The Beach

Her bed too big for her, drowning in the ocean of bed sheets as she tries to breathe in the damp air of the morning. A lonely morning has begun as every morning as begun these days. The rug feels warm under her feet as she gets out of bed, the fuzzy arms trying to get hold of her ankles to drag her back to sleep. Fighting off Sleep that is trying to get a hold of her again, but the cold shower fills the air with the smell of lemon shampoo and strawberry soap. The drops of H2O roll down her small shoulders as she shakes off water and dries herself with a towel. Only an hour left before school starts, she needs to hurry up else she’ll be too late.

Three different ripped tights cover her skinny and long legs, giving her the nickname Danni Long Leg. The black lacy dress exaggerating her hourglass figure and her round breasts, her long black hair resting on her shoulders, waiting to jump down. Looking at the clock Danielle realises that she only got ten minutes left, so she runs back the bathroom to put on some red lipstick picking up her schoolbag on her way out of her bedroom.

The bell has just rang, all students walk to their classrooms as they laugh, walk hand in hand, or try to be invisible. In the middle of the pushing a girl in black moves like a shadow through the hall, sneaking into a classroom as snake following a prey. Putting her bag on the table she gets out her book, two pens and a notebook, the seat next to her will always remain empty. You would think that anyone would be willing to sit next to her, only to have a stop in the back of the room instead of the front, but alas, nobody likes her enough to do so. The class suddenly goes silent as the teacher walks in, his tall body towering above the students and overshadowing a girl walking behind him. “This is a new student, she just moved her from the other side of the country”, he told he group of curious teenagers. The new girl looked a little nervous and confused. The teacher looked at her with a gentle smile, “Just pick a seat Lisa”. Danielle’s heart was racing in her through, her hands started to sweat and she had to look down to not make it worse. Lisa is the most gorgeous girl she had ever seen, her ginger hair long and curly, her figure a little short with feminine curves and the sweetest smiles. Peeking through the black curtain in front her face, she caught a glimpse of green eyes staring in her direction. The sound of footsteps approaching the table was uncomfortable, though her heart was almost jumping out of her chest when a soft voice asked her if she could sit next to her.

That was the day that Danielle’s life changed. The loneliness disappeared and got replaced by laughter and joy and company, she spend days with Lisa, hanging out at school together and having sleepovers at each other’s place watching horror films. Danielle got scared of her own heart, she felt so much love for this girl, but thought it couldn’t possibly true, she had only loved a boy this much before and he never noticed her. She brushed it off as close friendship but secretly wondering about her feelings.

It was finally summer and the school was out, Danielle went to Lisa’s house to see if she was home so they could go to the beach together and enjoy the weather and cool off. She was let in by Lisa’s father, a short and chubby man with a good sense of humour and a pleasant character, and proceeded to walk upstairs to Lisa’s bedroom as she was told that she was cleaning up her room. Lisa sat there in the middle of her room, surrounded by all kinds of objects, posters, souvenirs of holidays and books, she looked up with her green eyes. Danielle smiled at the way Lisa was perched between all these objects, she laughed and asked Lisa if she wanted to go with the beach with her to shake off the heat of the day. Disappointingly, Lisa shrugged her shoulders and told Danni that she didn’t feel like hanging out with her anymore. Danni left the room and walked down the stairs in shock. She didn’t understand it, they had so much fun together and now she didn’t want to hang around with her anymore, she was so confused that she almost walked into the door.

The next days she spend in her room, behind her computer or with her nose in a book trying to forget that she was all alone again and had a long summer in front of her. Every night she cried herself to sleep, she missed Lisa so much, she was even in her dreams apologising for what she said. One particular night after trying to reach Lisa for the thirtieth time she had the most confusing time, when she woke up, her face wet from the tears everything was clear. She had denied it for so long but knew it would not work to deny it much longer, it was too clear. Danielle was in love, hopelessly in love, heartbreakingly in love with her best friend. This made her only sadder and that night, when her parents were away for the night, she stole the beer that her father had placed in the cellar. After several bottles of beer, a lot of crying and puking she passed out before midnight.

A voice above her head was calling her name but the pain in her head made her want to go to sleep again. Suddenly she remembered the sound of that voice, she was shocked and curled up in a ball, ashamed and confused. The footsteps in the room were too loud and a whisper urged her to drink some water again the hangover. Lisa’s hands got a hold of Danni’s arms and she lifted her up and put her on the bed. Those years of swimming paid off though Danni as she tried to drink the water she held in her hand. It was still dark outside, Danni looked at Lisa, now even in more confusion than before. Her green eyes looking to the ground she told about how bad she felt after telling Danni that she didn’t want to see her again. When she got the phone call and heard her best friend telling that she was in love with her, crying and too drunk to take care of herself she snuck out of the house and let herself in through the backdoor. Lisa sat down next to Danni, holding her hand. Danni’s head still hurt and she couldn’t quiet comprehend what was happening, the alcohol was still in her system and her memory of the hours before almost erased for her hard drive, except for that phone call she made, right before throwing up and passing out. She had forgotten about it until Lisa told her about it and now she was holder her hands and sitting next to her. They looked into each other’s eyes and before they knew it they kissing.

Danni’s parents found the girls, sleeping together in their daughter’s bed. Their arms around each other with a smile on their face.

Lisa and Danni woke up, they knew they were each other’s girlfriend from now on. Before they went to sleep to had promised to tell their parents the next morning so they wouldn’t have to sneak around when they wanted to kiss. After refreshing and re-dressing they went downstairs to get some breakfast, Danni’s parents were sitting at the table and looked up coffee mug in hand. Danni didn’t know what to say and fell over her words and she tried to explain that Lisa and her were no longer best friends but girlfriends. Her mother just nodded and said “I know that you and Lisa are more than best friends, I am glad that you got together”. Danni was so relieved, because she feared that her parents would kick her out of the house or would never speak to her again, though she didn’t care because she knew that Lisa’s love would be enough.

Lisa had known that she liked girls for a few years, her parents knew about it, but she had never been in a relationship. The two girls cycled through the streets and every now and then looked at one another, smiling. At Lisa’s place, there was an air of distress, when they arrived the door flung open and a concerned father ran out hugging his daughter tightly before she could get off her bike. “Where in god’s name have you been, me and your mum were so worried!!”, he yelled. Her parents had found the empty bed early that morning, no note and her bike gone, they thought Lisa had run away. Lisa stayed calm the entire time and explained that she snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to help Danni out. All the time holding hands, squeezing every now and then. When the words “relationship” and “girlfriend” got dropped on the table her parents raised their eyebrows as if they were not happy with the news, then suddenly both smiled and walked toward the girls. Lisa’s father gave both girls a firm kiss on the forehead while the mother hugged them and congratulated both girls on finally getting together. Everybody knew they were more then friends, except Danni and Lisa, too scared to admit that they liked each other more then they wanted to admit. That day they went to the beach, held hands and never loved each other less then they did before.