Knock knock knock
"Zoë? Are you up yet? You're going to be late for school. We have to leave in fifteen minutes." Grace waited patiently, but heard no response. She knocked again. "Zoë?" She waited, but still, nothing. She slowly opened the door. "Hey, are you up?" she asked while looking around the room. The first thing she noticed was the strap-on laying on the floor.
Zoë stirred in her bed and opened her eyes. "Grace!" she hissed as she pulled the covers over herself and Rasha, who was lying on her stomach next to her, still asleep. She continued to whisper, "What are you doing in here?"
"I came to see if you were up yet. I'm assuming last night went well," she said smugly as she pointed to the strap-on.
Zoë rolled her eyes. "We'll be downstairs in a few minutes."
"Okay, but hurry up. You're my ride and I don't want to be late." Grace quietly closed the door behind her.
Rasha made a few noises as she stirred. She stretched her arms into the air and let out a giant yawn. "Good morning," she said sleepily with her eyes only halfway open.
"Good morning," Zoë smiled as she leaned down to kiss her girlfriend. "As cute as you look right now, we have to get up and get ready for school. We only have fifteen minutes."
Rasha sat up and looked at the clock. "I didn't realize how late it was. I guess we slept pretty well last night."
"Hmm, I wonder why that could be," Zoë smirked.
Rasha laughed. "Alright, let me take a quick shower and I'll be ready to go." She grabbed a towel from Zoë's closet and wrapped it around her. Then she picked up her clothes off the floor and walked to the bathroom.
Zoë got out of bed and quickly put some clean clothes on. She went downstairs to grab something to eat.
"So, how many orgasms did you have last night? I believe I only heard two of them," Grace teased.
Zoë spilled the milk she was pouring into her bowl of cereal. "What?" she asked as her eyes widened.
"I think it was something along the lines of 'Oh Rasha, I can feel your hard cock inside me,'" the goth snickered.
"You heard that?!" Zoë rushed over to the table and sat down across from Grace.
"Oh yeah. You guys were really loud last night. Also, the bed was pretty loud too. You should probably move it away from the wall a little bit." She took a bite of her toast.
"Oh god," Zoë said as she covered her blushing face. "Do you think your mom heard us?"
"Probably. Her room is just as close to yours as mine is."
"Ugh," Zoë dropped her head onto the table.
"It's okay. My mom isn't like your mom. She's okay with stuff like that. You shouldn't be embarrassed around her."
Zoë sighed. "Yeah, but she's your mom. And she probably heard me having sex. Lesbian sex. How can I not be embarrassed about that?"
Grace shrugged.
Rasha came down the stairs. "Oh, hey Grace," she said as she waved.
Grace waved back. "Good morning." She turned to Zoë. "You should take a shower. You smell like sex." She whispered before winking.
"Ugh, you're so annoying," Zoë rolled her eyes and got up. "I'll be right back," she said to Rasha before giving her a quick peck on the cheek.
Rasha sat down at the table where Zoë was sitting and began to eat the bowl of cereal she left. "So, how am I doing with the play? I'm really nervous that I'm not as good as the others."
"No, you're doing great. You're very talented. I'm glad Money Bags picked you to play Coma Boy. Honestly, without you and Jonah, play rehearsals would be boring."
Rasha smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Money Bags?"
"Yeah, I guess that's just something I got used to calling Miles as," Grace laughed. "So, how are things with Zoë? I hear her side all the time, but I wanted to check in with you."
"Things are great! Couldn't be better," she said excitedly.
Grace smiled. "I'm glad. Honestly, I've never seen her this hung up on someone. Not even me. She really likes you."
Rasha furrowed her brow and slightly tilted her head. "What do you mean not even you?"
"You know, since that whole thing went down between us. I just felt bad that I couldn't like her back. But, all that's in the past now. She's got a great girlfriend, and I'm happy for her. For you both."
Rasha stared at her, completely caught off guard.
"Wait…did she not tell you about that?"
Rasha tried to shake the confusion off her face and smiled. "No no, she did. I just forgot about it."
Grace nodded.
"Alright, I'm ready," Zoë said as she hopped down the stairs. "Are my two favorite girls ready to go to school in my sweet whip?"
"Yeah, high school is every teenager's dream," Grace said as she grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
"Ha ha. You're such a Debbie Downer." Zoë slid the strap of her purse over her arm. She turned around and saw that Rasha was still sitting at the table, staring at them. "Rasha? You coming?"
"Yeah, sorry. I was just spacing out for a second." She got up from the seat and grabbed her book bag before following them out the door.
