Mark My Words

21 | Gay Crises

Her attempt at saying something just stumbled into a squeaky, "Um..." before she put her thumb nail between her teeth and stared helplessly at them.

"Come on, you can't leave me hanging!" Sami whined. "I'm your best friend! Isaiah, hands over your ears."

"What? No! I wanna hear this," Isaiah cried.

"Fine! Fine, but you can't tell anyone!" Rosalie said. She reached out her free hand, pinkie out. "Pinkie Promise or it's not happening."

The boys immediately complied.

"Remember how I made a deal with Joanna? To get her to participate in the team?" Rosalie said to Sami, who nodded sternly. "It's me."

Sami steadied himself against the coffee table, swooning to the side. He put a hand to his forehead and hooted, "Woo boy! Oh geez! That is—That is just wowza!"

"What, what is it?" Isaiah shouted, pushing into Rosalie's space as she flushed bright red and covered her face. "Don't leave me hanging!"

Sami grabbed him by the sleeve and gave his arm an excited shake. "Rosalie has a date! She's never been on a date before!"

"Wow, rub it in, why don'tchya?" Rosalie whined, falling back onto her blankets. She pushed her hands against her cheeks in a futile attempt to stop the blush from multiplying.

When she found the strength to show her face, Isaiah and Sami appeared before her, peering down at where she lay, thoroughly frazzled. She huffed at them and crossed her arms. "What," she hissed.

Isaiah looked to Sami before saying, "Geez, they weren't kidding. I thought it was just a shitty joke. So you really haven't been kissed before?"

"Okay, it's not that weird," Sami said with a roll of his eyes. "There are plenty of people who haven't been kissed. Like, my mom didn't have her first kiss 'till she was, like, in college."

"You always bring that up," Rosalie muttered.

"Yeah, whenever you start feeling bad about it," Sami insisted, pulling her back up off the ground. "Because you shouldn't feel bad about it. I honestly wish I knew who came up with that name so I could punch them. It's not like I could get expelled for it now."

Rosalie smiled fondly at him. She reached over and ruffled his hair. "Do you know where you're gonna go yet?" she asked.

Sami shook his head and spared a look at Isaiah before dropping his eyes to his lap. "My parents went to go tour another school today. So we'll see. If everything works out I'll be settled in by Tuesday."

Rosalie nodded. Her smiled weighed a ton, but she carried it for Sami when he looked up at her. "Yeah. I mean, it's just for this year. Then you'll have your acceptance letter to Pratt," she said, and Sami laughed.

"Yeah. I have to finish my portfolio first," he said, grinning. He turned to Isaiah then. "I finished the underpainting on yours last night. I've had a lot of time to work on it."

"Yeah, and are you gonna show me?" Isaiah said, laughing. Sami grinned cheekily and shook his head. "Then what's the point in telling me! I'm dying to see it as it is."

Isaiah teased Sami until Sami was incapable of words and could only giggle and blush like Isaiah was tickling the part of his mind that made his feelings turn to mush. Seeing them together gave Rosalie hope. Her chest swelled with pride, pushing her smile to the brink and her head to the clouds. She was so happy for Sami that, despite this dark period with Mr. Griffin, he was able to find comfort in knowing Isaiah was still there. Isaiah would stay with them for as long as their hearts sung in harmony.