"Isabel. Isabel, there is an ant on your toe."
I heard the sounds and I knew she was talking. I saw the words drifting from her mouth. She had such a pretty mouth. Even with the lipstick smeared and her hair disheveled, she was gorgeous. Her dark hair framed her oval face so perfectly, it amazed me. Leelah always had.
I groaned and rolled over onto my stomach. Let the ant do what it pleases. It should live too. I wonder if that ant has a beautiful girl all to itself. I would hope so. Everyone should.
"Isabella. Are you even listening to me?" she asked. She stared at me with her chartreuse green eyes. I smiled halfway and yawned.
"Well, I'm glad I interest you so much," she huffed.
"Aww, baby, calm down," I said in a soothing tone. She smiled quickly and leaned forward. I watched her lick her lips and close her eyes. The silver eye shadow shimmered softly in the mid morning light. Her flawless skin hummed of youth and vitality. I wanted to cover myself in her essence.
I leaned forward and met her lips with mine. Electricity flowed from the touch. I felt my heart beat harder. I touched her arm just to continue the amazing feeling of shared souls. My hand slowly trailed over her skin and onto her side. As I reached to unbutton her blue blouse, the pealing of church bells threw me off guard and we broke our embrace.
"Shit shit shit shit shit," she said under her breath as she reached into her purse to retrieve her compact. She performed some cosmetic
wonder and reapplied her lipstick.
"You look fine," I tried telling her. She always looks fine. She should realize this and never have to worry about anything ever. She should just lie about naked and be beautiful while I compose poetry in her honor and sketch
her with charcoal. "No really, you do."
"But... the priest. He will know. They always know," she stammered.
"Fuck the priest. He's to busy banging the alter boys to care. If he has such a problem with homosexuality he shouldn't let his tastes run to small boys," I said. She looked at me with such a shocked expression, it was hard not to laugh. Oh God, if I laugh she will kill me.
"Bella, don't say such things. It's not right. You're going to go to hell and stop laughing at me. Hey, I said stop," she whined. I put on a mock serious face and whispered in her ear.
"Leelah, baby, according to them and according to this," I said while waving my hands at the Catholic church past the parking lot where we stood, "we already are going to hell."
She looked hurt. I hated shoving her into the world. Her life had been sheltered. Her life had been protected. I sighed. I straightened my purple shirt and pulled my hair up.
"Alright, fine. I give up, I'm sorry," I told her. I don't think I could ever really forgive myself for hurting her. Her silence brought me back to reality. I looked at the rows of cars in the lot. She had told her father that her and I were going to the early mass. We skipped it. Instead we sat in the grass by the gardens behind the church. I looked at the sky. It was Autumn and the air was clear. I looked again to the monument that stood before us. Why do I get myself sucked into this?
Leelah. It all came back to Leelah. My eyes looked back to the beauty next to me. She was just finishing pulling everything together.