Daughter of Luka (LGBT+)

Twenty-Eight 🌑

As we walked on, Accalia kept glancing at me with this thoughtful expression, as though there were a million and one things on her mind that she wanted to say but couldn't. I would know as much, due to the fact that I felt the exact same way. 

"If I'm honest, I've always felt drawn to you," she told me, as we navigated out of the forest again. 

I turned to her, feeling my heart skip a beat with surprise. 

"I've always cared about you. And I suppose at first, it didn't even make sense," she said. 

"Because you didn't think you liked girls?" I blurted, sooner than I could keep my mouth shut. 

"Oh, no...I had my suspicions. I never even felt anything for Uziel, even when it seemed that everyone around me did," she admitted, "But you weren't even one of us. At least, I didn't think that you were. Now, I know differently. And now I can't help but wonder if maybe...maybe-" she cut off. 

I decided to give her some help, here. 

"If maybe we were soulmates?" I asked her. 

She turned to me and nodded. 

"I understand if this is a lot for you take in," she added. 

I released a soft laugh and came to a stop for a moment. 

"Hey, Alia, I kissed you," I reminded her. 

Accalia's cheeks blossomed with pink again, as she appeared to remember the kiss. 

"And, again, if I'm being honest, I've sort of wanted you to for a while," she said. "I would have kissed you but I didn't even know if you were into girls, nor if you were into wolf girls...That's a whole different story." 

I felt myself laugh again. 

Accalia had told me that I was funny before, but she was too. 

"I'm meant to be studying but I don't even care about that right now. I just want to be here with you. Is that crazy? I mean, I wish that things were different. It's not as though you're able to go home and live with someone that truly understands who you really are, but you can hardly stay at the cave, or at our house, with us. I couldn't put your father through that, and I don't think that you could either." 

She was right, of course. There was no way that I could merely up and leave my dad without an explanation. There was also no way that I was going to be able to give him a decent one. 

"My brother is having a birthday party this weekend...I know it's sort of late but he really wants one. Do you want to come to my house? That might be easier to explain to your dad than anything else," she said. 

That seemed a little more possible. 

"You've been quiet- you're not freaking out, are you?" she asked me. 

I managed to speak, though my thoughts were racing. My blood was still pumping with the adrenaline that had been heightened by the kiss. 

"You've got me. I'll come to the party," I said decisively. I couldn't say anything else. I felt as though the magnetic pull that drew me to Accalia was only getting stronger. 

"Yay! Maybe you could stay the night, too," she said. 

The two of us immediately flushed when she said that. 

"I mean...we both need to study. It might be less painful, if we're both studying together. God. It sounds as though I'm inviting you over for a hook-up. Let me assure you that I'm not...This is just getting worse, isn't it?" she asked and then paused for a moment, "I don't do that kind of thing." 

I could tell from her expression that she was being truthful, but then I couldn't remember a time when Accalia had actually lied to me. 

"I don't do that kind of thing either," I admitted, with a kind smile that she soon reflected. 

"Okay, I'm glad we're on the same page there," she said, with an exhalation of relief. She then continued, "You really do mean a lot to me, Ophelia. And I suppose I want to find out what all of this means, too," she said.

There was a lot that hung in the air with the word 'this', but I had a feeling that we would be able to work it all out. Together. 

Accalia became quiet then. Her eyebrows drew together and she sighed. 

"Now you've gone quiet on me. Are you alright?" I asked her. 

"You should get home," she said. 

"Oh," I said. 

"No. Honestly, everything is alright, Ophelia. I just need some time to think," she admitted. 

I gave an understanding nod at that, but I couldn't help but feel as though I was being shoved out of the metaphorical door. I had a habit of overthinking, and it more than occasionally left me paranoid. 

"Ophelia, it's really alright," she tried to assure me, as we came to stand outside my house. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked me, her expression becoming slightly warmer, now. "I sometimes feel as though I have a sixth sense- being a wolf, I probably do. I feel as though I know how you feel." 

"Maybe it's a wolf thing," I said, or a soulmate thing, I added silently. 

"Maybe," she said. 

"I'm okay," I said. For the most part, it was the truth. 

"No secrets," Accalia reminded me, which was completely unfair- especially when I felt as though she was hiding something from me. 

"Just a little tired," I admitted. It didn't count if I was simply lying by omission, did it? 

Accalia gave a nod of her head, this time. 

"You know if you ever decide you don't want a part in any of this, I'd understand, right? You have a right to not want to be a part of the circle," she told me. 

"Alia, believe me when I say, that's the furthest from what's on my mind right now," I spoke, my voice low and serious. 

Accalia's features relaxed in what I imagined was relief and she reached out and grabbed me into a hug. She then drew back for a couple of moments and looked as though she was thinking about kissing me, but she simply released a breath and then turned and departed into the forest. 

Way to leave a girl on a metaphorical cliff-hanger. Maybe I was wrong about Accalia being reserved and quiet. She sure loved to add drama to my life, it seemed, even if it was merely unintentional.