Rainbow Central Complete Series

Chapter 11

Jo

JoWe ended up in the little kebab shop on the other side of the road and ordered two menus with french fries, kebabs, and a soft drink. The whole place smelled of fries and charred meat, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

We sat down in one of the corner booths and I dug into my food immediately, hoping it would hold off the conversation. Ellie looked like she had a lot of questions but she patiently waited for us to finish eating. She slurped the last of her drink while I picked at the last cold fries on my plate.

She put her empty can on her tray and pulled out her little notepad that I gave to her for her last birthday. “This was good. For a place like this, it was nice and fresh. Good meat, good fries.”

“Good price too,” I added. “And the onion rings were very crispy.”

Ellie jotted her notes down like she always did after a meal. “What rating should we give this place?”

“Hmm… I think six or seven stars. But only one chef hat.”

“I agree. It was good but not very complex.” She finished writing her thoughts on the meal and flicked it shut. “Right. Now. You said you had something to tell me?”

I gathered a deep breath, trying to find the courage and confidence to reveal my new discovery. Even if it was new, it also wasn’t.

Not sure how to explain, I took a moment to think. My phone buzzed on the table and Reggie’s name popped up on my screen.

“Sorry,” I muttered, turning over my phone.

“Everything okay?” Ellie asked. She seemed concerned and I didn’t blame her, I was being weird.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I…” I glanced at my phone, wondering what Reggie wanted.

Ellie gestured to the device. “You can check it.”

“Sorry,” I said again, picking up the phone so I could read her text.

Nothing important then. Luckily. At least I could send a quick answer her way.

My text had barely gone out before Reggie’s came back in.

My thumbs hovered over my screen. I did want to go, but I also promised Ellie I’d go with her to the Plaza party.

“Everything alright?” Ellie asked again.

I nodded as I blacked out my phone and put it in my pocket so it wouldn’t draw more attention. “Just Reggie.”

“Oh. Reggie again,” she said, her tone sharper than before. “You two seem to be getting on.”

“Yeah, we are… What?”

She shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Come on. What?”

“It’s just... It seems like lately, everything is about Reggie. Reggie this, Reggie that. Didn’t you say you went to the party yesterday because she invited you?”

“Yes, we went together. Well, not “together together”. Just, together. Like you and I would.”

“Right…” she replied in the same tone.

Something was definitely bothering her, but I didn’t know what. I remained quiet, giving Ellie the space to let out whatever was bothering her.

She played with her straw, twisting it in knots. “You’re spending an awful lot of time with Reggie.”

“She’s nice.”

Ellie scoffed. “So, what, she’s like your new best friend or something?”

“It’s not like that,” I protested weakly.

“Then why did you go out after I left? Why didn’t you invite me along? Or am I not cool enough to hang out with your new best friend.”

new best friendThe bitterness in her voice hurt and I desperately shook my head, hoping to convince her I wasn’t replacing her. If I’d just told her the truth, she wouldn’t have had to worry about this. “Ellie—”

“Don’t.” She looked away, but it didn’t hide the tears in her eyes.

I felt awful. I didn’t intend to hurt her, on the contrary. I wanted to tell her something important about myself but I was just going about it the wrong way.

“I think I’m a lesbian,” I blurted out, not sure how else to defuse the strange tension at the moment. While I didn’t think this would be a dealbreaker for our friendship, she was here after all, I’d be heartbroken if she judged me or disapproved. Or worse, thought I was disgusting.

I closed my eyes. I couldn’t watch if Ellie hated me for it. That would just break my heart.

“A lesbian?” Ellie echoed, her voice a little softer. “So you went to a party with Reggie… because you two are dating?”

“What? No. We went to an LGBT party because I wanted to figure out if… you know, I was into it.”

The bell above the door rang as a new customer came in and a gust of wind brushed Ellie’s unused napkin off the table. I picked it up and waited until the man made his order so we had some privacy again.

Ellie tipped her head to the side, her look intense but nonetheless patient. “So… are you?”

I fiddled with the paper napkin, tearing it into strips so I had something to focus on. “I think so.”

“Huh. Okay… Cool.”

“Cool?” That was not how I expected her to react.

My best friend hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose you never were very interested in hot guys.”

I fiddled with the pile of torn strips, rolling them into small balls and organising them on the metal table. “I suppose not.”

She was silent for a little bit before she shrugged. “Okay then. It’s the twenty-first century. If you’re into women, then that’s just that. Cool.”

I waited for more comments or an outburst, but Ellie seemed more interested in the dessert menu. She held it out to me with the ice cream page on display. “Shall we get dessert?”

“I’m full. Do you not want to know more?”

Ellie put the menu down. “Is there more you want me to know? It kind of seems like you’re… maybe not comfortable telling me yet? I’m sorry if I pressured you into talking about it, you’ve just been acting strange and I was worried.”

“I don’t know. It’s all a bit new to me too,” I admitted. The door opened again and a group of teenage boys came in, laughing and joking. They were all wearing heavy backpacks and one glance at my watch confirmed school had just ended.

They made lots of noise and the intimate atmosphere was gone.

Ellie gestured to the door. “Shall we get out of here?”

I nodded. We cleared our table and left the trays on the designated spot next to the garbage bins. The teenage boys were loud and joking with each other, but a couple couldn’t stop themselves from checking out Ellie on our way out. She seemed oblivious to their attention as she held the door open for me. “After you.”

“Thanks.” With a sigh, I stepped out of the shop. The shopping street was busier than before, now filled with more teenagers, mums with strollers or young children, and men in nice suits and expensive briefcases.

Too many people for my taste, but Ellie didn’t seem to mind. She thrived in crowds and company. She looped her arm through mine and pulled me along, and as always, I was happy to follow.

People moved out of their way for us, something they never did when I was on my own. It was Ellie’s vibe and energy that made people notice her. Not that she noticed. For someone that could find a cute guy anywhere, she could be notoriously oblivious to the world.

she“What shall we do next?” she asked, humming one of the popular tunes of the moment.

“I’m a little tired,” I replied as I gestured to the bus stop. “I might go home and work on my art project. It’s due Monday and if we’re going to a party, I’ll be too hungover to work on it.”

“Okay.” Ellie sounded disappointed, but she quickly covered it up with a smile. Before I could ask her what that was about, she was already going on ahead. She balanced on a painted line on the pavement, effortlessly moving forward. At the end of the line, she turned around to look at me. “Are you coming?”

We stood still for a moment, the distance between us more symbolic than anything. We’d been friends for so long, sometimes I forgot how different we were. I just didn’t have that same energy like she had. When she did things like this, it looked fun and playful. When I did, I looked like a ridiculous, overgrown child. Sometimes, she managed to make me forget and that was part of her charm.

I was feeling too self-conscious today for any of that. I hurried forward, ignoring the lines on the ground. I caught up with her and together, we made our way to the bus stop. It was swarming with young children, all gleeful that school was out. Boys running around, girls whispering and gossiping, a handful of them were playing with trading cards.

I exchanged one glance with Ellie and I smiled. “Perhaps one more drink? I don’t want to get on the bus with all… that.”

Ellie’s eyes lit up and with a big smile, she held out her hand.

A warm feeling welled up in me at her enthusiasm. While there were many things I doubted, I knew Ellie loved spending time with me. Somehow, that made it all even more painful.

I masked my turmoil with a smile and took her hand, trying not to notice how much I enjoyed her touch. Falling in love with my best friend was wrong and yet, I couldn’t stop the light flutter in my chest as Ellie smiled at me.

The flutter intensified from just that one look and I knew I was already long past smitten.