What should I do? Ignore her and play the hurt card for the rest of my life, only to realize at the sunset of my years that I missed the love of my life. Stop, enough with the melodrama. Okay, okay, calm down, Mel. Calm down, girl. If only Heather would just leave.
"What's wrong?" Ishani whispered. Even though she didn't fully get everything, especially the part where the unknown was that I'm a lesbian, she knew this equation needed to be solved, or she'd be stuck being alone all year again. I kind of accidentally introduced her to the popular crowd, and now everything weirdly revolves around me. I wanted to believe she genuinely wanted to be my friend and help me, but after last night's party...
"I need to go outside and meet someone, but Heather will definitely follow me or start asking who it is."
"Got it. Leave it to me!" Ishani whispered, then spoke louder. "Jess, I think your phone is ringing."
"What phone?" Jess asked, confused. She was angry at Heather, but she couldn't lose face, so she just kept eating her fried chicken, dipping it in hot sauce.
"You tell me," Ishani repeated sweetly. The two girls left, led by the non-existent sound.
This is crazy. I texted Bianca that I'd be out soon, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
"Your place is so cute," Heather said, coming up to me with a soda and offering it. I declined, and she put her hand on my shoulder, the cold can touching my burning cheek. "Your mom put up the painting you made in middle school, the one you called 'Rainbow Over Lake Limm.' Remember how you painted it while we ate chips and watched the little fish swim up to the shore? Just right to our bare feet."
"You painted that?" Alisha asked.
"Yeah, a couple of years ago..." I always felt embarrassed when my drawings came up. I felt like I was an average artist, maybe even bad. I excelled at sports, where I could see my mistakes, know where I was lazy, where I needed to improve. But drawing always felt elusive. No matter how hard I tried, I never felt satisfied, and after a few days, I'd want to throw away what might have been a decent drawing.
"It's really beautiful and professional," Lamar said, coming closer to the framed painting. "I could never paint like that."
"That's for sure," Alisha giggled. "Once he drew Mom and Dad, and everyone thought it was Han Solo and Chewbacca."
"I was just a kid! And Dad was wearing a furry Christmas sweater!"
"That was last year, bro. You were allowed a little mulled wine at Christmas and decided to thank parents, thinking you could draw well like Grandpa, and he is a professional artist, dude!"
Everyone laughed, but I.
"Hey, Mel," Heather said, beaming. "Didn't you post that painting on Insta? You guys should follow her, she posts amazing photos and her best artwork."
Oh no, what are you doing?
I stared at Heather, realizing she was unintentionally sinking me.
"Really? I thought you were only on the Triple T: Tumblr, Twitter, and Twitch..." said Alisha.
"I... I haven't posted anything there in a while... Like, in internet terms... you know, if you don't post for a day, the algorithm forgets about you... there's hardly anyone there."
"Mel's just being modest," Heather said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "I'll show you my favorite painting."
"Hey, Heather," Jess called sweetly.
"Heather, your mom called," Ishani said innocently.
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