Adria's Choice

Chapter 10

Karyl stood up and started pacing. That was when I knew she was serious. "Well, let me enumerate it for you, Adria Arevalo."

Fuck.

"One, you're both girls," she said. She actually held out her pointer finger. The look on my face got her to stop pacing, but then she glared at me, daring me to contradict her.

I decided not to make her angrier so I shut up and watched her.

"Two," she said as she held out another finger, "she's my sister. My baby sister."

Her tone was becoming more ominous by the second. I didn't really have any counter-arguments.

"Third." She took a deep breath and held out her middle finger. "Damn it, Adria, she's the ex of your ex. The mistress of your own ex!"

She was breathing heavily as we glared at each other.

"Does it matter if she's a girl? I fell for her without even considering her gender. I love her because she makes me want to be a better version of myself!" I tilted my head back as I tried not to cry. "You don't think I don't know how crazy this is? I've never fallen in love with a girl, you know that. Even though some have tried, paid me lots of attention, gave me so many nice gifts. But Lexie...she was just herself. And that's it. I was a goner. One day I hated her. And the next thing I knew I was falling in love."

My voice broke. I wasn't really sure why I was crying, whether it was because I was fighting with Karyl, or because I was hopelessly in love with someone I couldn't have, and shouldn't want.

She looked disgusted—something I never thought I'd see. "Stay. Away. From. My. Sister."

It was as if she slapped me. I wiped at my tears angrily. "How dare you! I'm not molesting her or anything!"

"So you're not telling me you don't want her? And you know what I'm talking about," she said with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, I—" I stumbled, "I love her."

If looks could kill, the one she gave me would have vaporized me on the spot.

I stiffened. "I love her. The same way you love John. And just because I want her doesn't mean that's all I want from her. Same-sex relationships are so much more than that. At least, my feelings for her are more than that."

She glared at me for a few more seconds before she finally sat back down. "Since when has this been going on?" At least she wasn't shouting at me anymore, but I knew the fight wasn't over.

I sat down across her, feeling too weak to stand. "I don't know. I've been feeling so many things the past few months. I tried not to think about this too much because I was afraid of the answer."

She snorted. "How long have you and Lexie been keeping this from me?"

"What are you talking about? We're not dating."

She stared at me, not believing it.

"We're not dating, okay?" I said, exasperated. "I just realized it in Boracay, when she was teaching me how to dance."

I left for the kitchen to grab some beers. "Try not to hit me with this," I said as I handed a bottle to Karyl.

She didn't respond to that, popping the bottle's cap with her car key. "So you're in love with her, but she doesn't know." She took a long sip and leaned back on the couch, finally relaxing a bit.

I drained my beer in less than five minutes. The truths, spoken out loud, made me crave for something stronger, though.

"So what happens now?" Karyl asked me after a stretch of companionable silence, aided by said alcohol.

I looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Are you like, going to want to be John's best man instead of my maid of honor?"

I looked at her, ready to laugh at her joke. But her face was serious. Dead serious.

"Damn it, Karyl. I'm still the same. I'm not butch, either. Just because I've fallen in love with a girl doesn't change who I am. My sexual preferences don't define me. I don't understand this either, but please, can't you just accept me for who I am?"

She looked like she wanted to debate that, but she let it slide. "Are you...like...you're not attracted to guys anymore?"

"What the—" I started, but she cut me off.

She put her bottle down and held up a hand to silence me. "Please, listen to me. Maybe you're just in love with the idea of the opposite of you. You haven't been meeting new people since the breakup. Maybe you're feeling jaded towards men because of what happened. But maybe you just need to meet the right guy, Adria."

This was all so new to me and I had been so confused since I accepted that I'd fallen in love with a girl. With Lexie. Maybe Karyl was right?

She went in for the kill. "I'm going to introduce you to some of John's really nice friends. Actually, I wanted to introduce you to this guy but I was thinking of giving you time to fully get over Tom, then we both got so busy. But now, well."

"I don't know, Karyl."

"Please? For me? You're still confused, right?"

"One date."

"You're not going to know each other that well over one date! Two dates, at least."

"One. Date," I said with finality.

But Karyl knew me too well. If I was stubborn, well, she was even more so. "Two."

I threw up my hands. "One date. And maybe a second one if we hit it off."

"Deal."