True Lesbian - Just Spend the Night

Charlie’s been stalled for a year, twenty and empty. She came out last summer, and the house still feels like shards under her feet. April barely meets her eyes these days. When April begs her to join the sleepover—says it might be their last chance to feel like sisters—Charlie sighs, packs a bag, and drives over anyway. The living room smells like cheap body spray. The girls laugh too loud and switch seats whenever Charlie sits near them. One blurts, "So you, like, actually lick it?" Charlie forces a smile, cheeks burning, until April squeezes her wrist and whispers, "Stay, please." She stays. Later the house goes dark. Charlie feels the cushions shift. Eden slides up against her, warm skin, slow breath. For the first time tonight someone’s not flinching away. Charlie lets her head tip back, lets Eden’s fingers brush along the inside of her wrist. She wakes to snickers. In the mirror, the word LEZ gleams in glossy red across her forehead. She scrubs until the skin stings, eyes wet. Eden slips inside, shuts the door. "It wasn’t me," she says. Charlie doesn’t believe it. She reaches for her bag. Eden catches her forearm, pulls her close. Their mouths nearly touch. The quiet between them crackles. Charlie’s chest tightens, traitorous and hungry. Eden’s thumb strokes slow circles against Charlie’s pulse, and her knees soften. Eden’s lips part. Charlie closes her eyes. She knows it might be another trick. She leans in anyway, desperate for touch, for one honest moment before the next slap of rejection.