Dani's short stories

Everything is Alright

(Sitting over here, genuinely dying because this is the third time I've reposted this.)

The snow crunched beneath my boots. The sun dipped below the horizon, shedding it's last rays through the trees that covered most of the land. Fresh snow dotted the treetops and the roof of my family's two story house. I watched my breath puff out in front of me in tiny little clouds, showing just how cold it was. My hands were buried deep in my pockets in hope of keeping them warm.

I followed the footprints laid out in the snow to the old barn- turned-activity-building. Moving through the side door, I kicked my feet against the floor a few times to shed the snow stubbornly stuck to the bottom of my boots.

The inside of the building was way warmer than outside, and I quickly took off my large winter coat, placing it on the chair next to the door. I slid off my boots and headed toward the stairs into the old hay loft.

Kora was sitting on the couch, one of my favorite pillows clutched close to her chest. The hood on her sweatshirt was tugged up, and her curly brown hair was falling out of it in ringlets. Her eyes were puffy and red, signaling that she had been crying, which I kind of expected. She choked out a strangled sob and buried her head into the pillow as I reached the landing.

"Kor?" I said, sitting down next to her.

She kicked at me lightly. "Go away."

I moved a few inches away from her, but didn't leave. She peeked up from her pillow.

"Didn't I say go away? You're not helping anything." Kora glared at me, squeezing the pillow tighter. Her eyes brimmed with fresh tears. "I don't think you could fix this anyway, Tine."

"Nora.....She didn't have a right to-."

"No, she didn't." Kora exclaimed, standing up. She flung her hood back in frustration. "I thought I could trust her. I thought I could trust you. We've known each other for what, five or six years now? You and Nora are my best friends. I couldn't keep hiding such a big part of my life! If you can't accept it, than you can't accept me."

"Kor, I-."

Kora threw the pillow she still clutched in her hand, knocking over a stack of movies next to the TV.

"Shut the Hell up, I'm not done." She turned toward me, her hands balled into fists. "I spent weeks, no months, planning on how to tell you guys. I knew it was risky, but damn, I didn't know that coming out to my closest friends would result in that kind of fucking reaction." She moved towards me, placing her hands on either side of my body. "Does this disgust you, now that you know? Huh?"

"No. Kora-."

She backed away, laughing. "I can't fucking believe this. Wow. Amazing how fast everything disappears." She looked back over at me. "I don't see how I ever thought this would turn out okay. Fuck Nora, and Fuck yo-."

I stood up. "Don't. Don't even fucking try it, Kor." I moved towards her, causing her to back up. "If you would listen to me for one God damn second, you would know that I don't agree with Nora! She didn't need to...." I shook my head. "Call you what she did. Do what she did."

Kora tilted her head, her adrenaline still rushing, apparently. "You mean, hit me? Go ahead, don't be afraid to say it, Clementine. She. Hit. Me. She shoved me away and hit me."

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. "I know Kora. And she shouldn't have. That was wrong and horrible."

"Oh? Wrong like me being gay?"

"What? Kor, no. Fuck no. I don't have a problem with that."

She visibly deflated. Her tears came back, spilling onto her cheeks. I quickly pulled her into my arms. "It's okay, it's alright, Kor, shh."

She sobbed into my shoulder. "I just...I felt like I ruined everything."

I rubbed small circles on her back. "No! No no no."

"What about Nora?"

I pulled back and moved Kora's hair away from her face. She looked up, her grey eyes shining through the tears. "We don't need her. We know what kind of person she is now."

Kora smiled and wrapped her arms around me. A few seconds of silence passed before she moved back. "Is she still here?"

I shook my head. "After you left, I went off on her. I was so close to just tearing her apart, but she got in her car and drove off."

Kora threw her head back and laughed. I smiled and pulled her back over to the couch. She sat down and I went about fixing the things that were knocked over in her rampage. I glanced up at her to see her smiling guiltily. I picked up the last movie and plopped beside her, handing her the TV remote.

We spent a few hours going about our normal routine, almost as if nothing had happened, although there was a noticeable hole where Nora normally would be. We watched a few shitty YouTube videos, laughing our asses off.

Kor leaned against me, and I felt myself shift. I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her so badly. She deserved to know, especially since she did what she did earlier today.

I nudged her. "Can I tell you something?"

She paused the video we were watching and sat up. "What's up?"

"I....uh.... " I could barely breathe. Maybe this wasn't a good idea, not so soon after she had come out. I started shaking. "Um, you see..."

She smiled at me encouragingly. This shouldn't be so hard, she would understand. But....

I took a deep breath. "Ok, so you know what you....what happened...I mean, uh." I shook my head. "I'm Pansexual. "

Kora sucked in a sharp breath. Her eyes lit up and she was hugging me instantly. "You should have told me earlier!"

I laughed lightly. "Yeah, but up until a few hours ago, I was under the assumption you were straight."

Kora leaned back and raised an eyebrow. "Everything would have been easier if you would have told me when I told you. We could of fought Nora together or something."

I smiled and felt myself relax. "Yeah, it would've been great."

We talked for a little while. About everything.

"So...what do we do now, Fellow gay?" Kor asked me, stealing some of the popcorn I had made earlier.

" I guess we just deal. With everything. "

She nodded. "Yeah.....It's going to be really hard, though. Dealing with the world. Seeing Nora again."

I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my side. "We can deal with it together. There's nothing we can't do by each other's side."

She smiled. "You're right, as always." We went back to watching videos, blurting out stupid memes and being all-together cringey.

I laughed at Kora's stupidity, and she laughed at mine. We were dealing with the world, our own way.

I decided I should wait to tell her I'm in love with her