Fall In Love With A Girl Ch. 01

First story, read and review. All characters in explicit scenes are over 18. All locations in the story are fictional but take place somewhere in Canada. This is a slow-burn lesbian romance, sex doesn't come until later.

"Excellent, excellent, you're here, sit down," Mr. Hanover said as I walked into the room. The sounds of the school echoed as I pulled the door to the principal's office shut behind me..

"You wanted to see me, sir?" I began, fiddling slightly with my hair. I didn't get called down here very often, and I was curious what this was about.

"Yes, Miss Jackson, I'll get right into it," Mr. Hanover replied, sitting down behind his desk so that we were at eye level. "As you're aware, you're one of our best students at McDonald High and we've seen how you are with other students here. I called you in here because we have a new student coming in, senior girl. With it already being January we want her to be able to get settled as quickly as possible with exams coming up soon, so I was thinking you could show her around, get to know the place. I've already cleared it with your teachers if you're willing to do it, so you won't miss any time. What do you think?"

I nodded along at his explanation, thinking to myself. I was Sarah Jackson, the top student in this school and would soon be off to university to really spread my wings. I could manage to be a tour guide for a day, it wouldn't be that big of a deal and then I could get back to my normal routine. "I'd be happy to help out, Mr. Hanover," I replied.

"Perfect, I knew I could count on you. She'll be here at 8:30 tomorrow morning in the office and you can meet her here," he finished. And with that, I could get back to class, now with one more appointment to take care of.

~~~

The next morning came around and I was at school bright and early, finding my way to the office. As expected, there was another person waiting for me there along with Mr. Hanover, a shorter, black-haired girl. Without having entered the room and alerted her to my presence, I took a moment to scan her through the window. She was wearing a plain hoodie and jeans and seemed to be fiddling with her hands. I took a deep breath to smooth out my clothes - no idea why, I just did this sometimes - and opened the door.

"Sarah! Glad you could make it," the principal's voice echoed in the small space. "This is Layla, she's just transferred in from another school and she'll be finishing out the year with us. Layla, this is Sarah Jackson, another of our seniors." I gave a confident wave to the new girl and got a shy one in return. No problem, probably just nervous to get to know people here.

"Shall we?" I began, gesturing out into the hallway, eliciting another shy nod from Layla. She didn't seem like the type who had many words in her, and that was fine. Sooner I could get back to my classes, anyway. We moved through the halls, pointing out various McDonald High landmarks. Along the way I noticed that Layla barely had a word to throw at a dog, only giving quiet assent when I pointed things out.

Soon we were at the end of the tour and Layla was still barely speaking, so I decided to pry a little deeper. "Hey, you doing okay? Noticed you didn't say much this morning," I tried. She simply shook her head, looking like she wanted to disappear into her long black hair and hoodie. "I've got an idea. We can grab lunch and find somewhere to sit, and I can get to know you a little since I never really did that out there," I said, gesturing to the school outside the office. I surprised even myself when I said this, given I was just doing this tour as a favour to the principal. To my surprise, she nodded and said in that same quiet voice, "Sure, that would be great."

Lunch was the same nondescript stuff as always, but we've at least got a nice campus so the view while eating was adequate. Once she'd had some food in her, Layla finally got to talking, though she was still quiet. "You probably want to know why I'm turning up here in the middle of the year. Right?" Her voice had a slightly chilly tone to it, almost aloof. "Turns out when you get bullied by the popular kids who also happen to be the school's best athletes, you just transfer to get out of it." Layla laughed at this, a laugh without humour behind it. "Thanks for your concern, but I'm just here to graduate and get out of this town," she finished. "No point planting roots when you're gone in a hurry."

We ate our lunch quietly before I broke the silence. "You know, it's a good crowd at this school. If you just gave it a chance I'm sure it'd be okay," I offered with a slight smile as I put my hand on the table between us, a literal and metaphorical gesture of friendship. I really don't know why I did it, but it felt like the right thing to do.

Layla laughed at this, though it wasn't an unkind laugh. "Yeah, that's easy for you to say with your perfect grades and looks," she shot back, leaving me unsure whether to be complimented or insulted. She put her hand on the table like mine and her sleeve pulled back to reveal a rainbow bracelet that had been hidden under the arm of her sweater. I opened my mouth to say something, but she cut me off. "Now you know why. Wouldn't want your friends seeing you with me." It wasn't a mean-spirited tone, but seemingly more of resignation. We sat quietly there until the bell rang and Layla went off to her next class, leaving with a quick thank-you for the tour.

