Flash Fiction

First Time

She was never doing a babysitting job again.

Never. Not if she was starving. Not if it was the only way to get a passing grade. Not if Queen Victoria herself came to her on bended knees.

"Queen Victoria's been dead for like three centuries or something."

Julie glared down at the source of the offending voice. "Shut up and let me wallow."

Skylar rolled her eyes and got slowly to her feet, stretching her arms high over her head –

"Are you wearing my shirt?"

"What? No."

"You are. It's mine, it's too short for you I can tell – "

Skylar blinked, then crossed her arms across her stomach quickly. "Were you staring at my skin?"

Julie imagined an actual fire breaking out across her cheeks. "No! I just – you're avoiding the question!"

But it was too late – Skylar's face had already settled into that stupid smug smirk that Julie hated, and oh God, she was finished now. "Sure, Julie," murmured Skylar, bending down again to rifle through the CD case. "I'm  the one doing the avoiding."

Julie forced herself to look away (not that that was hard, with the look on Skylar's face) before she did something stupider. "What're you doing, anyway?"

"Looking for a movie. I'm bored. You wanna stay and watch?" She glanced up briefly, only to snort again. "Not that kind of movie, Julie, God."

Julie has to close her eyes for patience. Please God, take me now. "I know what kind of movie you mean, Skylar."

It comes out colder than she meant it to.

There's an awkward pause – she can feel Skylar staring at her, oh God, is she blushing – and then Skylar breaks it. "Sorry," she mumbles, sounding almost ashamed. "I was – I mean sometimes I feel like – I'm sorry," she said again. It's the first time in ages Julie's heard her stumble over her own words like that, and a rush of regret hits her.

Skylar's still talking. "I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, I know you don't – I mean, I get that you don't, um, swing this way –

I know you don't swing this way, repeats the little voice in her head mockingly. Julie swallows. Takes a deep breath. Opens her mouth –

"You know what, here, you pick the movie."

Closes it again and takes the CD case, because she is a coward.

***

In the end they wind up watching three movies in a row, because Julie can't sleep and also because of course Skylar is the kind of person who'd collect Disney movies, the ones they all watched as six-year-olds (the ones that Julie sort of adores even if she never actually admitted it, but somehow Skylar knows because somehow Skylar always knows). The conversation goes back to normal, Skylar's arm is lying on her shoulder, Skylar's voice has lost that horrible uncertain stutter-y tone to it, this is good. This is good. She could live with this, she could -

"This is fine," she mumbles to herself, as if saying it out loud will make it more convincing. "This is enough."

"Mmnn," says Skylar, eyes slipping shut, and drops her head into Julie's lap.

Julie flinches and punches the power button before she even knows what she's doing.

She's asleep. Skylar is asleep, on her, and some tiny (tiny!) corner of her mind won't shut up about the fact that this is the part where Julie kisses her - Oh my god. Oh my god. What the hell. Oh my god. Skylar's head is kinda heavy and her hair is kinda soft and get your fingers out of her hair, Alessia, what is wrong with you. What is wrong with her? She hates herself. She hates herself and her life and especially Skylar Goddamn Nelson, with her stupid hazel-with-gold-flecks eyes and her stupid pudgy cheeks and her stupid, stupid – how could someone with a mind that dirty be this cute?

Stop that. Focus. It's past midnight and they have classes tomorrow and she'll be damned if she'll let them both sleep like this all night so Skylar can spend all tomorrow making dumb innuendos about how sore she is (no, she's not blushing. Shut up.).

"Time for bed," she says quietly, nudging a little nervously at Skylar's shoulder. "Skylar, wake up."

Skylar shifts and frowns like she's about to cry (god help her, it's adorable), and then she reaches up and tries to tug Julie down with her by the collar and that's it, that's about as far as Julie's about to go right now.

She does try to carry Skylar to her room. Once. It ends in a bruise on Julie's shoulder and Skylar's elbow banging into the coffee table. Julie gives up before she loses her life.

Instead, she goes into Skylar's room herself. Brings out every blanket she can find. She stretches them out above Skylar's body, where she's lying between the table and the couch. She pads the floor with one and manages to hoist Skylar on to it, accidentally waking her up in the process.

Then, while Skylar whines and mutters and rubs her face, she drops down next to her and wraps the quilt around them both. She even lets their hands brush once or twice, even if her face looks like a tomato with eyes by the end of it. There can't be a more obvious hint than this.

She can see Skylar try to hold back her smile at first, and then give up. "Not exactly building a great case for your straightness here, Terrance."

Julie swallows. Takes a deep breath. Opens her mouth. "I wasn't trying to."

The kiss is awkward. Hell, the next entire week is kinda awkward. But it almost doesn't matter, because right in that moment – the moment Julie swears she'll take to her grave – Skylar's face is hilarious.