Delphine would have been damned if anybody knew who she was crushing on, not because of the gender, that wasn't an issue in their school, but it COULDN'T be Cosima Neihaus. Cosima was, to put it mildly, a nerd, head of the science club to be exact, not that Delphine wasn't into science, because she was; more so than she let on. The real problem would've been the schools social hierarchy. Cheerleaders like her did not date people like Cosima Geekhaus; that was it, that was the status quo.
Besides, there was no way Cosima would ever feel the same, Delphine's friends had tormented the shorter girl the whole year Delphine had been in the states after her move from France. It killed Delphine, but she knew that Cosima must hate her guts.
So that day, when the bell rang for lunch, Delphine trotted off down the hallway to her locker and ran head on into the brunette. Both of them apologized before recognition hit, Cosima's hands waving frantically as her words tumbled out of her mouth, then froze as they stared into each other's eyes. Delphine wondered how she had never noticed the flecks of gold amid the hazel of Cosima's iris, but in truth she'd never really been this close to the girl. She'd always taken a back seat when Cosima was teased, never getting involved, you see, she'd never hurt her. Then she took in Cosima's apparel, the girl, who usually wore her dark curly hair lose around her head, had dreadlocks tied up in a ponytail, her ears were red and newly pierced and she wore a new selection of gold jewellery which Delphine heard jingle when they collided. Delphine raised a hand to stroke one of the dreads, but Cosima flinched away in fear, causing her to let her arm fall quickly.
"I… urm… wasn'tgoing tohurtyou." Delphine tried to say, but it came out as one rambling long word, causing the French girl to blush and duck out of the shorter girl's path, running off down the hallway, in the opposite direction she needed to go, leaving Cosima wide eyed and embarrassed in the middle of school.
It wasn't until a few days later that the two saw each other again, but Delphine's friends all noticed Cosima's change in look and constantly spoke about it.
"Do you think she's trying to fit in? How cute of her, she'll never manage though."
"Maybe she thinks it makes her look tougher?"
"Well that doesn't matter, we know she's weak, and too nerdy for her own good."
Delphine fell quiet and felt herself boil over with rage at the words they said, they didn't know Cosima, why would they act like this? She didn't understand the girls, so quietly got up and left, and found herself walking through one of the unused corridors at the school, and into the girls bathroom.
There she saw the dreadlocked science geek, sat on the sink, her hand holding something to her mouth. Delphine watched her silently, shocked, as smoke billowed out between her lips and the girl sagged as she gave a contented sigh. Then the smell hit Delphine's nostrils and she choked, causing herself to cough uncontrollably, scaring the smaller girl, who fell off the sink.
"Shit." Cosima mumbled, as she picked up what was her joint, which was now burst open on the ground, throwing the remnants into a see through zip up bag.
"I'm sorry." Delphine started, her heart in her mouth, "I didn't expect anybody to be here."
"Me either." Cosima whispered, and Delphine smiled softly.
"You know, I didn't see you as a pot girl." Delphine said, pointing at the bag in her hand.
"Well, when in Rome… or Cali" Cosima grinned at the taller girl, her own heart rate accelerating. Cosima had had a crush on the Cheerleader for a while now, as soon as she saw her in her AP biology class really, at the beginning of the year. She knew Delphine had a brain, she was an A grade student, her cheerleader friends just didn't know it, and she was thankful the blonde never touched her when she was being bullied, she noticed Delphine would always back away.
An awkward silence overcame the two of them, as they began to shuffle with their clothes, Cosima rearranging her patterned tights and burgundy dress, when Delphine broke the tension.
"You know, I never want them to hurt you. You don't deserve it." She lowered her head in shame when a look of shock settled on Cosima's face.
"Don't worry, I'm used to it, I've been here a lot longer than you." She said sadly, clutching at her arm with hand, hunched over.
"But you shouldn't be. Those girls can be awful." Delphine said, almost angrily, "I don't know how you cope."
"Well normally it's bearable because one of them never participates." Cosima's voice wavered as she spoke, her hands nervously came up in a shrug like gesture. Delphine moved closer to the smaller girl, and sat on the sink next to her, placing her hand over the others and squeezed.
"I couldn't ever hurt you, you know?" she smiled into Cosima's black lined eyes, which held a softness about them, although she noticed the nerves. In reality though, Cosima held her breath at the contact, and was slowly and accidentally suffocating herself. Cosima nodded at the French girl, then spluttered as she realised she couldn't breathe, and fell backwards into the sink.
Instantly Delphine jumped up and stood in front of the smaller girl, pulling her out of the, thankfully, not wet basin. Then found herself holding Cosima and staring into the girls eyes, and before she could register what she was doing, she cupped the girls cheek and brought their lips together tenderly. Cosima shuffled forward into Delphine's petite yet tall body and wrapped her legs around her waist as the kiss deepened and Delphine's tongue poked into her mouth, sliding hotly against her own, causing her to moan out then pull away awkwardly half-laughing at the sound she just made.
"I'm sorry, I don't normally do that." Delphine apologised and backed away from the sitting girl, her face flushed and lips red.
"I don't normally do that either Delphine." Cosima lowered her gaze momentarily, "but it felt nice." She looked up hopefully at the blonde, who found strength in those words and crashed into her lips, frantically trying to get as close as she could to the girl she'd been crushing on for months, in that moment, not worried about what this could mean.