~~~

Lying awake in bed later that night, my thoughts kept going back to the black-haired girl. Layla didn't want to be part of the school community, and it didn't take me long to put two and two together with her bracelet and the past bullying. Mostly, I just wasn't sure what to think about what she'd said to me last. We had out gay people at McDonald, but I didn't really know anything about them or roll in that crowd. She'd thought I was another person who would torment her, and while I wouldn't consider myself an ally or anything I knew I wasn't one of those people. My parents always reacted with dismissively changing the subject whenever it came up, but I wasn't one of them. Wasn't I?

More than anything, I was confused. Layla hadn't been receptive to the idea of opening up, but she'd voluntarily shown me her bracelet and she'd called my looks perfect, even with the surrounding context of that sentence dripping with sarcasm. And I had liked it, even now I was trying not to blush and failing. That was just something girls said to each other when they were friends, wasn't it? I called my friends pretty all the time and it was always just platonic, so that was what this was, right? I'd never dated a boy, since my parents had impressed a no-boyfriends rule on me, but I'd never really had my eye on anyone either.

I shook my head and padded out to my bathroom to splash water on my face. Shut up, Sarah, my brain told myself. There's nothing there, and it's not like you're going to come across her anytime soon so there's no point thinking about it. It was that thought that led me into a restless sleep.

~~~

That belief that I'd never have to deal with that line of thinking didn't even make it to the end of Monday, as I would soon discover. I had Chem first thing after lunch, which was a class I was really excited about and an area I wanted to go into in school. As usual, the beginning of the course was the assignment of lab partners and I had been in a class with most of the people here before, so I didn't think much of it. My gaze wandered over to the seat near the door, where a figure that had been in my mind the previous night was getting something out of her schoolbag. Looks like I'd be seeing more of Layla this term after all.

Pulling out my textbook as Ms. Pearson began the lecture, I tried to keep my mind on the lesson, but my mind kept wandering to a certain face. I shook my head and tuned back into the teacher's voice just in time to hear something that jolted me to attention.

"I have your lab partner assignments for the term here. You'll be working with this person for the next four months on the projects, so I expect you to get to know one another. I've selected the names at random, and I'll read them out now." Ms. Pearson read off several pairings of names before one got my attention. "Sarah Jackson," and now I was tuned in, "and Layla Chen". Well, this should be interesting.

After Ms. Pearson read off the last name, she told us to go sit by her partner, so I picked up my things and slid into the seat next to Layla. "Looks like we're stuck with each other," I joked, trying to break the tension. I could see her start to withdraw a bit from that joke, and my brain scrambled to fix that. "Hey, hey, it's alright. I don't bite, we'll be good as partners, y'know, for the labs."

Did I really just say that out loud? I hoped she hadn't caught the slip, or had I just said that without thinking? But then Layla smiled, the first real smile I'd seen on her face since I'd met her, and the tension was broken. "Yeah. We'll be good." I don't know why she occupied my mind so much, but all I knew in that moment was that I wanted to see that smile more.

~~~

The next few weeks seemed to go by without much fuss. I still went to my classes and hung out with my friends as I had in the fall term, but I found it as manageable as it had been before. I still had my one class with Layla, and we got along well when it was the course material we were discussing, but she always seemed to be in a hurry to leave once the bell rang and we never talked outside of class, and I didn't like it. I might have been top of my classes when it came to school subjects, but I wasn't any closer to figuring out my own thoughts and feelings. I wanted to see Layla smile and laugh, get to know the real girl behind the walls she had up, just be close to her. That was platonic, right? It wasn't anything more than that? My friends noticed me being more distracted when we sat together for lunch or hung out together, but they just assumed I was thinking about prom and boys like they were.

