Cherry Flavored Coffee, Part 1

WARNING: This is a LESBIAN love story, as in about TWO GIRLS IN LOVE. If you don't like, DO NOT READ. If you're going to leave a homophobic comment, leave now because I will not stand for it. 1

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Cherry Flavored Coffee3

Part 1: Brittany's Girl4

I love Saturdays. Always have, always will. Especially when it’s late autumn, almost winter, and the air outside is refreshing and cool to the touch. I love it when my feet are walking down a forest path, gently gracing earth, and the excited whirlwinds catch sunset colored leaves in their wake and begin to spiral in time to my walking. It’s a time of sorrow, yet magic as the world settles itself down into the warmth of hibernation. It’s all so beautiful and calming. Right when a new school year is starting to kick off and the stress beginning to build up, this is just what I need. Weekends are always a blessing.5

I look outside now from where I’m sitting in a big, overstuffed chair in the living room. This Saturday doesn’t seem to be one of those because it looks like a huge storm is blowing in. The sprawling willow tree outside my sliding back door, which is visible from the living room window, is thrashing about wildly, as if it’s losing its mind. I hear the house groan as the wind blows and pushes harshly against it. Dark gray and mist colored clouds are gathering in the sky to cover the pale sun, pushing out the white and fluffy clouds that bring gorgeous weather.6

I sigh and pull my spoon out of the lime yogurt I’m eating for lunch, giving it a distracted lick. Pity. I wanted to go and do something fun today. It always sucks when bad weather takes away your freedom on weekends. 7

I’m shaken out of my thoughts when my fuzzy orange and white cat, Goldie, suddenly launches herself into my lap. The round, shiny green orbs of her eyes are wide and pitiful, the gentle squeak of her meow begging. My hand holding the spoon lowers slightly, and Goldie rubs her head affectionately against it, a rumbling purr rising from her creamy throat. I take a moment to smile warmly at her. I raised Goldie from a kitten and ever since she was a baby, she has loved certain dairies such as yogurt and milk, but mostly yogurt. Dad got mad at me for letting her lick the cup after I was done, and I can’t do it anymore in front of him. But at times like these, when the parents are out, I always like to let my kitty have her way. Well...at least a little. I’m not done with my yogurt yet. 8

I finish eating and share with Goldie in varying ways. Sometimes I’ll dab a bit of yogurt on her nose and laugh as her tiny tongue struggles in agitation to lick it off. Sometimes I’ll dab some on my own nose, or smear a bit across my lips so she can clean the silkiness of lime from my face. My most favorite though, is when I finish all the yogurt in the cup and offer it to her. Goldie cleans the edges inside immediately and always tries to bury her fluffy head down into the cup to get the rest. Her eyes slit and the soft tufts of her ears fold back in concentration. I’m laughing as she almost makes it to the very bottom. It’s like this, when her attention is completely elsewhere, that I can actually pet her and kiss the smooth fur on her head without her openly complaining.9

Out of nowhere, a loud, shrill ringing fills the air. Goldie’s eyes turn to saucers before she disappears from my lap and dives under the couch next to my chair with unnatural speed. I shift so I can glare coldly at the ugly red telephone hanging on the side of the kitchen wall. We have three phones in our house. The house phone, the cell phone (strictly for emergencies), and the “business” phone that my parents use for their business. The red phone is the business one. And it’s ringing. Which means I should probably answer because if I don’t, Mom will throw me out of the house. 10

Glancing at the growing cold and rain outside, I reach the conclusion that I don’t want to get thrown out right now.11

I roll my eyes and growl silently to myself before I haul my stiff, thin body out of the chair. People tell me constantly that I’m too skinny, but there’s nothing I can possibly do about it. Thanks to my pale blond hair being straight as a curtain rod and my brown eyes being pale as well, I even had some kid in school compare me to a spaghetti noodle. Funny right? No, not really. Their sight must have been off because I’m not as skinny and unusually colored as all that. I’m just built in a way that makes people think I’m an anorexic gymnast, complete with flexibility and slightly angular features. I don’t understand why these people walk up to ask what I’m doing out of a hospital. How they think I could be anything like that is beyond me. I’m not exactly pretty, but I’m not ugly either. Thankfully, people agree that I’m more on the pretty side.12

My feet barely make a sound when they carefully map themselves a route on the hideous beige carpet my Mom picked out when we first moved into this house. The phone is still screaming at me, it could go on for hours. I take a minute to sweep into the kitchen to throw the yogurt cup away and toss my spoon into the sink before I hurry and answer the phone on it’s, like, fifteenth ring. I don’t know what I’m going to say to someone from my parents’ work, but hopefully I won’t make TOO much of a fool of myself.13

“Hello?” Nice, common beginning.14

“Geez! Finally,” the voice on the other end answers. “I thought you would never pick up.”15

