Noelle's Diary

2 | The Night We Met

2 The Night We Met

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DEAR DIARY,

I'm still not sure what happened last night. By the time I went downstairs to grab breakfast, I'd totally forgotten about my strange encounter with Candy. It wasn't until she walked into the kitchen that everything came screaming back to mind.

I felt instantly humiliated, though I'm not sure why. If my brother's girlfriend really had been spying on me as I slept, she was the one who ought to be embarrassed—not me! Ten times more so if she actually did lick my neck.

But I doubt she did.

I probably dreamed that.

Hard to say.

Even though Candy was acting like her usual self, there was still something weird going on. Maybe I hadn't dreamed that she was standing in my doorway. Maybe that really happened. But was she aware of what she was doing? I would say no.

The blank expression on her face haunted me.

One of Candy's many annoying features is that she's an honest-to-god morning person. She comes downstairs with a smile on her face, boobs bopping, hair hopping. She greets you with a cheery, “Good morning!” and you just want to punch her in the mouth.

This morning, me and Lucas were both sitting at the table, staring at the same cereal box as we wordlessly crunched our Lucky Charms.

“I don't know how you can eat that stuff,” Candy clucked. “You're adults! You should have some protein in the morning, start your day off right. Can I make you some eggs, Lucas?”

“I'm good,” my brother said. After draining the dregs of his marshmallow-infused milk, he got up from the table and placed his bowl in the sink. “Gotta run. Busy day. See you after work.”

He kissed his girlfriend on the cheek while she grabbed the eggs out of the fridge. “Have the best day,” she replied. “I love you so much, babe!”

Candy's gushy expressions of love made me brutally uncomfortable. We weren't raised to express our feelings. If you have an emotion, you keep it to yourself. You don't go around telling people you love them all the time, and certainly not in front of bystanders. It's embarrassing. I can tell that Lucas thinks so too. I don't know why he never tells Candy to cool it.

“What about you?” Candy asked, when it was just the two of us alone in the kitchen.

My whole body went stiff. My face was on fire.

“What about me?” I asked.

When I snuck a peek at Candy, she seemed perplexed. “Do you want eggs? I'm making myself poached eggs on an english muffin. How does that sound?”

It sounded amazing, but I didn't want to give her the satisfaction, so I said, “Eggs give me gas.”

There. I sure showed her.

Luckily—or unluckily, depending how you look at it—I got a text at that moment. Perfect excuse to stop talking to Candy.

The text was from Juniper, that girl I hooked up with after the ComSci costume party this Halloween. She was dressed like a cat.

From the moment I saw that fuzzy black tail, I was sold.

Actually, it wasn't just the tail. I did see her from behind before I got a look at her face, so I also got a look at her long black hair.

I love long black hair.

Sahira had long black hair, too, although hers was thick with a bit of a wave. Juniper's doesn't have much body. It hangs pretty straight. Still, it's one of those characteristics that calls out to me loudly enough that I follow.

When you're at a party that's not specifically for queer students, you have to rely on more subtle signals to figure out whether a girl you've got your eye on is likely to be interested in you. It must be so much easier to be straight and just assume any guy you look at will probably look back, but maybe that's not even true anymore. How would I know? I am not an expert in all things straight.

It wasn't too hard to figure out that Juniper was interested in me. The second she turned around, her eyes lit up. She's got green eyes, which is another huge selling feature. The eyes made her look even more cat-like. In her leggings and long-sleeved bodysuit, she looked just like one of those black cats with the white faces and paws.

Her costume was really cute, but sexy too. She had those expertly drawn Amy Winehouse lines with thick, dark eyelashes and smoky lids and matte red lipstick. I figured she'd done her makeup to go with the cat outfit, but I've seen her around campus a few times since and she always wears her makeup that way.

Must take her ages to get ready in the morning.

If I wore makeup, I'd have to get up an hour early.

But back to the night we met: I could tell from the way Juniper lowered her lids and slid toward me that the attraction was mutual. She asked what I was supposed to be, and I indicated the multicoloured pom-poms I'd hot-glued to my top. “I'm a gumball machine, see?”

I introduced myself, and she did too. Juniper isn't from my department; she was invited to the party by a friend who never showed up. So we spent the night hanging out, dancing, eating way too much candy.

It was Halloween, after all.

Before the party ended, Juniper asked if I wanted to get some air. We left through the side doors, which are on the second floor. There's a staircase down to street level. When we got that far, Juniper wrapped her cat tail around my waist. My belly met her belly, although there were quite a few pom-poms between us.

“Are you ready for this?” she asked, pressing her breasts against mine.

I nodded my head without even wondering what “this” was going to be. I guess I knew she was going to kiss me. I had no idea what would come next, though. We'd only just met. How could I possibly know how far we would go?

Somehow, we ended up under the staircase. I didn't even realize we'd shuffled in that direction until my back met the brick wall. It's possible I was distracted by the look of l**t in Juniper's eyes as she slanted her mouth across mine.

The space between the realization that I was about to share a first kiss with Juniper and the moment when it actually happened stretched into eternity. It was the most exciting, heart-fluttering, stomach-churning feeling I could imagine. I'd never experienced anything like it.

Too bad every kiss can't be a first kiss. There's nothing like that high you experience as her lips approach yours and you close your eyes, waiting to feel that sweet press.

When Juniper kissed me, I felt transported. Did we actually leave this planet? Did we slip off into another dimension? I wouldn't be surprised. It was Halloween, after all.

As I sat at the breakfast table, drifting into memories of that night, a noise somewhere in the house broke my concentration. It wasn't until my brother stormed through the kitchen and Candy called out, “Lucas! I thought you left already,” that I realized it was the door.

“I did,” he replied. “But I forgot my—oh, here it is.” As he passed back through the kitchen, he glanced at me and came to a halt. Looking from my face to my phone and then back again, he asked, “Who are you texting, Noelle?”

I wasn't even texting. I was just staring at my phone. Even so, I put it facedown on the table and said, “No one. Nobody. I wasn't.”

A snide big brother grin broke across Lucas's face. “Yes you were! You're blushing! Hey, Candy—take a look at No. Tell me she's not blushing.”

“I'm not blushing!” I said, covering my cheeks with my hands. They were burning up. I probably was blushing. There's something about brothers, though. The moment they tease you, you're six years old all over again.

“Candy!” he said again. “Check out the blush on Noelle's face!”

Candy barely glanced in my direction before saying to Lucas, “You'd better hit the road. Don't want to be late for work.”

I guess that broke whichever spell brothers fall under when they enter instigator mode, because Lucas kissed Candy goodbye one more time and headed out the door. I thought for sure Candy would do some follow-up teasing once my brother had gone, but she turned toward the stove and acted like I wasn't even there. Very odd behaviour from this girl. She's lived in our house for a while now, and I've come to expect obnoxiousness at all times.

Silence is not Candy's standard. I don't think she's even heard of the silent treatment.

I returned to my bedroom, thinking about Halloween night with Juniper. She'd texted me saying she was staying with her parents for winter break but they were insufferable and her hometown was boring.

“Come visit me,” I texted back.

Dorms are shut over the break, so I'm not sure where she can stay. We'll figure out something. Every time I think about Juniper in that cat costume, I want to explode. She can stay at our house, if it comes to that. Even if my brother teases me for the rest of my life, another night with Juniper would definitely be worth it.