Evie | a lesbian fantasy romance [girlxgirl]

fifteen

"And to think you've not tripped over your own feet in so long now. What an achievement."

Evie playfully glares at me as I grin with amusement. I help her out of the boat and onto the dock, making sure she doesn't slip, and try not to laugh at her face.

"I was going to call you sweet for helping me out, but now I'm not going to," she says with a turn of her chin, leading the way.

"You basically just did by saying that," I say, falling into step with her.

She glances at me disapprovingly before choosing not to say anything, only making me chuckle. It's always fun to annoy her.

Instead, she looks out ahead and I follow her gaze, spotting the decorations the council have put up for the summer fair. There's banners strewn across the buildings, brightly coloured and accompanied by fairy lights that I can only imagine will look stunning when it starts to get darker. Stalls are lined up across the street from what we can see, decorated with balloons and streamers, and it feels as if the whole town is out at once, partaking in the celebrations. Music is playing from somewhere, several locations actually, all playing different songs in each corner of the street.

"They went all out," Evie says what we're both thinking. "I love it!"

I smile at her enthusiasm and the two of us have a walk around, grabbing a flyer that has a mini-map of all the different stalls. I let Evie choose where she wants to go, to which she's adamant we visit every single one. And who am I to deny her?

So, we move from one stall to another, not necessarily buying stuff from all of them, but Evie loves to talk to people, so she talks everyone's ears off and they all love it. I'm not much a of a conversationalist myself, everybody seems to know that, but there are a lot of people I know and find myself catching up with without meaning to.

Evie is distracted at a nearby stall, talking to the vendor about God knows what, so I stroll a bit further down absentmindedly, admiring the many things on offer. My eyes catch sight of a jewellery stand, a plethora of bracelets, necklaces, rings and earrings on display. Some are simple jewels, others are intricately designed pieces, but all of them are lovely. And that's what reminds me of the pearl Evie gifted me. It's still sat beside my bed.

"Are you looking for something in particular?" the lady behind the stall asks when she catches me lingering.

"Just having a look," I tell her with a small smile, before asking, "Do you do personalised pieces?"

"What did you have in mind?"

I look down at the necklaces again. "I have a pearl. It was a gift, but I'm scared I'm gonna lose it on its own. I thought it could be nice as a necklace or something. You know, secured to something. Is that something you could help me with?"

She reaches under the table for something before holding it out. I realised it's a business card when she says, "That's doable. Here. You can stop by my shop when you want. It's near the post office."

I accept her card, glancing at it and recognising the logo vaguely. I'm pretty sure I've walked by it a few times.

"Fifteen percent off, too, in the spirit of the fair," she adds kindly, and I look up to her with an appreciative smile.

"Thank you. What's your name, sorry?"

"Steph. And yours?"

"Nice to meet you, Steph," I say with a nod. "I'm Leila."

"Leila..." She pauses, stuck in thought. "Where have I heard that name before?"

"I've been working on the house over the water. Might be that."