An All-Girls Boarding School

My parents are very overprotective. And that is an understatement. They think they have to protect me from the world. They believe that school is the only thing that is important, and that’s that. I think their greatest fear was me getting a boyfriend. I know this because they have lectured me about it countless times. “Boys are just a distraction,” they said. “Boys will keep you from getting a good education,” they said. These lectures never really bothered me because I was never really interested in boys. I told them this many times, but they still don’t believe me. 

One day, my parents’ fear became so extreme that they announced that they were sending me to an all-girls boarding school. What they didn’t know (and neither did I at the time) was that I didn’t like boys. I liked girls.

Three weeks later, all of my stuff was packed and I was standing in front of the bus stop with my parents. They said goodbye to me when the school’s bus came, and I put my bags in the bus and sat down next to a girl who looked like she was my age. We waved goodbye to our parents as the bus drove away. 

I was kind of afraid, which makes sense, considering that I had never been away from my parents for more than a day at a time. But I was also excited. This was a new adventure, with no annoying boys, and lots of girls my age to make friends with.

The girl sitting next to me must have noticed that I looked worried, because she introduced herself to me. I stopped daydreaming and listened to what she had to say. She seemed like an interesting person, and I really wanted to be friends with her.

“Hi,” she said. “My name is Grace.”

“I’m Lydia,” I replied.

“How are you doing?” she asked me.

I answered her honestly, telling her about both my fear and my excitement. I then asked her how she felt about the whole boarding school situation, and she told me that she was really excited. We talked about our fears, our families, what we thought school would be like, and lots of other things. She seemed really nice and friendly. I loved her laugh and her smile. 

The time on the bus went by really fast. Talking to Grace was so easy, so the three hour long bus drive only felt like ten minutes. 

When we saw the school, everyone on the bus started talking. It seemed like they were all very excited for the bus ride to be over, but I wasn’t. I wanted to stay on the bus and talk to Grace. What if I never saw her during school? What if she was the only friend that I made during the whole year and I didn’t see her again? I tried to push my worries out of my head, but they were still there. 

My worries didn’t leave until we got our dorm room assignments. I shared a room with Grace and two other girls named Abby and Catherine. 

I walked with Grace to our room, where we met Abby. She seemed nice, and the three of us talked for about fifteen minutes. Then Catherine came in. After talking to her for a while, I came to the conclusion that she is friendly, but more self-centered than Grace and Abby. 

Overall, I was happy about my room assignment. I was also glad that it was only the first day of school, and I had already made three friends. I liked Grace the most out of the three of them, though.

When Grace, Abby, Catherine, and I finished our conversation, we decided that it was time for us to unpack our bags. I claimed the top bunk on the right side of the room, and immediately after, Grace claimed the bed below mine. This made me smile. Then Abby claimed the top bunk on the left side, so Catherine got the bed below hers. We spent the next half hour talking and unpacking.

When it was time for dinner, we left our room and walked together to the cafeteria. We grabbed our plates of food and sat down at a table. Abby and Catherine were talking about their little brothers, and Grace and I were talking about how we could sneak a cat into our dorm room. 

“We aren’t allowed to have pets,” I said.

“Well we could hide her,” she replied.

“Where would we even get a cat?” I asked.

“I don’t know. We could figure it out.”

“Okay, well when you have a plan, let me know.”

“You’re so cute when you’re mad,” she said, smiling.

“Haha, very funny,” I responded. “And I’m not mad, I’m just being reasonable.”

“Okay,” she said, still smiling.

Later that night, Abby was with Catherine in the school library, so Grace and I were alone in our bedroom. We were sitting on the floor, talking about random things. 

“Why do some kinds of cheese have holes and others don’t?,” she asked. “This is a very important question.”

I laughed and shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess that’s just how it is?”

“Yeah, maybe,” she answered.

Then there was silence. Eventually, she suggested that we play Truth or Dare, and I agreed. 

We always picked truth, so I don’t know why we bothered to ask “truth or dare?” but we did anyway. The questions started off basic, but quickly got more personal. 

“Truth or dare?” she asked.

“Truth,” I replied.

“Have you ever kissed someone?,” she inquired.

“No,” I answered.

“Truth or dare?” I asked her.

“Umm… truth,” she said.

“Have you kissed anyone?”

“No,” she responded. “Okay, truth or dare?”

I thought for a moment, then I said “dare.”

She looked surprised. Then she made a confused face, like she was trying to decide what she should dare me to do. Then she smiled. “Kiss me,” she said.

I smiled. Then I grabbed the sides of her face, gently pulled her close to me, and placed my lips on hers. She pulled me into her, putting her hands on my hips. Eventually, we pulled away, and we both had huge smiles on our faces. 

We stood up and decided that we should walk to the library with Abby and Catherine. I grabbed her hand and held it as we walked to the library.

At that moment, I was sure of three things:

First of all, I knew that I was a lesbian.

I also knew that I really liked Grace.

Lastly, I knew that I was going to have an amazing year.