although I don't know why you were worried, people love you."
"No, people like you," Ashleigh said, "they tolerate me. But that's not the point, I didn't think I even knew how to make friends."
"That's bullshit and you know it. I like you, these new people like you. You're a delight. Tell me about them." Erin said.
"Okay so," Ashleigh took a deep breath before racing off, "theres Courtney. She's really sweet, we're in the same res. She's probably around my height, and she's got this friend Andrew, now I think Courtney has a bit of a thing for Andrew. They're both like super athletic so that's cute. Then Andrew has a friend Micheal. Now they've been friends since like high school. Micheal is so smart and really friendly, and quite cute."
"And how long have you been in love with Micheal?" Erin asked.
"Erin!" Ashleigh exclaimed.
"Am I wrong?" Erin asked, as a smile kept into her voice.
"No," Ashleigh covered her cheeks to hide her blush from the no one that was in her room.
"Tell me more about him," Erin said.
Ashleigh squealed with excitement before continuing. "So he's probably about your height, maybe a bit shorter, so like the perfect height for me. He's got sort of fluffy blonde hair and brown eyes. And super nice and like cuddly build."
"He sounds like a golden retriever." Erin said.
"Is that a good thing?" Ashleigh asked.
"Yes," Erin chuckled, "he sounds sweet."
"He is," Ashleigh said.
"Just tell him if he breaks your heart I break his face," Erin said in an unnervingly cheerful voice."
"Okay," Ashleigh said, her voice dropping halfway through the word.
"What did you do?" Erin asked.
"What do you mean?" Ashleigh asked.
"Your voice did the thing…" Erin said sternly, "what did you do?"
"Um," Ashleigh fidgeted with her hair, "my friends might think you're a man…"
"Why?" Erin chuckled.
"I um, told them about the treehouse, and I guess they just assumed the rest, and I didn't know how to tell them that you're a girl, an I don't know I guess… are you mad?" She asked.
"God no," Erin said, "just kinda surprised I guess."
"Are you sure?" Ashleigh asked. She felt terrible. She knew her friend kept her things to herself, and there she had gone and been a big fat blabbermouth, spilling all the beans. What if Erin wasn't out yet? Had she just outed her bestfriend? She only knew that Erin was gay because she'd backed her into a corner. Did anyone know? Maybe it was for the best that they thought the treehouse person was a guy, then she wouldn't be outing anyone.
"Its really fine," Erin almost giggled "did you give me a manly name?"
"No, I didn't say anything," Ashleigh said.
"So I'm not Dickman Mc'Penisington the Balls?" Erin laughed.
Ashleigh laughed along with her. The two friends spent several minutes laughing at the stupidity of the situation, and absurdity of all the names Erin could have had.
Eventually when their sides hurt from laughing, Ashleigh had finally built up the courage to ask what she'd wanted to ask for years, "so have you met anyone special?"
Silence hung in the air for a minute. Ashleigh wanted to kick herself for being so forward. They'd been down this road before, Ashleigh wanted to feel involved in her best friends life, but Erin needed space.
"Do you really want to talk girls with me?" Erin asked.
"What?" Ashleigh was shocked. She never got this far with Erin, "yes, of course. You always listen to me talking about boys, it's only fair."
"Okay," Erin said with a surprising amount of warmth in her voice. "So I've seeing this girl Abigail, now obviously she's by no means my soulmate, but I enjoy spending time with her. I can't really see this as anything lasting, but we'll probably just end up as friends."
"Okay," she said through the shock of her friend opening up to her, "but she is more of a girlfriend than a bestfriend, right?"
"Yes Ashleigh," Erin said with a fake sigh, "you are not going to be replaced. Girls will come and go, but you are my forever. I wouldn't be me without you as my best friend."
"I love you," Ashleigh said putting on a pout in her voice.
"I love you too," Erin said "now what's the time there?"
"Late," Ashleigh said, keeping the pout.
"You need to go to bed before you get cranky," Erin said kindly.
"I am cranky," Ashleigh said.
"Now come on, you need to get your beauty sleep for Mr. Micheal," Erin put on a silly voice for the last two words.
"Okay," Ashleigh sighed, "goodnight. "
"Goodnight," Erin said before hanging up the phone.
Ashleigh lay back on the bed in her dark room. She was tired but felt elated. It felt like it had been forever since Erin had been so warm and open with her. She missed her like mad, but maybe this was exactly what she needed. A new start, away from her family where she felt like she could just be herself.
