the other girl

Oh.

Sam had been cheating on her.

Bea tried not to cry. She wouldn’t let him have that. She didn’t- she didn’t even care about him, anyways. He was- he was-

Who was she kidding? She had loved him. She still did. Did she? Her feelings felt all messy and weird.

She hated him.

But she also felt like she might still love him.

She bit her tongue and tried to choke back any emotion that would crack her voice as she spoke, but, luckily, she didn’t have to say anything.

“You should leave, Samuel,” the other girl said. The other girl. The girl he had been cheating on Bea with.

Except Bea was the other girl to the other girl, too, and neither of them had known.

Who had Sam been with first? Bea didn’t want to know- either way it would just make her feel worse, somehow.

Whether she had broken something good, or not been enough...

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, looking up at the other girl, who had been staring in the direction Sam had left with an expression more angry than anything else.

The girl blinked and, as she looked down to Bea, her eyes softened. “No worries, hon, not your fault he’s a piece of crap. You need some tissues?”

Bea let the tears she had been holding back finally stream down her face. “Yes please. I just- he- and I...”

She trailed off. Where had she been going with that? She was just panicking.

The other girl handed her some tissues and offered a sympathetic smile. “You and me both, girlie. There’s an ice cream shop right down the block, you want to head on over there? My treat. I think we could both use some sweets right about now.

Bea nodded, not trusting her voice and not having the heart to mention she was lactose intolerant.

That was how Bea found herself sitting at a dirty table, dressed in formal wear, sipping cautiously at a milkshake and sitting across from the pretty girl who introduced herself as Calla Lily Claire.

“That’s your name?” Bea asked incredulously. It was a gorgeous name.

Calla Lily Claire just laughed and nodded. “Sure is! But you can call me Lily.”

“I’m Bea. Bea Brown.”

“Bea,” Lily repeated, feeling the shape of the name in her mouth. “That’s a mighty nice name, sugar.”

Bea nearly squeaked. “Thanks,” she said instead, softly. “So is yours.”

“Thanks,” Lily said. “You got the mint chocolate chip strawberry shake, right?”

“Yeah.”

Lily made a gesture like granny hands and Bea didn’t even think or hesitate before sliding her drink across the table.

Lily took a sip and looked almost offended. “Bea, baby, you gotta tell me when something tastes so heavenly, I would’ve ordered one for myself too.”

Bea knew if she had lighter skin she would’ve been red in the face. Thank God she didn’t, she’d die knowing Lily could see how flustered she was, but, no, luckily, her cheeks just heated.

“Oops,” she said, her voice light and airy.

Lily shook her head teasingly. “Next time.”

“Next time?” Bea asked.

“Sure, why not? I should hope under some better circumstances, though, hm?”

“Yeah.”

Bea fidgeted with a ringlet of her hair out of habit. The topic was getting a little too close to Sam again, and it made her anxious.

Lily seemed to pick up on that, and she helpfully changed the subject. “I love your nails, where did you get them done?”

Bea looked down at her nails instinctively and grinned. “I actually did them myself.”

“They look amazing.”

“Thanks! I really like other kinds of art, so I figured I’d give it a shot and... I guess it didn’t turn out half bad.”

“Not at all half bad,” Lily agreed. “I’m curious, what’s your favorite kind of art to make?”

“I really like drawing- just a paper, a pen, and whatever ideas come to mind. Poetry’s also really fun, but it’s definitely not my strong suit.”

Lily had a funny look on her face. “I bet your drawings are lovely,” she said, “and, hell, I bet your poetry’s great too.”

“Pfft, sure it is,” Bea said sarcastically, snorting. “What about you? You have any hobbies?”

“I used to play chess, but my school cancelled chess club-” Bea could hear the bitterness in Lily’s voice, and she frowned in solidarity. “-so now I just read.”

“Oh! What genres do you like?”

Lily didn’t even have to think. “Historical fiction, mostly. Sometimes steampunk or dystopian science fiction.”

Bea nodded along and pretended to know what sorts of stories those were.

The boy that had scooped Lily’s ice cream called out from behind the counter, “Uh, heads up, we’re closing in, like, two minutes.”

Bea gave him a thumbs up and stood up, taking her straw paper to the trash and taking one last sip of her milkshake before throwing it away too and following Lily out.

“That was fun,” she said. “Except for the Sam part, but... other than that, it was fun. Thanks for everything- ice cream, distraction, company, all of it, really.” Thanks for not hating me.

“I needed it just as much as you did, sugar,” Lily admitted lightly. “And you’re right, it really was fun.”

Bea nodded. I should probably say bye now, huh?

She didn’t want to, though, not yet. Lily was the one person who could really get what she was feeling right now, and Lily was... great.

She didn’t want to say bye to that just yet, but it was hardly like she had a choice. “I should probably head home, now,” she said hollowly.

“You have a pen?” Lily asked suddenly.

It was like Lily hadn’t even heard her. Why did Bea feel disappointed?

She shook it off and handed Lily a pen from her purse and watched as Lily’s messy scrawl turned into numbers along the napkin.

A phone number. Her phone number. Bea was getting Lily’s phone number.

“Gimme a call, yeah?” Lily said, pressing the napkin to Bea’s hand, and Bea nodded dumbly, the butterflies in her stomach too intense to ignore.

No. No, no, no, there was no way in hell that she had feelings for the girl her ex boyfriend had cheated on her with.

And after less than a day of knowing her.

No, that wasn’t what was happening. Not at all. Not one bit. That was totally irrational. Bea was just being silly, that was all.

She was just being silly thinking she was falling for Lily.