Twenty-Six

    "Nora! To what do I owe the pleasure at this hour? I don't think I've ever seen you in my classroom before noon." Mrs. Dotes asked as Nora entered her classroom first thing Monday morning following prom. The girl was practically shaking as she reached into her backpack to pull out her essay. She had edited it to make it make just a little bit more sense, but she refused to cut any of it out. This was as good as it was going to get, she just hoped it was good enough.

    "Good morning," Nora greeted as she nervously held the paper in her hands, "Uh, I was just wondering if you could do me a favor."

    The woman looked confused, "I can't round your grade up if you already have a hundred in my class, Miss Watson."

    "No, no," Nora said with a small laughed, "Um, I have my final essay. I was wondering if you could maybe grade it a little early and pass it along to someone when you're done? It's kind of important."

    The teacher huffed, a look of confusion and consideration crossing her face. Finally, she said, "Normally, I'd say that's a high demand, but you are one of my best students... May I see the essay?"

    Cautiously, Nora handed over the paper and released it reluctantly as Mrs. Dotes took it from her grasp. She stood there awkwardly as she watched the woman's eyes dart down the paper. After a moment of silence, the woman looked back up at her with a sort of tender understanding in her eyes.

    "I can already tell this is a very well written essay. I'll have your grade up by the end of the day," Mrs. Dotes smiled and Nora breathed a sigh of relief. "And don't worry, I'll make sure this falls into the right hands."

    "Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver," Nora thanked graciously as she went to leave the classroom, "thank you, again."

    "One more thing, Miss Watson," the teacher stopped her just as she was about to leave, "I hope everything works out."

    Smiling, Nora sighed, "I hope so, too."

Leaving the classroom, Nora felt a weight lift off her chest. Here's to hoping.

    "So? Is she gonna give it to Edison?" Kristen asked as soon as Nora pushed through the classroom door and back into the hallway. For just a moment, she leaned against the door and stopped in an attempt to stop her heart from racing.

    Both of her best friends were eagerly waiting for her reaction, but all she could give them was a brief nod as she tried to calm herself down. Both girls clapped excitedly and grabbed the girl in a hug.

    Amarie exclaimed, "All right! The hard part's over now... we wait!"

    "I think the waiting is going to be the hardest part if I'm being honest," Nora sighed as the three of them began to walk down the hallway and to their first class.

    As they were walking down the hallway, though, Nora experienced her worst nightmare. Everyone's phone's going off at once. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but of course, it was a notification from nrhsgossip. At first, Nora ignored it. Kristen, however had other plans as she pulled up the post and showed it to the girl.

    It was multiple photos, one of Nora winning prom queen, one of Nora and Edison kissing outside the school, and one more of Nora standing alone on the sidewalk, crying. Great, just great. The caption, of course, made everything worse. "The new L Word episode looks great! Here's to our emmy winning drama queen Nora Watson!"

    "It's not even a funny caption," Kristen scoffed, "Don't worry, Nora, I'm already messaging this bitch to get this taken down, this is ridiculous."

    "It doesn't matter," the blonde sighed as she leaned against the lockers and slid down to the floor. She could feel everyone's eyes searing into her, "I've already been outed to everyone at this school with a fucking Instagram account which is pretty much the entire student body. Two weeks before school's over and I still can't get a fucking break."

    As if the universe hated Nora even more than it already seemed, Edison had to walk by as if the odds were utterly against her. What's next? Mason was going to walk by and stare her down? Her eyes drifted to meet Nora's, but only for a moment before she swiftly turned back around and kept walking. Nora wanted to cry. Just when she thought that everything was going her way, she got a giant slap to the face. All she wanted to do was crawl up in a ball and stop existing. Everyone was looking at her like leeches clinging to the drama as if it was blood.

    "I need to get out of here," Nora muttered, running her hands through her hair. She stood up with the help of her friends, but she pushed them off of her as soon as they started coddling her. "Stop, don't, I just... I'm leaving. I need to be alone. I'll talk to you guys later."

    Walking out of the school, she tried to keep her head held high; everyone's eyes followed her out. Could the bell for class just ring already? As soon as she crossed through those doors, Nora burst into a sprint for her car. There were a few remaining people in the parking lot, but she didn't care. She had to get out; she was suffocating. As soon as Nora got to her car, she didn't waste her breath as she pulled out of her spot and started driving.

    Crying the whole way there, she was a little surprised she was still alive. At least, if she got into an accident she'd be the star of a different headline. Nora wasn't hiding, but something about being outed to the entire school in the small town was sickening considering she remembered exactly what Kristen and Amarie went through when they first came out years ago. Sure, that was freshman year, but there was no way things had changed that much.

    Pulling up to the woods, Nora wiped her tears and guided herself to the meadow where she immediately laid down on the grass and cried it out. She found herself crying in this meadow often, which was interesting to her. She really hoped this wasn't going to become a habit. Knowing her, it probably would.

    She didn't know how long she sat there, scrolling through her phone in an attempt to calm herself down. Ignoring the multiple texts from Kristen and Amarie asking if she was okay, she sighed. She even had a text from Eloise, which she still ignored. No part of her wanted to talk about this with anyone, she simply wanted to get through it. That was all she really could do. Get through it. This was not going to be the end of her life, this was high school. She was so close to the end all she could do now was own what had happened and count down the days. 14 days. 10 if you don't count the weekends. Next Friday she would be wearing a cap and gown and nothing that was happening now would matter. She would be free. 10 days.

