Liberosis

Burning House

The morning after Chloe's breakdown, Rachel had left her sleeping soundly on her bed. She was afraid to leave her alone so soon, but it was Friday so hopefully the classes wouldn't feel as eternal. Her girlfriend's cheek was very blue when Rachel woke up and she'd wanted nothing more than to kiss her pain away. But that would have to wait.

When Rachel entered the school, everyone... I mean, literally, everyone was looking at her. Rachel suddenly felt small and strange. Did they find out about Chloe?

As she walked towards her locker with her head high, she heard so many whispers:

"Is she gay now?"

"Do you think her dad dropped her after their fight?"

"Maybe she's with Price for his attention."

Suddenly, someone grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into an empty classroom. It could only be one person. "Dana, you scared me!" Rachel squealed.

"I'm sorry." Dana closed the door, shutting away the eyes of curiosity.

"What the hell is going on?" Rachel paced around the room.

"Did you forget?" Dana looked at her as if she had a cat on her head. "Yesterday Chloe picked you up all Danny Zuko in front of everyone."

"Are they really so worked up about that?" Rachel sighed. "They should get a fucking life."

"I know right... ugh."

Rachel sighed again, seeing Dana's face dying to break its composed features. "You want to know what happened after, right?"

"Yes, please!" Dana sat on one of the desks, as if she were a student ready to learn, and Rachel sat on the teacher's.

"We just spoke. There was some funny banter, we talked about how happy we felt, we made out and then she dropped me home."

"That's all that happened?"

"Yup." Rachel realized she hadn't sounded as excited as she should. "Sorry, it's just... the rumors overwhelm me sometimes. Bisexual is the only label I gave them and it's the only one they don't use. And so what if I'm with Chloe? This isn't some plan to get back at my father. I've loved her for what feels like all my life."

Click. "Love?" Dana repeated. "I mean, you told me you were falling for her, but damn."

"I wanna tell her." Rachel looked down. "But I can never seem to find the right time. I want it to be special and organic, you know."

Dana stood up and sat next to Rachel on the teacher's desk. "I'm sure you'll find it," she said. "Love is like a fart. If you force it, it's probably shit."

Rachel laughed. "How do you come up with this shit?"

"The Internet, of course." Dana smiled and then got up. "Ready to head out?"

Rachel nodded and opened the door. She went to her locker and took out some books. She felt every pair of eyes staring at her again. "God..." she mumbled. "Yes, I'm dating Chloe!" Rachel yelled, her voice echoing through the halls. "Now fuck off!"

And then she stormed off to a classroom.

x-x-x

"At the end of that day, everyone stopped staring," Rachel told Chloe, the sun long gone now and dark blue settling over the Monday sky. "At least a little less. I'm so sick of them. I hate school."

"Damn..." Chloe let out. "Might as well have gone and said, I'm the gay queen of Arcadia!"

"Dude, we're not married, I can't take your last name yet."