The Girl In The Suit

Gemma

My heart was beating faster than it ever had before. After all these years of bothering her and then going home and looking at a photo of her I had hidden under my pillow while playing cute songs, something was happening. She had stayed with me while Freddie was in hospital. She had let me stay at her place while my parents were off drinking themselves to death. She forgave me after years of me giving her shit, and became my friend. She was my first kiss. So many more thoughts are running through my mind.

And here she is, her hands on my neck, her lip trapped between her teeth. I think I'm dreaming.

I finally speak. "I think we know each other well enough too." It comes out in a croak.

She smiles at me, and touches my ear lightly, which sends me shivering. She smiles again, and then without any warning, she gently puts her lips on mine. My hands fall on her hips, and I pull her closer. I never want it to end.

We finally pull apart after what feels like forever. We just smile at each other.

"Why do you like me, Anne O Brien?", I ask. It comes out of the blue.

She licks her lips and she sits down on her bed.

"Wanna know why I put up with that shit?" I nod my head, leaning against her wardrobe. "I kinda thought you were really cute the whole time."

I roll my eyes. "Me? Cute? A brown girl from London with her Irish blood?"

"Yeah, all that stuff is fucking adorable. You do realise Ashley from Fresh Prince was my sexual awakening, right?"

I laugh. "I can just see you watching Fresh Prince and suddenly going, Holy shit, I like girls."

"Yup, that's how the story goes." She chuckles.

I bite my lip. "But seriously. How do you like me? I put you through so much shit."

She gets up from her bed and walks over to the wardrobe I'm leaning against. I move out of her way. She rummages throw a drawer until she pulls out a large piece of coloured paper.

I recognize it immediately. I smile at her.

"The rape prevention project.", I say softly.

10 months earlier

I hang my head back, almost falling asleep. I'm hanging out at the youth club while I wait for Freddie to pick me up. He's bringing me shopping for the next disco.

I notice Anne O Brien sitting in a chair on her own, looking completely lost in this crowd of chatting and laughing teenagers. Kinda like me.

"OK, listen up, everyone!"

Everyone quietens down and turns their attention to the leader.

"So, one thing that every teenager needs to understand in romantic and sexual relationships is consent. That means 2 people agreeing to interact in a sexual manner. You must have the consent of your romantic partner before engaging in sexual activity. But when you don't have consent, but do it anyways, that is sexual assault, or rape. So, I'm going to give everyone something to work on to learn more about this important topic. I'm going to put you all in pairs first. So, Paddy and Cillian, Aoife and Amy, Tasha and Saoirse, Anne and Gemma, Skye and Gabrielle and Caoimhe and Jason. No changing or swapping around. Go to your partner now to start planning it out."

I see Anne sigh and bend her head back, which makes my heart sink. Crushing on the girl you're bullying is the worst thing in the world.

I get up from my seat and go over to her and I sit down beside her. There's a long silence.

"So,", I finally say, "whatcha wanna do?"

"I dunno, you pick." She barely even looks at me.

"Maybe.......a poster? Like, with the helplines and stuff like, No means no, all that. Whatcha think?"

She looks up at me. "That's actually a good idea, Welch."

I smile slightly at her. "Thanks."

"So, when do you want to do it?"

Just then, my phone dings. Its Freddie, saying he's just down the road.

"Uh, tomorrow will be good, if you're available. I'll buy the stuff, going shopping with my brother now.", I say.

"Tomorrow's OK, see you then."

I feel her eyes burn through my back as I walk away from the table.

Present Day

"Yeah. We managed to do that without killing each other.", Anne says.

I laugh. "Wonder how we've survived the last few weeks."

"But yeah. That time made me kinda think you were OK. I also noticed you were super cute. So, I kinda started to have a teeny crush on you." She smiles at me.

"Jesus. How did I torment you for so long?", I think out loud.

"It was worth it. I always considered you the nice one. Like, you didn't say as much as the rest."

"I couldn't. It sucked liking you though, knowing that you hated me."

"I never hated you. I thought you hated me."

I smirk. "I guess we're even."

She smirks too. She then walks over to me and wraps her arms around me. "I'm sorry."

"I'm even more sorry."

We stay like that for a while, before I go into the bathroom to get changed and we go into bed. She wraps her arms around me, and for the first time in ages, I feel safe and happy, and nothing else.

Anne O Brien is something else.