Confession over a cookie.

Prologue:

Alice sat on the park bench stiffly as she nervously waited for Penny. The beautifully wrapped box of cookies were tightly held in  her hands, causing her knuckles to turn white. The sound of birds tweeting in the evening air was alarmingly loud. I can’t  believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe I’m doing this, the words continuously swirled in her head, making her slightly dizzy. I can’t  believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe- 

“Hey Alice? Is that you? You told me to come? Did something happen?”.

Alice’s head shot up in shock and was greeted by Penny’s beautiful face hovering over hers… 

*Ten days before*

Ten days. Ten days, Alice thought slightly sick, ten days until-

“Alice,” a voice hissed at her, breaking her out of her reverie. She looked up and noticed that her whole class was looking at her. Most importantly, her teacher was sending daggers at her with her gaze and stood upright with her hands on her hips. Uh oh, Alice thought as she cleared her throat and attempted a smile, hoping that her face wasn’t giving away anything. Besides her, her friend Penny had put her arms around her face, building a barrier between herself and the huge embarrassment that her friend was currently experiencing. 

“Well Alice? Not sure what the answer is, because you have not been answering me for the past five minutes,” her teacher’s stern voice sliced sharply through the air and Alice swore she felt it hit her forehead. Alice apologised and spent the rest of that lesson paying attention to her teacher with great difficulty as she desperately hoped the ground beneath her would open up and swallow her whole…

*after lesson* 

Penny waited until she walked out of the classroom to burst out laughing, attracting a few heads in her direction. Worried, Alice looked down at her friend, who was now clutching her stomach as tears of laughter streamed down her face. Upon realising what she was laughing at, Alice poked Penny. “Okay, okay, fine, I’m sorry,” Penny apologised wiping the tears from her face, “but you have to admit, that was pretty funny.”

“Pretty humiliating”, Alice retorted back. She was about to stomp off when she felt Penny pull her closer into a hug. A warm hug.

“I’m sorry Alice, that was pretty mean of me,” she smiled softly at her friend, “should we go to that cafe near school and sip some tea to make everything better?”

Alice smiled at the thought of sitting in a warm cafe, the smell of coffee wrapping itself around her as she drank her warm tea, “tea does make everything better”, she agreed before both her and Penny left school and into the warm summer afternoon.

*Eight days before*

It was the weekends and Alice was stuck at the library studying for that week’s exams. After three hours of studying non-stop, Alice shut all her books with a loud bang and groaned loudly, putting her head into her arms as she laid her head on the table. And then she was lost in her thoughts. Should I just tell her? What if she doesn’t think the same? If I tell her and she doesn’t return those feelings it’ll ruin our-, Alice's thoughts were interrupted by the deafening sound of the chair besides her being scraped back. Alice lifted her head and squinted her eyes as she looked to see who had dared disturb her… nap. She smiled warmly at the person upon realising who it was. “Hey Penny.”

“Hello sleepyhead, what you doing?,” the other girl asked as she leaned forward looking at Alice’s messily scrawled notes. Alice’s heart beats quickened when the feel of Penny’s soft red curls tickled her nose, the smell of lavender filling her nose. The sun that was setting behind her made Penny look like a mysterious fairy. Something about her was so inhuman yet so beautiful…

“Alice!,” the sound of Penny’s voice sounded distant. Wait, what?, Alice thought when she realised that Penny was actually sitting in front of her. Her green eyes burned fiercely with… anger? 

“I...erm… did I do something wrong?”

Penny’s eyes softened and now her eyes were filled with warmth and worry, reminding Alice of a field of lavender. She placed her warm hands on Alice’s before softly saying, “Alice? Is something wrong? It’s just that.. these days I’ve noticed you zoning out a lot...and is something wrong?”. Penny’s warm voice awakened something in Alice and it felt like something else had completely taken over her body. 

“I…”, Alice trailed off, the two words swirling around in her head left unspoken. Alice gasped in shock and clapped her hands over her mouth in horror. She got up and picked her stuff up.

Penny frowned, “where you going? I just got here… did I say something wrong?”

“No, no, you didn’t say anything wrong Penny… I just… need to go,” Alice’s own trembling voice sounded strange and unfamiliar. And then she was gone, leaving behind a very confused Penny…

*five days before*

It was after school. The silent and calm afternoon was contrats to what Alice was feeling right now. Panic. Worry. Dread. Her room was a wreck as well as she had written enough letters to fill all the ocean in the world but had then tossed them away in fear, hoping she could erase her feelings. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Her frosty blue eyes were wide open. Half an hour had passed before Alice decided that perhaps it was time to talk to someone about it. She dragged her feet reluctantly as she approached the kitchen, where her big sister was sitting, scrolling through her phone as the wave of calming music took over the room. Alice closed her eyes for a small second and tilted her head back, letting the music flow over her. When she opened her eyes, she felt more calmer and sat beside her sister. She cleared her voice when her sister hadn’t noticed her. “Um… Rose?”.

