Author's Note: Way too long of a hiatus. Going to try and be more regular. Sorry y'all.
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Four: Braids
Amara sat on the floor, back pressed to Jubilee's bed, as Jubilee braided her hair. Jubilee's fingers moved quickly and deftly through her hair, picking up stray strands and looping them back in as she went. Jubilee's legs were crossed and, as Amara looked up into the mirror over Jubilee's dresser, across from her bed, she could see Jubilee sticking out her tongue, her brow furrowed in concentration.
"Thanks again, Jubilee," said Amara, tilting her head forward at the other girls' nudging.
"Hey, not a problem," said Jubilee, "I love braiding hair, and this is a lot easier than doing my own." Her fingers brushed the back of Amara's neck as she kept working. "Can I ask you something though?"
Amara hummed. "Yeah."
"Are you avoiding Tabitha?" At Jubilee's words, Amara went very still. A moment later, she felt Jubilee tie off the braid. "Amara." Jubilee's words were firm.
"Maybe?" Amara swallowed around her words. "I mean…" She sighed. "Yes." She pulled her braid over her shoulder and fiddled with it. Didn't look up at the mirror or back at Jubilee.
"Is it because she's gay?" asked Jubilee. Amara kept fiddling with her braid. She said nothing. "Amara!" Sharper this time, angry as well.
"What?" snapped Amara. She spun around to face Jubilee. "What do you want me to do? It's weird, Jubes, it's really weird."
Jubilee rolled her eyes. "She's still Tabitha. It's you that's being weird."
"That's not true!" said Amara. "What if she hits on me, or what if she tries to kiss me? It's bad enough she's allowed in the locker rooms with us. Do I really have to have her as a roommate?"
Jubilee stared at her for long enough with such a nasty look on her face that Amara wondered if she didn't have some kind of hideous deformity. She looked over her shoulder at the mounted mirror, but she looked fine.
"Do you even hear yourself?" asked Jubilee in a low voice. "She's our friend, Amara. Do you worry the boys are going to hit on you?"
Amara faltered. "No. Of course not."
"Precisely!" Jubilee threw her hands into the air. "Why does it matter so much just because Tabitha is a girl? You're being a bigot."
"I'm being smart," protested Amara. She got to her feet, fists clenched at her sides. "Besides, why does she have to flaunt it in her faces? We didn't ask her to!"
Jubilee fell back on her bed, hands over her face as she groaned. "You're being stupid."
"No, I'm not," snapped Amara. She felt her hands grow hot and forced herself not to ignite. "Where I come from, people like Tabitha aren't allowed to exist, and I don't know why it's different here, but I don't like it." She thought of her father. Of his snarls. Of his hand raised in anger. She swallowed hard. "She's stupid for thinking she's not weird. And you're stupid for supporting this weird phase of hers."
"Do you even hear yourself?" asked Jubilee. She didn't sit back up or take her hands off her face. "You sound worse than the people we're supposed to be hiding from."
Amara growled. "You just don't get it!"
Jubilee sat up and jabbed a finger at her. "No, you don't get it."
The two glared at each other. A moment later, the door clicked open and Rahne peeked in.
"Is everything all right in here?" she asked, her drawl stronger than usual. "Thought I heard yelling."
"Fine," snapped Amara and Jubilee in unison. Amara turned and stalked out of the room, shoving passed Rahne and trying not to growl again.
She just didn't get it. It wasn't that simple.
Tabitha was different. Way different. And didn't Jubilee get that people who were different had bad things happen to them? Better to be normal. Better to pretend.
Better to never say anything at all.