LGBTQ+ short story's

Electricity

Electricity. That is how I would describe everything. The air feels loaded. It makes me feel uneasy. Everyone is on edge. Like I can feel something coming my way. It makes me uncomfortable not knowing what.
Like the light before the storm. Everything will either change, or it already has. I don't like change. But then again, my mother says I don't like anything.
The army of moving boxes surrounding me doesn't help. I'm no longer a high school student. Next week me and my parents are moving to another province. They decided so suddenly. I feel like I'm running out of time.
I'm sitting on the ground, hugging my knees. I play with the threads hanging from my shorts. Jet is draped on one of the boxes. She's laying on her back, knees propped up and head hanging over the edge. She looks like a sunbeam. The bright light of the sun making her gleam.
Normally the sight of Jet near me would calm me. But now it puts me more on edge. It's one of the things that changed recently. Every time I'm near her I don't know how to act anymore.
The space between us went from calm and light to static and heavy. I've wrecked my brain trying to figure out when the flip happened. Jet has been my best friend since we were 9 years old. We've been Jet and Teddy for 7 years now. We could tell each other everything. Never have I had to worry that she would judge me. Now everything we say feels heavy with things unsaid.
I am so worried about not saying everything that I can barely get myself to say anything. Too nervous to ruin what she thinks of me. Every time we speak it feels like we're avoiding what will happen when we don't live near each other anymore.
We used to be able to talk for hours on end. We didn't even need anything else. We could just sit there and chat. Never once was there an awkward silence. Now it seems like that is all there's left.
We used to fit together like two pieces carved out of the same stone. Now it's like we're two entirely different materials. We've been sitting inside shielding from the heat in silence for a while now. Both of us are lost in our thoughts.
I look up when Jet straightens her arms above her head and starts moving them like she's swimming with flippers. Her gaze is focused on me. A look in her eyes I can't describe
"We could..." She pauses to think "go ice skating?"
I shake my head. "It's the middle of summer and the only ice rink is too far away". I high five myself on the inside because my voice sounded normal.
She sighs, dropping her arms to the sides of the box. We keep silent again.
I glance at her. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought.
My heart is beating too loud. I haven't moved at all. The air gets more electric the more I look at her. The way her features fit together makes me believe the universe crafted her itself.
She turns her head to look back at me. Like she could feel me looking. I force myself to look away to not let her know I was staring. I concentrate on slowing my heartbeat down. I look at my feet.
I don't have feelings for my best friend. I definitely don't. Not a chance. She's my best friend and she definitely doesn't like me back. It would never work out. Why am I even thinking about this?
I definitely don't like her. Not like that at least.
"We could go to a party?"
"Who's?" I ask, not lifting my head. Curious about what she will say. We don't know anyone who would invite us.
"We could throw a party?" She says instead.
I raise an eyebrow. "And who would you like to invite? My mom? Your Mom? I bet it will be the best party of the century."
"Oh shut it." She grumbles while she throws a shoe my way. I raise my arm to keep it from hitting my face. The shoe rolls away, landing against one of the boxes. I gasp dramatically.
"disgusting! how dare thou throw thy stinky shoe at mine pate. I shall take revenge on thou mine friend turned foe." I announce as a stand-up and glide on my socks towards her. Talking in old English is something we just do. I don't know when we started. I just know I don't want it to stop. It's a coping mechanism I think.
I take on a battle stance. She chuckles, holding her hand in front of her mouth to not ruin the character we both just put on.
I'm screaming inside. Her laugh does things to me that I can't describe. That's normal for friends, right?
She bounces to her feet and mirrors my stance.
"Mine feet smell wonderful. How dare thou insult these flower smelling limbs. We shall fight to the death." She grins and I can't help but smile back. I stop myself from sighing with relief. Even if it is just for a moment. I know now that we can still joke around like we used to.
She grabs a water bottle that is balanced on our coffee table with more boxes and holds it like a sword. "Engarde!" She yells. I search for something I could use as a weapon. I settle on one of my rolled-up posters that lay in a pile on the ground. "Engarde!" I repeat. We circle each other. Careful not to bump our ankles against furniture or boxes.
