Rachel had always known she was gay, but would never admit it, even to herself. West Michigan had been a conservative area since before she was born, and little had changed in the ideologies of its residents in her twenty-three years growing up and living there. She had never come out about being gay, and hadn't really believed it herself. She passed it off as a fleeting thought here or there. It was nothing to dwell on. She had dated men. The longest that was four months, and the second longest a lagging two weeks. Rachel threw herself into her church youth group, or various volunteering activities, anything to keep her mind from wandering toward other women. It had worked, the more she ran the less she thought about them.
As Rachel made her way through college she became more involved in campus activities, devoting her time to making the world a better place little by little. She had met Emily while planning a marathon to raise money. The two became fast friends and spent the better part of three years volunteering and organizing together before finally graduating. They had gotten an apartment together, they had both looked for work unsuccessfully together, and they had both given up, taking jobs as waitresses at the same restaurant together.
Rachel sighed as she opened the beaten up door to her apartment. The hallway to the apartment was a series of decrepit doors, most missing one or another of their numbers to identify them. The interiors were nicer, albeit small. Rachel stepped in the door and quickly locked it behind her. She kicked off her shoes and dropped her messenger bag to the ground, next to the shoes. She leaned against the wall for a moment and contemplated moving her messenger bag to a better spot, but decided it could sit there and moved on, into the apartment. Her eyes followed an imaginary line in the carpet. When she finally looked up she saw Emily, nicely dressed, standing next to the little island that acted to partition off the kitchenette. In her hand was a single rose.
"For me?" Rachel said with astonishment.
Emily nodded. "I thought you might enjoy it."
"Aww," Rachel practically yelled as she reached out to take the rose. "Thank you so much." She looked up to Emily. "You didn't have to." Rachel held the rose in front of her mouth.
Emily shrugged and smirked. "I thought you'd enjoy it."
Rachel smelled the rose deeply. "I love it, thank you." She stood on her tiptoes to hug Emily, who stood a good four inches taller than Rachel. "What's this for?"
Emily embraced Rachel, holding her close. "Nothing, I just wanted to do something nice."
Rachel let go and held the rose to her nose as she looked down. "Thank you, it made my day." Emily stood, awkwardly staring at Rachel. There was a strange silence in the apartment. "What?" Rachel asked with a glance to the side.
Emily shook her head. "Nothing."
"You look like there's something you want to say," Rachel said. She spun the rose in front of her mouth. The silky petals felt good against her lips.
Emily tapped her foot and looked from side to side.
"What?" Rachel laughed nervously.
Emily bit her lip, and stood silently for a minute. "I want to get to know you better," Emily finally blurted. She grimaced at her own words.
"Like what do you mean? A further friendship?" Rachel lowered the rose from her face.
Emily took a deep breath. "No, I mean...." Emily paused. "I'm crazy about you. Head over heels crazy about you." Emily stood frozen, her heart pounding as she instantly regretted what she had just done.
Rachel cocked her head to the side. "What?" She asked confused.