Take me to church | girlxgirl

God's personal pornstars

It was a misty morning when the 12th graders arrived at the campsite. Large tents for two were already built in the green expanse of the clearing as the school's event coordinator knew that the girls would take too much time merely setting up the tent.

Isabelle and Robin wordlessly took their stuff out from their bags and arranged them in their respective side of the tent. The taller girl would have been wary of the unusual silence if only she didn't notice Robin's sleepy eyes, which was understandable given that it was only eight in the morning. She'd figure out a long time ago that Robin wasn't an early bird. Still, Isabelle thought that the other girl could've at least greeted her good morning.

The activities commenced once the sun appeared, bringing a cloudless sky along with it. Much to Sister Yvette's relief, the students were as well-behaved as they could manage and all of them participated in the queued activities. And so the day went on without a hitch and they eventually found themselves huddled around a bonfire, sharing their own ghost sightings and such.

Isabelle understood the tradition of telling ghost stories during bonfires. The forest whose trees loomed around the clearing provided total darkness beyond which the fire could reach; and the chirping of the crickets along with the occasional croak of a frog played in the background. Isabelle wasn't particularly fond of not seeing past the two rows of trees. Her brain conjured shadows peering at her, watching her every move.

A sudden tap on her left shoulder made her flinch. Robin looked at her with a sheepish smile. "I need to pee. Can you come with me? I don't want to get lost on my way back."

The student council president looked over to her right then back to Robin. "It's like twenty steps away."

"But I'm scared."

"Fine. If you insist." With a heavy sigh, Isabelle stood up rather quickly for someone being forced, and led the two of them into the restroom cabin that had two cubicles and a decent sink.

It was with huge relief to Isabelle once Robin went inside the cubicle. Only then did she notice her hands shaking a bit and cold sweat trickling at the back of her neck. Images of the nightmare that has been haunting her sleep since she was a kid flashed through her mind.

A tall shadow standing in the gap of her open bedroom door, staring at her. The shadow stepping inside. The shadow sitting on the chair right next to the door. It never taking its eyes off of her.

A drop of water hit the back of her hand brought her back to the moment. Isabelle's hands were turning white from her grip on the edge of the counter. More tears started falling down.

It was silly— how irrational her fear was. How it rattled her and sent her to a downward spiral. Children eventually outgrow the monsters-under-my-bed phase but Isabelle was stuck, embarrassingly so. And she hated it. Every single bit of that paralyzing fear of hers.

The opening of the cubicle door propelled her to turn and wipe the tears from her face. In the mirror, Robin's eyes looked at her with overwhelming gentleness. "I wasn't--" Isabelle couldn't even finish her pathetic excuse of a lie when the other girl suddenly pulled her into a hug.

Perhaps it was the warmth of Robin's body, or perhaps it was the fact that Isabelle couldn't remember the last time someone hugged her, but she cries at the moment her head was tucked where Robin's neck meets the shoulder. She cries without a sound, like someone who's cried hundreds of times curled and alone in bed, muffling any sound of pain with a pillow. The silence of which is much louder than any wails one could conjure.

It took a couple of minutes before Isabelle was able to calm herself down and finally stop her tears from falling. "You didn't wash your hands," Isabelle mumbled against Robin's neck, covering up her embarrassment from wetting the other girl's skin and clothes.