𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐃

CHAPTER FIVE

Five

    Within an hour of the event in the hallway, there was already a video of Mason groveling on someone's Instagram. What would their school be without a bitchy, anonymous gossip account getting popular off of Nora's boyfriend drama? God, her life was a movie these days and not the kind you want to be the star of.

    As she sat on the hood of Edison's car in the gas station parking lot by their school, she scrolled through the comments of nrhsgossip with a look of disdain on her face. Some comments called her awesome, most called her heartless. This was expected; people were harsh when they had no idea what the real story was.

    Seemingly noticing this, Edison reached over and ripped the phone out of her hands. Shaking her head, she chastised, "Nuh uh, none of that young lady. Today is about dollar slushies and good times."

    "That's unrealistic."

    "It's better than the alternative!" Edison exclaimed and Nora so rarely saw her so insistent about something. "I'm serious, Nora, you did the right thing. Don't listen to people who have no idea what they're talking about."

    "I mean, I know I did the right thing. What self-respect do I have if I take him back? None! The thing that sucks about doing the right thing is that it never seems to feel like the right thing," she lamented as Edison handed her a cherry slushie which she sipped without hesitation. After a moment, she dug into her bag looking for her wallet, "Oh, shit how much was this?"

    Edison shrugged, "Don't worry about it. You're sad and tormented, let me buy you a slushie."

    "You're sweet."

    "Oh, I know. It's all part of my charm," Edison said with a smile and Nora noticed two dimples forming on either side of the girl's cheeks. Strange how she had never seemed to recognize those before.

    Scoffing at the dark-haired girl's statement, Nora just shook her head, "Thank you for all of this. I know I have Kristen and Amarie but they've always been more of a "let's cry and eat chocolate" kind of break-up. I like this "fuck it" mentality you have, it's much more my speed."

    "I just think you're a lot tougher than you give yourself credit for," Edison mused with a small shrug, "Wanna get out of town for a bit?"

    Nora knew she was referencing the meadow they visited the night before, but looking at her watch she knew she was going to have to decline the offer. "I have to be ready for work in like an hour. Maybe tonight? I'm off at seven, plenty of time."

    There was something about spending time with Edison that made Nora feel so inexplicably at ease. It was easy, whether they were in the middle of nowhere or slurping slushies in a parking lot, it always felt like it was only her and Edison in a conversation with the world being white noise and nothing more. It seemed as though it was impossible to truly be in a bad mood with the other girl around. Even in a muddy, dreary time like this. It was as if Nora could already see her world building back up piece by piece.

    This was something Nora could not remove from her mind as Edison drove her back to the school parking lot to pick up her car. As she got out of the car, Nora went to bend down into the window to say goodbye, but Edison had gotten out of the car as well, which she didn't expect.

    "What's up?" Nora asked with a furrowed brow as she brushed runaway strands of blond hair out of her face.

    Edison simply walked over and pulled Nora into a hug. It was strange, she didn't expect the other girl to necessarily be a hugging person. Nevertheless, it felt nice. Being held in the chilled, budding spring gloom after one of the roughest days in Nora's high school career was something she didn't realize she needed until it was already over.

    "What was that for?" Nora asked with a small laugh, fully aware that her cheeks were bright red. As to why this was, she had no idea. All she knew was the flush heat when her fingertips pressed gently against the smooth skin of her cheek.

    The other simply shrugged with a small, casual smile adorning her features. "I just kinda had a feeling you could use that. Why are you looking at me like that? Girls gotta support girls and all that shit, right? Am I not allowed to hug you?"

    "No, no, you're allowed," Nora mocked the use of the word, shaking her head as she crossed her arms. She didn't know why this moment in time stood out to her so clearly. She seemed to notice everything about Edison for just the flicker of a second. Something she found interesting was how the sunlight highlighting the other's hazel eyes made it the color of warm honey, but she zoned back to reality before she could get too lost. "It was just... unexpected that's all. Not unwelcome, just unexpected. Didn't peg you for a hugger."

    "Oh, fuck off, just go to work," Edison laughed wholeheartedly. For a moment she turned to walk away, but she shifted to say one last thing, "Oh, and let me know when you get home and I'll come pick you up. I've decided to steal you for the night."

    "Is it stealing if I'm the one who originally suggested it?"

    "You suggested it five minutes ago and said nothing else therefore it's officially my idea so yes, it is stealing," Edison shouted playfully as she walked around and got in her car, "Bye, bye! Have fun at work!"

    Nora called back a goodbye as she leaned against her own car. She did have to get to work, but some part of her was unwilling to move. As she stayed there, relishing in the cool breeze she pondered the reality of a girl like Edison. Before knowing her, Edison disappeared into the black and white of the background world. She had been a face out of the two thousand that went to their high school, that was all. She was the subject of certain gossip occasionally, but that was nothing more. Now, though, now that Nora knew her even if it had only been a couple of days, Edison stood out in screaming, breathless color. Her personality was vibrant and more welcoming and comforting than Nora ever imagined.

    After a moment too long of mulling over everything Nora had ever noticed about Edison, she checked her phone for the time.

    "Oh, shit!" she exclaimed to herself as she fumbled to grab her keys and unlock her car and drive home. It probably would have been safest to leave about five minutes before this moment, but needless to say she was a little distracted. She had no idea why her brain was delving so deeply into the inner workings of her newfound friend. Her mind was going a million miles an hour and it all led back to the feeling of Edison wrapping her arms around Nora's waist. As it turned out, hugging someone that was almost half a foot shorter than you was a cozy feeling. Edison had forgone the platform shoes today and she had just realized how much taller she was than the girl. The thought brought a smile to her face. Maybe being 5'8" wasn't so bad after all.

    Even as she got ready in the knick of time and just barely made it to her bore of a retail job by the skin of her teeth, she found herself in a much better mood than she had been in this morning. Working at a small clothing store in the mall was nothing extraordinary. However, there was simply something extraordinary about Edison.