Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.
― Leonardo da Vinci
Paige was sullen on the drive back from the lake house. "Missing our time alone?" Emily asked, taking her eyes off the road for a moment to check on her girlfriend.
Paige was quiet for a moment. "Yeah," she sighed at last. Emily put a comforting hand on her leg. That's when she noticed that Paige was doing the bouncy-leg thing that she did when she was anxious. "What's going on, Paige?"
"Nothing. Just missing the lake house, as you said."
"Then why are you doing the stanky leg?"
Paige deflected, "That's not the stanky leg."
"You know what I mean. What's up?"
Paige let out a deep sigh. "I'm just worried… What if I say something when my parents ask about the weekend?"
"You mean – you let it slip that… I'm your GIRLFRIEND!"
"Come on, Emily! I'm serious."
"What are you afraid that you're going to say? I mean, they sent us to the lake house by ourselves. I don't think that they really expected us to sleep in separate rooms!"
"Yeah, I know, Emily! But they don't need all the graphic details. 'So, how did you like the lake house?' 'Oh, it was great. We sat down in front of a nice, roaring fire, and Emily took me on Nana Mae's antique Persian rug!"
"And in the Jacuzzi…"
"Emily!"
"And in the kitchen…"
"It's not funny! I'm serious!"
"And on the deck in the snow… Aww – you look so cute when your face goes all red like that."
"Well, I'm glad you think that this is so funny."
"Come on, Emily. You're not going to say anything like that."
"I'm glad you can be so sure!"
"Yeah, I am sure! Nobody talks like that! This is real life, not some bad sitcom!"
Emily reassuringly stroked her thigh. Paige rested her head on her shoulder. "It is a little funny, though, Paige," Emily said, holding her thumb and index finger close together to indicate a little. "– Ow!"
On Monday night, Marlene's women's Bible study group was coming over. "I do hope you'll stay, dear," she told Emily, "but we'll understand if you don't want to." She explained, "The women are really looking forward to meeting you. And they genuinely love you. You and they don't see eye-to-eye on everything, but they don't judge you."
Emily didn't want to offend Paige's family, but she really wasn't looking forward to being "tolerated." She looked to Paige for advice. "I mean," Paige explained, "they've always been lovely to me. They treated me like a daughter before I came to terms with who I am, and that really didn't change once I came out. It's not like the Christian groups who make all the headlines on TV."
"But, it's really your decision, dear," Mrs. McCullers reinforced. "If you and Paige want to go out and see the town tonight, the ladies will understand."
"Okay," Emily decided, "I'd love to meet them."
Later, when it was just the two of them, Emily asked Paige what the protocol was. "I don't know," Emily said, honestly, "I've never brought a girlfriend to one of these meetings before."
"You've got to give me something here, Paige…"
"I think we need to be ourselves, but be respectful. I mean, they've always been respectful of me. We talk about the Bible, but they don't use it to attack me, and I don't want to use who I am to attack them or make them uncomfortable. Like, for example, if I had a friend who thought that cows were sacred, she would probably know that I eat meat, but I'm not going to order a steak when we go out to dinner together, you know?"
"Okay. I've got it. I think."
Paige gave Emily a kiss. "Just be your normal, charming self – the way you always are. I guarantee you'll enjoy yourself."
The Bible study was nothing like what Emily expected. It was largely a social group, with refreshments and gossip, and the exchange of recipes and household tips. They gathered around the piano and sang a couple of hymns and some newer songs, the women shared how God had blessed them in the past week, and they discussed a passage from the Old Testament.
Emily was introduced to the group as, "my daughter's girlfriend." Paige occasionally reached for Emily's hand or punctuated a story by pulling Emily in by the shoulder, and if anyone was bothered by it, Emily saw no indication. At the end, they all held hands in a circle as several women prayed. A couple prayed specifically for Paige and Emily: that they would do well in college and would find fulfilment in their careers. Before the group disbanded, Emily got several hugs from ladies who seemed genuinely glad to have met her. Many told Paige how proud they were of her success at college. Emily didn't know quite what to make of it all. She couldn't help wondering what the group would have to say about her and Paige when they weren't around.