She is the first to strike a hit. I chuckle and strike back. She blocks it with the bottle.
With each stab and strike the heavy feeling in my stomach lightens a bit.
I spin around before stabbing the poster forward. She wipes her pretend sword through the air and mine falls out of my hand. I turn around to grab it. When I turn around I am met with the bottom of a water bottle against my throat.
"Ne'r turn thy back while 'i a fight. We'd be sure not having thy pretty little face to get cut off, doth we?" She smirks.
My entire face turns red. I clench my teeth and swallow hard. She called my face pretty. She thinks I'm pretty. Totally normal friendly thoughts.
I definitely don't like her. Not like that at least.
I love her like a friend. She's very funny and nice to hang out with. We just get along. She's also gorgeous. She doesn't think so herself. Often saying she doesn't like the pictures we take together because she's in them. I don't agree. I think being in the pictures together makes them even better. They remind me of the memories we made together. And she definitely isn't painful to look at. She has very soft blue hair. I helped her dye it last week. We got dye all over the bathroom. Freckles cover her nose, cheeks and forehead. But only in the summer. She has a silver septum piercing. She hides it from her parents. They're not that strict, only about things like hair dye, piercings and tattoos. The 3 things Jet wants to have. She made a whole presentation to convince them to let her dye her hair for the summer. She also has an amazing sense of style. The best way to describe it is like a chaotic Lesbian garden gnome. And she has very soft looking lips. Anyone would be over the moon if they were kissed by her. It's definitely not a recurring thought for me. Definitely not...
Jet clears her throat. "If I weren't so nice thou had been dead by now. Hence forbear checking me out and fight me"
I am caught off guard and choke on my spit. She slaps me softly on my back while I cough out my lungs. Her soft hand on my exposed skin is not helping. It makes me feel hot inside. It makes me believe I will suffer from heatstroke even though it's colder inside and I'm only wearing a tank top and shorts.
"I- I wasn't checking you out." I manage to get out in between coughs.
Her expression changes from cocky with a brow raised to worried when I keep coughing. "Do you want some water? We can take a break if you want?"
I shake my head "I'm fine." I get back into character "I was checking for thy weak spot. This broil isn't over."
I raise my arm with the poster above my head. She watches me with an amused look.
I hit her on the head with the pretend sword. Not hard enough to hurt but the paper does make a funny sound. "You lost foe" I say dramatically. I laugh as evil as I can.
She lays her empty hand against her forehead dramatically and falls to her knees. She drops the 'sword'.
"I shall miss being thy foe, mine friend. Our fights were the highlight of mine day 'i these dark times". She says as she pretends to take her last breath, making a few choking sounds. She closes her eyes and sticks out her tongue to convey her death. I kick the water bottle away so we won't actually fall to our death later.
"adieu mine frenemy" I whisper and I lay down next to her. We stay silent for a while. The only thing I hear is my heart beating in my ears and our soft breathing.
I hear a snort coming from my supposedly dead friend. Friend. Yeah, of course. She's my friend, nothing more. The thought hurts a little bit. I don't want to lose her when I move away. Yeah, that's why.
Our bodies shake in unison as our laughter fills the room. When we have calmed down we take a minute to catch our breath.
She turns her head towards me. She opens one eye and I smile at her when we make eye contact.
I turn to my side. One hand laying under my head, the other in between us. She follows me. Also laying on her side. She looks at my hand in between us and bites her lip, deep in thought. It's barely noticeable, but I notice. I can't help but notice these little quirks she has. I tell myself that's bound to happen after years of friendship.
But it still drives me crazy. I look at her lips. What would it feel like to feel them against mine? To have her hands in my hair and my hands on her hips. So close to each other, but it still does not feel like enough.
I'm sure everything would fade away. It would feel like we were the only people in the world. Like Fireworks or a big explosion. I return from my fantasy world when I see movement.
Her hand slowly creeps closer to mine.
It feels like the air shifts. A different mood settling upon us.
We held hands when we were younger. Nothing strange. So why is my heart beating through my whole body? So loud I'm scared it will cause an earthquake.
