Holly sat quietly in her last lecture of the week. It was only a review period for her upcoming final exam and would be posted online, but she wouldn't be caught missing it. She never misses class for anything at all, is sure to arrive early whenever she can, often stays behind to ask the professor any questions she may have, and takes detailed notes on the information being covered. It's for all these reasons that Holly finds it incredulous that she just cannot manage to pay any amount of attention today on what the professor is informing the class. The only thing that she seems to find ease with when it comes to thinking is Gail. She found herself deep in a reminiscent state, thinking of the past weekend when they had gone to the batting cages. Gail had given her possibly the most adorable pouting face she had ever seen. She had noticed Gail get cutely embarrassed when she had helped her. She remembered the look of excitement and triumph on her face when she realized she had actually hit the ball and recalled the warm feeling in her chest when Gail enveloped her in a tight celebratory embrace. She couldn't forget the way Gail's eyes, for just a small moment, changed when she looked at Holly. "Great job, Stewart. How is it that you always manage to fall for the difficult ones?" she thought.

After a few more minutes, the professor had concluded the lecture and Holly neatly reorganized everything back into her bag before making her way out of the building. She headed back across campus to her dorm room and pulled out her phone. Her thoughts of Gail were becoming almost too much for her to handle; she knew that she had developed feelings for her, but never expected them to be quite as strong as she felt they were. The phone rang twice already and she prayed that her friend would answer, because if not, she would succumb to more over-thinking.

"Hey stranger, it's been a while since you've called. What've you been up to?"

"Hey Tracy. I um, have kind of just been really busy with school. You know, exams coming up and all. Are you busy right now by any chance?" she asked, opening the door to her room.

"Is Holly Stewart in need of a pep talk?"

She sighed into the phone. Tracy always knew when something was going on; it was like some sort of creepy motherly instinct. "Yes" she groaned in defeat. "Badly".

"I'll be there in two seconds, bye".

Holly had been lying on her stomach with her head against her folded arms as Tracy knocked on the door. "Come in".

"Hey champ, why are you sulking on the couch on such a beautiful day?"

She raised her head and opened her eyes to see her friend walking towards her with a bottle of tequila. Holly sat upright to make room for Tracy. "There's a lot of beauty in the world" she started, grabbing the offered bottle and twisting off the cap. This was the normal procedure for their deep talks: Holly would call Tracy and then Tracy would appear with alcohol and give her life-changing words of wisdom. She had met Tracy at the school's frosh week and they clicked instantly. Even though they were in different programs, they were housed only a floor apart which made it easier to see each other and keep in touch throughout the year.

"What?"

Holly lifted the bottle to her lips and tipped it up. She didn't drink often and when the burning in her throat was apparent, she remembered why. "Do you remember at the music festival when I told you I got caught up in the restroom helping some girl who got puked on?"

"You wouldn't stop gushing over her eyes"

She shot her a pleading look. "Not helping. Anyway, we've kind of, sort of, been hanging out since then and I mean, obviously I was attracted to her because she's beyond gorgeous, but I didn't think I would be this attracted to her and it's killing me because she's straight, I think, and I'm not" she moped, her words coming out in one heaping sentence.

"What do you mean 'you think'?"

"Well, from talking to her I know that she's only dated guys, but every time I'm with her there's these times when I think we're having a moment; it's all in her eyes, it's like they soften for even just the smallest second, like they're trying to say so much in one tiny look. And I swear to you when she's with me, she's the most honest and amazing person once you get past the sarcasm and odd comments, but after one of those moments she bounces onto a new subject as if suddenly realizing what she's doing isn't normal for her or something like that, I don't know. We went to a party and Jenna showed up and then the next thing I know, this girl is kissing me to make her jealous. Then we went to the batting cages and she hugs me like her it's the best day of her life and I kid you not she lip-looks me all the time. All the time Tracy! I'm telling you Trace, she's the most confusing girl I have ever met and I don't know why I'm so drawn to her, but right now it sucks".

"Is this another one of your 'mending the broken girl' situations?"

"Honestly, no. I can tell she has some baggage, probably more with herself than anything else, but I truly feel myself caring for her more and more". Holly began to become frustrated. She knew that she should have never stayed over at Gail's the first time she had offered. She knew that going to the party with her was a bad idea. Going on coffee dates were bad ideas. The batting cage was the icing on top of the bad idea cake. All of it just made her time with the blond more loved and hoped for.

"Tell me more about her"

Holly didn't know how she managed to find a start to describe Gail, but somehow she managed. She explained the weeks after Gail had somehow came into her life and Tracy listened carefully, not once interrupting her friend's train of thought.

"I see why you're scared and I see why you're flustered by this, but don't beat yourself up over it. You can't help who you end up liking, Holly".

She looked down at her clasped hands and shook her head. "I just wish I didn't help her that day".

"Both you and I know that's a lie".

"It is".

"From what you've told me, it just sounds like she needs a little bit of time. Don't push her. Let her come to you but let her know that it's okay for her to do so".

"And what if I'm just reading too much into this?"

"Then you fess up and tell her that she's super hot and you want to have blue-eyed children with her".

They both broke out into a chuckle and Holly felt slightly better about the circumstances. Although impatience sometimes managed to get the best of her, she reasoned that Gail was worth the wait. Now, all she could do was continue being whatever the blond needed and hope that Gail could learn to see Holly the way she saw her.