Not Letting Go

Chapter 6

The two girls made their way to the bus stop without much talk and waited for the next one to appear. Max first sat down, somewhat in the middle and was a little disappointed when Kate placed herself at the end of one side of the bench. The artist got out her sketch pad and was swiftly scribbling away, as if she had been waiting for the opportunity to get something down. Max glanced over, but could not see anything at the angle her friend held the pad. Every several seconds Kate paused, then returned pencil to paper. The bus arrived while Kate was still at work, and so Max stood a second at the door as her friend finally got up and followed her inside, each showing their passes before finding a seat in the back.

The bus was relatively empty. Max could not help smiling when her friend still sat right next to her. She looked out the window and then back to Kate who had brought out her sketch pad again. Now her friend turned towards her and cleared her throat before saying, "I have some questions for you, personal questions, if that's okay?"

"Umm, yeah. Sure," Max replied hesitantly, caught off guard.

Kate's warm smile put her more at ease until the first question came out.

"How long have you known you liked girls?"

Max's eyes grew and then darted around. Seeing no one she knew and that no one appeared to be listening, she then replied, "Woah, Kate. Is that what you were doing? Writing questions?"

Kate looked to her apprehensively.

"Well...yeah. Is that okay?"

Max thought a moment and realized that she did not mind telling her friend anything. She trusted Kate completely. This was just an unexpected interview.

"Yeah, it's, umm...fine. So...I'm not sure really. I thought I liked boys, but I never really dated any. Every time I had a chance I just...didn't feel like pursuing it, yah know?"

Kate just nodded and let her friend continue while writing something down.

"Are you...writing my answers?"

Kate looked guiltily back to Max.

"Yes? Is that weird? It's weird, isn't it? I just want to...understand you better. This just helps me more than trying to remember. Oh, and don't worry, I won't write your name in it."

"That's fine, but you're going to make me feel more important than I am with all this."

"Impossible," Kate said sweetly.

Max felt her cheeks redden, so she looked out the window as she continued to answer.

"So umm, yeah...girls though. I guess there were times I thought someone at school was really cool and I wanted to be with them all the time, but I don't know. Chloe was when I knew."

Max scrunched her lips in agitation. Guilt came creeping in at the mentioning of her late friend. She looked away as she waited for the next question.

After writing down her notes, Kate asked, "What about your parents? Do they know?"

Max looked at Kate like she was crazy to ask such a question. "Wowzer, no. I mean, I don't think they know. I never told them. I never told anyone. Until now."

"Hmm...so when will you tell your parents? Or are you going to tell them?"

Max looked to the side in thought and said, "Well, I guess I'll tell them when I have a reason to. Umm, you know...when I have a...someone."

"Makes sense," Kate replied continuing to jot down notes.

"I'm not sure I should ask my last question..."