CHAPTER 5 #2
“My dad sent me away for the summer to some stupid kid’s camp.
He went there when he was young and became a counsellor.
He wanted me to do it, too, because he said it was a good experience, so I had to be there for ten whole weeks.
Then, we went on a family vacation, and I know it was more about keeping me away from Murphy than us going on that vacation or me having a fun experience.
When we finally got back to school for my senior year, I was scared.
He didn’t like Murphy. He knew she was gay.
She came out to her family, and at the time, our families were close.
Anyway, he and my mom started keeping me very busy, making me join school activities and stuff they never cared if I was involved in before.
I was also about to go away to college, so I couldn’t see how it would work, with Murphy there for another year and then, potentially, going to a different college. ”
“So, your parents kept you apart because they could tell you were interested in more than friendship?” Larissa asked, thinking that it might be interesting to talk about how others sometimes noticed when people were in love, even when the couple themselves didn’t.
“I don’t know if they knew specifically that I wanted to be more than friends, but I think they worried that she could convince me,” Della replied.
“As if that’s a thing,” Murphy added.
“So, at what point did things change?” Harlow asked. “When did you move from friends to girlfriends?”
“Well, six months ago, we were in my room. My parents were both at work, so Murphy was over, and we were talking about colleges because I’d gotten into three and I needed to make a decision.”
“She got into one near here and two that weren’t really close, and we were trying to figure out how long it would take her to drive back and forth and how much we could see each other,” Murphy said.
“How did it make you feel, knowing she’d be gone and possibly far away?” Larissa asked.
“Like crap,” Murphy answered. “I wanted her to go to school wherever she wanted, but I hated the idea of not seeing her in school every day. At the time, that was basically it. We snuck around whenever we could, but her parents were really on this whole ‘I’m going to make her gay’ thing.
They didn’t want us hanging out at all, so if she wasn’t in school, I couldn’t see much of her already.
Then, she would’ve been gone and only home every few weeks at most, or maybe only for the holidays, where her dad might not want us hanging out then, either.
Yeah, she was eighteen and could technically do whatever, but not really when her parents are paying for everything and she’s staying with them whenever she’s home.
So, it was complicated, but I didn’t want to not see her. ”
Della looked over at her and said, “And that was when it happened.”
“What?” Harlow asked, leaning forward in her chair.
“When she said pretty much the same thing to me, that she didn’t want to not see me for months, I just leaned over and kissed her. I still can’t believe I did it.”
“Me neither,” Murphy added with a laugh. “I definitely didn’t expect it.”
“And what was it that had you wanting to kiss her in that exact moment?” Larissa asked.
“We’d spent the better part of a year wanting to be together without telling each other that and with my parents making it feel impossible, but there she was, telling me that she would drive to see me whenever she could and that we’d talk on the phone more now because I would be in a dorm and wouldn’t have my parents around to overhear, and I just knew that she felt the same way I did.
I went for it. We were lying on my bed, and she turned just at that moment. I kissed her, and–”
“And that’s all,” Murphy said quickly. “Just that, and I left after that.”
Della laughed and said, “She’s shy about the weirdest things sometimes.”
“So, you two…” Harlow faded out but motioned with her hand for them to continue.
“Yeah, it was our first time.”
“You didn’t want to wait?” Harlow asked.
“No, I didn’t. We’d already waited,” Della replied. “And I’m glad we didn’t. I told her I loved her. She said it back. It was perfect until my parents were about to come home, and she had to leave. That part, I hated.”
“In that moment, what made you tell her how you felt?” Larissa asked Della, taking notes.
“I was tired of her not knowing, I think, but it had also almost slipped out a million times, and I knew it then. I just needed to tell her so that we could finally be with each other and decide what to do together. We’d let my parents keep us apart, but I didn’t want to do that once the summer started and when I was away at school. It felt…”
“Inevitable?” Murphy asked, finishing for her.
“Yes, but urgent or imminent might be the better word. I knew I loved her from the first moment I saw her. I just didn’t have the words to tell her then.”
“Describe that first moment for me.”
“In the cafeteria?” Murphy asked Larissa. “I was in line behind her, and she dropped a piece of paper. It was her schedule because she was new and didn’t know her way around yet. I picked it up for her, and we got to talking.”
“I still have it,” Della shared.
“Have what?” Harlow asked.
“That schedule.”
“You do?” Murphy asked, looking over at her girlfriend, surprised.
“Yeah, in one of my notebooks from that year. The one for trig.”
“We had trig together.”
“Because you’re a math smarty,” Della stated proudly. “She was a year ahead in math,” she explained to Larissa and Harlow. “We sat next to each other and wrote notes to one another in our notebooks. I still have mine.”
“I have mine, too,” Murphy shared. “I didn’t know you kept yours.”
Della nodded and replied, “Of course, I did. They were our first notes.”
“So, what happens next?” Harlow asked.
“In our story?” Della asked back. “Um… Well, we’ve been together ever since. I told my parents about a week later that they had a choice.”
“She was very brave,” Murphy told them.
“It was either they accepted Murphy as my girlfriend, or they didn’t, but if they didn’t, things would be very hard for us.
I couldn’t exactly support myself without them, but I told them that I could.
My mom talked to my dad, and he’s still not happy about it, but Murphy is allowed in the house whenever I’m home. ”
“And I’m going to the same school,” Murphy shared.
“When I graduate. She ended up going to the one nearby, so we see each other a few times a week. My parents are a little more relaxed, so I’ve been able to stay over at her dorm, too.
We’re talking about getting a dorm room together next year since we can’t afford an apartment yet, but we’d be living together in our own room, at least.”
“That’s a pretty big commitment,” Larissa noted.
“Yeah, well… We love each other,” Murphy reminded her. “And we can both get roommates next year, or we can just room together.”
“What if you break up?” Larissa asked.
“Why would we do that?” Murphy asked back as if that was the most ridiculous question in the world.
“You’re right,” Larissa said and nodded. “Can we maybe dive into the feelings a little more?”
“What do you mean?” Della asked.
“Specifically, what do you remember feeling when Murphy handed you that schedule you dropped?”
“Oh.” Della smiled again. “I know now that I felt butterflies, but back then, I just thought it was someone doing something nice for me. I guess I thought she was cute, too.”
“Gee, thanks, babe,” Murphy said.
“No, I mean, I’ve always thought you were cute. I just didn’t know that I was thinking that because I was into you.”
“Butterflies?” Larissa asked.
“Yeah, like flying around in my stomach.”
“You know what’s interesting about butterflies?
” Larissa began. “There’s really no distinction to getting them when you have a crush or like someone new compared to when you are aroused sexually; not when it comes to the brain anyway.
It’s a sign of sexual passion and arousal and is just a response to that. ”
“Hold on. You wanted to have sex with me that day?” Murphy asked Della.
“That’s not exactly what Larissa here meant,” Harlow explained. “She gets a little too sciency sometimes.”
“That’s still not a word,” Larissa replied. “And what I said is the truth.”
“Babe, you wanted to sleep with me the day we met?” Murphy teased.
“Did you not get butterflies that day?” Della asked.
“Oh, I totally did.”
“So, you wanted to sleep with me, too, then.”
“Obviously. You’re gorgeous.”
Larissa took a few more notes and asked several more questions before their time was up.
Then, she thanked them for their time and paid them the money she promised.
She’d made sure to ask if they would be fine answering follow-up questions if she had any, to which they’d said yes, and as she watched them leave, Larissa felt good in that moment, happy that she had heard their story.
It was a nice feeling, and she hoped she’d have it after every interview.