A Cliche Worth Exploring...

Authors Note: Thanks for reading. Please let me know if you think I should continue on with this story or start a new one! Sorry again for the really short chapters, I seem to have a hard time with pacing :/

PS. Don't worry, there will be another part to this, but past that I'm not sure. You'll have to let me know if you like it or not.

Warnings: Lesbian sex, experimentation

*****

It's been an exciting few days. I moved to a new city to start college, I got a new hair cut and new clothes, and I met my best friend. Rose Rosenbloom was the first person I met in this town, and we hit it off immediately. Despite an awkward conversation Thursday morning, we continued to make each other laugh and spent a good portion of each day together. I felt like I could say what I needed to around her and she would always understand it. Coming from such similar backgrounds, we had a lot in common in the baggage department. She ended up becoming not just my best friend in this new city, but one of the best friends I've ever had. In my old town I had people to hang out with, sure. Though it always felt as if no one ever seemed to care about what the other was saying. I would try to talk about how I felt bored all the time and didn't like what I was doing, but as soon as my sentence ended it was 'well what '''I''' think is that it's allergies. You know I get such horrible allergies this time of year, I'm just so miserable' Etc.

Rose is different. She cares, or at least, she's very good at seeming like she does. It was Friday evening now, just two days until we had to be actual adults and put in effort, so we made a plan to enjoy our fleeting freedom.

"You found any places that look good?" Rose says from her bedroom.

"I think this place looks pretty neat. It's called... Kitties bar and club. How does that one sound?" I reply, looking at reviews on my phone.

"Oh sweetie, that one's for sure a gay bar. Read me a review."

"Hmmm. This one's from 'gardenofeve' and it says 'best clam chowder in the whole city, would recommend, 4 out of 5.' Oof. Bit on the nose, don't you think?"

I hear Rose laugh from her room. She comes out a second later holding one of her new outfits in front of her. It's a black mesh top with only the breasts blacked out that stops at just above the belly button. She's holding a loose black ruffled skirt that ends above the knee. The contrast between her pale legs and the dark skirt is striking.

"What do you think about this? Too easy? Too low effort?" She twists and turns, giving me varying angles of how the outfit might look. I notice she isn't wearing any actual clothes behind the outfit, just her underwear.

"I don't know, you're the fashion guru!" I tease. "I think it looks super good and you would rock it, but I'm biased." She smiles, gives the outfit one last look over and turns back to her room. When she turns, I get a view of my roommates' backside. I try not to look, but her slight frame is deceiving. She has a fairly well sized heart shaped butt. It's not huge or anything, but it's incredibly perky. It only bounces slightly with each step, but I find it to be very cute. She apparently already picked out her club undies, wearing a black lace banded thong with cute little frills around the edges. Everything about her emanates cuteness in a very fun, sexy way. I forget to look away before she rounds the corner and she shoots her head to the side, catching me looking for a brief second before I can react and readjust my head.

"Hey do you want to get something to eat before or after we go? You hungry now?" I call back, hoping to completely disregard the awkward situation.

She comes back out wearing the outfit she previewed for me. She looks stunning, the mesh teasing just enough skin to make it provocative, but only if she's allowed you to get close enough.

I meet her shining eyes, full of hope and a new lust for life. I'm finding it hard to have exclusively platonic feelings. I catch myself repeating those words I said to myself a few days ago. 'She acts as if it's as easy as trying Thai food.' What once was used as a way to justify my lack of pursuing interests now sounds like a justification for my feelings. You have to put in the effort. Just have to let yourself be open to new things, whatever they may be.

"I could eat, yeah. You wanna get Thai? There's like three places in this neighborhood alone."

My introspective thoughts are interrupted by her surprisingly germane comment. Rose, if you can read my thoughts, please tell me.

Silence.

"Hello? Lily?" She waves her hand.

"Uh yeah, sorry, I was thinkin about something. Yeah I've always wanted to try Thai food. Lemme throw something on and we can head out."

I pick out a black leather jacket and a tight black sleeveless crop top. I complete the look with torn dark blue skinny jeans. Rose already claimed the choker look, so I opted for a necklace and a bracelet. We stood side by side and I snapped a shot of us, looking ready to take on the world. Someone commented 'Relationship Goals' and I can't lie, it did make me feel kinda giddy inside. I decided not to show Rose.

After trying out the massaman curry at the closest Thai restaurant, we headed out to the club. I'm not sure what we thought we were going to do there. I don't turn 21 until next month and Rose only just turned 20, barely meeting the age requirement for the apartment. Neither of us had ever actually been to a club before. They aren't really big in the places we come from, so this was another experience in a long list of things we had wanted to try.

The club was simply called 'cobalt'. Apparently it was one of those nightclubs that only open for like 3 weeks at a time and never in the same location. The concept baffled me, but it was something new, for sure.

There was no bouncer outside. Just a small, white, block lettered sign that read 'cobalt'. No capitalization, no punctuation. I didn't feel cool enough to enter alone, but with Rose at my side I felt like I stood a chance. The hallway leading in was entirely lit with cool blue bulbs. It wasn't quite black light, but it was very close.

I could hear the music as soon as we opened the door, and right around the corner was a room with a series of small areas with couches and tables. There were a few people scattered about in these pockets of seating sipping a drink, but most people were on the dance floor. A hard beat rap song was playing. I couldn't really make out the words, but the bass hit hard in my chest and left it empty when the song recoiled.

Rose grabs my hand and leads me to a couch in the corner, setting it up as our own little spot, letting us get warmed up to the environment. My eyes start adjusting to the blue lights, but when the song pauses, then resumes twice as hard, the lights start strobing in time. I almost feel overwhelmed until Rose puts her hand on mine. It felt like her doing that turned the music down and lowered the lights.