    A few hours passed, Nora had finally gotten over herself and texted her friends and sister that she was safe and okay, but she didn't offer them any other information besides that. The sound of footsteps was heard from the woods, but Nora wasn't scared. She knew exactly who it was going to be.

    "Hey stranger," she spoke solemnly as Edison entered the meadow. Nora didn't budge from where she was laying down even as the other girl towered over her. There was something in her hand and Nora recognized it immediately: her essay. Her breath hitched, but she didn't say anything about it. "How'd you know I was here?"

    "Lucky guess. I had a feeling you didn't wanna drive all the way to the mountains in this state," Edison sighed, "I'm sorry, Nora. I shouldn't have left you there on prom night. That was... a dick move."

    "You only feel bad because I got outed because of it. Don't worry about it, the truth was going to come out sooner or later," she was trying to keep her voice cool and collected, but tears began to well up in her eyes again. She wanted to be mad at Edison, she really was trying, but it was impossible when she looked at her like that.

    Edison sighed and sat down next to the girl. She held out her hand as though she were going to play with Nora's hair, but at the last moment, she stopped herself. The girl looked almost afraid to touch her like she was fragile. "I read your essay, Nor."

    "Congrats," she spoke bitterly but regretting it as soon as the words left her mouth. "I'm sorry, things are just... rough right now."

    "I can imagine," Edison sighed, "and I know I've definitely made it worse than it has to be. I just... being with you makes me feel the way I haven't felt in a long time and as you know, the last time I thought someone was treating me right it scarred me in more ways than one. I'm not saying you're going to hurt me or mistreat me, I just haven't felt this way about someone in a long time and it's scary. I should have talked to you about this instead of leading you on and treating you the way that I did and I'm sorry for handling things the way I did. I understand if you want nothing to do with me after this, but I just had to come here so I could tell you... that I think I'm falling in love with you, too. As fucking terrifying as that is."

    Nora was breathless, for once she had no idea what to say. She kept thinking that she always knew what was coming next, but she had been learning more and more often that she had no idea what was going to happen ever. This was definitely one of those moments that caught her by surprise. There was nothing that really could be said in a moment as unique and gentle as this one. All Nora wanted to do was kiss her.

    "Do you want me to go?" Edison asked after Nora had been silent for a beat too long.

    All Nora could bring herself to do was shake her head. The words hung on the tip of her tongue, but something was just barely stopping them from slipping past her lips. She knew what she wanted, but saying it was dangerous. To show the yearning she felt was something she didn't dare risk. Even without words, though, Edison stayed.

    "You know," the girl spoke after a moment of silence. Nora sat up so their eyes met, "I actually don't hate my name when it's coming out of your mouth."

    "Why do you hate it anyway?" Nora finally spoke, "You said you aren't that girl, what made you think that in the first place?"

    Edison sighed, "I was named after my mom who died giving birth to me. I never knew her, obviously, but people talk about her like she was some sort of saint. When I decided to come out to my dad and stepmom freshman year, my dad, in the process of kicking me out, told me I would never be half the woman she was and that she was rolling in her grave having a gay daughter. Not long after that, my stepmom passed away, which you know. That was just salt in the wound, really. Since then I went by my last name."

    "Edison..." Nora sighed, not knowing what she could say, "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

    "Yeah, no one does. Except Kristen, her and my brother were the only ones that ever cared about me," the girl simply shrugged, but Nora saw the tears begin to well up in her eyes. "I hope Kristen isn't too weirded out by us, I kind of did some shitty things after we broke up and I can't look too good messing around with her best friend."

    Nora wanted to laugh, but instead she simply jokes, "Oh, is that what this is?"

    "Well, I hoped it would be a lot more than that, but I kind of fucked everything up and now I'm pretty sure the girl I'm falling in love with hates me."

    "Oh, my God, it's like you didn't even read the essay, you dork," Nora caved in with a small laugh as she cupped Edison's cheek with her gentle grasp and pulled her in for a kiss. Every time they kissed it was something brand new; something Nora had never felt before. They kissed like they had both been starving for each other and were finally getting a release; it was ethereal, the way Edison's lips felt against hers.

    When they pulled apart, Nora sighed as a small giggle fell past her lips, "I want you to be mine, Edison, like actually, officially mine. No more games, no more are we, aren't we. I wanna be yours."

    "And I want to be yours," Edison agreed with a grin and kissed her again. For a moment, Nora didn't mind not knowing what was coming after this because this moment was the only thing that mattered. Here, in the meadow they found themselves in the first night they became friends, it was only fitting that this was where they sit now. Like it always did with Edison, the world and all its issues faded away around them as they kissed in the meadow. Everything between them felt familiar yet brand at the same time with them.

    "So, you'll finally put aside your heartbreaker ways and be my girlfriend?" Nora joked although her question was absolutely serious. As they pulled away from each other, the blonde found herself craving more of the other girl's touch.

    Edison bit her lip to hold back the genuine smile forming on her face, "Do you even have to ask?"

    "With you? Yes!" Nora exclaimed in disbelief, pushing the girl over and giggling as they both lay on the soft grass beneath them, "You're ridiculous."

    Edison smiled as wide as she possibly could, pressing a gentle kiss to Nora's cheek, "Nope, just yours."