Free Orphea Proud by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

eyes told me, her arms were beckoning. She loved me, too. But—
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you think I’m some kind of queer? Is this why you wanted to get me over here? So that you could embarrass me?So that you could try and stick your tongue down my throat?”
    “Sorry, Lissa. I misunderstood.”
    “Misunderstood what?”
    “You said that after we graduated we’d go away. We’d go on a road trip.”
    “So?”
    “You said we’d never come back, maybe, except to see your parents.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Well, I took that for something else.”
    “What?”
    “Love, I suppose.”
    She laughed. “I’m a girl. You’re my friend. That’s it, understand? I’m not queer.”
    “Okay.”
    “I’m not, do you hear me?”
    “Okay! Okay, I heard you. So now what?”
    “Now let’s study.”
    “After this you want to study history?”
    “It’ll take our minds off … things.”
    “Don’t you want to go home?”
    “No.”
    So we sat in the kitchen reviewing for our history test, pretending that nothing had happened. I felt like a piece of crap.
    “I’m sorry, Lissa.”
    She touched my hand. “It’s okay. We’re best friends. Nothing can change that.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Orphea?”
    “Yeah?”
    “I’m sorry, too.”
    “Sure.”
    “You just startled me.”
    “Fine.”
    She blushed. “Anyway, I’ve always wanted to try that.”
    “What?”
    “Kissing … you.”
    I buried my nose in the history book. My heart was racing. I was so confused.
    “Well, we tried it,” I said, trying to make light of things. “So, that’s that.”
    Hunched over our separate books, we kept studying. Then finally Lissa suggested that we quiz each other. Outside the snow was falling.
    “You’d better get started home. The roads might get slippery.”
    “I’m not worried.”
    “Come on, Lissa, you don’t want to have to dig yourself out. They probably won’t send the plows out until morning.”
    “I don’t care. I’m staying.”
    I gulped. “You’re spending the night?”
    “Sure, if it’s all right with Rupert and Ruby.”
    “They love it when you’re here. Then they don’t have to deal with me.”
    She smiled uneasily. “I really want to stay. I’ll just call home.”
    She called her dad. We made popcorn and hot chocolate. We opened a bag of marshmallows. Then we went upstairs and stretched across my bed, doing our favorite thing, planning our road trip. Then I heard Rupert and Ruby roll in.
    “Lissa’s staying over!” I called down the stairs.
    “Okay,” Ruby called up. “Supposed to snow all night!”
    Rupert climbed the stairs. “Done your homework?” That was always the first thing he asked.
    “Most of it. There may be a snow day.”
    “Finish it up.” He tossed a smile in Lissa’s direction. “Hey.”
    “Hey, Dr. Jones.”
    “Tell your dad I’m bringing in my car.”
    “Sure.”
    He turned to go. “Shovel the walk, if school is canceled. I may sleep in. That root canal I’ve got in the morning will probably chicken out. Any excuse to miss a trip to the dentist.” He flashed a smile.
    “Night, Rupert.”
    I closed the door. I rolled out my sleeping bag.
    “You can take the bed,” I told her.
    “No way. I like sleeping on the floor.”
    “Since when?”
    She glanced at me shyly. “Remember when we used to snuggle up together?”
    I shrugged. “The bed’s too small.”
    I ended up sacking out in my own bed and she lay next to me on the floor. For the first time sincewe’d been sleeping over together, there wasn’t any talking.
    “Good night, Lissa.”
    “Good night. Hey, Orphea?”
    “Yeah?”
    “I love you.”
    I buried my face in my pillow. She loved me. But not in the way that I loved her.

    I woke up in the middle of the night. I felt her breath on the back of my neck.
    “The floor is too hard,” she mumbled. But then I felt her hand on my shoulder blade. I rolled over. She kissed me on the lips.
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yes. I’m