An Unlikely Pair - (Lesbian Short Story)

Chapter 3: What Now?

The dreaded alarm goes off again this Thursday morning, a month after the first day. Waverly rolls over on her side to hit the snooze, allowing a groan to escape. You'd think she'd be used to getting up by now.

Not two minutes later, her back-up phone alarm is going off. "I knew you'd press snooze. Get up." The alarm title reads.

"I know myself too well sometimes." Waverly sighs to herself. "Okay, I'm getting up." She presses stop on both alarms and throws the purple duvet cover towards to wall.

Standing in front of the closet with both hands on either hip, Waverly pulls a gray and blue plaid flannel off the hanger and grabs a pair of blue jeans from her drawer. After quickly getting dressed and lacing up her converse, Waverly quickly makes her way downstairs to get a cup of coffee.

To Waverly's surprise, her mother is already in the kitchen, leaning over a pan with eggs cooking.

"Good Morning, Sweetheart." Julie greets her daughter with a smile. "Coffee?" She pushes an already-poured and creamed coffee mug towards Waverly.

"You're chipper this morning." Waverly says as she reaches for the coffee mug, following it with a large gulp. Perfect cream to sugar ratio.

"Hard not to be!" An egg is flipped in the pan. "Guess who is the new NBC Newscaster?" Julie can't hide her excitement. Waverly's eyes widen. "That's right! Me! I got the call last night!"

The half-drunk coffee mug hits the counter as Waverly rushes over to hug her mother. "And I'm only hearing about this now? Oh, my gosh, Mom, that's great! Congratulations!"

"Thanks! I am so happy." Julie transfers the fried eggs from the pan on to two plates.

Waverly carries the plates to the table and picks up her coffee mug on the way there. "I'm happy for you! Also, these eggs look amazing."

"I'm a little rusty, but I hope they're edible."

Shoveling a fork-load in her mouth, Waverly nods. "Much more than just edible." Waverly catches a glimpse of her watch and quickly finishes her plate. "I'm late!"

"I'll clean up, I don't go to work until later."

"Thanks, Mom. You're the best!" Waverly scatters to get her backpack and brush her teeth, but not before gulping down the last half of her coffee. She quickly kisses her mom on the cheek and bolts for the door.

The bus arrives right as Waverly walks up. She makes herself comfortable in the third seat on the left and stares blankly out the window.

What was up with that interaction with Brooke yesterday? She thinks to herself. I never even thought she knew I existed. And she recognized Audrey! And did she invite me to her house? Her house? What does that mean? Am I overthinking this?

Before Waverly could follow her spiral of questions much further down the rabbit hole, her little freshman friend, Mikayla, took residence in the seat next to her.

"Hi!" The girl exclaims. Way too much excitement for this early.

"Hey, Mikayla. How's freshman year going?" Waverly asks, shifting over to give the girl more room.

Mikayla is visibly shocked that her name was remembered. "Only kind of terrifying. Thankfully the freshman kind of stay in their own hallway."

"Yeah, that's true. You'll hate that next year."

They continue little chatter about the differences from freshman to senior year and get to know each other a little better before they have to separate for class. Waverly goes straight to her locker where Audrey is already waiting for her with a large grin on her face.