Beauty and the Beauty (Lesbian Romance)

When We First Met

 "I love her and that's the beginning and end of everything - F. Scott Fitzgerald." I told my class. I shared this quote with my class. Jesus. They laughed, of course. I don't know why I ever expected them to comprehend such a quote - to say the least, the people in my class, particularly the boys, are moronic. Still, I said it, and immediately regretted it. I felt myself blush as I watched my teacher scowl at my sniggering classmates, then turned my head to look out the window, as if I didn't care. I never saw the window, though. As I turned they locked with the new girl, whose shy and sympathetic smile made my lips quiver into a half-smile in return. I didn't stop looking back at her until the bell rang, and neither did she. As soon as it did, though, I was out of the class like a shot, headed to my locker. She must have followed me. 

    "Hi," her voice fruity, friendly, right next to my ear. "I'm Lena Arlington, I just moved here." She was close, so close I could smell her - she smelt like blackberries and violets and jasmine - and I instinctively ducked away from her.

      "I'm Anastasia - Ana - Sterling." I replied, smiling at her before heading to my next class. I was done talking, nervous, for some reason. Probably because she shouldn't have been talking to me. She was beautiful. She should have been swooped up by the popular girls by now - she'd been in school a whole two hours! They'd turn her into yet another basic, plastic bitch soon enough, I reasoned.

      "Where's Mr Edison's class? Just point." Lena asked, falling into step with me again, unfazed by my ignoring her. Mr Edison was my art teacher

"I'm headed there now actually. Uh, walk with me, if you want." I said. I felt awkward. We walked almost completely silently, only engaging in small talk, her asking about the area, me advising cafes and takeaways. For the first time, I hated the seclusion of the art block. 

        We were late. Mr Edison was in the middle of his daily motivational lecture when we arrived. He smiled and gestured for us to sit, paying no particular attention to the new student in his class. That's my favourite thing about him, the way he never singles anyone out, makes them feel exposed. 

     "You're artists. You notice beauty. Think, what is the most beautiful thing you've seen today?" I caught myself before I could glance at Lena. We had to base the next six weeks of our work on the most beautiful thing we'd seen that day, Mr Edison told us. A cherry blossom tree at the park would have to be my project, it was shallow, it was boring, but it was beautiful. It met the criteria. And it wasn't the new girl. But I'd already began watching her, remembering expressions, movements, the way the light hit her long black hair. Screw it. I sketched her next to the outline of a tree I'd absent-mindedly began.

    The lesson flew by. Lena and I had made plans to drive to White Rose Cafe on 6th Street during break. I decided I might as well make the most of her company before she found her clique. 

   When we arrived at the vintage-themed cafe, I ordered my usual for Lena while she used the restroom, a chocolate latte and the house special - rhubarb pie. As she sat opposite me in a green velvet upholstered chair, a hunk of pie landed on the table for each of us, a steaming latte next to each plate. Her lips were freshly glossed. I learned three interesting things about Lena in the White Rose, (a) she'd moved from Denver where she'd left a so-called 'love interest' - Spencer - behind, to whom Lena was rather attached, (b) her mother was a junkie and left her with her father as a baby and (c) she lived four blocks away from me. We spent almost an hour at the cafe just talking, and since neither of us had to go back to school, we decided to head back to my house to work on our art projects. Handy, since apparently mine was her. I don't even know why I'd invited her back. I guess it was just nice to have a friend for once, and we'd got on well so far. Plus she made me feel... something? I didn't know what, I just knew I wanted to be around her. She was cool.

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Opening my front door revealed an eerily dark and quiet house. Mum would be asleep. I turned on the lamp in the hall and turned to Lena.

"Uh... Do you mind just waiting here for a sec?" She nodded, so I opened the door to my mother's bedroom, quickly ducking inside and closing the door behind me.

Mum was asleep. I walked passed her bed to the window and tapped her shoulder gently.

'Mum?' I whispered, tapping her again. She jolted awake. 'I've got a friend over for a project, is that okay?'

'Yes, fine sweetie. I'll meet her at dinner.' Her voice trailed off, heavy with sleep. I sighed and pulled her wheelchair away from the window where a cold draught was blowing, before turning and leaving the room.

'It's alright with my mum. Do you want to work upstairs?' I asked, flashing her an apologetic smile.

'Sure,' she replied, returning the smile. She seemed more shy somehow, reserved... Nervous? She followed me up the stairs in silence, whilst I silently hoped my room was at least remotely tidy.