All three girls piled into Zoë's car; Rasha in the passenger's seat and Grace in the back. Zoë spent the whole ten-minute drive trying to convince Grace to spill the dirt on Jonah, and Grace spent the whole time trying to avoid the subject. Rasha, however, was quiet.
"Come on! It's obvious that you like him. Just ask him out already," Zoë pushed.
Grace rolled her eyes. "We're just friends. Plus, I don't even like him like that." Grace turned her blushing face so Zoë couldn't see it in the rear view mirror.
"Yeah right! It's all over your face, which I can still see by the way. You love him. Back me up Rasha."
Rasha snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh? What?"
"Isn't Grace crushing hard core on Jonah? You must see her flirting with him or something during rehearsals. It's not like she can hide it all day!"
"Shut up!" Grace hit Zoë's shoulder.
"I don't know. It's not really my place to say. Apparently I'm oblivious when it comes to noticing when someone likes someone else." Rasha gave Zoë an apathetic look before turning her head to look out her window.
Zoë looked at Grace, who just shrugged. They were both confused by Rasha's sudden change in mood.
"Uh, okay. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
Zoë pulled up into one of the parking spaces and they all got out of the car.
"Yeah. I'm going to see if Zig is around," Grace said as she rushed off to give the girls some privacy.
"Okay now that we're alone, tell me what's really wrong."
Rasha began walking towards the school as Zoë followed her. "Grace told me."
Zoë laughed, "About her crush on Jonah?"
"About your crush on her."
Zoë stopped. She wasn't expecting Rasha to ever find out about that. "Rasha…"
Rasha whipped around. "Did you hook up?"
Zoë paused before answering. "We had sex. Once."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Because it was embarrassing. I liked her and she didn't like me back. I've never been rejected so hard in my life."
"She was your first, right? You said you've only done it once."
"Well, yeah. But it was a long time ago."
"But now you're living with her!"
"Just as friends! I don't like her like that anymore. It took us awhile to get back to it, but we're best friends now. She's important to me."
"Yeah, right." Rasha continued to walk towards the school.
"I swear!" Zoë grabbed Rasha's arm, but Rasha pulled away. "You're the one that I love!" Zoë desperately blurted out. Her eyes widened. I can't believe I just said that.
Rasha stopped and turned around. "You…love me?"
Zoë gulped. "Well…yeah. Didn't it show last night?" She smiled as she took her girlfriend's hand.
A small smile crept across Rasha's face, but she was still hesitant. "You're one-hundred percent sure that you're over Grace?"
"Completely," Zoë assured her.
"Good, because I love you too." Her smile now spread from ear to ear.
Zoë's face lit up. She kissed her girlfriend on the lips. "Let's go to class."
The girls continued to walk towards the school.
"So, have you ever had an embarrassing crush on your straight best friend?" Zoë asked.
"Of course! I wouldn't be gay if I hadn't," Rasha winked.
Zoë laughed. "Did you ever tell her?"
"I didn't have to. She knew. But she didn't like me that way."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. We were always better as friends. Besides, now I have you."
Zoë smiled at her.
Rasha's face dropped. "I really miss her though. I haven't heard from her since I got here. I have no idea if she's okay or if…" she trailed off.
"I'm sure she's okay." Zoë gently rubber her back.
As soon as the girls walked into the front door, the bell rang.
"I better go find Goldi. She said she was going to bring me some clean clothes. I'll see you next period?" Rasha asked.
"You bet." Zoë said before kissing her girlfriend and parting ways. She turned around and began to walk towards her English class. As soon as she walked into the room she sat down in her chair and immediately turned to Grace as she proceeded to give her the death stare.
"You know, you're supposed to be all happy and glowing the day after you have sex."
"You told Rasha about us."
"Yeah? So? She said that she knew already."
"Well, she didn't."
"You never told her?"
"What do you think?" Zoë turned to face the front and pulled her notebook out of her bag to prepare for class.
"Well, why not?"
"Because we live together now Grace," she stated as if it were obvious. "I didn't want her to freak out and think that she has anything to worry about…kind of like she did after you told her. So, thanks for that."
"Hey, it's not my fault you weren't being honest with your girlfriend."
Zoë shook her head and ignored her friend.
Grace sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything without asking you if it was okay first. But at least now you don't have to worry about any secrets between you two."
"Well, I still haven't told her about my assault. Or are you going to tell her about that too?"
The teacher shut the door as soon as the bell rang. "Alright class, let's continue our discussion from yesterday…"
Grace lowered her head and said in a quiet voice, "If you're having sex, you should probably tell her. You'll be glad you did."
