A Matter of Trust: A Carlsbad Village Lesbian Romance

“I want a label too!” Chloë interjected and then felt like a silly schoolgirl whose crush had just asked her if she wanted to hang out after school, which, now that she thought about it, was actually kind of what was happening.

The Morgan Banks was suggesting they call themselves girlfriends. Actually, not girlfriends, but Girlfriends.

This should have been one of the most exciting moments of her life, but there was a nagging problem she needed to bring up.

“Only…”

“Only, what?” Morgan asked.

Chloë wasn’t sure how to ask this. She decided to just blurt it out.

“What are you?”

She winced.

Sooo could have phrased that better!

She tried to recover.

“I mean, how are you identifying now? Are you gay? Or bi? Or…what?”

Chapter 22

“God, you and Naomi!” Morgan said, releasing Chloë’s hand and rolling her eyes.

“What do you mean?” Chloë asked.

Morgan sighed. She knew she was letting her annoyance get the better of her but she also didn’t know how to quell it.

“I mean, why is it you two are pressuring me to identify as one thing or another?”

“Hold up, hold up!” Chloë said firmly. “You were the one who just now brought up labels!”

“I meant, like, a label for what we are to each other,” Morgan said, wagging her hand between the two of them.

“I know that,” Chloë said. “But if we’re talking about that label, I would like to know just who I will be eventually calling my girlfriend.”

“And me identifying one way or the other is important for that?”

Morgan was not only annoyed but confused. She was thinking that if anyone would understand her reluctance to be pigeonholed into a category, it would be Chloë who comes from that subset of Generation Y who gave the world individuals using they/them pronouns to refer to themselves and the concept of pansexuality—and Morgan still wasn’t sure she knew what that meant. Why was it, then, that Chloë seemed determined to pigeonhole her?

But Chloë did seem determined. In fact, her face was registering surprise at Morgan’s question.

“Of course, it’s important!” Chloë exclaimed.

“Explain why,” Morgan stated, knowing she was using her teacher voice again, as if asking a student to explain why they felt Steinbeck’s portrayal of migrant farmworkers was too sentimental.

Morgan saw a flash in Chloë’s eyes.

Shit! She thinks I’m talking down to her! Damn teacher voice!

But before Morgan could correct the damage, Chloë went off.

“Fine, Miss Banks. The reason why it is important is because if I’m going to be committing to a girlfriend-level relationship with you, I want—no, deserve—to know if you have sorted out whether or not this is just a phase you’re going through, or if you’re even close to sorting that out.”

“And what if I’m not?” Morgan asked, because the truth was, she wasn’t even close.

“Then all we’re doing is having fun,” Chloë stated with a bluntness that shocked Morgan.