"Did you wanna dance, or just hang out?" She says after the song ends and a new one takes its place.

"I thought you were supposed to be finding other people to dance with at a club!"

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'dance with the one who brung you'?"

"Man, you're full of cliches." I say, letting her take my hand and lead me to the floor.

The song was a bit slower, which I was thankful for. Granted, slow in this setting was still about 100 bpm, no real slow dancing was happening here. We bounced up and down to the beat, getting a feel for the song, then we started having more fun. I wasn't really sure how to dance, especially not to a song like this. Just moving along with Rose felt good, however, so I did whatever came naturally. We bop our heads to the beat, throwing our hands back and forth. It's pretty clear neither of us had ever been to a club before.

In the brief serenity of silence after the song ends, Rose and I laugh, both at each other and with each other. She pulls herself in close and gives me a hug, resting her forehead on my shoulder, which is at the perfect height for her to nuzzle into. Her embrace warms my whole body. She's heavy in my arms the way a blanket is on a cold day. She's light on my chest like a deep breath. We're no longer laughing. There is no longer silence. Neither of us seem to notice.

She lifts her head off my shoulder and looks up at me, into my eyes.

"Do you wanna go somewhere quieter?" I say, not realizing the connotations.

"Now who's full of cliches?"

We were only in the club for about a half hour, but I think I've gotten my fill of nightclubs. Maybe I'll try it again when I can drink.

Rose and I ended up just walking around the city for a couple of hours, talking. It's a beautiful night, surprisingly warm. Though when I look over at Rose she shivers slightly. I didn't feel a thing, so I took my jacket off and wrapped it around her.

"You're really leaning into this, aren't you?" She says, wrapping the jacket around her.

"Leaning into what? You were shivering and I'm not, so I gave you my jacket. Simple as that." Simple is not the adjective I would use to describe my thoughts and feelings at this exact moment.

We walk a few more steps before something catches my eye.

I reach into my bag and pull out my small camera. I step in front of her quickly and pause, framing a shot. She is incredibly photogenic, putting seemingly no effort into a pose and yet capturing the feeling of this night perfectly in a single 3.1 by 3.1 frame. A soft moon peaking through staggered towers, reflecting fire off her cherry red hair; her sapphire blue eyes winged with stark bold lines of eyeliner. The soft bokeh of a yellow streetlight highlighting the wanderlust dripping from her face. I won't put this one in a scrapbook or a portfolio. This is ours.

I took several more photos that night before we decided to head back to our apartment. I could have walked around the city with Rose forever, but she was getting sleepy. I might have been upset if she weren't so damned cute about it. We called for a taxi, seeing as we were now a couple miles away from our home. It was easy to get lost with Rose.

The traffic isn't that bad, but it'll still take a while to navigate back. Rose leans over to me, resting her head against my arm as she lightly naps. A pothole disrupts her, only enough to make her reposition herself. She threads her left arm around my right, clutching it closer to her. No part of her ever felt uncomfortable. Like a puzzle piece snapping into place, completing the image of a happier me. Of course a two piece puzzle doesn't sound too hard, but when you're missing half the pieces the solution can be completely unrecognizable.

The cab driver pulled up to our street, turning his head to the side to look at us.

"That'll be..." He notices Rose sleeping, curled around me, and smiles. He reminds me of my father. Silently, he brings a finger up, then points it at the total. I softly reach into my purse to pay the man, giving a generous tip for being so considerate. Quietly, I open the door and grab a hold of Rose, supporting her legs and back as I pull her out of the car. I carefully carry her up the curb, closing the door as quietly as I can with me back. However, the noise jostles her and she looks up at me, seemingly unfazed by her situation.

"Hey." Rose mumbles, her sleepy voice a few tones higher than her regular speaking voice.

"Close your eyes, we're almost home." My instructions prove pointless as she has already nuzzled her head into the crook of my arm. I can only assume it isn't the most comfortable position, but she's making it work.

I set Rose down on her bed and take off her shoes while disturbing her the smallest amount possible. Unfortunately, she notices this action too. Apparently I'm not the stealthiest person in the world. She wakes up a bit more fully this time.

"Thank you." Rose says in the same sleepy voice.

"It's fine, go to bed sleepy head." I turn the light out and start to walk, pulling the door closed behind me. Just before I get the door shut fully, I hear her say

"G'night... Love you."

I freeze in my tracks. I have no idea how to respond to that. I'm sure she's just half asleep and it slipped out from habit. Or she meant it in a completely platonic way. Like how you love your best friends. I was never the type to throw out the L so liberally, but people do that, right? I shut the door the remaining way wordlessly.

I had that same dream again this night. I'm sitting on the couch with someone, parents are happy for me, ex is trying to convince me to come home. Although, the energy in the room is different than it was last time. They really are mad at me this time. They're telling me that I'm not trying hard enough, that I'm not committing. I try to explain myself, but my throat won't open. My ex looks happy this time. He wears a devilish grin. He tells me he knew this was just a phase, that I'd be back home where I belonged soon enough.

But I knew they were wrong. This is what I wanted. For the first time in my life I felt like I was being myself. Not the person my parents wanted to be, not the person my boyfriend thought I was, not the person my friends wanted to like. It's only been a few days of my exploration into who I want to be, but I think I already figured it out. I just want to be happy.

As soon as I have this realization, my parents fade away. My ex disappears, and I am left with the person on the couch.

Rose looks at me. She puts her hand in mine.

And I am happy.