Zoë thought about it. "I don't know. How do I even start that conversation? Besides, I don't want her to see me as a victim. If I tell her, she might start treating me like I'm fragile, which I'm not."
"Ladies!"
Grace and Zoë looked forward at their teacher.
"If it's alright with you, I'd like to teach," she said sternly.
The girls nodded.
"Okay then. So, as I was saying…"
Grace leaned over to Zoë and whispered, "You don't have to tell her today, but telling her and opening up to her like that could bring you closer together. Like when I told you about my CF."
Zoë sighed, but didn't respond.
"Just think about it." She pulled out her notebook and began to take notes.
Zoë spent her lunch period outside making a budget plan for their student council meeting next period. Today was her turn to run the meeting. However, halfway through she fell asleep on her laptop.
Ring.
Her head shot up as the bell woke her up. She looked at the time on her phone.
Shit.
She quickly gathered her things and ran inside.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," Zoë said out of breath as she rushed into the student council room.
"You're not the only one. We haven't seen the queen of darkness yet either," said Winston.
"Grace is at her doctor's appointment. She goes every Friday during this hour, remember?" Zoë set her bag down on the table and took a seat.
"Um, what's that mark on your face?" Tristan asked, pointing with his pen at the indention on Zoë's forehead from where she fell asleep.
"What mark?" Zoë grabbed her compact mirror from her purse and notice a solid line going straight across her face right above her eyebrows. "Oh, it's from my laptop. I fell asleep while working on the budget plan last period. But I'm almost done with it."
"Sleeping on the job Zo?" He looked at Zoë, who just rolled her eyes. He smirked. "Oh, that's right. You were up all night banging Ra-"
"Tristan!" she hissed.
He threw his hands up in defense. "Alright, alright. Chill. I'm just messing with you. Geez."
Zoë looked over at Goldi, who was looking down at the table, clearly feeling a little uncomfortable by the subject.
Winston darted his eyes, trying to figure out why everyone was acting weird. "Uh, am I missing something?"
"It's nothing," Zoë answered. "So, about this budget plan. Here's what I have so far." Zoë turned her laptop around so everyone could see the screen. "If we want to have the dance this year, which I know we all do, we're going to have to raise a little more money. Especially with all of these new clubs."
"How much do we have to raise?" Winston asked.
"At least $500. Maybe more."
"Oh man. That's a lot," Winston said.
"Nothing a good fundraiser can't solve." Zoë turned her laptop back around to face her.
"Why don't we just sell naked pictures for money?" Tristan mocked.
Zoë narrowed her eyes at him. "Ha ha. Funny. I was thinking something more along the lines of discount cards."
"Discount cards? What's that?" Winston asked.
"Well, we ask the local stores and restaurants if they're willing to offer any discounts, like 5% off or buy two get the third free. Then, we put all of the discounts from each store on a single card. Like a gift card, except on the actual card it has pictures of the coupons. You can use the card any time for a year. All you have to do is show it to the cashier and they'll give you the discount. Simple. We could sell each card for $10."
"Wow, that's actually a really great idea." Tristan said, impressed.
"Yeah, especially if we can get The Dot on board. Students would be lining up for discounts there," Winston added.
"Exactly. If we sell ten, that's $100 right there," Zoë said excitedly. "We'll need a bunch of different places that fit all of the students' interests. I was thinking for restaurants we could do The Dot, Lola's Cantina, and Pizza Leslie. I'm stumped on stores though. All I can think of is a bunch of clothing and shoe stores."
"Girl, same," said Tristan. "Maybe we could get the movie theater to do some kind of deal on snacks?"
"Yeah, and we could get a sports store for the jocks…Oh! And the game store. I haven't been there lately though, so it would probably be best to ask one of the nerds to help us get a discount there. Hunter and his friends are tight with the manager."
"Good point. Goldi, do you think you can get Baaz to help us with that?" Zoë asked, looking at Goldi.
"Yeah, sure," Goldi said, quickly making eye contact with Zoë before looking away.
Zoë scrunched her eyebrows. She noticed Goldi acting weird.
"Alright, this all sounds really good." Tristan took notes on his phone. "I'll look into how much money it'll be to make the cards and see how many we need to sell to make a profit. Zoë, you and Goldi ask around the local stores and restaurants to see if anyone is interested. Winston, you can make the flyers."
"Do I have free artistic range?"
"Sure."
"Yes!" Winston fist pumped.
"Zoë, tell Grace she can update the social media accounts advertising the fundraiser. Also, ask her if she can look on the store websites and find any good discount suggestions to ask the managers. Try to get us the best deals possible."
Zoë nodded.
