small waterflower stories

thirteen

"Marina! Lavender is here!" Elaine called out from the kitchen. 

Marina snapped her head up from the book she was reading, closed it, and dashed out her room to the front of the house. She stopped in front of the door and took a tiny deep breath before opening it. 

Lavender's beautiful smiled illuminated on her face. Marina's smile widened and a soft blush dusted her face. Her smile was contagious. 

Lavender stepped in and let the bag on her shoulder slide down. She wrapped her arms around Marina in a warm hug. Marina's blush darkened. 

"How are you?" Lavender asked in an excited tone. 

"I'm well." Marina responded. 

Their conversation didn't get any farther before Elaine emerged from the kitchen. 

"Mrs. C." Lav acknowledged Marina's mother with a nod of her head and a smile.

"Hello, dear." Elaine replied in a singsong voice. She winked at Marina, and her blush got even darker, if that was even possible.

Marina's mother knew everything. She finally snapped one night after Lavender left and spilled everything about her feelings for her. Lav's reputation at school, Lav's personality, and how much Marina was crushing on her. 

"Well, girls, my husband and I are going to be upstairs watching the game for the rest of the night. I left forty bucks on the counter for you two to order food. You have all of downstairs tonight. Please let us know if you plan on going out." Elaine said happily, leaning against the wall. 

"Mom, that's too generous." Marina said, looking past Elaine into the kitchen. Sure enough, she could see a green lump on the counter. Lavender nodded in agreement. 

"No, you two deserve some down time. School is getting intense with your work and getting ready for finals. You're almost ready to graduate." Elaine responded tenderly. Marina flinched at the mention of school and Lavender looked almost uncomfortable. 

"I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear about that right now. Well, I'm headed upstairs. Have fun girls." Elaine apologized before she smooched Marina on the cheek and grazed her finger over Lav's. She started to walk up the stairs and soon disappeared out of sight.  

Marina looked over at the clock. 6 PM. 

"You wanna order food?" She looked up at Lav.

"Hell yeah." Lav responded. 

"Wanna order from that new restaurant? I heard it was really good." Marina asked. 

"Sure! I've been meaning to try that place out." Lav responded in a cheerful tone. 

They both made their way into the kitchen to look up the menu on Marina's laptop. They wrote down what they wanted and Lav called to put in their order. 

~

"Come on, Marina, let me do your makeup. It doesn't have to be extreme. Just a lazy natural look?" Lavender pleaded.

Marina shoved a fry in her mouth and giggled.

"Ok, ok, Lav. I'll let you do my makeup. Please no bright colors, though." Marina gave in to her crush. How could she not? She wanted so desperately to do this. She couldn't resist seeing her smile. 

Lavender lit up immediately. 

"I promise!" She said as she grabbed her bag and rummaged through it. A few seconds later, she pulled out a mint green cosmetic bag. 

"Sit facing me." Lav instructed and Marina did as said. 

Lav scooted even closer to her. Their faces were inches apart. 

Marina blushed. How she longed to kiss her. 

"I can't use anything like foundation or concealer on you because we don't have the same skin tones." Lavender explained. Marina was listening to her and swooning over her at the same time.

"I'm going to use a skin moisturizer though." Lav squeezed something from a tube in her hand. She rubbed her hands together and started to rub the product into Marina's skin. Her hands were soft and gentle, and it really relaxed Marina. Lav let her hands rest on Marina's cheeks for a second, like she was dazed. She eventually snapped out of her trance and pulled her hands away. 

"I'll do your eye makeup now." Lav announced as she pulled a few things from her cosmetic bag. 

~

About twenty minutes later, it was done. Lavender held up a mirror. Marina stared at herself in awe. 

Her eyebrows were nicely arched. Her eyelids glimmered a soft gold. Eyeliner and mascara made her eyes pop. Her lips were a soft pink. 

"Lavender...it's beautiful." Marina said speechlessly. 

"Oh, it's not that much." She responded, flustered. Lavender placed her hands on Marina's waist. 

"You don't need it, you're already beautiful." She said with a soft smile on her face. Her eyes were gently fixed on Marina. 

Marina's face was incredibly dark. 

"T-Thank you." Marina smiled. 

~

Both of the girls decided to watch a movie and finish their food. They were curled up on the couch together with their food on the coffee table in front of them. 

Marina was leaning up against Lavender and a blanket was draped over their legs. Marina felt Lavender's hand graze over hers...like she wanted to hold it. She opened her hand more so that Lavender could grab it. 

Before either of them knew, they were holding each other's hands. 

Marina leaned into Lavender more. She nuzzled into her crush's chest without realizing, dozing off.

Lavender blushed. 

Soon enough, Marina was fast asleep. 

Lavender made sure she was completely asleep before whispering to her.

"I love you."