All emotions but shock drop from my face instantly. I feel the blood stop circulating in my veins. Oh my god. It’s not someone from my parents’ work. It’s her. It takes me all of three seconds. I’d recognize her voice anywhere.16

The voice of my ex-girlfriend, Sierra Marshall.17

Sierra is probably the most sarcastic, smart ass teenager in the entire world. She’s well known for it in our school, and pretty much all the teachers aren’t fond of her. When she wants to pick on someone, she plans it out carefully and with interesting selection. Sierra’s not really a mean person, it’s just that for her, life is all about having fun. I’ve made her angry a few times, and trust me, it’s not something you want to do. Underneath her wild nature, when there’s no one to tease or make fun of, she’s really an incredibly sweet and darling girl. 18

I let my eyes drift lazily closed as a memory from her fifteenth birthday party last year flares to life in my mind. It was late evening and the sun was setting in a blazing mix of rose and dandelion gold, setting off Sierra’s bright and ripply red hair in a dance of flames. She’d grown tired and she was yawning as we sat together on a park bench in the twilight. Her robin egg blue eyes were losing their light as if someone had flipped a switch and it was as simple as that. All the other guests had left, and as Sierra fell asleep, she rested her head on my shoulder and, surprising the hell out of me, entwined her fingers with mine. My blush could have melted every little bit of Christmas snow. I’d had a crush on her for a while at that point, and it was the very next morning that Sierra revealed that she had a crush on me too, and asked me out. I still think of that day as the best one of my life. 19

My eyes shoot open and my jaw clenches in anger when another memory awakens, this one not so pleasant. Sierra and I had been dating for about four months and we were really happy...or at least, I was. Apparently she thought something was missing because on the last day of school, things fell apart. 20

I was waiting for her at her locker like I did every morning and was shifting my weight from one foot to the other excitedly. It was the last day of school after all. If that doesn’t make you excited, then I don’t know what would. Being freshmen in high school, we were all teased regularly, and were looking forward to moving up and getting more “status”, as they like to say. Sierra always said it was all bullshit. She was one freshman who didn’t let the older kids push her around. I tried not to too, but my bravery is a drop of water in a cup compared to hers. I looked over when the familiar fire of Sierra’s hair caught the early summer sunlight and instantly, my excitement died, like a butterfly that had hit a windshield. 21

Sierra was walking down the hall opposite from me holding hands with another girl. I blinked a couple times, shocked and confused. A strong flame of jealousy and outrage started burning my insides, but then I thought, maybe I was overreacting. After all, we hold hands with our good friends all the time. But that was before Sierra leaned over and kissed the girl’s lips, once, very quickly, said girl being a tiny thing with bright blue eyes and brown hair. I recognized her from Science class. Amber I think was her name. She blushed light pink and giggled stupidly like she had been struck by Cupid.22

I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn’t watch anymore. Just to make matters worse, at that very moment Sierra turned around and saw me at her locker. Apparently she hadn’t known I was there (this was a bit early), because her face drained of all color. She looked just as sick as I felt. Looking into those cool blue eyes I loved so much, I couldn’t help it. My own eyes filled with tears, and I spun around and ran for all I was worth. I ran until I couldn’t breathe anymore. I was almost on the outskirts of town at that point. 23

I haven’t seen Sierra or spoken to her this entire summer. Now it’s freshly over and we’re a week into our sophomore year at school, and still not a word. Not that I WANT to talk to her, but I really do miss her. I keep trying to figure out how things could have gone so wrong, why she would even consider seeing someone else behind my back. Had I been a bore to her? Not good enough? All these questions came rushing back to me as I stood now on the phone with her. I wanted to poor everything out of myself like a spring fountain, and beg her forgiveness, but instead, I pursed my lips and glared coldly straight ahead.24

“Sierra? What do you want?” 25

There is silence, and then a small sigh on the other end. “Come on Brit, please don’t be like that,” she tells me.26

Don’t be like that? That’s all she can say? Something inside me snaps and the next thing I know, I’m screaming. “Excuse me? Don’t be like this? And why not? Why are you calling my house anyway, on the wrong phone I might add?! If you need someone to talk to, why don’t you call your precious Amber and cry to her?!” God, I sound like such an immature child, but I can’t help it. Sierra was always my weak point. She had always been the thing that kept me strong. I will not cry, I tell myself. I will not cry. But it isn’t working very well as hot tears gather in the corners of my eyes. 27

For a while, Sierra doesn’t say anything. I’m breathing harshly, choking out little sobs due to my poor attempts at not crying, and wondering how the HELL things ended up this way. My mind keeps telling her, say something. Say SOMETHING! And when she finally does, it’s the thing I’ve been wanting to hear all summer, and the thing I swore I would never accept.28