Tristan looked at his watch. "Looks like we're ending 20 minutes early. Unless you guys had anything else you wanted to bring up, I think we're done."
Everyone stood up from the table and grabbed their things. Goldi quietly slung her bookbag around her shoulder and walked out of the room.
"Goldi, wait up!" Zoë chased after her. "So, do you want to meet up tomorrow and talk to the store managers?"
"Sure." Goldi gave a weak smile and continued to walk away.
"Hey," Zoë grabbed her arm to stop her. "Is something wrong?"
"Like what?"
"Like something causing you to avoid eye contact with me like I have the plague?"
She quietly stared at Zoë for a few seconds. "You and Rasha had sex last night."
Zoë felt her cheeks blushing. "Um, yes? We did." She wasn't sure if Goldi was asking or making a statement.
"And she didn't come home last night."
"I know, I'm really sorry about that. We didn't mean to worry you. We just lost track of time and figured since it was so late that it would be safer if she just stayed with me."
"Okay, that's fine. But what about next time? I'm assuming you guys are going to do it again at some point."
"I sure hope so," Zoë said a little too eagerly.
"Does that mean that every time you have sex she's not going to come home? Is she just going to stay there every night until one day she decides to move in with you?"
"Woah, okay let's not be rash. Ms. Cardinal is already letting me crash at her house. I don't think she has room for another teenager."
"I just don't want to lose her. She's my best friend. She's my only friend. And you're taking her away from me."
Zoë felt bad for Goldi. She knew what it was like to not have a lot of friends. After the whole Degrassi nudes thing and Ms. Pill taking over, it was like radio silence. "Look, she's your best friend. And us being intimate isn't going to change that. I'm not trying to steal her away from you or anything, but sometimes we do want our alone time together. And you have to respect that. But I promise that I'll respect your time with her too. And you don't have to worry about her moving in with me. She's your roommate."
Goldi nodded. "Okay."
"And Goldi, I'm your friend too." She smiled at Goldi, who smiled back.
"Does that mean you'll let me take your position as co-president?" she asked with hopeful eyes.
"Not a chance."
Grace and Zoë walked through the front door of the Cardinal house.
"Ugh, finally. I can't wait to lay down in my bed and take a three-hour nap," Zoë said as she threw her purse down on the kitchen counter.
"Zoë, can I talk to you for a second?" Grace's mom asked from the breakfast table.
Zoë looked over at Grace, who just shrugged. "Sure Ms. Cardinal. What's up?" She walked over to the table and noticed that there was a blue folder sitting in front of her. "Sit down honey."
As she sat down she looked back at Grace, who was quietly escaping up the stairs. "I can find somewhere else to stay if me being here is a problem," Zoë said quickly in an attempt to soften the blow.
Ms. Cardinal chuckled. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you want Zoë. We love having you here."
A sigh of relief escaped Zoë's mouth. "Okay. So what's this about?"
Ms. Cardinal pursed her lips together and exhaled out her nose. "Zoë, it's come to my attention that you brought Rasha over last night."
Zoë was taken aback. "I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…Grace said it was okay. Did she tell you?"
She laughed. "She didn't have to. I heard you both as soon as we walked through the door."
The color drained from Zoë's face. "I-I uh…"
"Sweetie, relax. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing. You're seventeen and you're old enough to make those types of decisions on your own. But I do have a rule in this house that if any of my children are having sex, they need to be properly educated and safe. And I consider you like one of my own children." She reached for the folder that was in front of her.
Zoë gulped. She knew exactly where this conversation was going, and she had desperately hoped that someone would put her out of her misery.
"Now, I'm assuming your mother never gave you a proper LGBT sex talk, so I have some information here that I printed off the internet along with some pamphlets." She opened the folder. "I've had this talk with Grace and with her sister already, but your situation is a little different. I don't have any first hand experience with lesbian sex, but I have done a lot of research."
Kill me now, Zoë thought to herself.
"Here's a pamphlet that explains everything you need to know about homosexuality. Although, I'm sure you've already done some research on that, but just in case." She grabbed the packet that was behind the pamphlet. "Now, this packet will explain everything you need to know about safe sex."
"Um, I didn't think lesbians could get STI's if they're doing it with another girl," Zoë said shyly.
"Oh, they could. Anybody can get an STI. In fact, several lesbians get STI's every year because nobody talks about safe sex for two girls. This will explain all of that. For example, did you know that if you're going to have oral sex you should use a dental dam? Or that if you're using any sex toys, like a strap-on, you should always use a condom or thoroughly wash it after each use?"
Zoë smiled to herself. She was glad Tristan suggested using a condom.
