Little Miss Different [in editing]

31: Arch-Nemesis Feud

Content note: carries on off previous themes, including running away and ableism.  

Ashley watches jealously as Winter carries a small German Shepard puppy into the living room before jumping off the sofa and wagging his way up to his rainbow-haired owner. "Oh, look Ashley!" she coos, kneeling down and setting the puppy down onto the floor. "This is Tordis, she's your new friend!"

Ashley sniffs Tordis cautiously before skidding out on the carpet into a playful position and nudging a ball in Tordis's direction. "What's this, Tordis? Look, Ash wants to play with you!" says Winter. The greyhound bounds after the ball as Winter throws it into the garden with Tordis tottering after the two.

Winter stands up and wraps her arm around Rebecca's waist. "I'm so lucky to have you as-"

About two years ago...

"-my girlfriend," whispered Gabriella, moving her hands up from Lylah's waist to cup her face. "We may be young, but I know I'm going to be with you forever."

Lylah rested her head on Gabriella's shoulder, long brown hair masking some of her face. "There was a time we thought sixteen was old."

Gabriella laughed. "You're right," she said. "There's noth-"

Present day...

"-ing I want more right now than to be with you," replies Rebecca. The pair look at each other expectantly, but then Winter turns away.

"What's wrong?" asks Rebecca.

"Nothing," whispers Winter, sitting down on the sofa. That was then, this is now. She barely keeps in contact with her anymore, and she's clearly moved on too. Their relationship isn't romantic anymore. Winter realises she's scrolling through Gabriella's photo feed online and clicks off immediately. 

Rebecca sits down next to Winter. "You know it's okay to talk to me, right?"

Silence.

Winter reaches for the remote and shuffles down to the end of the sofa, away from Rebecca. "I don't want to talk."

A film comes on but neither of them are watching. Winter calls in Ashley and Tordis and gets them up on the sofa. She covers herself in a blanket, drags a slightly confused Ashley onto her lap and a sleepy Tordis to her side.

"It's your favourite film," says Rebecca. Winter looks at the screen.

On screen

Three women run along the rooftops.

One is a short, fat Black woman with a baby strapped to her back, wearing her hair in a braided bun underneath a tichel and dressed in a shirt and jeans. One arm is permanently stretched behind her holding a milk bottle that's constantly inside her baby's mouth.

The second is a tall, thin biracial woman wearing a niqab. Her shoulders are broader than her baby-carrying sidekick and she pushes a buggy with two squawking twins in it along and complains about how un-buggy friendly the rooftops are. 

Finally, a wide, mixed Asian woman of a slightly taller height hops along ahead of them, singing about the joys of being single with no children with her before walking straight into a wall, before clutching folds of shirt to her nose and mumbling various reassurances to her concerned friends.

The title card plays.

In the living room

"It's Bloody Single, right?" gasps Winter. "I love this film!" She recalls the blurb to the film - a film about three single mothers who are all vigilantes. 

Rebecca smiles and then the doorbell rings. She moves to open it, but Winter peers through the blinds and goes pale. "Uh, I'll get it."

"No, it's fine," says Rebecca. Winter tries to intercept her but is held in place by the hound on her lap.

Rebecca opens the door.

A tall Black woman stands there, her hair in tight curls around her face. Her dark brown eyes look familiar. Her full lips are parted in a way that Rebecca has seen before. Her shallow-bridged nose looks similar to someone she's seen before.

Rebecca looks behind her. Winter stands there, having freed herself from the weight of Ashley. "Why the hell is she here?" she hisses at her rainbow-haired girlfriend, who looks visibly frightened. But not of Rebecca.

Of this situation.

"I-I-" stutters Winter.

"Lys- I mean, Winter hasn't been picking up my calls," Gabriella explains. "We met up a few weeks back, right, girl?"

Instantly, Rebecca compares her features to those of this beautiful woman in front of her. Where she has tight curls, Rebecca has looser curls. Where this girl is tall and slender, Rebecca is short and curvy. Where Gabriella has flawless sable skin, Rebecca has a freckled taupe complexion. Despite Rebecca having a positive self-image, her mind begins swirling with all the reasons why Winter would choose Gabriella over her.

"I just wanted to talk," says Gabriella, smiling. Her full lips are tinted a dark red. Most lipstick colours don't suit Rebecca.

"Of course," says Winter timidly. "Come in."

Rebecca stands aside, clenching her teeth angrily as she watches Gabriella walk in. 

This is not going to end well.