Lesbian

Chapter 2 - We can do this!

"Are you sure you want to carry everyone alone, Miss Peverell?" Otherwise, I can certainly..."

"No, no, no, don't bother yourself or the other students and make sure you get to the staff meeting on time, Professor Thornclaw."

"Thank you, Jessie, you are truly the most helpful student to ever come to this school."

Professor Rosa Thornclaw looked after her unofficial favourite student with a smile before she frantically put the many individual pieces of paper in folders, collected everything together and also left the biology hall. Many of the teachers, as well as their protégés, were already using a tablet, but Rosa was still someone who preferred to do everything herself rather than have it recorded or monitored by an electronic device. During fights, she fought purely with the power of plants, took all her notes on paper and, despite her outstanding IQ, was the most forgetful person Jessie knew. So, the brawler occasionally forgot that the students at this high school actually had to be trained. Or just the time, so that she was rushing frantically through the hallways to arrive at a spontaneously scheduled teachers' conference in time.

The large, nested plant pots swayed precariously as Jessie transported them up the outside stairs of the biology room to the greenhouse in the school garden. They had reported young offspring in class today and it wasn't actually a student's job to recall the teachers' materials, but Jessie helped where she could and, especially in biology, it was important to her to make a good, interested and helpful impression to leave behind. She would do well, her teachers would send letters of recommendation to universities, and she would receive a scholarship and become a doctor! She would do it!

Jessie held a tall flowerpot tower in each hand, so much of her vision was obscured by the cool terracotta red of the pots. So, it was no surprise when she didn't notice a single white sneaker lying all alone on the lowest steps of the outside staircase, probably hidden from its owner out of spite, when it was already too late.

Her left foot awkwardly stepped on the misplaced thing and then twisted, causing Jessie to lose her balance and fall forward into nothing. The fall would undoubtedly have injured her and broken all the terracotta pots if it hadn't been unexpectedly stopped. Even as she fell, a thin but strong arm wrapped around her waist while a second stabilized the swaying stacks.

"You really jump at every hint from the teachers, don't you, Little Red Riding Hood?"

A bright shade of pink pierced through the plant pots and Jessie immediately knew who was supporting her from the other side.

"Seriously, carrying all these heavy beasts alone?! Via the steep outside stairs, with no view at all?! "What was Thornclaw thinking?" growled the girl as she carefully led Jessie down the last few steps to level ground. Once there, one of the two stacks of flowerpots was taken from the redhead, so she could now hold the second one with both hands could carry and also had a much better view of her rescuer.

Pink. A very bright pink that you wouldn't normally see so often here. There was only one student in the entire high school who had this striking hair colour and could therefore be recognized from afar. Penelope Riptide, the girl everyone here had their own opinion about. Some found her cool and funny, others thought she was a troublemaker because she often skipped school, others admired her because she didn't seem to be afraid of anyone and even stood brave in the way of school bullies like Bibi.

There had never been a student about whom more rumours had been planted in the school hallways and even if Jessie always viewed such things with less interest, she had also heard a lot about the pink-haired girl, who, like Bibi, was a year above her. On the one hand it was said that she lived alone on a houseboat, on the other hand it was said that she lived in a crime family. Elsewhere, it was reported that Penny was secretly dealing drugs while skipping school to demonstrate for environmental protection and other political causes. She was considered at risk of falling and it was even said that she had never passed a test. A lot was said about the pink-haired woman, even that pink was her natural hair colour.

"Professor Thornclaw is not to blame, I suggested it voluntarily so that she could arrive on time for the teachers' conference," Jessie justified her favourite teacher. Rosa was always very lenient with the redhead and would like to scrape together half a point from somewhere so that she could got the better grade on a test. Inwardly she was ashamed that she hadn't thought of going several times so that she wouldn't have to carry all the heavy pots at once.

When they finally reached the almost entirely glass greenhouse on the other side of the school garden, Jessie's back was already aching from the unfamiliar load and was extremely pleased to be rid of the heavy, stacked pots.

"Thanks for the help, Penny."

"Anytime, Little Red Riding Hood."

Jessie was convinced that not even half of the sometimes very absurd stories about the pink-haired girl were true, especially the thing about the drugs and the bad grades in every single subject. However, there was one thing that everyone in high school knew and that was one hundred percent true.

Penelope Riptide was a lesbian. The only lesbian in the entire school, or at least the only one who had ever been brave enough to come out.

And not without paying the price.

"Look, here comes the lesbian!" was the first stupid saying as the two girls walked across the courtyard lined with students back to the building. Jessie would have preferred to go through the school garden again, over the outside stairs, back into the building Biology room and then the longer route via the newly built science wing of the high school to her classroom, even if she would have been late. However, students were officially forbidden from going up those stairs and Penny had walked out so purposefully on the other side of the greenhouse that that Jessie had simply gone along without thinking about it, which she now regretted.

"Oh, and look at Leon, there's the second one!" Crow shouted when he spotted Jessie's red braids.

"Shut up, Crow, if you don't have your brain turned on," Penny called back coolly and, turning to Jessie, she added, "That bird really has a bird!"

Yep, that was the brave Penny who didn't let anything, or anyone intimidate her. The only lesbian at Brawl-High.

At least until yesterday.

"Just don't listen. I think it's fantastic that you came out!"

As I said, until yesterday.

She didn't want to hurt Leon. She didn't want to make him feel like she didn't like him. She didn't want to admit to him that he was way too cool for her.

But that? What's more, it wasn't true at all!

Why did I say that?! the redhead thought for what felt like the hundredth time.

How on earth could she have claimed in the middle of school that she liked girls just to avoid having to reject a super popular boy outright?!

Memories flooded her brain to the point where she was confused, and she almost longed for the heavy terracotta pots. The high stack had indeed been heavy, but it had also provided an excuse for why she suddenly began to sway - and it would have protected her deep red face from the gaze of the others, who were sometimes staring at her in disbelief, sometimes furtively. With her teeth gritted and her eyes trained on the school door, she barely made it back into the building. Luckily there hadn't been another nasty comment and luckily, she hadn't had to hear Leon's voice. Once again, the memories of yesterday flooded her mind and she broke into a run on the way to her class.

I really like you and want to know if you feel the same way about me.

She wanted to leave. Away from everyone.

Leon, I...I...

She wanted to forget what happened yesterday and she wanted everyone else to do the same.

Jessie?

But unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen.

...Leon, I'm really sorry, but I'm...L-lesbian.

Lesbian.

And with that she had turned and left.