Awakening
Cafe Confessions
A full moon hung high in the sky and Kimberly stared up at it, watching
as it ducked in and out from behind some clouds. She pulled at the
sweater that Lauren had given her as she shivered against the cold.
Lauren appeared with an armload of wood from the depths of the forest
that surrounded them. Over the past year Kimberly found herself being
drawn in by Lauren's boiish looks and charm. She bought Kimberly new
clothes and would lie close to her while they slept so they could keep
warm in the night. Recently Lauren had been acting more like a boy; most
would confuse the two of them as a couple and now Kimberly found herself
watching every move Lauren made, and when Lauren looked up at Kim she
felt her face blush.
A fire blazed to life as Lauren pulled out some food from a duffle bag
around her shoulder. "Supper will be ready in a moment." Supper for the
two girls would consist of hot dogs and bread that Lauren managed to buy
with some money she had. In the past two years that Kimberly had been
with Lauren she never asked where the girl got her money, and she found
that the more she thought about it the less she really cared. All that
mattered was that they were together.
Lauren saw how deep in thought Kimberly was and considered saying
something. She stared at the fire as it popped and crackled. A couple
hot dogs on a stick hanging over the fire slowly cooked. "Are you cold?"
She finally asked.
"A little, but I'll be alright." Kimberly said feeling shy.
"Silly girl," Lauren shook her head, "come closer to the fire." She
patted the ground next to her.
Kimberly crawled across the earthen floor until she was sitting next to
Lauren. For some reason she was more nervous than usual. She felt closer
to Lauren than anyone else in the world, but now whenever the girl came
close to her she felt her body grow hot and she would shiver at the
simplest of Lauren's touches. Just then Lauren's hand brushed against
her's and she felt herself pull back as another shiver ran through her
body.
"You still cold?" Lauren looked at the girl curiously.
"Sort of..." Kimberly only stared at the fire and wrapped her arms
around her knees. The truth was she no longer felt cold at all, she
could not explain the feelings she was having that moment but the cold
was the last thing on her mind at that moment. Then she felt Lauren's
arm wrap around her shoulders and when she gazed up she found herself
staring deep into those black eyes. Suddenly she was afraid of her
feelings, even though Lauren looked like a boy she was in fact a girl
just like herself and still for some reason when they were close like
this she would feel her heart begin to race.
"Hot dogs should be done soon." Lauren said as she brushed one of
Kimberly's bangs out of her eyes. Kimberly only nodded, not able to pull
away from those eyes. Lauren moved closer until the redhead could feel
Lauren's breath on her face. Their foreheads touched and they just gazed
into one another's eyes.
Kimberly was not sure if she moved forward or what happened, however the
next thing she knew she felt soft lips brush against her own and Lauren
kissing her upper lip. Kim felt her arm come up and touch Lauren's cheek
as she moved forward to deepen the kiss. Lauren slowly lowered her
backwards to the ground without breaking away for a moment. The food was
forgotten as heat rushed through Kimberly's entire body.
Lauren was the first to pull back. She found it hard to catch her breath
as she looked down at the redhead that lay beneath her. Then Kimberly's
arms wrapped around her neck and pulled Lauren tight into her arms and
kissed her deeply. Lauren didn't resist and held Kimberly tightly in her
arms. Not wanting to ever let go.
*****
Kimberly opened her eyes to see a slowly spinning ceiling fan over her.
Confused, she sat up to find she was no longer in a forest; instead she
was sitting at a table in a café. She began to stand when she saw Jenn
approach her.
"You're awake!" Jenn said with a smile. In her hand she held two glasses
of water and set one in front of the girl. "If you like I can order you
something else." Jenn said nervously glancing from the glass to the girl
and back again.
"No, that's alright..." Kimberly shook her head as she sat back down,
"Where are we?" She asked scanning the café one more time as she sipped
on her drink.
Jenn sat at the opposite side of the table, "When you fainted like that
I didn't know what to do so I took you to one of the cafes that my
mother owns in order to find help."
Kimberly peered up from her drink, "Your mother owns this place?!?" She
said in surprised.
"Several actually," Jenn tried not to pay attention to Kimberly's
surprised look and just played with the straw in her drink, "only I wish
she didn't own any. Maybe then she would be able to spend more time
around home.” She said with a sigh.
"I... I'm sorry..." Kimberly dropped her eyes to the table and placed
her hands on her lap.
