Can I Call You Baby? (girlxgirl)

Chapter 2

"My mom is out for a while. I think she went to some business thing up in New York or something." Leah said opening the door to her house.

"Does she not tell you this stuff?" I asked, following Leah into the living room.

"Not really. She just leaves notes so I'll know when I wake up. My mom kind of hates me, for reasons that are a little obvious." She sat down on her couch and turned the TV on. She looked at me for a moment. "Are you hungry or anything? I have food." I shook my head. "Well, sit down, then. I don't bite." She paused, her lips curling into a smile. "Unless you want me to."

"That's gross and unnecessary." I said sitting down. I guess I was drunker than I thought, because when I sat down, my head ended up on her lap. Her legs were really warm, and they felt so comfortable. I looked up at her, and she was looking down at me. We sat there for a few moments just looking at each other before she coughed.

"Um, why is your head on my legs?"

"Because they just feel so good. Like nice, warm pillows." I said.

"I'll try not to feel a little offended by that." She said. After that, there was more silence. I didn't like it.

"You know, I never said anything bad about you."

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"When everyone found out about you. You know, that you like girls. I still liked you. We were best friends, ya know? I just wanted friends, that's why I didn't stick up for you."

"You just said some pretty rude things in the car. Lezzie, fag, accusing me of just wanting to get laid... Those aren't exactly good things, Marie."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." I said, sitting up. "I just... It's hard not to. I tried to not say things at first, but they just started coming out. I don't mean them."

She contemplated this for a minute. "Do you think I chose to be this way? That I chose to love girls the way I'm supposed to love boys?"

"Well, I mean... I don't know."

"Let me help you. I put this beneath me until I was outed by everyone. I had plans, no, I still have them. I was going to move after I graduated. I was going to go to California or New York. Somewhere that people like me aren't as strange as we are here. But I went to a bowling alley and screwed up everything. There was a girl that was in college who had a cousin or something that lived here. She came onto me and knew I liked her. We went to a corner towards the back, but someone walked by when we kissed. I didn't ask for any of this. Nobody was supposed to know." She had tears in her eyes. I reached up and hugged her tightly. She slowly put her arms around me. I wouldn't have been able to explain it, but it felt nice hugging her. We sat like that for a while. I mumbled apologies in her ear.

After what seemed like forever, Leah broke the hug. She turned the TV off and wiped her eyes. "It's getting late. We should probably get to bed." I nodded. She walked to her room and I followed. "Do you want to change into any pajamas?"

"Um... Sure." She threw me some pants and a t-shirt. I thought for a moment. I decided it was okay to change in front of her. I took off my shirt and pants. Leah turned back towards me a yelped.

"Whoah. You are... um..." She blushed and covered her eyes.

Laughing, I took her hands off her eyes. "Leah, it's okay. It's not like you haven't seen this before."

"Well... I mean... It's... I have to go." She rushed out of her bedroom. I put on the pants and shirt and ran after her. She was in her kitchen drinking some water.

"Why did you run out like that?" I asked her. She set her water on the counter.

"Well, would you change in front of a guy like you just did?"

"No."

"Well, pretend like I am a guy in that situation. I find girls attractive, so you shouldn't just take your clothes off like that. I respect you enough to not stare at you while you're practically naked."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"Yeah. So, um..." She took another drink of water. "Why were you crying earlier?"

"I was crying?"

"Yeah. When I picked you up, you were crying about something. What happened?"

"Oh." I remembered the events of the party. "I walked in on my now ex-boyfriend sleeping with Shana."

"Edwards?"

"Yeah."

Leah chuckled. "Well, don't feel too offended. She has been with every guy in the entire school. Actually, she's been with anyone who's interested in girls."

"That's believable. Wait... What do you mean by anyone who's interested in girls?" Leah smiled and waited for it to dawn on me. "No way! You mean... You... and Shana... did it?" Leah laughed in response. "Holy shit! And I thought she was my best friend! Tell me how that happened!"

"Well, it actually wasn't that long after everyone found out. I had been really depressed, and she decided she wanted to be the girl that slept with anything interested in her. So that summer I ran into her at the grocery store. I literally ran into her, by the way. We both had fallen on the floor. Her hand had landed on my boob and she remembered who I was. She had asked if I wanted to get laid. I was so shocked, I didn't even respond. So she just told me to meet her in the bathroom. I followed her there, she locked the doors, and, well, we did it." Leah said, laughing.

"Oh my God! Right there in the bathroom? Wow!" I couldn't believe it. "I always knew Shana hated you, but now I know why she was particularly mean to you."

"Yeah, she was really rude about it. Even though I had her screaming, she got mad afterwards. She said something like since I am a girl, I should know what I'm doing. She didn't even do anything to me. It was her pleasure, then she left."

"Oh. So you are technically a virgin, right?"

"I mean, I guess..." She looked awkward. "I'm going to change the subject. So, Jason is your ex now?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm not staying with him. He's a fucking pig."

"Men are fucking pigs."

"We are agreed on that. It's like all they want is sex. Maybe that's why he cheated."

"Have you not done it either?"

"Well, no. I want someone that I care about to be the one I do that with."

"Oh." She nodded and grabbed her glass and put it in the sink. "Well... we should probably get some sleep. There is school tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess." I said. I followed her back to her bedroom. She started to lay blankets on the floor.

"You can have my bed. It's fine if I sleep on the floor for one night."

"You can sleep in the same bed as me, Leah. I don't mind."

"Um... Okay..." She got in the bed next to me. I couldn't fall asleep, so I watched her fall asleep. She really was a pretty girl. I don't understand why people act the way they do towards her.

While I was thinking, she moved closer and put her arm around me. I thought about moving it, but I decided I didn't care. It was harmless. I felt lighter as I drifted off to sleep. My old best friend is next to me, and nothing ever felt better. Maybe my senior year won't be as horrible as I thought.

"Marie..." I heard Leah mumble.

"Mhm?"

"I'll kick Jason's ass for you. And Shana's." After she said that, her breathing became steady again, and I knew she was asleep again. It felt nice to have someone on my side.