Dibs! (Lesbian, GxG)

Chapter 14

"You did what now?" May asks, clearly in shock. She puts down her coffee before she can drop it, or spill the contents on the table.

     I shake my head. "Not me," I clarify. "It was Nan."

     "I heard you the first time!" 

     "Fine. Just making sure." I'm already regretting telling my friend about the Facebook request. Not that she's being overly dramatic about it . . . alright, she kind of is. May's only done this with people she's really close to, so this only leaves me with either annoyance (because she's acting dramatic) or soft-hearted (because she considers me a very close friend).

     "So, after Nancy confirmed the request for you, Jules sent you a message," May states. "Have you ever thought about deleting her immediately after?"

     Honestly, I have. By the time I remembered, well, I was in no shape to do anything but lie down and sleep. Now that I'm thinking about it, there's also Randy. I can ask Jules if there's any way I can contact her brother and see if he can . . . what? Help? Give me pointers?

     "Callie?"

     I snap to the present. "Uh, something like that," I say. "Did I ever tell you about the little talk I had with Mr. Neven?"

     "No, what happened?" After briefly telling her the story, including what my sister had told me, May cocks her head in a thinking matter. While she thinks, I cut the lemon bar in half, and then  in quarters, with a plastic knife I got from the little bin by the cafe counter.  By the time I've gotten my bar into fifteenths (the sixteenth one had already been eaten), my friend says, mostly to herself, "Well, when you add that in the mix, contacting Jules would be a good start."

     She takes a sip from her coffee. "How active is she on Facebook?" she asks.

     "Well, let's just say I'm the only friend she has that's not related to her."

     May winces. "Ouch. That must suck," she says. "I remember being in that stage." I must have given her the wide-eyed look; my friend adds, "Hey, I wasn't always popular, or whatever the hell I am. 'Well-known'? 'Trendy'? Something."

     "Anyway," I interrupt, "the other friends are her brothers and I think a couple of cousins. Jules' relationship with her brothers seem to be pretty strong, though."

     "How so?" May reaches over and attempts to steal one of my lemon pieces. Her hand slowly retreats when I do the same with her coffee. "Fine. You can have your sticky pastry. I have my coffee."

     "It's not sticky," I mutter. "As for the question, she had a lot of posts on her timeline, and every one of them was put there by any of her brothers. That's not something you do if you don't like your sibling."

     "I'll have to take your word for it," May responds. It takes me a second to remember that she has no siblings. "So, you can friend Randy as well, and see if he can be your, something."

     I laugh, knowing that even May doesn't know what kind of person I need to talk to. "Yeah, that was my plan," I say. "Sort of."

     She shrugs. "You gotta take what's offered sometimes," she says. 

     "Don't I know that."

________

Someone covers my eyes with their hands while I'm in the middle of lunch. And by someone, I mean a certain person who's smelling like firewood. "Guess who?" Jules shouts by my ear.

     I cringe. "Jules, I'm right here," I say. "You didn't have to--"

     "Yep, it's me!"

     "Shout," I finish weakly. Jules takes her hands off my face and sits down in the same seat as the first time. She's smiling wide. Three guesses on why she's so happy, I think sarcastically. 

     "Did you see my message? Did you, did you?" Jules is close to jumping up and down like a kangaroo. "I think you did, but you were so shocked that you didn't get the chance to reply!"

     Is there something I can do to get her to act less, um, excited?

     A couple of people are starting to stare, that's how loud and wild Jules is being. And we're in the Cafeterrible, so that's saying something. I reach out with both hands and place them firmly on her shoulders. To my satisfaction, Jules takes the hint and, given some time, calms down. I keep my hands where they are.

     "Breathe," I say finally. "It's not that exciting if you think about it."

     Jules frowns. "But it is," she argues. "You accepted my friend request. You wouldn't have done that the first day we met."

     The first day we met? Or the first day you annoyed the ever-loving hell out of me? Despite my thought (among other things), she has a point. Then again, Nancy accepted it without telling me. . . 

     If May was here with me, she'd be rolling her eyes and saying, "There's so many times you can blame your sister on that. You're the one who left it there."

     "Hey!" Jules snaps her fingers in front of my face. I jerk my head back in surprise. "I asked you a question."

     "Um, what was it again?" Why am I feeling embarrassed?

     Taking my hands off of her shoulders, Jules says, "I said if you wanted to go to my house today. After school."

     No, in the middle of third period. Putting my hands in my pockets, I fish out the bottle and take just one. The next time I take my dose, I'll have the proper amount of pills to take. "I have several projects to work on," I say. "And I don't know how many of my teachers are going to give me a Russian novel-sized pile of homework to do tonight."

     Jules seems determined. "You can do that at my house. It'll be quiet." When I don't seem convinced, she restates, "I'll be quiet. Unless you want some help."

     "Are you in at least one AP class?" I ask.

     She shakes her head. "My brother Randy was, though," she says. "And he's over for the next couple of weeks. Maybe if he's not too busy, I can ask him to help you."

     "I'm good." I polish off the rest of my lunch and throw the trash away in the rolling garbage bin nearby. "I do need to talk to Randy, however."

     Jules smiles again. Is there anything that'll put her down? "Great, meet me at the flagpole!"

     "Wait, what?!" But she's already gone and left the Cafeterrible. I stare at the wide double doors, still processing what the hell I put myself into.