Ryleigh-Grace
“Ryleigh.” She places a hand under my chin and lifts it to look at her. “Can you hear me?” she asks softly.
I nod quietly, fixating on her eyes.
They’re beautiful...
She smiles and lets me for a few seconds, before speaking again.
“Hey... I don’t think I’ve ever seen you make eye contact with anyone before.”
“Mmh... I trust you... you helped me.” I whisper.
“Yeah...” she smiles. “You feeling better now? That seemed pretty intense...”
“Mmh... I... I’m alright.” I look down.
She’s silent for a moment, and I feel her eyes on me, but not in an uncomfortable way.
In a soft, caring way.
I feel my cheeks warm slightly.
“Are you sure? Because I promise you can talk to me.”
I look up, at her eyes.
I don’t say anything.
She opens her arms, so I curl into them, closing my eyes in her shoulder.
“Saskia...”
“Hm?”
“We’re late to class...”
I hate being late. It gives me so much anxiety, and I always walk in struggling to breathe, but hiding it, because I get an unshakable feeling that everyone’s staring at me, and then laughing at me when the teacher questions why I’m late...
She holds me closer.
“It’s okay. I’ll explain to the teacher after. Besides, this is college, not secondary school, they won’t care as much.”
“But... everyone will stare at me...”
“Hey... it’s okay. We’ll just wait till class is over, I have a watch, so I’ll know. I’ll explain to Miss that you just needed some time, and I decided to stay and support you. It’ll be fine, cuz as I said, it’s college, they don’t care as much.”
“Okay... thanks.”
“No problem.”
***
“Ryleigh?”
“Mmh...”
“How old are you?” she asks softly.
“Oh, I’m 16. I’m in my first year here.”
“Oh, cool. It’s my first year too, but I’m older than you.”
“You are?”
“Yeah, I’m 17.”
“Oh, okay. When’s your birthday?”
“June 1st.”
“Oh, that’s the start of Pride month!” I laugh slightly.
“Yeah, it is!” she chuckles. “I guess it’s fitting.”
My head snaps up from her shoulder. Did I hear her right?
“Wait, what?”
“I guess we’re rainbow girls together...” The corners of her mouth curve into a smile.
I can’t help but laugh a little at that.
She’s funny.
“I thought you were straight!”
“Oh, nah. Who needs boys when I can have pretty girls like you?”
I... what?
I feel my cheeks burn.
She laughs.
“Aw, I’m sorry. Did I make you blush? How cute...”
“H... H-Huh?”
Is she flirting with me? No, of course not...! She barely knows me...
She chuckles again, before smiling.
“I’m bi, but I prefer girls.”
“Oh... okay.” I smile, trying to contain the bubbling feeling inside.
She’s not straight! I might have a chance!
AHH!
I clear my throat, my cheeks burning.
“Right, well, uh... you said your birthday’s June 1st, right?”
“Yeah.” she smiles softly.
“Um, what year?”
“2007.”
“Oh, same... oh, yeah, of course, we’re in the same class.” I slap a hand to my forehead, ducking it.
She chuckles.
“When’s your birthday?” she asks.
“December 1st...” I chuckle.
“Oh! You’re exactly six months younger!” she laughs.
“Yeah.” I laugh too. “It’s pretty crazy.”
She smiles.
YOU ARE READING
Opposites Attract
Romance(Warning: contains panic attack scenes that may be triggoring for some readers.) At Ivy College for Girls, outsider Ryleigh-Grace never expects popular and sporty Saskia to ever like her back. Will she be proven wrong or right? Because sometimes, lo...
