Alice became uncontrollably nervous the second she saw the picture of her and Chelsea on their friend Amanda’s phone. Alice could not only see that she was looking right at Chelsea when Amanda snapped the picture, but could also see on her face exactly how she felt about Chelsea. It was in her eyes – it was in her little smirk – it was in her gaze – Alice knew the second that Chelsea saw that picture, she was going to see that Alice was in love with her. Alice and Chelsea had lived next door to each other since they were five and both their families moved into the neighborhood to get their daughters into the best elementary, junior high, and senior high schools in the county. Both girls’ moms were girl scouts and cheerleaders when they were growing up, so needless to say, once they were neighbors, Alice and Chelsea were in the same girl scout troop and on the same cheer squad all through elementary school. Once the girls were in junior high, they tried out together and made the school squad, having cheered together year after year until now, the end of their senior year at Cathedral High. And while Alice could never really go back and identify the exact day that she realized she was in love with Chelsea, she knew it had been for many years. Chelsea had a number of boyfriends over the course of their friendship – really, too many to count – though it wasn’t until their junior year that Alice considered any of them to be serious and intimate enough that they made her envious. In fact, it was during Chelsea’s last relationship with the school’s starting quarterback that Alice realized she wanted nothing more in the world than to be Chelsea’s girlfriend. And now that it was the last week of school of their senior year and that asshole Chet had broken up with Chelsea because he was going to California on a football scholarship and didn’t want to be tied down, Alice was hoping this would be her chance – and hopefully the perfect night – to tell Chelsea how she felt. It was Amanda’s last Gathering of the Girls as she called it – a weekly gathering of the cheer squad on Wednesday evenings at her house while her parents were having dinner at the supper club and enjoying a weekly romantic tryst at a local hotel afterward – and Alice had decided she was going to profess her love for Chelsea that night, no matter what it might do to their friendship, no matter what it might do to her parents to learn she was a lesbian, no matter what it might mean for her future in their quaint little conservative county, or on the girls’ future as they had been planning on spending one last summer together at home before moving away from home to live in the same dorm room at I.U. Bloomington. Alice had it all planned out – telling Chelsea she needed to tell her something at some point that was easily convenient during the evening of the girls eating dinner together, hanging out in and by the pool, or later at night while they were watching TV together in the big sitting room – and then once alone, reciting the speech she had rehearsed over and over again. It was Alice’s make-it-or-break-it moment that she had been planning for months to make at the end of summer, but had accelerated when Chet made his move about four weeks prior and told Chelsea they were done. But now, in the seconds it had taken for Amanda to snap that picture and show it to Alice, everything had changed. As Alice was quickly formulating some type of response – some type of reason – to explain how she was looking at Chelsea in that picture before Amanda moved from showing it to her to showing it to Chelsea, all of Alice’s plans had been flung out the window. Alice watched so nervously as Amanda, who had not even actually really looked at the picture herself after taking it, moved from holding her phone up to show the picture to Alice, now moved her arm to show it to Chelsea. Alice’s eyes trailed from the phone over to Chelsea as Amanda now presented the phone to Chelsea, who was still smiling from having her picture taken. Alice’s heart was beating so fast – her stomach was in knots – as she watched Chelsea’s smile fade into a look of seriousness as she obviously was taking in the image before her. It was a few seconds of literal stunned silence before Chelsea said, “Great pic, Amanda,” returning her face to a smile briefly. “Text it to me, will ya?” “Sure!” Amanda said back as she quickly moved away from Alice and Chelsea to go take more pictures. Before Amanda was even out of ear shot, Chelsea’s smile again faded and she looked directly at her best friend Alice’s eyes and said, “Can we talk for a sec?” Alice was like a deer in headlights. She wasn’t sure what to do. She wanted to say “No!” and run home, but was too afraid to do even that. Not really waiting for an answer from Alice, Chelsea walked by her, over towards the side of the house, and disappeared around the corner, out of the backyard and into the house’s side walkway. Alice stood still for a moment, watching Chelsea walk away, realizing for the first time that night that Chelsea was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a white cotton crop top that were actually hers. Alice was not sure what to do, but then thought for some reason, the last thing she wanted was for Chelsea to have to come back into the backyard to look for her, so she then quickly walked over to the side of the house, only to turn the corner and find Chelsea standing there, still with that very serious look on her face. “Chels,” Alice started to utter, not even really sure of what she was going to say to explain herself, but stopped as Chelsea’s stern voice cut her off. “Do you love me?” Chelsea asked. Alice could not make a sound. It wasn’t that she had never seen the serious face Chelsea was making before, but it was a look that she could not ever remember her best friend giving her. Alice’s first instinct was to play it off. She smiled and said, “Of course I love you, Chels,” very matter-of-factly. “No,” Chelsea said in an even more stern, demanding tone. “Alice, do…you…love me?” Alice was frozen once again, not sure what to do, not sure what to say. She was formulating some type of excuse about the look she was giving Chelsea in the picture, but then, she thought to herself about how she had decided that she was going to profess her love to Chelsea that night no matter what, and while it was not happening on her terms, according to her plan, Alice decided it was time to be honest with the girl she loved. “Yes, I love you,” Alice said as boldly as she could muster, standing still after she said it, partly closing her eyes as if someone was about to throw something at her. Without another word, and still with a very serious expression, Chelsea quickly closed the gap between her and Alice. Before Alice could even flinch and finish closing her eyes, not knowing what to expect, Chelsea put one hand behind Alice’s neck and the other on the small of her back, and immediately pressed her lips against Alice’s lips. Feeling the kiss, Alice opened her eyes wide only to see Chelsea still looking right at her. Alice was frozen for an instant, but then, returned Chelsea’s kiss. Alice’s mind was arace with so many thoughts as she then felt Chelsea’s hand move up her red and white gingham top to join her other hand behind Alice’s neck, Chelsea’s fingers interlacing. Chelsea then slightly pulled back from the kiss and Alice did the same, looking at Chelsea with wide eyes. Alice was still not sure what to say, despite having rehearsed what she was going to say for months. “Als,” Chelsea said, smiling ear to hear, “I love you too.” Chelsea’s smile then turned to a bit of a smirk as she then asked, “Als, is this why you’ve never had a boyfriend?”…
