It was near the end of August and Zoey was at Erin's house one Saturday.
Erin was working on a drawing in her sketchbook.
Zoey sat close to her, looking over her shoulder.
"What are you drawing?"
"Us. It'll look better when it's done." Erin said, erasing a bit of the drawing and wiping the eraser shavings off the piece of paper.
A little while later, Erin signed her name at the bottom of the page, cautiously ripped it out of her sketchbook, and handed it to Zoey.
"Woah, it looks really good." Zoey commented, grinning at the drawing.
Erin's heart fluttered at Zoey's happy grin.
Along with everything else, Erin really loved her smile.
On the piece of paper, Erin had drawn herself sitting in front of Zoey, who was playing her guitar. Small hearts and music notes surrounded them. "Thank you." Zoey said.
Erin smiled at her proudly.
"You're welcome."
A couple minutes later, she put the drawing into her backpack.
She soon went back to Erin's nook, sitting next to her.
She thought to herself for a long minute, before saying,
"Erin, come here."
Erin was a little confused, since she was already sitting so close to her.
"How am I supposed to get any closer?" She asked, smiling with a look of curiosity in her eyes.
"You could, uh... you could sit on my lap, if you wanted to. You don't have to, though." She offered.
She had an idea in mind, but she didn't really know why Erin sitting on her lap was a part of it.
Erin was looking at her, her cheeks were bright red and butterflies were flying around in her stomach.
"Oh, um, I want to." She replied.
Zoey sat with her legs crossed.
Erin sat comfortably on her lap, her legs were on either side of Zoey, who's hands rested on her waist.
Erin's hands rested on Zoey's shoulders.
"Are you, are you comfortable?" Erin asked.
"Yes. Are you?"
"Yeah."
Zoey took one hand off Erin's waist and reached up slightly to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Have I ever told you that I love you?"
Erin's heart fluttered again and the butterflies in her stomach were flying faster than before.
So far, Zoey hadn't verbally said those three words to her.
She'd shown her that she loved her in plenty of ways, but she hadn't said it out loud yet.
"No, you haven't. You love me?"
"Yes, Erin. I love you, I really, really love you. I've never loved anybody as much as I love you." Zoey said, looking up at Erin, who was bright red and smiling giddily.
Erin was truly very happy right now.
She'd never had anyone say that they loved her romantically.
"I love you, too. I didn't know I could love someone so much. You make me so, so happy."
"You make me happy, too." Zoey smiled.
Just when she thought she couldn't be any happier, here she was, sitting with her girlfriend, telling her how much she loved her, as happy as can be.
Erin held Zoey's face in her hands and leaned down a bit, Zoey's hands were still on her waist.
She kissed her for a few sweet seconds.
It felt as if she was in a little bubble, alone with no one but Zoey.
She wished she could stay in this bubble forever.
"What the fuck?!" A voice shouted.
Erin pulled away and her heart stopped.
There stood Carol, the angriest expression that Erin had ever seen, on her face.
Without much thought, Zoey hastily shoved Erin off of herself.
The force of the shove caused for Erin to hit her head on the wall behind her.
"What the fuck is this, Erin?!" Carol shouted.
Erin was speechless.
Her bubble had been popped.
So many things were going through her head.
She swore that she'd shut her door, why was her mom in her room? Wasn't she making dinner? Erin was sure that Carol was busy.
Erin sat completely silent. Zoey looked at her and saw that her hands were shaking.
She looked at Carol, who was glaring right at her.
"Mrs. Lewis, it, it's not what it looks like!" She said anxiously.
She honestly could've said something better than, 'It's not what it looks like!', but she barely had any time to think.
"Oh, really? Because it looks like the kid my daughter spends all her time with has warped her into a faggot." Carol spat.
Erin had never heard her mother say words so harsh.
It felt like a knife being stabbed into her heart.
By being accused, Zoey was also being stabbed, but she miraculously stayed calm. Erin didn't know how she managed to do that.
Zoey stood up from the nook and faced Carol.
"I haven't warped her. It's not my fault she loves me!" She stated, her voice raising a bit.
Carol rolled her eyes.
"That is bullshit! Erin doesn't love you!" She yelled, then looked Erin in the eye. "Right?! You don't love her, do you?"
Erin's throat felt like it was closing up.
She couldn't talk, even though she needed to.
She nodded her head quickly.
Less than ten minutes ago, she was saying it to Zoey, saying that she loved her.
"Goddamnit! This wouldn't have happened if you didn't show up and ruin her life!" Carol shouted, pointing a finger at Zoey.
"I didn't ruin her life!"
"Yes you did!"
This was horrible. Erin couldn't talk, so Zoey had to fight against a woman twice her age.
Zoey wanted this all to stop.
She glanced over to Erin for a brief second, seeing tears staining her cheeks.
She wanted to hug her tightly, protect her from her mother.
The door from the garage could be heard vaguely down the hall.
Footsteps came closer and closer until Mark stood in the doorway of Erin's bedroom.
"What is all this yelling about? I can hear you all from the garage." He commented, then looked over the room.
His wife was raging mad, his daughter was crying softly under her bed, and his daughter's friend had her hands balled up in fists.
He focused on Erin more than anything else.
"Why is she crying?" He questioned.
"I caught Zoey kissing our daughter! She's turned her into a fag for Christ's sake!"
Zoey really wanted to say something, but she didn't.
By now, she'd realized that fighting with Carol was useless.
Mark turned to his wife.
"Can I talk to Erin for a minute?"
"Why?" Carol retorted. "Why do you get to be involved in this? You didn't even see what they were doing!"
"I get to be involved, because whatever took place just now made Erin cry and she's no crybaby. She's been hurt badly, and I'd like to know what or who hurt her." Mark replied calmly.
Mark was right. Erin wasn't one to cry often.
This was the first time that Zoey had ever seen her cry.
Carol walked out of the room angrily.
Zoey quickly went over to Erin and hugged her tighter than she ever had before.
Tears continued to fall down Erin's face and she was still shaking.
She did feel the tiniest bit better with Zoey's arms around her.
Mark sat down on the floor in front of her bed.
"Erin, I'll admit, I am a bit surprised to hear that you were kissing Zoey," He started. "But, I don't think it's as big of a deal as your mother is making it out to be."
Erin looked at him, her vision was a bit blurry.
"Thank you." She whispered.
Her throat felt scratchy and dry.
Mark looked to Zoey.
"I know me and you have never really talked, but I don't think you're doing anything wrong." He said, then looked Erin in the eye.
"I don't care if you're gay or... whatever. I just want you to be happy. Does Zoey make you happy?"
Erin looked at Zoey for a moment, then back to her father.
"Yes." She said, smiling weakly.
Erin's smile fell at what Mark said next.
"Your mother is outside, she might be cooling off or she might still be fuming, I don't really know. Bare with her, okay? I'll try to talk to her."
"Okay, Dad."
Bare with her? She didn't want to bare with her!
Truthfully, she wanted to yell at her, yell so loud that she would have to listen to what she was saying.
"I love you." Mark said, then stood up and walked out of her room.