Apartment 3B

7. And Welcome Elaine Party

Luna

I'm not blind, Lunes. You totally have the hots for Lainey.

A very drunk Jesse just declared in front of Elaine that I'm gay and have a crush on her. Great. This is the best party ever.

Yes, that's sarcasm.

I'm totally sober and my otherwise smart mind doesn't have even one word to explain to Elaine why Jess would think that. Before I can cook up an excuse in my head, Elaine blushes and says, "I have the hots for you too."

What did I just hear? It felt like my heart leapt out of my chest and beat helplessly in my hand. As we sat on the kitchen counter, side by side, I felt a shiver run through my veins and I just wanted to jump and squeal. Taking a deep breath, I managed to maintain a façade of composure but I might've just tapped my feet against the beam of the stool in excitement.

My body and brain turned to mush and I felt like a kid who finally got the pink cotton candy they had been begging for.

She took my hand in hers and I avoided all eye contact with her because if I looked at her, I'd for sure burst into flames. We sat there in awkward silence and the only sound to fill in the gaps was the constant humming of the music and it's vibrations. All our conversation was suddenly sucked dry and I struggled to get even one coherent sentence out of my mouth.

"Hey, Lunes," she nudged my shoulder with hers, "Don't fret it. It'll be our thing." She gave me a warm smile and the jittery feeling seemed to dissolve into thin air and it seemed stupid to have felt nervous in the first place.

"Thanks. The thing is, Hayley doesn't know. We've been like sisters but I don't know why I've never been able to come out to her. She's always been so oblivious and I didn't want to make this a bigger deal than it has to be. You get it?" I said honestly.

"Of course. I totally understand. Cross my heart," she crossed her heart with her hands and her eyes were still as illuminated as before. I don't know what made me so drawn to her, maybe working with children had made her more empathetic or approachable. Maybe it was an inexplicable wave frequency where our souls seemed to intersect. But there was a definite palpable feeling of attraction and comfort and I couldn't help but feel gravitated towards her. My heart beat in its natural rhythm again. For some reason, she made my heart beat faster and slower at the same time.

With a childish smirk on my face and my body more relaxed, I started asking her questions off the top of my head.

"Do you believe in magic?" I asked.

"What do you mean by magic?" Elaine answered.

"Y'know. Like magical things. Something beyond us. Some metaphysical energy. I don't know. Just, magic."

"I believe in love. I think that's magic enough?"

"Okay. Answer accepted."

"So, now it's my turn to ask a question," she asked blushingly and went ahead when I nodded. "What was your first kiss like?"

"It wasn't an earth shattering life changing experience. It was a kiss. It was awkward and neither of us knew what we were doing. He was this adorable funny guy who made a joke right after to lighten the slight discomfort."

"He sounds nice. So you swing both ways, hmm." she tapped one finger one the side of her forehead and pretended she was in deep thought before giggling.

"Yeah. But I prefer my partners with breasts, you see."

"Oh really," she nudged my shoulder again.

I chuckled, "Shut up, my turn now. Hmm. Why aren't you drinking? I can party mom on my own, I'm the best mom ever."

"It's not that I don't trust your nurturing abilities, Lunes." She smiled, "The truth is, when everyone around me was experimenting with substances and getting wasted, I was on anxiety meds. So I wasn't technically allowed to mix that with alcohol. I've just never been stable enough to let loose." She answered with a humble smile still plastered on her face.

I pulled her in for a side hug and nuzzled into her the crook of her neck. She smelled like vanilla goodness and I was happy to be basking in her entire being. She made me feel inexplicably full.

Elaine

Luna smelled like lavender. I couldn't help but feel like an overflowing warm cup of cocoa and she was the one who was filling me up beyond the brim.

When we broke our embrace, Luna suddenly looked concerned. I looked at where her eyes darted towards and I saw a very drunk Hayley being dragged to our room by a probably more wasted Jesse. But he waved at Luna and gestured he'd take of it.

"She's such a screw up sometimes," Luna said without really looking at me. "She's always been a mess and I've been the constant sweeper and collector of her broken pieces. I'm so glad that for once I'm not baby-sitting her. She's can be a handful," Luna laughed.

"I know what you mean. She's seems impulsive, the little I know of her."

"A wild cat. That's what she is. Untame-able with an insatiable appetite, sexual and otherwise. Looking at her you wouldn't guess that she eats like a pig."

"Yeah, totally can't tell."

"Enough about my stupid bitch, who's turn was it?"

"I haven't the slightest clue."

We laughed and chatted on. I didn't have to pretend to be someone I'm not. Not for a second. She gave me the space to be who I am, to be the fucked up anxiety prone girl. Caught up in conversation, I heard Eminem's voice playing on the speakers. Naturally, I rapped along with it. Feeling all the angst from my teenage years, I spewed out every word correctly and was pumping with adrenaline by the time it was over.

Luna just looked at me like I had morphed into a unicorn. I just laughed at her and said, "Don't you dare say anything. Eminem's the best. For a punk rock 16 year old, he literally was the rap God."

She remained in stunned silence for a few extra seconds before bursting into laughter with me. "I did not have you pegged as a punk rock chick, Elaine Anaya. Maybe I'll be your manic pixie dream girl. The dark, brooding and misunderstood Miss Anaya meets the bright cheery eyed Miss Beaufort who fills her life with rainbows and butterflies and shows her the true meaning of living." She says half jokingly.

"That sounds perfect, Luna." I admit in all seriousness. "Maybe you should be my manic pixie dream girl." But before she did take it absolutely seriously, I added, "This sounds like a fabulous idea for a film. For a change, the brooding lost guy could actually be a girl."

"That's a great idea. But, y'know, I think we need to find Kabir his actual MPDG. He really needs to mellow down." She said looking at him on a corner beanbag making out with a brunette that would definitely not last longer than this one night. But I did hope that my thing with this long haired brunette next to me would last longer than this one night.

Author's Note

Hi guys, I hope you're enjoying this vibe between these two lovely ladies. The purpose of my writing is to entertain you and I want to keep this as light hearted as possible so you can breeze through it after a heavy day in the troublesome real world. I will try not to bring in any harsher back stories and try my best to show the love and friendship our characters will cultivate. Please leave your feedback in the comments, it means a lot. Thank you for reading! :)