An invitation to supper? Slowly, Naomi laid back among the pebbles to mull over the offer. She had been just trying to understand what was going on, and had almost fucked it all up in the process, but then, magically, Emily had fixed it, with her sense of humor, of all things. Her younger brother sending her porn was too wicked to picture, but too funny not to alleviate some of the tension.
Stretching out her arms and glancing at the girl's silhouette, she found that, if she tilted her head slightly to the side, she could look at Emily's back without being blinded by the sun. Her straight, red hair was falling over her shoulders in an orderly manner, with the exception of a rebellious strand which had caught on the hood of her purple sweater. With half-closed eyes, Naomi reached out to pluck it free, an instinctive act.
The girl turned to her with a puzzled expression, but Naomi said nothing. Her words had done enough harm, and now she just wanted to enjoy the quiet. Words were too complicated right now, and living in the little corner of the world that was Bray had taught her that she should appreciate the simplicity of silence.
"You all right?" the redhead asked, before softly sinking to the ground beside her.
"Yeah."
"So… supper?"
Naomi moved her head less than an inch, enough to glimpse the tips of Emily's eyelashes, nose, and lips. "At yours, you say?"
"Yeah… Well, if that's okay."
After the conversation they'd just had, she thought that hardly anything had the potential of being comfortable or "okay". Nevertheless, she couldn't imagine parting with the girl now. Was there really anything to ponder? Brave, little Emily had found the courage to ask her, even though Naomi had come off as a complete jerk about the gay thing. It was astounding, really, the extent to which her rebuttals did not impress Emily.
Naomi pushed herself up to a sitting position and sunk her fingers up to her knuckles in pebbles. It was all part of the same problem: this improbable, impossible understanding they had shared from the start and her need to get closer, but controlling the distance. Still, it was all quite harmless, wasn't it? She was the one making it complicated.
When she looked at the redhead, she saw her smiling. "What?"
"Nothing. Should we go?"
Pressing her lips into a tight smile, Naomi nodded and stood up. She bent down to retrieve her shoes and felt a sharp tap on her shoulder that made her jump. What the…? When she turned around, she saw that the redhead was just standing there, with her hands behind her back.
"Was that you?"
"No," Emily said, innocently, and then threw a second pebble straight at her, hitting her stomach.
"Hey!"
She scooped a fistful of pebbles and tossed them at Emily, making the girl squeal and skip out of harm's way, although some of the little rocks did reach her ankles. Naomi immediately crouched to gather more ammunition, but the redhead was already showering her like a maniac.
Shrieking and laughing at the same time, Naomi dropped the stones she was holding between her hands and lunged at Emily, who hadn't expected that, and only had time to turn around before Naomi reached her. She circled the girl's waist with her arms and lifted her, causing them to collapse.
They tumbled down into a giggly mess of entangled limbs. Naomi managed to extract one of her hands to nurse the back of her head. "Ow! Oh, God, that hurt."
The redhead responded with a husky chuckle and attempted to get up, but failed, automatically dropping on the ground with a yelp. A bright red curtain of hair covered Naomi's face, and she kept completely still, because it was even touching her parted lips. She waited until the girl managed to disentangle herself, and then sat up.
"You all right? No internal injuries?" Emily asked.
"Nothing. Not even a bloody nose," she answered, combing back her blonde hair with her fingers. "That wasn't too bad actually, for a war."
Laughter, actual laughter, and an authentic, soul-deep smile: those had been the only collateral damages. Her cheekbones actually ached.
They staggered towards the promenade and climbed out of the beach. Naomi felt high as a kite as she slung a leg over the scooter and sat behind Emily. She bumped her helmet against Emily's in a playful manner and then looked up at the nearly cloudless sky.
Suddenly, she became aware of something. Her left hand was grasping her own right forearm, which could only mean that she was surrounding Emily's waist, and quite tightly at that. She was, in fact, pressed against the redhead, and had done it without even noticing, like the most natural thing in the world.
