Where Two Collide

Chapter Forty-Four - Cat

Chapter Forty-Four

Cat

During lunch I managed to drip ketchup from my sandwich down my shirt, covering myself in giant red splotches. I headed to the bathroom to clean up my mess, going to the one rarely used out near the school field. When I opened the door, I found myself not alone, to my surprise I find Sammy crouched by the window smoking a cigarette. She looked up when I enter, blowing smoke out of the side of her mouth.

"Woops, you caught me," she said, not actually appearing to be that bothered to have been caught. "I thought I locked that door."

"Guess not," I said, shutting the door behind me and going to the sink. The stain was pretty bad. Wadding up some paper towel, I soak it in soap and water and dab it on my shirt. I glanced at Sammy in the mirror's reflection; she is wearing a jean skirt with suspenders of a shirt of some local band I'd seen advertised. "Great suspenders," I noted looking back down at my shirt.

"Cheers," she said, taking another puff of her cigarette. Even with the window open the room still stank of a pile of burning tyres. "Ketchup stain? Those are the worst; you'll never get that out."

"Ugh." I scrubbed harder but all that really achieved was a spreading of the stain. "Damnit."

Sammy nodded knowingly. "It's a goner."

I spun away from the mirror, so I didn't have to look at it. "Well I guess I'll just have to look like an idiot for the rest of the day."

"Maybe not," she replied, setting her cigarette between her lips and digging around in her school bag. She pulled out a t-shirt and tossed it at me. "Here, you can borrow this."

I caught it and stretched it out to check it out. Nothing too out there, just an image of Chewbacca playing a guitar. "You keep t-shirts in your school bag?" I asked raising a brow at her.

Sammy plucked the cigarette from her lips and tapped the ash out the window. "You never know when you might need a clean t-shirt and pants for an impromptu escapade." She shrugged. "Or a ketchup stain at school. Either way, being prepared is key."

"Thanks," I said and began stripping off my shirt but then hesitated. Nobody had ever seen me in my underwear except Alice.

Sammy seemed to notice my pause. She rolled her eyes. "Just because I'm a lesbian doesn't mean I'm a predator. I swear to god you girls all think I want you just because I like girls. Trust me you aren't my type; I prefer them more experienced."

I turned away from her to quickly change shirts, feeling my cheeks burning. When I turned back, I straightened the shirt and smiled awkwardly at her. "Sorry, I don't mean to be an asshole."

She gave me another shrug. "Meh, it happens. Already forgotten."

I shoved my stained shirt into the bottom of my bag. Maybe I should carry spare t-shirts and pants with me, it sounded like pure wisdom coming from her. I looked over at her, I was in awe of her confidence and sureness. It reminded me of Addie. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

She launched her cigarette out the window and looked back at me. "Shoot."

"How did you know you were gay, like how are you so sure?"

Sammy tucked her thumbs around her suspenders. "A really hot guy showed me his dick, and I was like, ew, no. And he was really hot, like Magic Mike hot. I can recognise hotness in anyone, but when it was on the table, I was not into it."

My brow furrowed at her. "Weren't you twelve when you came out?"

"Oh yeah," she nodded. "The Magic Mike guy wasn't until later, it like doubley confirmed it. I just felt it when I was twelve. I'd had no experience, obviously, but some things you just know, you know?"

"Sure," I replied turning my frown to my reflection in the mirror. I did not know.

"It can be a bit of a trial and error with these kinds of things though."

Addie had said that she'd dated boys before Piper, her ex, but she didn't truly realise until Piper, so that made a lot of sense. If I was being completely honest with myself, I was very very confused. I had all these feelings but had nothing to compare it to. Nothing to tell me for certain what my feelings meant.

I could see her staring at me thoughtfully in the mirror. "Was it hard, coming out?"

"Yes," she said, and reached out to close the window. "It was hard with the people I cared about, especially my dad. But after a while, it was cool."

I threw my school bag over my shoulder and cleared my throat. "Thanks again...for the shirt."

"No prob," she replied looking over at me closely. "You know, if you need to chat, it's cool if you wanna talk to me, no judgements. And keep the shirt, it suits you."

"Um, thanks," I repeated, cringing internally.

In art club I'm deep in my self-portrait when Travis sneaks up behind me and asked, "Is that supposed to be you or Alice?"

"Jesus Christ, Travis," I exclaimed, clutching my chest. "You scared the crap out of me."

"It's not my fault you're full of crap," he replied, sliding into the seat next to me.

"Gee, thanks." I looked down at my drawing. I guess it didn't have enough detail yet to make it a definitive drawing of me. "It's supposed to me."

He nodded sagely. "Your final piece?"

"If it works out."

"I like it."

I looked over at him. "You do?"

"Sure," he said, still nodding. "It's not very you, which makes it stand out from the rest of your work. I think it'll be the thing that gets you into the art program."

I sighed a sigh of relief. If both Addie and Travis thought that, then it was almost definitely true. As long as I didn't mess it up.

"I got a new movie you'd love," he said, stretching his arms out in front of him.

"Oh yeah?"

"Lots of death and explosions."

"That does sound right up my street," I said. A lump gathered in my throat as an idea popped into my head. I needed some experience, I needed some trial an error, but I wasn't someone to just go out and find randoms. I wanted people I trusted.

I'd kissed Addie, she was accidentally my first kiss and it was all I could do to try and forget about it. Maybe it was just that she was my first, but I wouldn't know until I'd tried someone else. I glanced at Travis, what was more manly than a beard, plus I trusted him almost as much as I trusted my own twin, not that I'd think about kissing Alice if she was a man. Gross.

"Can I come over?"

Travis looked taken aback, but he quickly recovered. "Sure. Tonight?"

"No," I choked out. No, tonight was too soon, I had only just thought of it, I needed time to prepare mentally. "Tomorrow would be better."

"Sure, but my parents won't be back till late, so it'll be just us," he said, then grinned. "Least we won't have to share the popcorn."

I swallowed. No parents were perfect for what I had in mind.

***Please remember to Vote and comment if you love reading 'Where Two Collide', it helps to support my work and keep me writing***