Without looking up, her sister replied distractedly, “hmm?”.

Annoyed, Alice took her sister’s phone from her hand, “I need to ask you something…”.

“Hey give that back,” her sister reached for her phone but Alice stretched her arms further away from her sister so it was out of her reach and placed it on the other side of the table.

“After, you can have it after but first listen to me.”

Rose crossed her arms and the look of annoyance was clear on her face, “fine, hurry up with it.”

Alice rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, “well...I like someone.”

“And? Go ask him out”.

Alice whacked her sister on the arm, “first of all, it’s a her, and secondly it’s not that easy!”.

Rose’s eyes widened in shock, “a-a girl? Woah, “ Rose smiled and patted Alice awkwardly on her arm, “good for you… and sis, it is that easy. You need to be honest with her and tell her. You only live once and you should just tell her. If she likes you then she likes you and you two can live happily ever after. If she doesn’t… sure it’ll be awkward between you two but then you know she doesn’t like you and...it may hurt.. But then you know she just isn’t the one for you,” Rose smiled at her sister again, “it might take a long time but you’ll find that person that’s right for you eventually and it’ll be worth the wait,” Rose looked into the distant as if she were thinking about something… about someone, “I mean look at me, I’m 23 and still haven’t found anyone…”.

Alice looked at her sister sympathetically and hugged her sister, “thanks sis, and you’re an amazing person, I’m sure you’ll find someone.” Alice then left the room and went to her bedroom, not hearing her sister saying, “but I have found someone…”

*the day before*

The kitchen was a mess. Flour was everywhere and egg shells were scattered around. Alice was baking cookies for Penny because baking was her speciality and if Penny didn’t like her then at least she liked the cookies… right? Alice shook the thought out of her head as she continued making her cookies. The smell of chocolate and cookies mingled in the air and calmed down Alice’s nerves. These days the weather had been very lovely and the warmth of the sun filled the kitchen and the music playing made Alice feel like she was dancing on clouds. When she had taken the cookies out of the oven, she waited for them to cool and placed them in a red heart shaped box and tied a red ribbon over it, securing the box. After she had cleaned the kitchen and had hummed to herself, she felt ecstatic and giddy. So this is what love feels like, Alice thought as she placed the lovely wrapped box on the side. Night came and the stars shone brighter that night but Alice’s dream was the loveliest above them all.

*on the day*

Alice sat on the park bench stiffly as she nervously waited for Penny. The beautifully wrapped box of cookies were tightly held in  her hands, causing her knuckles to turn white. The sound of birds tweeting in the evening air was alarmingly loud. I can’t  believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe I’m doing this, the words continuously swirled in her head, making her slightly dizzy. I can’t  believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe I’m doing this, I can’t believe- 

“Hey Alice? Is that you? You told me to come? Did something happen?”.

Alice’s head shot up in shock and was greeted by Penny’s beautiful face hovering over her. Alice cleared her throat and held out the box of cookies to Penny. Confused, Penny took it and laughed. Her sweet laugh laced itself around Alice, “Oh, thank you… what’s this for by the way?”

Alice patted the space beside her, signalling for Penny to sit besides her. Taking a deep breath, Alice squeaked, “Penny I really like you,” Alice covered her red face in horror. What did I just do? What did I just do? What did I just-

“I really like you too Alice.” Alice’s head shot up in confusion as she looked at the other girl, who was looking into the distant as she blushed a lovely shade of red, “I’ve always loved you Alice but I never told you because I was afraid it’d ruin our friendship…”, Penny’s voice wobbled slightly as she looked at Alice’s shocked face and smiled. 

“I… I never knew… I’ve also liked you for a really long time and didn’t tell you for the exact same reason,” Alice took Penny’s warm hands and looked deeply into those lovely green eyes, “does that mean… we’re dating now?”.

Penny giggled and held Alice’s hands tighter, “yes that does mean we’re dating now,” she twirled with her hair nervously, “hopefully it also means we’ll get married one day too.” 

Alice smiled and oblivious to the tears running down her cheeks, she leaned forward and kissed Penny gently on the lips. “I love you Penny.”

“I love you too Alice”.