Cloverfield

15: The part

Eventually, Emily had to go because "practice hours" were over. But the time she'd spent with Ali felt liberating in some kind of way, talking about stuff they usually didn't was definitely new. And Emily liked this new normal.

As she arrived to her block, she noticed a girl sitting on her porch. It was Maya. After everything, Emily felt uneasy about her. She had humiliated her, exposed her issue to the world.

Maya walked up to her. "Sorry... for outting you. I know it's hard. I only noticed because I like girls, too. I did to you what someone else did to me and I'm sorry."

Outting me? That was a thing? "To be honest, it just seems like nobody believed you." When Emily had entered her classroom for the last period, she hadn't felt anyone staring or talking behind her back. Perks of Ali's scary and powerful glares, probably.

"I'd like to be happy about that, but I still did what it did. Hope you can forgive me." Maya awaited for an answer, but Emily didn't say anything. She guessed some things just couldn't be forgiven...

"It's okay."

What? Maya wondered.

"Nobody believed you, right? So there's no real harm."

Maya couldn't trust her ears. "Oh, my god. Thank you." That was when she realized what kind of person Emily was, she was the exact opposite of her. Maya hadn't forgiven the person that had outted her. She was resentful, while this girl in front of her wasn't. "I hope you get the blonde," she said in a lower voice. "Sucks to fall for someone who thinks you're straight and that they're straight. But my honest opinion, she loves you just as much." And with a smile, Maya walked away from Emily, leaving her speechless.

Emily entered her house, still a little stunned. Alison... love her just as much? As a friend, sure. But as something more... would be like living in a dream.

She felt the slight breeze leave her body when she locked the door. Instantly, she smelled her mother's food boiling in the kitchen. Maybe Emily shouldn't have eaten at Ali's, but it had been impossible to say no to a lunch with her.

After preparing herself--you know, thinking what she was going to say and do--Emily greeted her mom.

"Hi, Emmy!" Pam Fields said, turning back to the stove. "How was practice?"

"It was good!"

Her mom glanced at her. "Did you dry your hair?"

"Yeah... the wind also helped with that, haha."

"Are you hungry? I'm making-"

"Actually...." Emily interrupted. "I bought and ate lunch before practice, I was starving."

"Oh..." Pam mumbled. This wasn't usual for her daughter, but if she'd been starving, then there was no problem. "Well, I guess I'll save you some for dinner."

"Perfect, then. I'll go do homework." Emily gave her a quick smile and hurried upstairs to her room.

Now that she was alone, she could think about her day. She thought she would start in the morning, but instead her mind went straight to the afternoon: Duh, Ali had said back in the parking lot, convinced Emmy didn't like girls... more like couldn't. Emily felt a small pang in the pit of her stomach. Ali wouldn't accept her. Ali wouldn't love her back. That was scary. But maybe Emmy could change? Maybe she just needed some kind of therapy? But Emily just couldn't imagine herself not loving Ali. She got disgusted by the idea of loving someone else, especially a guy--someone like Noel. Ali was a part of Emily's existence, just like Estella was Pip's.

Alison felt much lighter as she finished cleaning the mess she made in her kitchen for Emily. Opening up to her was the best choice she'd ever taken. Emily had always been a good listener and she'd always give you her genuine support, no matter what. Thinking back to why she'd never told her about her family now seemed so silly. The words keep slipping through Ali's mouth, as if she'd been bottling it up since Cassie graduated. And she had bottled it up, but now the bottle's emptying and she was happy. Her family could be shitty, but Emily had offered her a home. One Ali wanted to be part of.