The distracting thoughts were starting to get more frequent, but I knew I just had to just think about them logically and they would go away, that's what I'd always done. Think, Sarah, look at this rationally. You're just classmates, she hasn't asked you to hang out or anything and she's always in a hurry to leave the room after the class is done. You're definitely not gay, you've never felt that way about a girl before. You just have to focus harder on your studies and it'll go away.

This continued on and I'd rationalize my way out of the thoughts whenever they came up, but I felt a sense of loss in doing so. When our hands would sometimes brush when passing equipment to each other during the labs my heart would skip a beat, and whenever this happened I always hoped my bulky lab goggles would hide the blush on my face, but fortunately for me Layla never noticed, or at least never said anything.

~~~

It was one of these typical February afternoons when Layla unexpectedly hung back after class. We sat together for the lessons and had graduated to friendly cordiality, though not sharing secret truths like my heart seemed to want.

"Hey, is it cool if I grab your number? My family's going on a trip for the long weekend and we're leaving early to get there, and I wanted to make sure I can get the notes for this class," she said quickly, her eyes darting around. I quickly nodded and handed my phone to her so she could add her number, sending herself a text and handing it back. Layla waved a quick goodbye and thanked me, and then she was rushing off as normal.

Me, but actually Layla - Hi.

Layla - Thanks. Figured since you're the one person I talk to in this class and you're on top of all this I can keep up with your notes.

Me - You're welcome. Guess I'm the least interesting girl in your contacts now.

Layla - Ha ha. Very funny.

I smiled at her dry wit and could feel the butterflies start to flitter around my stomach again.

"Who are you texting?" a voice sounded behind me, and I frantically stuffed my phone back into my bag.

"Nobody, what's it to you?" I shot back as the figure of Erin, my best friend, came into view.

"Is it a boy? I've never seen you like that before, they must really have you going," Erin pointed. If you wondered where my sarcastic sense of humour came from, this is basically it. We feed off each other like that

"Wouldn't you like to know," I replied, maybe a little too quickly. She didn't seem to pick up on anything unusual, though, and together we navigated the halls to our next class while the thoughts in my brain churned like ocean waves. Erin was right in that I'd never felt like this over a boy, never felt my stomach doing flips when I talked to them. But Erin was pretty, loud, confident, all the qualities anyone should want in a partner, and yet I didn't feel anything but the same platonic friendship I'd had with her since the seventh grade. So why did I feel so differently about Layla?

~~~

As any graduating senior will tell you, high school feels interminably long the closer you get to the end of it, and this long weekend was no exception. I had the usual assignments to deal with, but more taxing than those was this Identity Crisis I seemed to have gotten myself into just months from graduation. I thought I had everything figured out, but this wasn't a situation that I could just solve with logic like I did my homework. Layla was off at a family event across the country and I knew she was busy, but I missed seeing her and talking to her, even if the topic of conversation was academics most of the time. I pulled out my phone in frustration and opened my message app, glancing at my clock and doing the conversion in my head. It wasn't too late, so she should still be up.

Me - Hey, how are you doing?

Layla - Oh hi! It's been pretty hectic here but it's going okay. How about you?

Me - Doing okay. Missing our conversations, I wrote trying to be a little candid.

Layla - Conversations about the homework? That makes one of us.

Me - You know what I mean. I like getting to know you.

Me - Would you want to hang out outside of school sometime? Just the two of us? We can chat about things that aren't chemistry.

The typing bubbles on the screen were only there for a few seconds, but in the gravity of the moment they felt like years.

Layla - I'd like that, Sarah.

Me - Okay. I won't keep you up too long, have a good night.

Layla - Goodnight. See you soon.

