Coming Out Is Not An Option When There's A Trap Outside The Door (girlxgirl)

Seventeen

(Two Months Later) [because I want to finish this story XD]

Two arms suddenly grasped me from behind. I felt lips at my ear and every muscle in my body tensed, ready for the worst.

“Hey, gorgeous.”

I immediately relaxed, turning around to lightly hit one of the arms around me. “Don’t do that,” I laughed to Estelle. “I was freaking out.”

“Sorry. Will a kiss make it better?”

I giggled, slipping my hands behind her neck. “Maybe…”

Things had almost come full circle. Estelle and I were together, the sky was a brilliant blue, and the birds were singing happily. The only thing wrong was that Tabitha wasn’t here to share the beautiful day with me.

But Dana was locked up now. Estelle and I were free to live our lives without worry. We could finish high school, move in together, start our lives as a broke college couple desperately in love. The courtroom visits were coming to a close now, and school had started. Things were as good as they could be.

Estelle squeezed my hand a bit. “Hey, don’t go all daydreamer on me just yet. We have a date today.”

I met her gaze. “From now on, you have my full attention.”

She grinned, and we set off. It wasn’t a particularly special date, just a day to spend together. We tried on funny hats in an antique store, made up stories to tell each other while walking along the railroad tracks, and treated ourselves to ice cream from Cold Stone.

Estelle walked me back to my house, our cheeks hurting from the smiles and laughs, and kissed me goodbye. I started to go inside when she caught my hand again. I turned to say something about how if she wanted another kiss, she just had to ask, but the look in her eyes caught me off guard.

“What’s wrong?”

“Promise not to be mad.”

“Well that’s a great way to start out a conversation. Just tell me.” I crossed my arms, pulling my hand from hers in case it was something like what had happened with Dana.

“I… I’m going to visit Dana.”

I blinked. “What?”

“I’m visiting Dana in jail.”

“When?”

“Tonight.”

“…Why?”

“Because… I just need to, okay?” She peered up at me, her expression teetering between sorrowful and defiant.

“No! Why do you need to go see that murderer? Why do you need to fucking look at the person that killed our best friend?!”

“Hey, chill—”

“No, I’m not going to chill. What the fuck, Estelle? How is this going to help anything at all?”

“I just need to!” she yelled. “Sorry if you don’t understand anything at all about forgiveness!”

“Forgiveness?” I shrieked. “Why would you want to forgive her? And by the way, who the fuck forgave you for cheating on me?”

“I just have to do this, okay? I’m sorry if you’re uncomfortable with it! This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you! I’m going, no matter what. Whatever you want to punish me with for going to do something for Tabitha, so be it! Whatever. I don’t even care anymore.” She turned and stormed off.

I screamed after her in frustration and slammed the door shut. What the fuck did she need to go there for?

The rest of the night I did everything with anger. I put away the dishes with so much force I chipped a glass. My skin was pink and sore after my shower from the furious scrubbing and burning-hot water. When I finally settled under the covers though, I felt the rage bleeding out of me. I wondered how she was — what had Dana manipulated her with this time? Was she lying in bed now too, thinking about our best friend and that horrible night?

Did she know I was thinking about her?

I fell asleep an hour or so later, my sleep fitful and short.

-

Estelle called me the next morning, asking me to meet her at the park. I agreed. We found an old bench to sit on and stared awkwardly at our laps.

“I’m sorry,” I said finally. “You had every right to go.”

“I am too. You had every right to be upset.”

“So… how’d it go?”

“Um, okay. She’s… she’s…” Estelle seemed to be at a loss for words. “She’s pretty sick, Jo. And scared to death.”

“She should be,” I muttered.

“I—” she stopped, watching me cautiously, wanting to say something but not sure if she should.

“I promise I won’t get mad this time.” I gave her a tiny smile.

“I… I just don’t think she did it. I know about all of the evidence, but… there’s just something about it that doesn’t feel right. It’s weird. I’m probably just crazy, but that place has changed her, Jo. She’s not that crazy bitch anymore. She’s a sad, terrified little girl. And I don’t think she would be that way if she had done it.”

“Hm.” I didn’t really believe that she was innocent, but she had a point. “So, what are you going to do?”

“I dunno. I want to look more into it. I know the police have probably caught everything, but still… I don’t know. I just feel like I have to do something. I really don’t think she did it, Jo. For all of her idiotic moves, I don’t think she would be capable of it.”

“I’ll help you however I can,” I offered. “I want to make sure that Tabitha gets justice.”

Estelle nodded. “Me too.”

I slid my hand into hers. She squeezed back.

-

“Jo.”

I yelped, jumping up. “What? What?”

Estelle chuckled. “Chill, you just fell asleep. It’s time to go home. We haven’t found anything.”

“Oh.” I rubbed my eyes, remembering. We’d gone to the library to look through old newspapers and Google Dana’s name. “Okay.”

We parted ways a few blocks away from my house, the goodbye kiss longer than usual to make up for the night before. To my surprise, I saw Val resting on my porch.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Val greeted me.

“Likewise. What’s up?”

“Meh, just bored. Where have you been?”

“Library.”

“What in the world were you doing there?” she teased. I stuck my tongue out as I unlocked the door and followed her inside.

“Looking through old newspapers.”

“That’s weird.”

I shrugged. “Estelle went to visit Dana last night.”

Val raised an eyebrow. “Well that’s… scary.”

“Yeah. Now she’s convinced that Dana didn’t do it. I don’t really believe that, but I’m willing to explore every possibility.”

Val grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. “Why does she think that?”

“She said it was just a feeling she got.” I flipped on the TV. “Ooh, Gilmore Girls.”

Val laughed, shaking her head, and sat down next to me. “You and your girly shows.”

“This show’s not girly,” I pouted.

“Sure.”

I made a face, but let it go. The show was starting.

-

Short, but meh. It’s up. Either the next chapter or the chapter after is the real shitstorm. Be prepared! ;) Also, I didn't edit much, so I apologize for any errors there.