Thursday night was the last night that the four of them would have together. Nick McCullers took them to his favorite steakhouse for dinner. At the end of the meal, as they were waiting for their dessert, Paige, who was sitting between her father and Emily, linked her arms through her dad's arm and rested her head on his shoulder. They were both misty-eyed at the prospect of Paige's upcoming departure. Emily had observed that, while Paige loved both her parents, she was definitely a daddy's girl. She took out her phone and captured a picture of the two. Nick McCullers looked up and addressed her. "You've got to understand, Emily," he said, wiping his eye with the back of his hand, "you've loved my daughter for four months. I've loved her all her life." Paige held her dad a little tighter. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
Early Friday morning, Nick and Marlene McCullers drove the three students to the airport in Madison. Nick uncharacteristically gave Emily a hug, something Pru didn't fail to notice. Marlene assured her that they were always welcome to visit, and she promised to make arrangements to come out to Philadelphia to redeem their bus-tour tickets and to visit the girls on campus. With the final good-byes said, the trio headed into the terminal and the seemingly endless lines.
They managed to find three seats together on the plane. Emily took the window, because there was nothing out there that Pru wanted to look at, and Paige took the middle, so that she could talk with both her best friend and her girlfriend.
About halfway through the flight, Paige started getting bored. She had done both of the crosswords and most of the Sudoku, and had poked fun at all the outrageous gizmos that Skymall had to offer. She couldn't find anything better to do than tease her girlfriend. She angled her body away from Pru and the aisle and flashed Emily her right nipple. Emily, caught off guard, stifled a scream. "What the hell's wrong with you?" she whispered, laughing, "I swear you're worse than Hanna!"
Paige leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Do you want to join the mile-high club?""
"Paige McCullers! I'm not about to bang you in a cramped airplane bathroom!"
"Huh? What? You have to go to the bathroom?" Pru asked, drowsily, starting to undo her seat belt to let Emily out.
"No, Pru. Go back to sleep!" Paige coaxed. Turning back to Emily, she continued her plan. "Who said anything about a bathroom? She placed her jacket across Emily's lap, discreetly slipping her hand underneath.
"You know," Emily stuttered, trying her best to retain her composure, "When I first met you, you were this shy, tentative little freshman. It wasn't that long ago"
"Yeah? You miss that little freshman?" Paige's hand had found its way inside Emily's leggings. Emily arched her back slightly and dug her fingertips into Paige's shoulder, trying her best not to cry out, "Oh, God, no!"
Paige gave a smug giggle.
"You're going to get us thrown off this plane, McCullers."
When the weary travelers finally touched down, an overly excited Hanna was there to meet them. She zoomed right past Paige and Emily and engulfed Pru in a tight embrace, lifting her off of her feet as the two of them squealed with delight.
"Hi, Hanna! We're here, too!" Emily commented dryly.
"Yeah, yeah. I know all about your break. It was all over facebook – the lakeside loveshack, the little boy and puppy you adopted, the family photo with the McCullers clan. But I need to know what happened to YOU, Pru! Did Sean call you every night? Did he miss you? Did you guys have phone sex? Skype sex?"
Emily put her arm around Paige. "It looks as though I'm driving home! These two obviously have a lot of catching up to do!"
After two weeks of finals and another two of winter break, Paige had to get back into the rhythm of going to classes again. At the beginning of the school year, when she made her flight reservations for winter break, she had planned to get back to campus early, so that she could ease back into the routine and take care of things like buying books, but, when Emily entered the picture, she extended her ticket so that they'd have more time together. That was the right decision, of course, but, now, she was scrambling to get everything done. It helped to be dating an upperclassman who knew the ropes and could show her some shortcuts – as well as save her a couple of bucks at some off-campus used bookstores. And it was just more fun doing things with her girlfriend. Even mundane things like laundry didn't seem so much of a chore. Paige wondered how long that feeling would last.
"It sucks not to have any classes together this semester, doesn't it?" Emily was sitting across from Paige on their bed, talking about the start of classes.
"Tell me about it. I got spoiled having you there with me to distract me when that seminar got boring."
"Just promise me you won't find some other classmate to distract you!"
Paige knew that Emily was joking, but she wanted to be sure that Emily knew how she felt. She took both of Emily's hands and looked deep into her eyes. "Emily. Before I met you, you were the girl of my dreams. I never thought that those dreams would come true, and I never imagined that the reality would be so much better than everything that I had dreamt. I'm not looking for a better offer. Why would I, when you're more than I had ever hoped for? I mean, I know you're just kidding, and I don't mean to get all serious on you, but I want you to know that I'm not looking for a plan B. You're always telling me that you're not going anywhere. Well, I'm not going anywhere, either."
And, of course, they kissed.
"Aww – you guys are so freaking cute!" Hanna called out from the hallway.
"Oh my God! Please tell me that Hanna can't hear everything that goes on in here from her bedroom!"
"Relax, Paige! Trust me, if she could hear us, we'd know about it. She'd be hooting and hollering and cheering us on!"