It's Pink and It's Stands On One Leg

It's Pink and It Stands On One Leg

They're two years old and neighbors.

One day, all of a sudden, the family who lives next door to Lauren packs up and leaves, U-Haul van stuffed with sofas and bedding and boxes and a car in the back that takes Lauren's only playmate away with it. Lauren is too young to understand where Dinah and her family are going, but she senses that they won't be back for a long, long time, and so she stands outside and waves until the U-Haul van turns off onto the freeway and drives off.

The next week, an unfamiliar truck parks itself in the driveway where Dinah's mommy's gray Suburban belongs, and Lauren rushes out to meet it. Surely, this means Dinah is back!

Lauren's met by a surprise when out of the truck steps not her friend Dinah, but a little girl with long gorgeous brown hair, chocolate eyes and a shy smile. Lauren takes a step back, bumping into a strange woman who laughs and pats her head.

Her mother jogs up to the cluster of people, apologizing for Lauren and shooting side glances at the little girl with the long hair. The strange woman laughs and smiles, and her mother's face flushes with color- relief.

They're four years old and playmates.

Lauren's and Camila's parents have become good friends over the two years that Camila's family has lived next door to Lauren's. As a result, of course the two girls become friends as well, and although their friendship consists only of dress-up games and trampoline jumping, their parents sign them up for the same preschool.

Their teacher is called Miss Eliza, and the girls adore her, if only because Miss Eliza introduced them to colors and letters and numbers and animals. Lauren's favorite animal is the flamingo because it is pink. Camila likes the flamingo too, but she likes it for a different reason- she finds it odd but neat that they stand on one leg.

After preschool one day, the girls pull on their pink dresses and stand on one leg and pretend to eat the little fishes that the flamingos eat. This goes on until Lauren's mom come outside and sees them in their best dresses, hopping around one-legged and eating pebbles.

She puts a stop to it, and quickly is an understatement.

They're six years old and in the same dance class.

Lauren signs up because she wants to wear pink tutus and be with Camila, and Camila signs up because she wants to do pretty spins on one leg and be with Lauren. Neither of their wishes are fulfilled.

"Ballet," says the instructor, Cecily, "is an art. Now, you girls are a little young for tutus and complicated spins, but you'll still have fun in this class! Now, now, I know you wanted to wear tutus. But it takes serious dedication and years and years of work to get to that level."

Cecily has the girls warm up at the barre, and it's boring, tedious work that neither enjoys. However, since their mothers make them, they stay in the class. And eventually, they start to have fun with the basic arabesques and cat leaps.

They're nine years old and advancing well in ballet.

Lauren is chosen to lead the class dance, the china dolls in the Wizard of Oz. She's over the moon. However, Camila is jealous of her friend, and for the first time, they fight.

It's a short fight, lasting only a day or two, but it's ugly. Camila stares at the floor instead of the back of Lauren's head during barre work, which angers Cecily, but Camila could care less what Cecily thinks about her. Lauren is Cecily's favorite, after all.

They make up soon, realizing that the fighting isn't worth it. Lauren still feels bad for being chosen, and Camila is still jealous, but they're friends again, and that makes them happy.

They're twelve years old and starting pointe work.

And then Camila falls and breaks her ankle. It takes her out of ballet for months, and during that time, Lauren realizes that the only reason she was still in ballet was that Camila was there. Lauren quits right before her mother buys her her first pair of pointe shoes, and it's a relief for both the dancer and her mom's wallet. Camila comes back to dance strong, still loving it, and although she's sad that her best friend won't be there by her side anymore, she's glad that Lauren stood up for herself and voiced that ballet wasn't what made her happy after all.

Lauren takes up gymnastics, and with her graceful demeanor and dance background, bars and beam are easy. She races through the levels. Within a year, she's competing for her club at a regional level.

They're fourteen years old and questioning their sexualities.

Lauren paints the bisexual pride flag on her nails and posts about her identity on her social media. Camila comes out as lesbian a month later, and though her parents refuse to believe that it isn't a phase, they're okay with it. Lauren is still more low-key about her sexuality, but Camila picks up on it. And when Lauren comes out to Camila, Camila smiles and hugs her and gets butterflies.

Lauren doesn't come out officially until she turns fifteen, but her parents tell her that they knew, and were expecting this, and that they still love her. And the biggest relief for the girls is that they are accepted by their families, and most of all, each other.

They're sixteen years old and in love.

Their first kiss is in an ice bath in Camila's bathroom. They're cold in the ice water and sore from their respective injuries and only wearing spandex shorts and sports bras, but they forget all about their pain when they kiss. Camila is the one to make the move, and Lauren is taken aback when Camila asks if she can kiss her. But she says yes, because who is she kidding, she's liked Camila since they were kids, and it's the best thing she's felt since she came out to her parents.

Neither of them know how to kiss, but it kind of just happens, and God, do they love it. Even in the tub of ice water, the warmth spreads and envelops them in its arms.

And when the kiss ends and the girls pull apart, breathing hard but grinning from ear to ear, all either can think about is how glad they are that they liked flamingos as a kid. Because without flamingos, they wouldn't have been dancers together for years, and without being dancers together they wouldn't have fought, and without fighting they wouldn't have made up and without making up they wouldn't have gotten to where they are now- sitting in an ice bath and kissing.