| Whitney |
Flip flop. Flip flop.
Whitney’s heart wouldn’t stop thumping.
Nervously twirling a few black curls around her forefinger, she crossed her ankles nervously and kept glancing at the front entrance of Aroma Joe’s. The quaint coffee shop should have made her feel cozy, with the enticingly warm smell of fresh brewed coffee wafting in the air and it’s cabin-esq decor, but all she’d been able to concentrate on was steadying her breathing. Thoughts of her past began trickling in from memory as she continued to wait for Hollis.
Like most everything, California wasn’t all bad and had given Whitney a handful of semi serious girlfriends. Even with the exhilarating moments, it was always the same in the end. Girls with a taste for glitz and glamor, attractive studs with at least one EX girlfriend making Whitney’s life hell. The last relationship she’d had came to an abrupt halt five months ago. Crisz
| Hollis |Hollis never took anyone fishing with her, let alone to the special little spot she’d stumbled upon accidentally on her nineteenth birthday. As close as she was to Dalton, their interests couldn’t have been any more different, so she never bothered asking if he might want to come along. That afternoon, she’d slipped away from the apartment she and Dalton lived in at the time after he admitted to inviting their dysfunctional parents over for a intimate celebration, and started driving toward the lake. One wrong turn took her through a twenty minute maze that eventually lead to a scenic riverbank. A long, wide surface made of an almost polished stone made it comfortable for Hollis to enjoy sitting under it’s Juniper trees and fish for hours. Surprisingly enough, she’d never had an issue finding that spot again, but for the life of her wouldn’t know how to direct anybody else down there. Thinking about this while Whitney climbed int
| Hollis |She tried so hard to forget about the kiss, but couldn’t. It’d been playing in her mind on repeat relentlessly since it happened.Whitney’s pillowy soft lips felt like heaven against her own, and Hollis could still smell the floral body spray on the other girl’s freckled neck. It’d been a perfect opportunity to bone right there on the rocks overlooking the sparking river, but just as they were practically swallowing each other’s tongues, Whitney’s fishing rod began jerking lightly.At Ringo’s cleaning beer glasses, Hollis smiled like an idiot at the memory.********************“Oh shit! What do I do!?” Whitney giggled, fidgeting with her rod for a second.“Good going, you got one! Now bring her in, like this.” Hollis had been quick to help Whitney reel in her catch, basking in her friend’s glowing excitement. Before long, a wr
| Hollis |“One root beer and a strawberry lemonade, coming right up!” Whitney quickly jot her only table’s drink order down and glanced over her shoulder at Hollis for approval, receiving a kind nod of encouragement in response. The tenured wait staff were less than thrilled at the idea of having to share their patrons, and quickly bombarded Hollis with their claims to certain booths. Morgana in particular seemed extremely agitated, and had pulled the confused bartender aside an hour before the couple Whitney was serving now walked in.“You know it’s going to be dead as hell in here tonight, right? Tell me you’re not giving away a ton of tables to her. I need to make my money.” Morgana’s icy tone dripped with attitude as she rolled her blue eyes, which pissed Hollis off to no end. How else was Whitney supposed to get any good at her job? A sharp urge to protect the newest member of their crew made Hollis lean ag
| Hollis |“Okay! Heheheee stahahap!” Whitney continued rolling around underneath Hollis in an uncontrollable laughing fit, feeling nimble fingers massaging her sides delicately. “PLEASE! I cahahan’t breeheheheathe!” "That sounds like a personal problem." Hollis smirked, giggling with mirth when Whitney's high pitched laughter damn near shattered her bedroom window. Unable to respond, the tickled girl just howled and squealed uncontrollably. Pinned down, unable to move. The blonde liked her that way...maybe a bit too much. After a few minutes of cruel satisfaction at the poor girl’s plight, Hollis relented to watch the dark haired beauty catch her breath with a smirk. Sometimes she couldn’t stand how cute Whitney was.“I think I finally figured out the perfect punishment for your smart mouth, West Coast.”“Oh shut up!” Whitney groaned good-natur
| Hollis |The theme to “BoJack Horseman” blared from Hollis’ phone at 1:30 P.M the next day, and she slapped at it with a groan until it eventually shut off. So far, it was the only thing that’d managed to wake her up, which in and of itself was a miracle. Dalton was blasting his self help podcast garbage down stairs, and it made Hollis want to submerge her head through the rubber material of her waterbed until she drowned. She never got the point of sitting there and actively listening to how others improved their lives. In her opinion, blundering through it was the only way to truly grow.We all live differently, what works for one person probably won’t work for his sister. Hollis thought to herself, comparing she and Dalton’s life choices respectfully. Her brother chose to be trusting and open with those around him. There wasn’t a person out there he wouldn’t give the benefit of the doubt to, and he was forev
| Hollis |She hasn’t changed a bit. Hollis thought to herself, taking in her former friend’s medium-lengthed blonde dreads and alternative style. She remained frozen in the doorway, not sure if she wanted to come in after all. Before she could come up with some lame excuse to bolt, Kendra cleared her throat.“Are you coming in or not?” Her dark green eyes gave off a condescending flash as she started walking toward the dinning room table. Hollis wrapped her long arms around herself and took a cautious step forward.“Sure you don’t wanna break my nose again?”“Don’t tempt me.” Kendra mumbled, roughly pulling up a seat. Whitney’s attention shifted between the two women as the tension rose with a dumbfounded expression. Finally, she gawked at Kendra incredulously.“Hold up. You BROKE her nose!?”“It’s a long story.” Hollis answered
| Hollis |“Promise me you’re good to drive home?” Whitney leaned into the window of Hollis’ vehicle a half hour later. After reluctantly pulling themselves away from each other, they’d gone back inside to finish their food and tried to act like nothing happened. All the while Kendra didn’t say anything else save for a half assed excuse to disappear into her bedroom, leaving the two girls alone downstairs. Not that Hollis was surprised. It’s hard to come back from such an intense conversation and discuss something light like the weather, or what’s new on television. If it were her in Kendra’s position, she probably would have done the same thing. Shortly thereafter, Hollis thanked Whitney for the meal and they walked back out to her car. It was an unspoken agreement between them both that she should go. Every second they hung around the dinning room just felt more and more uncomfortable, and there was already so much to th
| Hollis |As the two friends (who were quickly becoming lovers) continued to stare into one another’s soul, Hollis bit her lip with a barely audible sigh. She could easily count almost every gold speck glimmering in Whitney’s cinnamon colored eyes. She would’ve mistaken them for hazel, if it weren’t for their usual pure honey shade. Hollis threaded her finger’s through the brunette’s silky curly black hair, feeling a mixture of euphoria and terror surge through her veins. She’d just admitted everything aloud, and had no idea how the other girl felt about it. The suspense was maddening.“What did you say...?” Whitney finally breathed in hopeful uncertainty. Her hands remained cupped along Hollis’s jawline, her small voice trembling. The air around them went quiet for a second as the blonde struggled to make sense of her reeling thoughts. From the moment they met, Hollis couldn’t deny their obvio