"Can I..." She whispers, the rest of the sentence left unspoken. She's still looking at our hands. Subtle red spots form on her throat. Why would she be nervous? Red spots usually only form on her throat when she's anxious or nervous. Am I making her uneasy? I inch away just as she lays her hand on top of mine.
Oh.
When she looks back up at me there is a question in her eyes.
I smile encouragingly at her.
I turn my hand around. My palm is now facing the ceiling.
Her fingers close around mine.
This feels different from when we used to hold hands as kids. Very different.
I feel sick but in a good way. Like I haven't eaten in two weeks. But also like going to sleep when you have just eaten exactly enough.
She smiles back and the feeling grows.
Oh.
It suddenly hits me. These thoughts and feelings all make sense now.
I really can't use this right now. There couldn't have been a worse time for this.
I curse myself inside. I can't deny it any longer. Now I'm lying on the floor with her. So close to each other. Our hands tangled together. Our hands. Together.
I, Teddy Asman, have feelings for my best friend.
I have feelings for Jet.
What do I do? She doesn't feel the same. Or does she? She doesn't. This is probably just normal friendly behaviour to her.
It is. I just don't feel normal friendly feelings for her anymore. I try to keep my face from showing the many emotions I am feeling right now.
Surprise, worry, happiness, anger, fear... love. And so much more, I can't begin to describe all of them. Because I don't know how to and I could never stop because they're too many.
I can't tell her. It would ruin our friendship. I mean she is a lesbian. And she does know I like women too. So she isn't repulsed by that. But that doesn't mean she won't be repulsed if I tell her I have feelings for her.
Once again I'm brought back when I see movement.
Her other hand moves to my face.
She tucks the hair fallen from my ponytail behind my ear. I can't help but lean into her hand.
She smiles at me sweetly, but there is sadness behind her eyes.
"Teddy..." She says softly. I look at her expectantly.
A million thoughts go through my head.
"Please don't move." she murmurs while caressing my cheek.
I can feel my heart beating through my whole body. She's so close. Now I know, it burns through my whole body. Waiting to explode. "I won't" I whisper back.
She looks away. "I mean move away." She says defeated. She knows I can't. I'm too young, I have to move with my parents. She lowers the hand on my cheek to the ground.
My eyes scan her face. Is this what has been bugging her?
I want to place my hand on her face so badly. I don't want her to feel bad. Ever.
It kills me inside to see her like this. But my hand lies under my head and I would either break my arm or have to untangle our hands. The latter I can physically not bring myself to do.
So I bring our joined hands to my face and place a light kiss on the back of her hand.
This is friendly behaviour, right? She won't think I feel different right?
"I'm sorry..." Is all I can bring myself to say.
She smiles lightly and the worried feeling in my stomach is replaced by longing.
Painful unrequited longing. Knowing what I want could never be.
She slowly sits up. Not too fast to pull me along. I follow her.
We're now sitting opposite of each other, cross-legged in the middle of my living room. She has not let go of my hand yet and I haven't let go of hers either. Our arms slightly stretched, crossing the distance between us. She moves her thumb over the back of my hand. It sends tingles through my stomach.
"Can't you move in with me and my parents? I'm sure your mom won't mind." She says her voice still lowered. My empty hand finds the loose threads hanging from my shorts again. I shake my head.
"Can't you ask?". she tries again.
I shake my head again. "I have asked." I sigh. She stops moving her thumb. She squeezes my hand gently.
"What did she say?" Jet pushes herself over to floor with her feet to sit next to me.
Our hands lie comfortably on the ground in between us. Keeping me from sitting as close to her as I want. Keeping me from closing the distance. It's probably for the best.
I concentrate on my fingers playing with the threads.
"She told me that if I asked one more time she would make me move to the bottom of the ocean. Without oxygen tanks."
She chuckles at that. The sound feels like the light at the end of a tunnel. Relieve.
"At least we can still text if you're living in another province. That would be a bit difficult when you're fish food."
Now it's my turn to chuckle.
She takes my hand in both her hands. I look up at her and stop laughing when I see her serious face. I feel my own turn into a look of concern.
"Promise," She says low "That we won't forget about each other"
I can't say anything other than; "I promise".
How could I ever forget about a girl like that? I know she will always be a topic in my thoughts. No matter what happens.