"…here on page four it talks about proper cleaning and care for strap-ons, in case you need that information. And be sure to always wash your hands before having sex. You have to worry about yeast infections and Urinary Tract Infections as well as STI's. And in the back of the folder is a laminated paper with some cartoon drawings that show you how to have sex, or just some new positions to try out." Ms. Cardinal looked up at Zoë. She could tell that the girl was nervous and feeling really uncomfortable. "Here, you can take the folder and look over all of this information on your own. I don't think you need me to read it to you." She smiled as she closed the folder and handed it to Zoë.
"Thanks," Zoë said as she took the folder.
"Now, I don't mean to embarrass you anymore than I already have, but have you and Rasha been tested?"
Zoë shook her head.
"Well, you're going to have to before you have sex again. That's another rule in this house. You can go see my doctor if it makes you more comfortable. She's very LGBT friendly, and she tests people all the time. You and Rasha can go together."
"Okay. Thanks Ms. Cardinal."
She smiled at Zoë. "And Zoë, I don't ever want you to feel like you can't be yourself in this house. I completely support you, and I would love to meet Rasha sometime, if you're okay with that."
Zoë smiled. She had never been accepted like that by an adult before. "I'll ask her. I'm sorry to make you have to do all of this research."
Ms. Cardinal laughed. "Actually, I did all of this research a long time ago. I always thought Grace might be gay. She told me that she wasn't, but I still kept the folder just in case."
Zoë laughed awkwardly. She didn't know if Grace told her about their brief relationship or not. "Yeah, funny how I ended up being the lesbian."
"I don't know what happened between you two, but I'm glad you're both friends again. I know Grace really missed you." She looked at her watch. "Whoops, I better be getting to work. I have the night shift today, so it looks like you and Grace are on your own for dinner tonight. I left some money for you two on the fridge." She grabbed her coat and her bag. "Do me a favor Zoë, and try to get Grace to go out more? I don't like that she coops herself up here all the time."
"Don't worry, I'm working on it."
She smiled at Zoë before leaving the house.
Zoë sighed as she smiled to herself. As much as she dreaded ever having the sex talk, she was happy that someone finally cared about her. Her mother never even explained puberty to her. When she got her first period, she had to find out that she wasn't dying from her West Drive co-star. Her male co-star. She grabbed the folder and went up the stairs.
"What did my mom want?" Grace asked as Zoë walked past her room.
Zoë walked through the door and tossed the folder on the coffee table in front of the couch she was sitting on. She plopped down on the couch next to Grace.
Grace grabbed the folder and opened it up. Her eyes popped open. "My mom gave you the sex talk?!" She laughed hysterically.
"It was mortifying. She even said she heard me and Rasha doing it last night."
"Well, you were pretty loud." Grace thumbed through the papers.
"Whatever. The point is, I'll never be able to look at your mom without thinking about that awkward conversation. I mean, Grace, she had to research lesbian sex. Which means she's thinking about me having sex with another girl." Zoë shivered at the thought.
"Hey, I had the sex talk too you know." She pulled out the diagram from the back. "These drawings are hilarious! Hey, maybe you and Rasha should try this one next time," she teased.
Zoë snatched the paper and stuffed it back inside the folder. "This was originally meant for you, you know."
"What do you mean?"
"Your mom had this folder already. She thought you were gay and had planned to give you this sex talk."
Grace sighed. "I guess I should be used to everyone thinking that I'm gay by now."
"Well, maybe it's because of the way you dress." Zoë pointed at Grace's black shirt and combat boots."
"I like the way I dress. It feels like me."
"Yeah, you're right. I couldn't imagine you wearing anything else. Besides, you can't tell if someone is gay just by the way they look. Take me for example."
"Yeah, that Barbie pink tank top is blinding."
"Whatever. Rasha likes it and that's all I care about."
"So, do you think you guys are going to do it again?"
"I really want to. Last night was amazing. Surreal even. But your mom wants us to get tested before we have sex again."
"So take her to get tested. Just explain it to her, she'll understand. Besides, it actually is a good idea. You had that scare yesterday and you should make sure you're in the clear."
"Yeah, I'll call her later and see if she wants to go with me tomorrow." Zoë put the folder on the coffee table. "Your mom left us money for food. Want to order a pizza and binge watch The Vampire diaries?"
"Okay, but if I'm going to be forced to sit there and listen to you talk about how hot Nina Dobrev is every five seconds, then I get to pick the pizza toppings."
"Fine. But nothing with onions."
"No promises," Grace said as she picked up her phone to place the order.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Feel free to let me know if there's anything you want to see happen with this story! I'm open to suggestions :)