I clicked off my phone and held it to my chest, taking in what I had just done. I was going to get to spend time with my friend that didn't involve titrations, and while I would probably have been overthinking that I'd just asked out a lesbian, instead I just felt calm. This thought gave way to an image in my mind of Layla standing in front of me, my arms around her. I put my finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to mine like they do in the movies, then I closed my eyes and moved my head down, feeling the brush of her lips on mine. The fantasy kiss was soft at first, then deeper as I let myself feel what I knew to be true. Fantasy Layla's hands moved up my back and pulled me closer, not wanting to let go.

This happy thought faded too soon from my mind to be replaced by a darker one, that of my parents scolding me, sending forth a single tear down my cheek. While my parents weren't the type to disown me for being gay, they certainly wouldn't approve of their highly achieving daughter being a lesbian. I still didn't know much about what had happened to Layla at her last school, since she understandably didn't like to talk about it other than through sarcasm, but the world had been cruel enough to her and I didn't want to hurt her more by exposing her to my parents. Even after having admitted my feelings to myself, my thoughts didn't become any less turbulent as I pulled my pillow close to my chest and fell asleep.

~~~

"You mean to tell me you've never tried it?" Layla teased as we walked through the mall. It was busy, but that just meant less chance of being seen by anyone from school.

"Never have! My palate's not that exciting," I laughed back. Now that I knew I had a crush on my lab partner and - dare I say it? - friend, I wanted to play it cool so she wouldn't be scared off.

"Here it is!" Layla proclaimed, pulling up at a kiosk that seemed to be popular with the mallgoers. Bubble Tea, the sign read. "This is always a comfort drink for me and I want you to experience it too."

"That good, huh?" I asked as we ordered our drinks. I didn't know what was usually good, but she was happy to make a recommendation and we found a place to sit down. Taking a sip of my drink, I felt something come through the straw and my eyes widened. Layla caught sight of my expression and giggled. Her laugh was high and clear, and I wanted nothing more than to hear it.

"That's the best part!" Layla laughed, her eyes sparkling. "They're like jelly, they're really tasty once you're used to them." I took another sip of my drink, trying to keep my face neutral and my eyes locked on her like I was being serious, but I couldn't keep from smiling through my tea.

"They're good! Thank you for introducing me to this place, I like finding out about things you like," I responded. I wasn't sure if she could pick up on me trying to be flirty, but a part of me didn't care if she knew. I knew what my heart wanted, and however things went was how they went. It was a change from my usual scientific demeanour, but then again I'd been surprising myself a lot lately.

"Of course! When I was getting bullied last term I'd just go to the place near my house and get a drink, find a park bench to sit on and just think about things..." Layla trailed off. She was withdrawing again, and almost unconsciously I reached my hand across the table and laid it on top of hers. Her hand was small and soft, and I knew I wanted to have it in mine.

"Layla." I began as her eyes tracked to mine. "It's okay. I don't know about the things you've been through, and you don't have to tell me right away or ever, but maybe this'll be a happier association than what you've been through before." At this she cracked a small grin, and I knew I had brought her back. "Now how about we go watch a movie and take our minds off sad things?"

We walked over to the theatre near the complex and got two admissions, picking a movie that would be fun and happy, granting us an escape from all the problems of the real world. Finding our seats, the pre-show came on and I discovered that Layla was a bit of a film buff herself, pointing out a couple of upcoming productions. I loved hearing about her interests and I wanted to know them all, and I tried to chime in with my limited knowledge to keep the conversation going.

The lights went down and we could immerse ourselves in the mastery of the actors for a couple hours. Partway through the film, I put my arm up on the armrest between our seats, my palm up, praying that she'd take my hand in hers. She happily obliged and the world was briefly reduced to the distance between our palms. Now if only I could find a way to tell her about my feelings, I'd be doing pretty well for myself here, but I hadn't quite mustered that courage or found the right moment yet.

Too soon the film was over and the lights came back up, and to my delight I could still feel the warmth of her hand in mine. If she was thinking anything about this gesture she didn't mention it as we made our way back to the bus station and headed for home, and as she reached her stop I hoped in my heart this wouldn't be the last time we could do that. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text, my emotions writing the words.