Please, Miss (GirlxGirl) ✔️

7 | the accidental kiss

"Megan?" I asked as I headed into our dorm, seeing her face down on her bed, her shoulders shaking slightly. When I'd returned to school earlier on that day with Miss Bowen, I'd gone straight to lunch, followed by fifth period French. I hadn't seen Megan in my dorm all evening, nor at dinner, when Clarice too hadn't any idea of where she was. "Megan?" I asked again, closing the door behind me and making my way over to her bed. I perched beside her, placing a hand between her shoulder blades. "Are you okay?"

She stayed silent for a moment before turning onto her back and sitting up, folding her knees to her chest. Her pale face was wet with tears, her eyes bloodshot. "It's my dad. He's had a heart attack. My mum just came to tell me the news."

I closed my eyes, letting myself exhale deeply. "Shit. I'm so sorry, Megan."

"I don't know what I'd do if he...if he didn't make it. He and I are so close. I love my mum too, but I don't get along with her like I do with him," she cried, tears dripping onto my leg. I wiped her face gently with the back of my hand. "I'm scared, Evie."

"Come here," I whispered, and she curled into my chest like a baby, sobbing. "Shh," I soothed, stroking her silky strawberry hair and rocking gently back and forth. The closeness felt strange, not in the uncomfortable sense, but more that it was different. I'd never had any friends that trusted me enough to share things like that with me. It felt oddly comforting to know that Megan did.

She stayed cradled in my arms for a long while, and eventually, we laid down on her bed, facing each other. Her eyes were closed, but I knew she wasn't sleeping.

After a while, I slowly sat up, but she opened her eyes and grabbed my forearm. "Stay," she whispered. I looked at her as she sat up beside me, her face moving closer to mine. I opened my mouth to speak, to ask what she was doing, but I soon realised as she pressed her lips to my mouth. I wasn't sure why, but I found myself kissing her back, my right hand against the back of her head. Only a few seconds passed before I realised I wanted to pull away. I didn't want to kiss Megan. I knew she was just vulnerable and sad and lonely. I also knew that I didn't like her like that.

Before I got the chance to pull myself away from her, I heard the door open. Jumping apart from each other, my eyes rushed to the threshold, seeing Miss Bowen standing, lips parted, eyes wide, in a red body-con dress and white shawl draped around her shoulders. She'd done her makeup a little more than usual, and by God did she look unreal.

"Oh," she said, and Megan jumped off the bed, her eyes darting between me and Miss Bowen. "God, girls, I'm sorry. I should have knocked, I just wanted to say that I was leaving." She stumbled over her words, clearly embarrassed.

I scrambled up from the bed as she backed out of the room, closing the door hurriedly behind her. By the time I'd gotten out into the corridor, she was already walking down the stairs out of Nightingale wing.

"Fuck," I groaned, covering my face with my palms. "What the fuck?"

I turned back and re-entered our dormitory where Megan was still stood in the middle of the room, staring at the ground. Her eyes shot up to mine as I stepped into the room.

"Evie, I am so—"

"Meg," I stopped her. "It's fine, okay? I know you were just upset, I know it didn't mean anything."

She bit her lip. "I feel awful, I didn't mean to throw myself at you like that. Christ, what is the matter with me? I don't even like girls."

"Nothing's the matter with you, Megan. You've just gotten some bad news, and naturally you're going to be a little more vulnerable. Let's just leave it, okay? We'll forget it ever happened. I don't want things to be awkward between us."