"Teddy..." She says again. This time even softer and more vulnerable. She squeezes my hand. My concerns amplify.
"I-" for some reason she stops herself. She takes a big breath and continues. "It's... difficult for me to say this because I don't know how you'll react, but I can't keep it to myself any longer because after next week I don't know when I'll see your face again. So here we go..." She takes another breath. Red spots reform on her throat.
"I like you!" She blurts out.
I stare dumbfounded at her. She can't actually mean that, right?
My heart beats everywhere, from my head to my toes to the points of my fingers. I'm afraid she'll hear it. I stare straight ahead. My eyes lose focus. A million thoughts racing through my head.
Jet Verboom likes me, Teddy Asman? That can't be true. She must mean like a friend.
Yeah, of course. Stupid, stupid, stupid Teddy. I have to fight the tears wanting to form in my eyes. I can't believe I ever thought she, out of all people, would have feelings for me.
She's just nervous to tell me how much she appreciates me as a friend. It stings a bit. I bite hard on my lower lip. Trying to keep myself from showing unwanted emotions.
I'm afraid to look her in the eye. At moments like these, the walls are suddenly really interesting. They require all my attention while I battle this stupid eye sweat.
"Like romantically." She says when I haven't said anything for a full minute.
What.
I don't think I heard that right.
Jet likes me?
Like actually likes me? Like how I like her? Not as a friend but romantically?
This is not the time to doubt myself. Do something.
"I like you too. Romantically." I almost yell. I fake cough awkwardly to hide that outburst.
She laughs out loud. Like a full laugh out of happiness. Before I know it she throws me to the ground, hugging me. We lay on the ground together. Our legs tangled together, just like our hands. She hugs me romantically and I hug her back romanticly. Because we have romantic feelings for each other and I couldn't be happier.
I smile. Every single worry leaves my body. We'll figure it out. Together.
She slowly sits up. She lets my hand go slowly. I have to refrain from letting out a cry. Our hands already feel so familiar together. Mine feels empty without hers.
She moves the hand to my face as she hovers over me. Thumb resting on my jaw, fingers placed behind my ear.
She strokes her thumb over my cheek and all thoughts are forgotten. Our eyes meet. She smiles lovingly at me and everything else disappears. It feels like it's just us in this world.
Head empty, just pretty girls.
A pretty girl, who likes me.
"Can I kiss you?" I ask as a sudden wave of confidence moves over me.
I can't believe I just asked that. What if she doesn't want to? What if she thinks we're moving too fast. I shouldn't have asked.
Her smile grows and like usual all worries fade away. "Yes!" she exclaims, excited. She's smiling from ear to ear. I place one hand on her waist and one on her neck. Her hand still lays on my face.
I slowly pull her closer, careful not to hurt her. One of her hands is placed on the ground to support her.
Our faces so close. I can feel her breath on my face. I feel like I'm going to explode. "You took the words from my mouth" She breathes just before our lips meet. The electricity in the air grows stronger than ever before.
She can't seem to wait any longer and closes the distance. Her lips as soft on mine.
It doesn't feel like fireworks, nor an explosion. It feels like home.
This feels like home. She feels like Home. Not the house I live in now or any other place I'll ever live. She does. I finally feel like I belong somewhere. I belong in her arms.
I smile into the kiss as she pulls me closer, lifting me slightly off the floor.
relying on gravity to not pull her down as she takes her other hand off the floor and tangles it in my hair.
We fall into a rhythm as the sun falls outside.
Coming up for air, but not wanting to let go yet. Somewhere in between, she asks me to be her girlfriend and I ask her to be mine.
We spent the rest of the evening entangled in each other. We will take on the world together. A weight finally leaving my shoulders as we talk about everything. Some things are more difficult to tackle than others but we take it slow.
It feels new but familiar. What held me back before now brings me strength.
The electricity that used to make me uneasy now powers home.

THE END.

(Thank you for reading this story I've written. I hope you liked it. I plan on making one story for every letter of the LGBTQ+. I'll try to write at least one story a week. It depends on how buzzy I am/ if I have the motivation/ if I have an idea. If something doesn't make sense, please tell me. If you have an idea for another one, please also tell me. Happy pride month.)