Free Dating Sarah Cooper by Siera Maley

years she’d spent on our middle school debate team, this seemed like the wrong way to approach our dilemma, to say the least.
    Nearly everyone else in the room, including Jake and Jessa, looked just as startled by Sarah’s statement as I felt. Five minutes into our LAMBDA meeting, she’d asked that she be given the floor in the center of our little circle in order to make an announcement, and now here we were, staring at her while she spoke, confident and indignant.
    As I watched, one eyebrow raised, she pointed an accusing finger at Jessa, who responded with an expression that probably looked pretty similar to my own. “Jessa here doesn’t seem to believe that Katie and I are a real couple.”
    Now it was Jessa’s turn to look indignant. She rose from her seat. “Because you-!”
    “Hey!” Sarah cut her off. “It’s my turn to talk. If you want the floor, you can have it when I’m done.” As Jessa let out a disbelieving laugh and took a seat with a shake of her head, Sarah addressed the rest of the group. “Look, I’ve known Katie for practically my whole life. A lot of you guys have, too. Have you ever known her to throw herself at boys? No, right? Because she’s gay.”
    I tried hard to keep a straight face as she pressed on. There was no way this was going to work. Sarah had school smarts, but she put her foot in her mouth way too much for this to go smoothly. She’d been a terrible debater in middle school, honestly, but I’m not sure anyone ever had the heart to tell her.
    “And I’ll admit I have a bad reputation,” she continued, “but I don’t think it’s right to just assume I’m faking a relationship with my best friend just because I like boys, too. Bisexuals can settle down, you know.”
    “She has a point, Jessa,” Hattie chimed in, looking mildly offended. “ I’m bisexual, and I’ve mostly dated girls. Sarah might prefer guys but she can still commit to Katie, and I think it’s kind of offensive to imply that she’s faking a relationship with a girl just because she’s not a lesbian.”
    “They’re both faking it,” Jessa insisted. “I’m sure they’re both straight. At the very, very least, Sarah is. She’s just doing this to rile up some guy she’s trying to sleep with; I’ve seen her fawning all over him.”
    “It’s called flirting , Jessa. It doesn’t always mean I’m interested. Maybe if you knew how to do it you’d have a girlfriend, too.”
    “Alright, guys, c’mon,” Jake cut in hastily as Jessa began to get to her feet again. “Look, this is where we come for support . It’s supposed to be a safe haven to talk about how we feel. Sarah and Katie have been through a lot this week and I think we should cut them some slack.”
    “Seriously,” Sarah echoed, folding her arms across her chest and shooting Jessa a smug look. “There are some real issues we could actually be talking about here, so how about you drop this and move on?”
    Jessa, surprisingly, looked just as smug. “Fine, Sarah. I will.”
    “Good.”
    “Just do one thing for me real quick, though: Kiss your girlfriend.”
    Sarah froze in place, and my head swiveled so fast I almost pulled a muscle in my neck. Thankfully, Sarah recovered quickly. “Um, no. Do I look like your own personal porno?”
    “I didn’t say you have to make out,” Jessa shot back. “It’s just a quick kiss. That’s no big deal if you’ve been dating for months and into each other for longer, right? I mean, if you’re really so in love…”
    I tried my best to help her out there, jumping in quickly with a hasty, “Jake.”
    He came to our rescue. “Jessa, c’mon. They’re a couple. Let’s move on.”
    “If they’re a couple why won’t they kiss?” she asked the group, and I saw a few people exchange thoughtful looks, as though she had somewhat of a point. The unpleasant nervousness that’d been building in my stomach all day began to swell and creep up into my chest.
    “Maybe I’m not into