Take me to church | girlxgirl

One step for Isabelle, one giant leap for you

Isabelle couldn't keep her eyes off of Robin.

She had just finished her introduction for their presentation and had given the floor to Robin, who was now passionately explaining the picture of Isabelle flashed through the projector and its connection to the meaning of life they've constructed.

Isabelle had already seen the edited version of the photo as she volunteered to compile it for a short powerpoint presentation, and so it didn't really came as a surprise to her when it came up on the projector screen for all her classmates to see. What did came as a surprise to her was how Robin articulated what the photo represented. She spoke about her with so much admiration that she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that it was her that Robin was talking about.

Maybe...Maybe she could believe that Robin meant it when she declared that she liked her.

"If you acknowledge the fact that there is no after life, you realize— and I mean really realize, that you've only got one shot. That this is it. This is your only chance to experience what it is to be alive. And when you let that sink in, you end up putting yourself first. That's important because when you stop caring about what others think, when you don't let others pressure you, choosing to be happy becomes easy."

This-" Robin made a show of pointing towards the projector screen. "This is what you want. You want to be able to smile like this. Smile without thinking about whether others are making fun of the gap between your teeth," Robin paused, letting her classmates laugh, which didn't last long as Isabelle threw them a glare. "And--where was I? I lost my train of thoughts, never mind." She shook her head. "See, even though I don't believe in your God and all that shit--"

"Language!" Sister Yvette hissed from the back.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I don't believe in God, but I do believe that there is a heaven. Although I don't necessarily agree with the other group who said that the meaning of life is doing good things to get into heaven because I don't think heaven is a place. I think heaven is an experience-- and you're looking at it right now, Isabelle's heaven and it's just fucking beautiful, don't you think so?"

"Langua--" Sister Yvette couldn't be bothered to correct the girl, merely sighing in resignation.

The presentation continued with Isabelle and Robin exchanging their roles— Robin manning the laptop while Isabelle stood next to the screen.

Once the next slide occupied the said screen, Robin couldn't help but gape. True, she did leave it to Isabelle to choose the picture but she wasn't expecting this one. She would've thought that the student council president will be too embarrassed to ever show anyone this photo of theirs.

The photo was of them sitting on a bench, ice cream on both of their hand, smiling brightly while their shoes lit up. Robin remembered that day vividly. It was when she scored high on her quiz and invited Isabelle to get ice cream with her after school. She had insisted that they both change from their uniforms and forced her to wear their light up sneakers. Up to this day Robin still can't believe that Isabelle agreed to it.

Isabelle went on with her script— it was painfully obvious that it was scripted as the message was quite impersonal— but Robin could only focus on the picture. Isabelle had looked carefree, and she was the one who made it happen.

Eventually, the ringing of the bell signaled the end of the classes for today, propelling the students to pack their bags. Robin was in the process of dumping her notebook inside her backpack when the clearing of a throat, followed by a "Hey, idiot" caught her attention.

Zipping her bag, Robin turned towards the familiar voice with a grin. "Yes, love?"

Isabelle groaned, rolling her eyes. "Here." She then aggressively shoved a plain brown box into the shorter girl's chest.

"I see you like it rough," Robin mumbled as she opened the lid of the box.

The student council president watched Robin's facial expressions carefully, noting the slight widening of those doe eyes. The silence stretched out longer than Isabelle is comfortable with and with every second that passed without Robin saying anything, the anxiety and regret inside of her grew. "Don't get too emotional. They were the ugliest out of the ones that I did. Reminded me of you. I had to get rid of it."

Robin was still admiring the ceramic plant pot, the exact one that she pointed out to Isabelle— the one with the tiny leaf oddly attached to it. She couldn't help it when her eyes started to water, especially when she saw the pack of exclusively green gummy bears next to the pot.

"You only ate the green ones." Isabelle shrugged in an attempt to appear like she totally wasn't observing everything that Robin did. It was embarrassing. But when she saw the glistening brown eyes of the other girl, it oddly made her feel unsettled. "Are you seriously crying?"

"I'm not crying. Shut up!" Robin harshly wiped the tears before they can even fall then snatched her bag from the chair before walking out of the classroom.

"Hey!"

Ignoring Isabelle's calls out of embarrassment, Robin found herself walking through the school's parking lot where she came across Carrie.

Her best friend was on her way to her car when she heard sniffling behind her. Immediately, Carrie rushed to Robin when she saw her tear stricken face. "Oh no, baby." The blonde cupped Robin's face and attempted to wipe some of the tears away with her thumbs.

"Who is it? Who made you cry? Give me the name and I'll rough them up for you."

Robin shook her head with a chuckle as she composed herself. She had always been an emotional person, easily tearing up over the smallest of things.

"Isabelle gave it to me." She looked down on the box in her arms with a fond smile.

"Oh. So, happy tears?"

"Yeah, happy tears."

"Okay, good. I just had a manicure last weekend." Carrie sighed in relief before opening the lid of the box and taking a peek. Her eyebrows raised at the content of the box, recognizing that Isabelle actually gave these gifts a thought. How did she even know that Robin loved the green gummy bears specifically? Didn't stores sell them in mixed colors? "Well, that's one step for Isabelle, one giant leap for you."

Robin merely laughed in agreement. "Anyway, are you going home already?"

"Yeah."

"No date?"

"No. Jack and I aren't going out anymore. Apparently he found someone better; they're dating now." Carrie laughed but not a hint of humor was present. "I'm only good for fucking anyway, not dating. At this rate, I shouldn't even be upset about it."

"That's not true." This had always made Robin riled up. It frustrated her to no end how her best friend seem to always end up dating some asshole. Where does she find these guys anyway? At this point she wonders whether her best friend is merely unlucky or she has a type.

"Yeah? Well, then how come nobody has asked me out on a date to just get to know me? Every date I went to ends up in my bed."

Everybody in their school had always labeled her best friend as a slut seeing as Carrie goes out with guys a lot. But Carrie only wanted to find someone who will love and take care of her, and Robin knew that. If she could just find those pieces of shit that hurt her best friend she'd hurt them twice as much.

Shaking her head, Robin hooked her arm with Carrie's, pulling her towards her car. "Come on, I'm taking you out on a date that doesn't end up in your bed. I'll even share my gummy bears with you."

"Ice cream?"

"Sure, anything you want."