A Lesbian Love Story

24

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Amber looking at me as I was cutting my salad.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah why?" I glanced up.

"You've been cutting your salad for five minutes. It's almost molecular." I then looked down at my bowl of salad, which was cut into tiny pieces.

"Force of habit." I said as I set down my knife and took a small bite. Amber kept glancing up from her salad as I chewed mine. After a few moments, I swallowed. I set my fork down and wiped my mouth with my napkin.

"You don't have to finish it all, but at least eat half, please." Amber spoke softly.

"Alright." I took another small bite.

"Are you going to school tomorrow?" She asked. I shrugged as I swallowed.

"Don't know if I should." I said.

"Why not?" Amber asked.

"I kinda just wanna home, try to see if my mom will talk to me without hitting me." I said.

"Tomorrow is only Thursday. You haven't been to school all week. You shouldn't get so far behind on school work." Amber explained.

"You skipped today." I said.

"I wanted to make sure you didn't run off again or do something stupid!" She argued. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. I'll go tomorrow." I said. She smiled.

"Good. Now finish eating." She said. I took another bite and swallowed after a few chews. Amber kept glancing up as I ate. She was clearly happy I was eating, but I wanted to go for a run to burn all the calories. Amber finished a few minutes later, but I was still eating. I dropped my fork into the salad after I took another bite. There was no way I could do this to myself anymore. I picked up my half empty glass of water and drank the rest of it before slamming it down onto the table.

"What's wrong?" Amber asked.

"Nothing." I said as I wiped my mouth with my napkin. Then the doorbell rang. Amber stood up and walked to the door. I watched as she disappeared around the corner and opened the door.

"Hi. Are you Amber?" My heart skipped a beat when I heard the girl's voice. Cailyn.

"Yes..." Amber replied.

"Is Jordan here?" She asked.

"Who are you?" Amber asked.

"Cailyn Riccardi." Cailyn said.

"Oh. Why do you need Jordan?" Amber asked.

"She left a place we were staying at and left all her clothes and other things." Cailyn explained.

"Yeah she's here." Amber said. Fuck. I stood up quietly. I hear the front door close. Then Amber and Cailyn were walking over. Cailyn was wearing ripped jeans, black vans, and a white graphic tee. She was carrying one of my bags and clutching something in her other hand. Her eyes went to my bowl of salad and then to me.

"How'd you find me?" That was all I could say.

"Asked Peyton for your brother's number and called him. He told me I'd most likely find you here. Then he asked me to meet him at the park so he could give me a few things for you." She placed the item in her hand on the table. My dad's dog tags. I looked at them for a few moments before grabbing the necklace and shoving it in my pocket. Then she pulled my phone out of her pocket and put it down on the table. I grabbed it and stuffed it into my back pocket.

"Thanks." I said.

"Yep." She looked at the food again, then at me, and shifted her eyes towards Amber. I nodded slightly.