Euphoria

[yo͞oˈfôrēə]

NOUN

1. a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness.

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You are the sunlight that rose again in my life

A reincarnation of my childhood dreams

I don't know what this emotion is

If this place is also inside a dream

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Two women, best friends since middle school, met up at the park to properly see each other's newborns. The first had a beautiful, blonde, brown-eyed girl. The second had an adorable, red-haired girl whose eyes were the color of the sea. Ecstatic that their children would grow up together, they spoke of things they hoped would happen: their daughters helping each other out in life, growing up to be best friends, and eventually becoming family, just as their mothers had. Little did they know how things would turn out...

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Four years later, the moms have already had their daughters spend a great deal of time together. They studied at the same school, had the same classes together and spent most of the week together. The blonde, Taylor, was quite extroverted and spoke to everyone in the class. Meanwhile, redheaded Justine was more reserved and spoke to few of her peers. And yet, they hit it off from the first day of school and became friends since then. They saw each other outside of school whenever their moms met up. At those times, Taylor talked about getting her hair cut while Justine told her about the last book she read that week. They were both very happy.

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Third grade. Taylor had recently gotten a pixie haircut and was really excited about showing it off to Justine. Unbeknownst to her, Justine was also waiting to show her friend a little something. Both girls were surprised by the other's appearance: Taylor's pixie combined with a navy-blue t-shirt and white jeans, and Justine's new wire rimmed glasses and her favorite grey sweater and black leggings. That day was the first time the young blonde noticed how pretty her friend was, with her sea-blue eyes, her freckled cheeks and silky copper hair.

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The pair was now twelve and in the seventh grade. They became best friends and were inseparable, despite the differences in their personalities. Taylor had kept the boyish style and started getting into dance, and Justine, now known by her friends as J. K., was still a bookworm but she took to playing the piano and was fluent in Portuguese. Justine had also lost some of her shyness and had a larger circle of friends by then. Taylor was pretty sure they had fallen for their best friend and was scared that she would find out. However, they didn't want to ruin things between the two of them, so they kept it to themselves.

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Justine welcomed tenth grade with a date with one of her classmates and wound up dating him for two months. It was the longest two months of Taylor's life: seeing their crush so happy around some jerk they were sure was gonna cheat on Justine. And sure enough, the relationship ended the second Justine saw the boy getting it on with some other girl from another class. She didn't take it lightly though, and spent about three weeks crying into Taylor's shoulder, regretting giving the cheater her first kiss. Taylor bit their lip so many times because they almost let out a comment about how they could've been better than the other guy. Encouraged by her best friend, Justine eventually moved on. By the time winter came around Taylor had come out as queer and confided in Justine that they felt strange whenever they had to wear effeminate clothes or makeup in general. Before summer break, Taylor was sure he was trans.

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Eleventh grade rolled around. Taylor had gotten top surgery in July and he couldn't have been happier about it. His family and Justine were incredibly supportive about the whole process and were very proud of him for coming out to each of them. During this time, Justine and Taylor had begun practicing their talent in piano and dance by having Justine play while Taylor choreographed something for each song. The occasions when they both gave it their all and spent all that time together were some of the best moments the two of them shared. In October, the pair had decided on dressing up like Mary Poppins and Bert and their costumes won them $25 in a costume competition. What really sold their act as the beloved characters, however, was the kiss Justine pressed onto Taylor's lips. Taylor was on cloud nine for the rest of the evening but still asked his best friend why she had kissed him. That night, Justine wound up confessing that she'd had a crush on Taylor for about two years, even before he transitioned. It turned out that Justine was polysexual and really loved Taylor. A few moments later, they shared their second kiss.

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The six-month-old couple walked down the street in June, celebrating Pride month along with a multitude of people. They held each other's hands and sang along to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and an assortment of other songs that were played. Both Justine and Taylor were ecstatic about their first Pride parade together. A euphoric feeling washed over them as they walked among the crowd, once again feeling like kids who fell for each other. Hard. Justine looked over at Taylor and everything simply disappeared, as if it had all been a mirage. The man holding her hand would forever be the only one to cause this breathlessness she felt. He would be her dream, her sunlight, her utopia.