Broken Silence

"She totally knows. It's okay, I'm not going to corrupt her girl," she jokes, leading me into her house.

“Mom?”

“What?” a voice calls out from the back of the house.

“I’m home! I brought a friend!”

“Okay!”

She shrugs and leads us upstairs as I suppress a laugh. The whole screaming exchange was so odd but so Abby.

When we walk into her room, I’m almost positive we aren’t in the right place. The walls are black, and one she’s written on like a chalkboard. It’s messy but somehow looks like organized chaos. For some reason I was picturing pink and girly and bright.

She takes my makeup bag while I’m taking it all in and dumps it on the bed before pulling me over to her desk chair. Once I'm sitting she goes and grabs her makeup and gets to work.

"Close your eyes," she instructs, before smoothing something over my eyelids. She continues brushing makeup over my face and stays quiet for a moment. The silence almost feels heavy, like she's waiting to drop something heavy. I reach up and give her hand a squeeze before dropping mine back to my lap. She gives a sigh and continues brushing on eye shadow.

"Listen. I just wanted to say thanks. It means a lot that you're so accepting. I've lost a lot of friends over my sexuality and I didn't want to lose you too. I promise I'm not going to make things weird or anything," she finishes, her brush stopping. I blink open my eyes and grab my phone out of my pocket.

'I'm glad you told me. I would never judge you for who you are, just like I know you wouldn’t judge me for being bi. And I wasn't worried about that,' I type, giving her a playful eye roll. She grins and hugs me tight for a minute before pulling back.

"Okay, enough of this." Abby sniffs and wipes away a couple of tears from her cheeks before adding eyeliner and mascara to my eyes. "Tell me what's going on with you and the guys."

'I like them all, that's the problem.' She reads the message and chuckles. Taking a deep breath, I write another message out. ‘I like you too. So I won't be doing anything about it because I don't want to ruin anything.’

"Well, I don't think that will be an issue. We aren't your average people," she says with a grin but refuses to elaborate. Instead, she hurries into her closet and throws a black dress at me. I shrug and head into her adjoining bathroom and quickly change clothes. It's a cute sleeveless dress that ruffles out at the bottom. I head back into her room and pull on my black boots and leather jacket.

When I finally turn to her mirror, I see the makeup she did. It looks great. My eyes are smoky, and the dark lipstick fits my usual style. I love it. I turn to her and pull her into a hug while giving a quiet squeal.

"You like it, then?" she asks, laughing. I nod vehemently, and she smiles before choosing her own outfit and disappearing. When she comes out, she's wearing skinny jeans, a bright pink shirt, and heels. She looks adorable and my breath catches for a second as my eyes take her in.

"Abby! Cole's here!" her mom yells up to us, snapping me from the eye fucking I’m giving her, and we finish as quickly as we can before running down the stairs and jumping into our waiting ride.

“Oh look, we didn’t have to wait for two hours, miracles do happen.” Cole’s teasing is met with a glare from Abby and he chuckles, giving me a wink.

"First, we need to stop for food," Trent announces as soon as we squeeze into the back of the car, ignoring Cole’s teasing as well.

"Fine, but go to a drive-thru!" Abby says quickly, she’s practically bouncing in her seat she’s so excited.

I pull out my phone and type 'Adam?'

"He's not coming tonight, his parents wanted him to babysit." A frown tugs down Abby’s lips, and I have a feeling there’s something more to the situation there but don’t press.

When we finally walk up to the house fifteen minutes later, stuffed full of burgers and fries, I hesitate. My stomach churns at the thought of going inside, but Abby pulls me with her into the mass of people inside. The panic slams into me so hard my stomach lurches, but Abby’s voice grounds me.

"It's going to be fun, I promise," Abby says, dragging me further into the party. Being here is already a big step, but they don't know that, and I don't want to ruin their fun.

We all split up inside, Abby sticking with me and pulling me to the dance floor, while Trent heads for the back porch and Cole joins a group near the air hockey table. After the first two songs, I’m finally able to relax and start dancing with her. The bodies pressing around us make it so hot on the dance floor, by the fourth song I feel the room spinning. Fresh air, now.

I tap her on the shoulder and mime drinking. She nods, and I turn to squeeze my way through the dancing crowd. The temperature immediate

ly drops when I'm free, and I let out a sigh of relief before heading into the kitchen. I twist my hair and lift it off of my neck, cooling down before searching out a safe drink. Spotting a bottle of water, I snatch it and crack it open. I down half of it and lean against the refrigerator before shutting my eyes, just enjoying a moment of peace.

"Hey, you're the new girl, right," someone says. I open my eyes to see a slightly familiar face. Someone I've seen around but can't actually place. Not surprising, I’ve been pretty antisocial.

I give him a quick wave and nod and his eyes light up, making a knot form in the pit of my stomach. He steps into my personal space, leaning closer to me.

"Doesn't that make you vulnerable? Anyone could come up and you can't even scream." His voice low and husky, like the idea of assaulting me turns him on. My heart rate picks up when I feel him growing hard against my hip, and I let out a whimper, closing my eyes and bracing myself to fight back.