“I’m sorry. God Brit, I’m so sorry.”29

Silence. My sobs halt, my eyes close, and one hand folds over my heart. It’s beating, but it hurts. As the sound of the storm outside fills my ears, laughing at me it seems for being so pathetic, I’m wondering what’s going to happen now. “You...were at school early,” I whisper, eyes still closed.30

Sierra sighs softly again before replying, “Yes.”31

“You...were seeing another girl...behind my back.”32

Another uncomfortable pause. I don’t dare open my eyes, for fear that I will collapse right there and the water from my eyes will create another ocean. Finally, Sierra replies, “Yes.” 33

A dull ache accompanies each beat of my heart after that particular confirmation. My eyes open a tiny bit, but my sight is nothing but a watery blur. Before I can stop from voicing the thought aloud, it’s out of my mouth: “God Sierra, what happened?”34

“I don’t know,” she replies, so softly that I almost don’t hear it. I can’t take this anymore. I want to tell her she shouldn’t have called, shouldn’t have made me cry over her again. I’m shaking my head, just about to hang up, when Sierra says the weirdest thing that has ever come out of her mouth. 35

“Hey, you want to go get some coffee?”36

To say that I’m stunned would not even begin to cover it. My hand is still gripping the receiver tightly, ready to pull it away and hang up, and my teary eyes are even more out of focus. I blink once, very slowly, scanning her words for any hidden meaning she might have secretly slipped me. In the end, all I can say is, “Huh?”37

“Coffee,” says Sierra. “It’s why I called. We haven’t seen each other for a while, so I thought it might be fun to go out and catch up. Macy’s Cafe? I know how much you love that place.”38

I can’t help but blink again in confusion. Have I missed something here? I don’t know whether to be upset or pissed off. I’m all of a sudden reminded of why this girl is not popular with people in charge. Is she making fun of me? My hand tightens even more on the receiver, making the ugly red plastic groan in protest. She better not be. 39

“Is this a joke?” I growl. “You lie to me, you cheat on me, you indirectly dump me, you avoid me once we start school again and then all of sudden, after hell has broken loose, you call me up and invite me to go have coffee?” 40

It’s quiet for a couple minutes. I can tell she’s thinking very carefully about how she’ll reply. Unfortunately, Sierra has never been very good about being careful. Not sounding as cheerful as she normally would, she answers, “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” Okay, I’m pissed now. My hands are shaking, fire flaring to life in my eyes. I want to scream and punch and tear everything apart. What kind of stupid idiot does this girl think I am? Does she seriously think she can just win me back when it’s convenient for her? Screw that. “Well, you can forget it,” I tell her firmly. “You’re a heartless, manipulative bitch and I don’t want to have anything to do with you.” 41

What happened next, I swear to god I still don’t understand. Here Sierra and I were, I had just said something really nasty to her and was just about to hang up, when all of a sudden, hysterical laughter sounds from the other end. My hand freezes halfway to the phone’s port and I stare at the phone like I’ve never seen one before.42

Sierra...she’s laughing? Laughing after what I just said to her?43

Curiosity more than confusion gets the better of me as I timidly set the phone back to my ear. Sure enough, it is Sierra making the hysterical laughter. I shake my head. This is entirely too weird, even for her. I decide to play with the fire a little bit. 44

“Sierra? What’s so funny?” I say. The laughter comes to a choking stop, but she’s still sniffling and snorting like she can’t contain herself.45

“That’s my girl!” she giggles. My confusion goes up another fifty percent, and she’s still talking. “My dear Brittany, I may be a heartless bitch, but you have always known that I’m not the usual breed of heartless bitch. So therefore, telling me off as such shall not get rid of me!” There’s some shifting on her end, as if she’s moving around. Her laughter has completely died now, and suddenly, the atmosphere is nervous. She doesn’t know what to say. Neither do I. 46

Then Sierra breaks the silence, her voice soft and gentle. Were she in front of me, she would have her arms wrapped around me. “Come on Brit. Come and get some coffee with me?”47

“Give me one good reason,” I reply, still not willing to trust her.48

“I’ll pay. I’ll get you your favorite. Please? And besides, I have something else to tell you. Come to Macy’s Coffee in a half hour and you’ll find out what it is.”49

“But...wait Sierra! It’s storming outside!” I say. 50

She chuckles. “That never stopped us before.”51

She’s right. It didn't. My eyes close and I can’t help but sigh. Looking at the clock, I see it’s only almost half past noon. Mom and Dad won’t mind if I go to the Cafe. 52

“Alright,” I finally give in. “I’ll be there.”53

“Thanks Brit. I’ll see you soon, okay?” And with that, Sierra hangs up. I dejectedly hang up the now dead business phone.