"Hey, Katie, I'm gonna run to the restroom real quick, okay?" I'd drunk too much coffee, and I wanted to text my parents the exciting news. This morning I'd found out that I'd been cast to play a mother in a new CBS sitcom about a nineteen year old who became pregnant after a mix up at the OBGYN. The casting director had seen my movie somehow and she loved it so much, she'd requested the studio offer me the role immediately.
"Sure!" She smiled brightly, as she arranged the balloons. I turned, walking into the bathrooms. I was greeted by muffled sobs. I glanced around, seeing a pair of feet in a stall. We were the only two people in the room.
"Hi, um, I just... I was gonna go pee, but uh... Are you okay? I can go find another bathroom?"
"N-o, it's okay." Her voice cracked with agony, as I slowly walked closer.
"Do you want to talk? I... I know it's weird to pour your soul out to a stranger, but I don't mind." Why did I say pour your soul out? I wasn't a poet and it sounded peculiar as hell. She probably thought I was a creep.
She slowly opened the stall. Her ginger hair was cascading down her face, covering her supple lips, her tear stained cheeks shown in the light, as she looked at me with awe. Something about her looked familiar... Beautiful and familiar. "I, damn, look I just..."
"Feeling vulnerable?" She nodded.
"You... Do I know you? You... You sound, you look familiar."
"I don't know, maybe? I'm Veronica Colton."
"Colton? Like Harrison? Fuck, he mentioned having a sister... I'm sure you think I'm a terrible person... I flirted with your brother, hell, I flirted with a ton guys, yet I've never dated a guy. I guess... Maybe if I had liked them, I wouldn't be in this situation."
"Wait, wait are you Lyla? And what situation?" Harrison had said she dyed her hair crazy colors, I suppose maybe red was her natural color. Red hair, gray eyes, and something that made me want to help her and talk to her and get to know her... A spark or confusion and appeal and attraction and vulnerability that made me want to do something, anything with her.
"I'm..." She paused, wiping away a few tears. "I'm, I dunno, I'm not a sure open person, which is a shit characteristic for a future therapist, but... God, I just want someone to talk to."
"You can, I mean if you're comfortable around me."
"Okay, okay... I need to quit bawling like a baby. I guess... The situation. How much do you know about your brother and I? We were never a thing, really, we shared lab space and occasionally grabbed drinks or a snack or something. One time I invited him over, because I was trying to plan a Star Wars viewing party and he's one of, like, the five people I know. Did your brother ever mention a Star Wars marathon?"
"Yeah, I think so." Wasn't it supposed to happen on the day he met Katie?
"Well, I canceled it, my roommate, her boyfriend, and I were having a fight... I think I told him some lie about, I don't remember. I just couldn't deal with any guys." She took a deep breath, before leaning against me. "I haven't really told anyone this, but... I don't... I'm a" She looked straight at me, her eyes were stormy skies dancing before a hail storm... I leaned forward and-
We were inches from one another, I could feel her body heat and spell her sweet perfume. "Can I kiss you?" I asked, as she nodded, closing the gap between us.
"Lesbian. I'm a lesbian." She said, once we pulled away from one another.
"I... I... I might... I, yeah." I was incoherent, absolutely speechless. I've never been attracted to boys and kissing her felt so right. Could I kiss her again? Taste her vanilla chapstick, feel the electric sparks pulse through me as our tongues collided?"Am I allowed to call it magical or is that a complete cliche?"
"You can call it whatever you'd like... I'm sorry if I just came onto you... Fuck! You're... You're not, oh my God, you're a minor. You're a child. I kissed a child."
"What? No! I consented, I, I turn eighteen in a month, I asked if I could kiss you..." Tears began sliding down her face when I said consent. "Are you? I'm sorry."
"No, no, don't be sorry... I, consent. That's, that's the situation." She inhaled deeply. "I cancelled the Star Wars thing, because... It was the night before. My... I flirted with my roommate's boyfriend. Or, he thought I did. I don't know. I was drinking, I guess I was drunk, I don't really remember, I just know... My roommate left, to go get the pizza from the lobby. Her boyfriend, he grabbed me and... It was... I was lying on the ground trying to scream and he, forced himself... I lost my virginity... I tried to push him off and fight, but I couldn't, he still..."
"Lyla." I whispered, staring at her. "I'm so, sorry, I... That's. He's a demon." I wanted to find him, make him pay for what he did.
"I just found out that he isn't going to be prosecuted..."
"That's-that's no! What the-? How could-?" How could the world be so cruel? I wanted to kiss the wound and make it better, I wanted to punch her rapist in the throat. She was mourning the loss of justice... We were only three months into the year and Katie was going to be married. Lyla was mourning the loss of justice. I was going to play a teen mom in a television show. One of us was a bride, one of us was a mourner, and one of us was a mother.
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