Dorm Room 210 [Original]

Dorm Room 210: A Colourful Confession

The look Noah shoots me has me stopping for just that moment and really think about what I just said. Last night at Amor had been an adventure, but Nicole had also shared an important moment with Rachel and me. A moment, that for her, meant so much more than just a silly confession like Rachel's love for all things Disney and musicals, or my need for pizza every so chance I can get. It was bigger than Raven's plans to live out his life the way he mapped it out on his hand, or Jesse's pride in all manner of Rachel. Noah's birthday party plans is put on hold for this moment...

We enter the cafeteria and tension soars through the roof. We begin moving through tables and students, Nicole bouncing all the way, her short hair flying around her face like a windy afternoon catching on, when we reach Jesse and Rachel by the back corner, phones out in front of them with chips out in the middle. Nicole bounces in front of them.

"Hey, hey, hey, my favourite people are here! Sorry we took so long, we had to get a couple of lovebirds out of their nest." She leans in close as I get closer, a cheeky smile adoring her face. "Someone just couldn't stop making kissey-faces."

I release Noah's hand. "That's not true." No one said anything about being lovebirds.

The smile grew. I know the game she plays; hoping to get distracted as much as possible before she went ahead and told us what we already knew. It's a very simple diversion that often give people time to get it together. I don't push further as she continues to gossip about me.

"Can they be even more gross?" she exclaims.

Noah comes behind me, hands reaching out to wrap them around my waist. "You mean you haven't seen your favourite people be gross before?"

"In public? Not quite as much as you guys."

Noah buries his laugh at the crook of my neck sending shivers like a river down my spine. "'Not quite' she says."

"All right," Raven interjects, slipping next to Jesse and pinching his food, "What's the meeting about Nikki?"

She laughs, the nerves kicking in almost as sudden as her rose colour cheeks. I've always seen Nicole as a confident person, someone with no emotional baggage or disastrous fairytale ending. She's the sun that comes through the stormy grey clouds of winter and brightening up everyone's lives with a simple smile or confidence boost...

But for the first time, I've been fooled. Tricked and skimmed along like everyone else—a facade that hides layers of hidden insecurity she dares to not mention. The likelihood this secret of hers has been eating at her for years doesn't go unnoticed, not when her hands shake drastically on the table, or the napkin fidgeting in her fingertips.

"So, this may come as a shock to you, but I like girls." She stresses out the last three letters, eyes trained on a fallen chip. "I've liked girls for a while, and I thought I should tell you."

I swallow hard, glancing at the others on the table, waiting for their reaction. Noah and Rachel don't, but that was to be expected, they already knew. Raven surprises me by remaining at his seat, lips pursed up as he nods slowly until an accepting shrug comes through at last.

"Cool," he says, leaning back against the seats. "Yeah, that totally makes sense. Congrates."

Nicole doesn't bat an eyelash, and that's when I realise her attention has been on Jesse.

Ah. She didn't hold this meeting to admit what majority of us knows.

Jesse sits so still it takes me back to the first time we met when he stared aggressively at me for bumping into them. He gazes still at the chips before him, arms crossed. We're here so nothing happens. We're her support.