Oh, Heather

Chapter Twenty-five

Before she left her last class, she met with Leo in the hallway.

“Jada gave me this.” She said, handing him the note.

He read it and looked up at her, narrowing his eyes.

“Did she really?” He asked.
“I think it's childish that she gave me a note, but yes she gave me it.” Heather answered.
“She was ignoring you when you asked to talk to her though. I feel like if she actually wanted to talk to you she would’ve.” 
“Well yeah, but she hasn’t exactly given me anything directly. I didn’t even know she liked girls.” Heather whispered.
“Well neither did I, and we were friends for almost 10 years.”
“Really?” She asked, “I feel like you should’ve been more upset about the whole kiss then.”
“Didn’t really matter to me,” He replied, “She said the stuff to me, but I knew more about her home life than Miley did. And it wasn’t like she called me a slur or anything that bad.” 
“With the way Miley said it, it felt like she did call you a slur.”
“She might be a jerk, but I think even she knows that’s not a great thing. Sometimes jerks have limits.”
“Yeah. Do you think I should meet her?” Heather asked, nervously checking the time on her phone.
“If you really like her,” Leo answered, “I have to go, my dad will lose his mind if I’m not at home soon.”
“Do you walk home?” She responded.

She would have replied to the first part, if she knew what to say. Heather wasn’t even sure about her feelings. Her feelings never made sense to her. She barely knew she was lesbian, let alone how it felt to have a crush. Sexaul desire didn’t make sense to her either. She never felt that way about anyone. She hated hearing about it, she didn’t know how she was supposed to feel when it came to that stuff. 

“Not usually, but I don’t want to ride the bus.” He said, waving goodbye to Heather.

She laughed as he walked off. She messed with the waves of her hair, panicking about the way she looked. 

“No more waiting.” She mumbled, gripping the straps of her bag and heading towards the gate.

When she made it, Jada wasn’t there yet. Or maybe she had already left? She sat there for a bit, she wasn’t sure how long, but Jada hadn’t shown up. Had she talked to Leo for too long? Had Jada forgotten? It hadn’t been that long since the students got released, so maybe Jada was finishing up a class. Heather took a deep breath, there was no need for her to put this much thought into it. A few more minutes passed, and she still hadn’t shown up. Just as she started to leave, she heard the rocks behind her hit the concrete.

“Heather,” Jada panted, “Sorry, I got uhm caught up in something.”
“That’s fine.” Heather smiled.
“I wanted to talk to you about the party.”

Heather bit the inside of her cheek. What was she going to say? Heather could think of a variety of possibilities, but none of them were good. 

“Yeah?” She replied.

She wanted to give a better response, but what was there to say?

“I- I think I like girls,” She started, “But my parents aren’t exactly a fan of queer people. At least to my knowledge.”
“Have you ever had a conversation with them about it? Like an actual conversation?” Heather asked.
“Kind of.”
“I don’t know your parents at all, so maybe this doesn’t apply to you, but my mom was a little rough on the edges about queer people until I came out,” She said, “And I’m not saying you have to come out to them, but maybe talk about a queer friend or something just to see what they say.”
“I don’t even know if I actually like girls.” Jada faltered.

“Well you kissed one. How you felt about that would give you a good idea on if you did or not.” She said.
“I don’t know how I felt about it. I don’t understand it.”
“You’re not gonna understand it right away, and there’s more to it than if you liked kissing a girl. Feelings are complicated.”
“Why do they have to be complicated?” Jada asked, dragging her hands down the sides of her neck.
“I don’t know.” She replied.

Heather looked at the time on her phone, it was nearly 6. Had they really been talking that long? She needed to get back before her mom got worried.

“I have to get back home,” She said, putting her phone into her pocket.

Jada nodded her head in reply, not saying a word. Heather pursed her lips, grabbing the straps of her bag and walking off before it got too dark. She put her bag down beside the couch, looking around for her mom.

“Mom! I’m home!” She called, peering into her brother’s room.
“Well where were you?” Alyssa asked, closing the book she was reading to Corey.
“I was,” She started, “Talking to- to a friend.” She said, swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat.
“Friend?” She questioned, looking at Heather from the corner of her eye.

Heather widened her eyes, walking off to her room without saying anything else to Alyssa. She walked in after a little bit, sitting on the side of Heather's bed.

“Was it really a friend?” She asked immediately.
“Yes. Well, kind of.”
“Come on, tell me.” She smiled.
“I kissed her at the Valentine’s party.”
“You kissed someone?” She said, her mouth dropping.
“Technically she kissed me,” Heather said, “But, she told me she doesn’t know if she’s actually into girls.”
“Oh Honey,” Alyssa replied.

“I just don’t know what I want to do. I don’t know what she wants to do,” She said, “Why did I have to like girls?” 
“I don’t know.” Alyssa said, messing with Heather’s hair.
“This always happens to me.”
“Sometimes, people don’t understand what they want until they’re well into their adult years. And sometimes they never understand. But if you really like her, you’ll wait until she understands what she wants.”
“I like her. A lot. But what if I wait forever for no reason?”
“At least you tried.”
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Mom talk!!
I've got a few more chapters pre-written, but I may miss a few updates.
I apologize in advance!