Free Finding Laila: Some Changes are Necessary by T.K. Rapp

request.
    “Laila,”
I hear Mom’s voice call to me and I look around.
    “Mom?”
    “Laila,
are you going to sleep through that thing? It’s waking everyone up,” she says.
    I
sit up, and for a moment I’m lost and confused.
    “It
was a dream,” I mutter to myself and see my mom looking at me with concern.
    “Bad
dream?” she asks.
    I
shake my head and recall as much as I can before she walks further into my
room. They were asleep when I got home last night, but I really could have used
a girl talk with Mom. I tried to rationalize a way out of my run with Haden,
but if I want to keep our friendship I need to at least talk to him.
    “Honey,
are you sure you’re okay?” She sits next to me on the bed and I nod. “Wanna
talk about it? How was the show last night?”
    “It
was—surprising,” I admit before lying back on my pillows.
    “Surprising,
huh? Okay, well now I need details.” She lies next to me.
    The
clock reads seven-thirty, so I have plenty of time to tell her about the
evening.
    “Yeah,
surprising. His work is amazing but it shocked me.”
    “How
so?”
    “You
know I’ve seen his stuff before, but nothing like this. There were pictures of
his parents, of all of us hanging out,” I look at her and wince as I finish,
“and me.”
    “What
do you mean—you?”
    “I
mean, there were drawings and paintings of me. But the one that really got me
is one of Haden and me—it looks like we’re about to kiss. Mom, all this
time I figured he was gay—he’s not dated anyone and I guess I just made
assumptions—but he’s not.”
    “What
made you think he was gay?” She looks at me with a raised brow.
    “Am
I the only one who thought this? Anyway, that’s not the point—today we’re
supposed to talk about things because he wants to see if there is a chance for
something between us.”
    “Is
there something between you?”
    “I
really don’t know. I mean, when he kissed me last night, I’d be lying if I
said-”
    She
rolls up to a sitting position and faces me with wide eyes and open mouth. “He
kissed you?”
    “Yeah.”
I smile, recalling the kiss.
    “And?”
    “You
remember when I had a crush on him ages ago?”
    She
nods and I continue.
    “I
used to wish he’d see me the way I saw him, but I always thought he looked at
me like a sister or something. Eventually, I moved on and let it go—I had
crushes on all of them at some point. But when Haden kissed me last night, it
was like some weird girl-dream come true. I don’t know how to explain it.”
    “Sounds
to me like maybe you pushed the feelings down since you thought it would never
happen, but maybe you never really got over him.”
    I
consider her words and she gets up to leave the room. “Mom?”
    She
faces me and leans against the door with a knowing grin.
    “What
should I do?”
    “What
was your dream about?” she asks, and my cheeks radiate with heat. “That’s what
I thought. So maybe you already know what you should do. But Luka is going to
be incredibly jealous if you end up dating her crush.” She walks over and puts
her hand on my shoulder and smiles before walking out of the room and leaving
me to my thoughts.
    It’s
now almost eight, so I pull my hair into a ponytail and get my running clothes
on. A quick stop in the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth and I’m
ready to go, but I’m still not sure what’s going to happen.
    My
phone chimes next to my bed and I know that it’s Haden.
    Haden: Here early. No rush.
    Me: Be right down.
    I
make my way downstairs and Luka is sitting on the floor watching cartoons when she
looks up at me. “Where’re you going? Can I come with you?”
    I
don’t know why she always wants to be with me—I’ve never given her a
reason to—yet she always asks.
    “I’m
going for a run with Haden, I’ll be back later.”
    “Haden,”
she stands up and runs to the door, pulling it open before I have a chance to
stop her.
    “Luka,”
I call after her but Haden emerges