"Don't be. It's not your fault." Jenn paused to take a sip of her water,
"Is Lauren... your.. your boyfriend?" She asked without taking her eyes
off her glass.
"NO! No. It's nothing like that..." Kimberly stammered and raised her
hands in protest as her face turned a deep red, "Lauren is a..." She
dropped her eyes to the table again and let out a sigh, "She is a girl,
actually." She muttered ashamed of herself.
"A girl!" Jenn looked up astonished. This news cheered Jenn up somewhat,
then she noticed how embarrassed Kim was, "I didn't mean to pry. You
were just mumbling his... I mean her name all the way here." She
stuttered.
"I WAS!?!" Kimberly said dismayed, she started feel herself get uneasy
and fidgety.
"Hey;" Jenn reached out a hand and touched Kimberly's, "Don't worry
about it. I understand."
"You and Kris?" Kim softly asked.
"Not really..." Jenn pulled back and slowly shook her head, "We're just
friends! Mind you, WE both like girls too. There are a few of us at the
school and we're all very close friends." She smiled "You're welcome to
visit our group sometime. If you like."
"I don't know." Kimberly nervously played with her straw.
Jenn looked at the girl, confused, "Why's that?" She asked.
"You would just think I was insane if I told you."
"Try me." Jenn crossed her arms; "I've heard some weird things since
coming to this school, so give me your best shot."
Kimberly gazed out the window at the people walking down the street and
let out a sigh. "I'm... I'm just not normal."
"Who is?" Jenn laughed.
"Well, I'm..." Kim paused for a moment and took a deep breath, "When I
was little my mother died and I ran away from home. I can't remember why
I ran, but all I knew was that I was really scared. That blonde girl we
saw earlier in that alley was my closest friend from school. I was
looking for her when I met Lauren. Lauren helped me survive on the
streets and taught me all I needed to know about the world, but it
wasn't this world she taught me about. It was another, a place somewhere
deep within. It's nothing like this place. No... this place feels all...
wrong."
"Wrong? In what way?" Jenn asked, truly curious.
Kimberly eyed the girl closely. She could see that this girl was not
going to laugh at her and something inside of her told Kim that she
could trust this girl, so Kim continued with her tale, "It's hard to
explain..." She tried hard to think of how to put things into words,
"Until about a couple months ago I was happy being with Lauren and
thought that as long as we were together that everything would be
perfect, but nothing good ever lasts. One day Lauren woke me up. She was
nervous and told me to get our things together because we needed to run.
So we did. I didn't know what we were running from, but Lauren looked
extremely frightened. We ran until we came to a cliff overlooking a
large lake of some sort and were cornered. Then I saw him. A large man
dressed in a long, heavy looking, white cloak. He had wiry white hair
and a long face. The worst were his eyes. They felt like they were
boring through my soul.
'Stay away' Lauren yelled at the man and she drew a knife from her boot.
I'd never seen her so terrified in my life.
When the man spoke his voice echoed in my ears, 'I only want what is
mine.' He said.
'That was not part of the deal and you know it.' Lauren started to back
up forcing me closer to the cliff.
'All I want is the girl.' He said. I could tell he was talking about me,
but I was confused by what he meant. Why would he want me?
'That wasn't part of the deal!!' Lauren was almost in tears. 'Take me
instead; just leave her alone.'
The man stepped forward and I felt myself move back, but there wasn't
any more ground left. I started to fall backwards trying hard to keep my
balance. Lauren reached out to grab me, but it was already too late. I
was falling."
"Geez," Jenn let out a small whistle.
"When I woke up I found myself in a hospital. The doctors told me that I
dreamed the past few months and that I had been living with my father
the entire time." She looked Jenn in the eye. "They told me that I'm
just an insane liar that doesn't want to deal with reality, but it was
real, every bit of it. I can still feel her embrace when I sleep at
night." Kim tapped her finger on the table. "This place is wrong. Lauren
is real... you saw her didn't you?" She touched her shoulder where
Lauren had cut her, "You saw her..." She gazed into Jenn’s eyes.
"I believe you." Jenn reached out and touched Kimberly's hand, "She is
real and so are you." She smiled, "Come on. I'll buy you a sundae."
Kimberly wiped the tears from her eyes with the corner of her sleeve and
nodded. Jenn called out an order for two sundaes.
*****
To be Continued...
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