this is a crap chapter but I promise it'll develop into a story so stick with me you guys!!!
----------------------------
{Venus's POV}
"I have to get some Oreos from the store. It's my item for the party." I say into the phone, talking to my best friend, Jessie.
"Ah. Still going to that party. I see. Someone's in love." He says, making kissy noises over the phone. I roll my eyes even though he can't see.
"I'm not in love. I mean...If she liked me I wouldn't deny her the right to pursue me." I laugh into the phone.
"Well aren't you just the most unique gay ever." He says in a sassy tone.
"Yep. I am."
"Uh no... thats me sweetie. But nice try."
"Hey, Jessie, I gotta go. Talk to you after?" I say.
"Okay. Be safe V." Jessie says, then hangs up.
I'm Venus Lancaster, I'm 16 years old, and I'm a lesbian. It's a hard life being gay when your stepdad is homophobic, your mom is in a mental hospital, and your school is full of jerks. Except Jessie, and one other. This girl whom I have a crush on. The one and only Luna Housmond. She's a beautiful senior. We have 3 classes together and she invited me to her party tonight. Oh, and, she's a lesbian.
As I walk toward the grocery store, I see my stepdads car roll up into the parking lot.
"Shit!" I scream, knowing that if he sees me he'll kill me for sneaking out. I decide to make a run for it to the woods beside the grocery store. I duck under a low branch and run toward the running trails connected to the nearby park. I crunch leaves as I walk with a purpose. I don't think he saw me. I start to slow down. Suddenly, my foot catches on a branch and I stumble down a small hill onto another part of the trail. As I roll I hear a woman gasp.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" I hear crunching leaves and then feel hands on my arm. The world stops spinning and focus on the woman crouching over me. My head pounds as the woman speaks. "Baby, are you okay?" Her sweet voice takes my breath away. She smells like cigarettes and clean laundry. "Hello? I'm Stefani. Do you remember your name? Here. How many fingers am I holding up?" I see her put three fingers close to my face. I grip my head and sit up.
"I'm....I'm fine." I mumble. "I'm Venus." She grabs my arm and I flinch.
"Oh baby you're bleeding." She says, her perfectly manicured nails rub my skin.
"I'm okay. It's not that bad." I start to see more clearly as the pain in my head fades a little. I get a good look at the woman. She's wearing a pink jacket with yoga pants and black nike tennis shoes. She also has sunglasses on and her blonde hair is pulled back in a small bun. She looks....expensive.
"I don't know if you heard. I'm Stefani." She holds out her hand. I take it and she hoists me up.
"Yeah, I heard. Thanks for helping me. I didn't see that branch." I say with a laugh.
"What were you running from?" She asks softly.
"Uh...Nothing. Just...looking for my dog. She got off the leash." I lie. She is silent.
"Well, let me help you find her. What does she look like? Maybe I saw her run by?" She smiles and looks around. I freeze, not knowing what to say. I instantly describe what my actual dog looks like.
"She's...... all white. Fluffy. Really, really big. An Alaskan Malamute. Her name is Monte."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Hmm..she shouldn't be hard to find then. Lets get looking." Stefani says, walking away. I begin to follow, knowing this won't end well.She's gonna find out I lied. "So. Tell me about yourself?" She asks, looking at me as we walk along the path.
"I just met you...isn't that like violation of stranger danger code?"
"I won't kill you. Don't worry, it would ruin my career." She laughs, asking again. "So?"
"I'm....well I dunno what you want to know. I'm 16, my name is Venus, I'm a junior, I...." I pause, not knowing what she'll think.
"You?" She persists.
"Nevermind. It's nothing..." I say.
"Oh come on. What could be so bad, babe?" She says, smiling down at me.
"I'm gay." I mutter.
"What...?" She looks at me open-mouthed. I knew I shouldn't have told her. I look down at my feet and regret life. "I'M KIDDING! Oh my god thats actually amazing. I am a huge fan of the whole LGBTQA+ community! I have a foundation that supports it, among other things!" She says, happily. I knew she was rich. I could tell by her clothes and her iPhone X.
"Oh...good. You scared me. I was about to run." I laugh.
"So...theres no dog is there?" she asks out of nowhere.
"W-wha...how did..."
"Because this whole time you haven't called or looked for her. Do you even own a dog?" She giggles.
"Yeah. And everything I told you about her is true. Except the part where she got off of her leash." I look down at my feet as we walk, embarrassed she figured me out.
"So what were you REALLY running from?" she stops and turns to look at me suspiciously. I catch a glimpse of her eyes through her sunglasses. She looks vaguely familiar.
"I wasn't....It was..I-"
She cuts me off, "You can tell me. I promise, its okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." Her soft voice makes me want to melt in her arms and take refuge in her heart.
"My stepdad." I say, looking away from her and around the woods.
"Your stepdad? Why? Did he....did he hurt you?" She grabs my shoulders, concerned.
"No...I mean...not- you know-"
"No, I don't know. Please explain." Her eyebrows furrow in a confused sort of way.Her glasses slide down her nose a bit and I catch the first glimpse of her eye color. They glitter green in the rays of sunlight through the trees.
"It's nothing. I was just running from him. It's not important." I say, because I don't know how to explain the situation without telling her about what he does. She takes her hands from my shoulders and takes her glasses from her eyes. Her emerald green eyes look straight into mine. At that moment, my brain clicks.
The clothes, the foundation, her mention of her career, her green eyes.
