The Umbrella

Being

'And then, we didn't talk for a week!' Sara giggles softly.

Kelly turns her head quickly to look at Sara. 'No way! It wasn't a week,' she replies in disbelief. 

'Oh, it was,' Sara muses. 'Or more . . .'

'It was so awkward though. Dana and Alex felt so bad when they found out.'

Laughs from both girls fill the air. After a pause, Kelly speaks again. 'I'm still sorry.'

Sara shrugs in reply, and Kelly stares down at the pavement. She looks at the jandals on her feet. It's summer. Not exactly umbrella weather, but Sara still has her's hooked over her arm.

Kelly still regretted saying no that day. Or, more specifically, she'd said she couldn't be Sara's girlfriend. It'd broken her heart to say it then, and it broke it all over again to think about it. In the moment, it was the right thing to do. After getting into her's mother's car, she realised it was all wrong. She didn't know how to fix it for a long time. Not until Lacy forced Sara to talk it out with Kelly. From there, it fixed itself, and now . . . all was well.

Kelly's mind slowly drifts back to that day, despite her heart practically leaping out of her chest in protest. Still, one by one, the reasons that had flown through her head that day, came to her again. This time slower, so she had to think about them.

The first reason was, she'd just come out to her family. Her parents were still wrapping their heads around the whole thing, so maybe adding a girlfriend to the mix wouldn't have been the best idea. 

Next comes a big reason the regretted words came out of her mouth. She was scared. Completely and utterly terrified. Of not being good enough for Sara - amongst a mix of similar thoughts. All these stupid fears were running through her mind in that moment and it seemed that the only rational action was to say no. Looking back, it wasn't rational. Quite the opposite, really. For a week after, these thoughts tumbled through Kelly's mind. They ran circles around her. They taunted her.

The final main reason, was because she was, she must admit, shocked. She never expected Sara to like her back. Never. She was caught completely off guard and her brain seemed to just shut off. The words slipped out almost without permission and she couldn't just take them back.

Kelly slowly drifts back to reality. She lifts her head and sees that she and Sara had arrived at their destination. She grabs her girlfriend's hand and tugs at it. 'Here we are!'

Sara follows Kelly's lead and enters an ice cream shop. She smiles to herself. It was Kelly's turn to plan today's date, and considering that Sara loves ice cream, she'd done pretty good so far.

Sara slides into a table by the window, and looks on as Kelly orders for them both. A short time later, Kelly sits across from each other and hands Sara her ice cream. Kelly wears a proud grin as she announces, 'Strawberry on the bottom, and chocolate on the top. Just the way you like it!' Sara can't stop the grin spreading wildly across her face as she and Kelly begin another conversation.

_____

Kelly scrunches her napkin nervously in her hand. She isn't sure if the next part of the date is a good way to spend their time, but she hopes it is.

'Where to next?' Sara asks, the corners of her mouth still turned up. The girls stand from their chairs.

Kelly looks away for a mere second before looking back. 'I was thinking . . . maybe we could go to the bookstore? And just look - actually, no, it's a stupid idea. Let's find somewhere else.'

'No,' replies Sara. 'Let's go to the book store. I've been wanting to find a new book to read, and finding one with you would be a lot of fun.'

Hesitantly, Kelly grabs Sara's hand again. After a second, she gains more confidence and begins to stride away from the ice cream shop, more or less dragging Sara along. 

Not long after, they reach the book store. Twenty minutes flash by, filled with reading quotes from books, imitating poses in a yoga book, practically fawning over the stationery section, and ending with a triumphant "I've found it!" This was, of course, Sara, finally finding a book she wanted to buy. Kelly leans over her shoulder and peers at the cover. "All the Bright Places" the cover reads.

'I love Jennifer Niven!' Kelly exclaims, referencing the author's name. 'That book is amazing!'

Sara looks up to speak to her, but stops short. Their faces are barely a few centimetres apart. Without thinking Sara pulls away quickly. 'Um . . . I'll just pay for this, and then I guess we'll move on?' she stutters hurriedly, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink.

Kelly nods awkwardly, and Sara steps around her to move to the counter. After a moment or two, they're on their way again, this time headed for home.

'Since your place is closer, do you want me to walk you there?' Sara asks.

Kelly nods, 'yeah, thanks.' They walk in silence until they're out of the centre of town. The silence should be awkward, but it's not. It's comfortable, peaceful, and almost reassuring.

Before the silence could change and make the air around the girls tense and uncomfortable, Kelly begins to talk. 'Hey, Sara? Why do you have your umbrella?'

'Oh!' says Sara, looking down at the umbrella on her arm. She puts her other hand on it and replies, 'I forgot I had it. Anyway, it was to do this.' She looks at Kelly with a delicate, yet oddly mysterious, smile, putting the umbrella up over them. She then takes her hand and they walk the rest of the way to Kelly's house, conversations scattered amongst the quiet.

Once they're at Kelly's door, Kelly begins to say goodbye. Before she can get a word out, Sara starts to speak. 'Hey, Kelly?' Kelly looks up at Sara, their eyes meeting. With the umbrella still overhead, Sara leans in and the two girls share the kiss that should've happened long ago.

They pull apart slowly, opening their eyes to look into one another's. Kelly breathes deeply, lost in the moment. Sara sighs to herself contentedly, thinking about how perfect it'd be if it began to rain right now. It doesn't, of course, but all Sara can do it appreciate that the umbrella that brought them together - her umbrella - is above them in this moment.

_____

And that's it! The Umbrella is done, and I hope it turned out in a way that you enjoyed/hoped for. I really loved writing this story and will be creating much more like it very soon! I'm really proud of it, and I hope it's actually as good as I think it is.

Thank you for either being there on the journey, or for reading it right now. Please know that I appreciate you so so so so much!!

If you want to see more stories by yours truly, feel free to visit my page. Feel free to send in requests for wattpad books you want me to read, because I'm always looking for new ones! (You can even send me prompts and I'll see what I can make of them!)

Again, thank you so much for reading this story! It's really been a ride, but it's definitely one that I enjoyed and hope you enjoyed it, too!

And today's alternate cover (the last one!) is . . . (art by "Fembydesign" on Etsy. As always, go check them out! Honestly, this piece is amazing and I feel the urge to buy it right now)