Leap Year (✔)

May 31: Part II

She slid next to Rosie without waiting for a reply. Her dark hair glowed reddish in the sunlight. "I thought you'd want to know that I registered to take classes at Loyola in the fall. It's a college in Chicago."

"I know what Loyola is."

"Okay then." Silence.

"I'm happy for you," Rosie said. She meant it. Brie would do great things. Rosie was unable to muster the energy to be angry anymore.

"I thought you hated me."

Rosie sighed. "I could never hate you. Even though hating you would be a lot easier."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brie grin. "Did you see my senior project?"

"Yup." Rosie fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"The whole video?"

Rosie hesitated. She didn't want to mention she'd stormed off after only hearing like two sentences. That seemed too pathetic to admit out loud.

"It's online. You should watch it sometime. If you want. Also..." Brie reached for something behind her. "This is for you." She handed Rosie a small, thick paperback book. It looked familiar. "It's the poetry book Abuela gave me. You saw it on my bed at Christmas, but you might want to take a closer look. I translated some of my favorite parts."

"Oh, it's okay." Rosie didn't know what to say. There was no guide to talking to your ex-girlfriend who wasn't out to her parents but you still sort-of loved. "It's from your Abuela, I shouldn't--"

"I've read it so many times, I almost have it memorized. You can hold onto it for a while. I... I'll see you, Ro."

She reached in for a hug and Rosie opened her arms. It was different from the hugs they'd shared before, full of pain and love and something bittersweet.

Brie stood up to go back inside and Rosie was left waiting for her mom.

She waited until she heard the front door shut before pulling out her phone again and heading to the Darliss website. From there Rosie found the link to the senior project media and scrolled until she found Brie's video.

"Hi, my name is Brie Torres." Her smile looked so genuine, more so than Rosie remembered it being the first time she'd watched.

She fast-forwarded to the part she'd left off.

"I was inspired by my family to create this multimedia project highlighting a side of me they don't yet know about. Mom, dad," She took a deep breath. "I'm bisexual. Sorry that you're the last two people to find out, but I wanted to tell you the right way." She started talking in Spanish. Rosie couldn't understand any of it, but she caught the word 'Abuela' and her own name twice.

"And Rosie," Brie continued. Her mouth curled into the most magnificent smile. "Thank you for being by my side no matter what. I love you."

Rosie's stomach dropped.

Brie said she loved her. But she was mad at Brie. But the reason she was mad at her was because she hadn't told her parents about them and she'd done just that in that video.

Rosie slammed her fist against the concrete step, sending pain shooting through her bones. If only you had told me sooner, she groaned, I would have understood!

Brie had been planning the project for months. Everything checked out. Brie's knowing smile when Rosie had confessed her love. Her refusal to tell Rosie what her project was about. Brie typing away on her laptop when Rosie had visited at Christmas.