After the initial shock, a hard but tiny, almost invisible smile appeared on her lips. What are you doing? The question surfaced in her mind for the millionth time and once more she put off the tiresome task of answering it.
The little orange scooter took them down the road parallel to the Dargle River and then crossed the old, stone bridge to Lower Dargle Road. Naomi hadn't explored that far yet, but she had roamed the river bank and had enjoyed the sight of its overflowing vegetation.
After a couple of turns, they got to a residential area and Emily stopped the bike in front of a two-story brick house with a white door.
"So, here we are," Emily said, opening the door on the black iron fence which surrounded the house.
"Pretty."
"I guess… I didn't really choose it. My sister did."
As soon as the redhead opened the front door, Naomi heard loud party music coming from somewhere inside.
"Shit, she's home." Emily threw her head back, with a pained expression on her face.
"Your sister?"
"Yeah... I thought she'd be out with Sean."
"The football player?"
"That's right."
Naomi shuffled her feet. They were standing just inside the front door, awkwardly holding their helmets, and she didn't know what to do with herself. So what if she was home? If Emily didn't want her to meet her sister, they could have easily gone someplace else. Besides, if anyone had the right to be nervous, it was her.
"Fuck it, who cares?" the redhead looked at her. "Sorry, I'm a shit hostess. Please, come in, you can leave your stuff in there."
The big area that looked like the living room was spacious and had two large, white sofas, several leather armchairs, and a huge flat-screen TV. Naomi dumped her helmet and jacket on the closest chair.
"It's nice."
Emily shrugged. "This is all my sister."
Suddenly, the music stopped and there was someone coming down the stairs, and, by the sound of it, that certain someone was wearing high heels.
"Emily?"
When the owner of the voice entered the living room, Naomi had to do a double take. She was like a carbon copy of Emily, although dressed very differently, all pearls and combinations of leopard prints. Of course! The day before, she thought she had seen Emily coming out of a bookstore, but that must have been her twin sister!
"I thought I heard you talking to some-" The girl stopped short when she saw Naomi, gave her the once-over, and turned to Emily. "And who's this?"
"Excuse me?" Naomi asked. She was not one to take shit from anybody, and she did not like this girl's tone, not one bit.
"She's Naomi. Naomi, this is my sister Katie."
Katie glanced at her again and gave a little, dismissive nod. "Well, congratulations. Looks like you've found the only other lezzer in town."
"She's not gay."
"I'm not gay."
"She's not my girlfriend."
"I'm not her girlfriend."
"Whatever," Katie barked out a dismissive laugh at their interactive denial. "I'm off. I'm taking the car."
"The fucking car's yours," Emily said. "Leave already."
"Oh, that's right, I forgot you had the Emily-mobile now! Well, I'll leave you girls to it."
"About time…" the redhead grumbled.
Before disappearing through the front door, Katie poked her head inside and looked straight at Naomi. "By the way, I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, babes. My sister's not gay, she's just stupid."
"Fuck off!" Emily yelled, turning around violently, but her sister had already vanished.
"That was… interesting," Naomi said, pursing her lips.
"God, why can't she leave me alone? I'm sorry, I didn't have time to warn you… She's a bit of a bitch."
"Who? Are you talking about that totally balanced individual who just left? A bitch, really? I didn't notice a thing!"
The redhead smiled and seemed to calm down a great deal. Jerking her head towards the next room, she led the way into the kitchen, which seemed to include every single appliance on the face of the earth. And there was another flat-screen TV, hanging on the wall like a very expensive painting.
To Naomi's surprise, instead of stopping there, Emily walked straight across the room and opened another door. There was a path made out of stone slabs cutting through the grass, leading to a small vegetable garden, a hexagonal picnic table, and a small swimming pool. The garden was illuminated by several small-scale lampposts and a string of multi-colored fairy lights which were surrounding the perimeter.
"Now, this," the redhead said, in her raspy voice, "is me."
