Before
Shae
“Geezus, Len. Where did you come from?” Shae muffled her words as she attempted to chew through the bite of pasta she’d just taken. “I’m trying to eat here.”
“Yeah?” Lennon pulled out a chair beside her and sat. “And, I’m trying to work out logistics. I think we both know which is more important.”
Shae rolled her eyes. She knew where this was going. When Lennon wanted something done, she wanted it done now. There was no waiting; she would nag you to death until it happened.
“Fine,” Shae grumbled. “What are we working out?” She dropped her fork, leaning back against the wood of her chair.
“Well, for starters,” Lennon perked up. “Who are you going with? Then, what are we wearing? Should we match? We’ve never done that, and it’s like a whole twins thing, I think, would be kinda cute for our final dance at this school. Eek, I’m so excited.”
“No. We’re not matching Lennon. And I—”
“Not mat-ching,” Lennon interrupted, making a note in her book, then making a check mark. “Okay, and are you wearing a dress or a suit and tie?”
Shae stared at her, incredulous. “Why would I wear a suit and tie?” She held out her hands questioningly.
Lennon leaned back in her chair, looking her up and down, then narrowing her eyes. “You’re right, totally not a suit girl.” She made another check mark in her notebook. “Just didn’t want to be presumptuous. Who are you going with? I need names, and we’ll narrow down the options from there?”
“We’ll? Lennon, are you going mad? Look, I don’t even know if I’m going to prom.”
“Wait, what?” Lennon looked up from her notebook, dumbstruck. “Why wouldn’t you go? Shae, this is our last year. It’s our Senior Prom. You can’t just not go.”
Shae snorted defiantly, “I can just not go. It’s not like it’s mandatory. Plus, who would I go with? Kira’s going with Jacob Hays, and you’re going with Brodie.”
“I don’t know if you realize this, Shae, but prom isn’t something you go to with your sister as your date or your best friend.”
“Yeah, I realize that, but… You know. We’ve gone to most of the other dances that way.”
Lennon dropped her pen onto the table and tucked her arms into her chest, staring over at Shae.
“Are we gonna have a problem here?”
“Oh my God. Lennon!” Shae yelled, rising from her seat. She grabbed her plate, fleeing the room for her own. Lennon swiped her notebook off the table and trailed behind.
“Ok, I know,” Lennon said, rushing up the stairs, trying to keep up. “I’ll make a list of potential suitors and present them to you, and we can—” Shae opened the door to her room, stepping inside and slamming the door behind her. “We can decide from there. Shae?” Lennon knocked lightly. “Please?”
There was silence on the other side of the door, and Shae could hear the floor creak beneath Lennon as she shifted. Her shadow moved from the crack beneath it as she stepped away, slamming the door to her room across the hall.
Shae relaxed her shoulders. She hated that she worried so much about this; she’d done her best to avoid it.
Every time a school dance came around, she’d feel so much trepidation.
She didn’t want to miss these things either but not missing them meant going with someone she didn’t like or with her friends, and if they had dates, it got awkward.
She liked it best when her sister was with Brodie, and Kira wasn’t dating someone. It meant not having to do… this.
At some point, she had to tell Lennon that she wasn’t interested in boys, not in the slightest. She’d told Amber and her friend, sort of mentor, Natalie, but only because they were in her same boat. It was a lot harder figuring out how to tell, well, basically, anyone else.
She enjoyed her privacy, and she didn’t like people in her business, especially this business. It’d been difficult for her to accept; why should she think anyone else would accept it any easier?
She let that thought linger, setting her food aside on her nightstand. She wasn’t hungry anymore. She leaned back against her headboard, her knees drawn up to her chest, allowing her thoughts to drift. If there were ever a time to do this, this would be it.
She rose from her bed and faltered across the hall to Lennon’s room, her fist hovering in place a minute before knocking.
“You can come in,” Lennon called from the other side of the door. “Oh, did you decide?” she asked as Shae stepped inside.
Shae leaned her back against the door, crossing her arms.
“Whatever you have to say, do it quickly. Em’s coming over, and we’ll be going over all this together.”
“Lennon, could you just… just stop for a minute. I have to tell you something important.”
Lennon glanced up from her notebook, setting her pen to the side. “Everything okay?”
Shae sat next to her on the bed and puffed out a breath.
“Shae, you’re making me nervous. Please?”
“The reason I don’t want to do prom is that I don’t want to have to go with someone I don’t like.” She widened her eyes at Lennon, waiting for her to catch on. She clearly didn’t.
“Well, duh.” Lennon threw her arms out.
“No, Lennon. Like, boys. I don’t like boys. I’m not into them or whatever. Like, at all.” She raised her brows, rolling her hand in the air suggestively. Lennon's face turned from serious into a smirk, a smug look on her face.
“I know.” She chirped. “But I’m glad you finally trusted me enough to say it,” Lennon reached over to hug Shae.
“What? Lennon? You know?” Shae tugged herself free of the hug.
“Of course I do. We all do.”
“Who’s we all? Wait, how?”
“Me, Mom and Dad. Pretty sure Kira probably has an inkling, too.”
“Mom and Dad know?” Shae asked. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.
“Umm, yeah. You’ve like, never been interested in a boy, not one crush. That’s not typical.”
“And Em? Does she know?”
“Ha.” Lennon snorted. Then her face went flat. “Oh, you’re serious? Shae...”
“What?”
“You two have been, like, in love with each other since freshman year. Pretty hard to hide.”
“We haven’t been in—” Shae paused. In love with each other? Did Em feel the same? She didn’t want to know, not right now. She wasn’t ready for anyone else to know; she just didn’t want to have to hide it from Lennon anymore.
There was a knock on the door downstairs. Shae heard her mom talking, followed by scuffling up the stairs.
“Don’t say anything to anyone, please. To Em. Please don’t tell her.”
Em knocked on the bedroom door before entering at Lennon’s call.
“Oh, hey.” Em smiled at Shae. “What are you guys doing?” Em sat down on the bed next to Shae, their legs nearly touching.
“Planning. Shae needs a date for prom, and we were about to go over a list of contenders.” Lennon peered into Shae.
Sweat pooled under Shae’s arms, the room closing in on her.
“You could go with me,” Em suggested. “I don’t have a date yet.” Em flashed a cautious smile at Shae, barely catching her eyes.
“Oh, yeah. Why didn’t I think of that?” Lennon smirked, her eyes dashing off to the side at no one in particular.
Shae hesitated for a moment, “I guess we could go as friends,” she said.
Em nodded sharply at Shae, her smile slightly fading. “Umm, it’s settled then, Len. Two birds, one stone.” She flashed her eyes back at Shae, and Shae forced a smile over at her.