Gemma rushed around, flustered and fluttering about as she prepared for the gathering later that day. He had been there. Not at the funeral, but at the school. They had driven by it on the way to the Wilcox household and there he was. Older, of course, a little grey in his hair, but it was him. He carried his briefcase to his car and he looked her way when he heard the car driving by. She knew he couldn't see her. She knew he wasn't looking at her. But she could feel his eyes and she watched him as they passed. She had clutched the arms of her chair and took deep breaths, trying not to get sick all over Lina's car.
Now, she was grabbing things they would need. Sleeping bags, food, etc., but she was so scattered. Like paper on the wind. She was practically pacing back and forth, wearing a tread into the wooden floor of the living room. Each time she was inching closer and closer to the table that contained framed pictures of her family and a ten dollar vase her mother had bought at Pier Imports. If Lina were to approach her, it would take a few times to get her attention.
Although the drive home from the funeral was a bit too quiet for her liking Lina was still able to relax a little. Seeing her friends again felt nice, really nice since she didn't have a double life to hide from them anymore. Now back at her temporary home Lina was out of the shower for the second time today since she didn't like feeling sweaty or dirty. With the house empty, besides her and Gemma, Lina stepped out of her room wondering what Gem was up to.
Dresses in only her pants, shoes and bra Lina walked up to Gem with her towel still around her shoulders. Hands holding onto each end. She watched her pace back and forth, not noticing how close she was getting to the table before heading towards the kitchen and pouring herself a half glass of milk.
Now Gemma was muttering to herself. It was a jumble of the past and a list of things they would need for the trip. She thought she was ready to be back home. She thought she could handle seeing him again, but they didn't even speak. For all she knew he didn't even know it was her. Gemma's hip hit the table and the items on it shook with impact but didn't move. Gemma hadn't even noticed. She was trying to pull herself back to the present. She was distantly aware that Lina had finished her shower, but didn't completely realize that she was standing nearby, drinking a glass of milk from the kitchen.
Sipping her milk little by little Lina began to think, remembering the first time she had met Gemma until now. She was actually one of the first people she was able to interact with normally since her junior year. It felt nice just being herself again and being around people she loved. Finishing off her milk Lina called out to Gemma, "Yo, Gem. Do you like s'mores? I was thinking of passing by the store on our way over to that place. S'mores are essential for a camp out or anything that has a fire pit actually." she smiled to herself, quickly cleaning her cup in the sink.
Gemma heard Lina's voice call from the kitchen. Something about s'mores and fire-pits. Gemma wanted to respond, tried to respond, but she was lost in her head and all that came out was. "Sounds good, Lee." If one was paying attention, that was a red flag right there. Gemma had never called Lina anything, but Lina. Her hip smacked into the table again, knocking one of the frames on its face. "Did I finish my history homework? And have you seen Cal?"
"History homework ..." Lina thought for a second running her wet fingers through her hair. "yeah, I'm pretty sure you finished that last night." She continue. "But Cal, just at the funeral or have you forgotten already?" Lina rounded the corner to where Gemma was at. She was noticing by her voice that Gem seemed a bit off. "Hey, you alright?"
Gemma heard Lina answer from the kitchen. Cal was at a funeral? Whose funeral? What did they need s'mores for again? When Lina came around the corner and spoke, Gemma jumped, and spun around halfway through her step causing her to teeter off balance. Time seemed to slow as her weight shifted towards the table and she felt. There was a loud bang followed by the shattering sound of broken glass. What brought her back to reality was the sharp pain in her palm. She hissed and looked down. There was a long bloody gash on her palm and a few other cuts on her legs from the fall. She was confused and sitting in broken glass. She looked up at Lina, confusion and pain in her eyes. "Lina? What the hell just happened?"
Lina blinked and in that instant there was a loud crash. Eyes landing immediately on Gem, Lina jumped to her side helping Gem up carefully making sure she didn't step in any glass. In fact she basically picked her up bridal style, tip toeing around the glass and carrying her to the kitchen. "You spaced out?" she said while setting Gemma down on the counter. Glancing at her palm Lina's eyes widened. "H-Hey!" she stuttered, pulling off the towel she had around her neck and pushing it against Gem's palm. "Hold that there for a second." Lina's voice was now a bit shaky as she began remembering the times she would patch herself up from fights. It felt weird remembering that stuff.
Gemma hissed as the course cloth of the towel was pressed into her palm. "I spaced out? I was thinking about what we needed and then.." and then what? Gemma could feel the blood beginning to soak through the fibers of the towel and stain her good hand. Then she remembered. Him. Oh no.. She called out to Lina. "Did I say anything weird?" Then she muttered to herself. "Might've been a cheap vase, but Mom's still gonna kill me."
Grabbing a small cloth from one of the drawers Lina wet it, only a little as she looked through each cupboard for something that can help. After a minute of rummaging and totally forgetting that she could have simply asked Gemma where the medical stuff was at. Lina proceeded to grab the peroxide, butterfly stitches and a small roll of bandage. She headed back towards Gemma, settling in front of her as she pressed down on the towel a bit more. "Sorry, might hurt a bit." she apologized as she worked on Gem's hand making sure the bleeding had stopped before pouring some peroxide over it. Lina watched it as it bubbled a little and blew on it softly hoping to stop any stinging that was bothering Gem.
Gemma felt relieved when Lina returned, but she hadn't answered her question. She braced herself as Lina tipped the bottle of peroxide until it came down on her palm. She sucked air in through her teeth and tensed her shoulders. Then she chuckled a little. "Ya know when I was little, I had scraped my knee on the playground. It was pretty bad. When I went to the nurses office she put peroxide on it. She told me not to be afraid because it was only pixie dust." She smiled a little as she watched Lina. "It stung a little, but I pretended it was magic working on cleaning it and closing it up."
Lina couldn't help but to laugh softly at Gemma's little story. "That's awfully cute, you know?" Lina dabbed at the wound gently drying it off before looking at the small pile of things she had grabbed and forgot about the ointment. In just a few seconds she had retrieved the ointment from the cabinet and was back in front of Gemma, carefully applying the stuff.
Taking a short breath Lina began again, putting the finishing touches on Gemma's hand. "I-" she hesitated for a moment. Her hands stopped working for a second but then they resumed, wrapping the bandage around her hand in such a way where she could still use it normally. "I learned how to patch myself up. Got into pretty nasty figths in my senior year." her lips curved up into a slightly saddened smile as she finished. "There! That should do it."
Gemma smiled, the bright memory chasing away all the dark of her thoughts before she fell. "Yeah. I had seen her a few more times.. and then she was hospitalized with lung cancer. She came by to visit once she recovered though. She decided to travel the world." She watched in awe as Lina carefully patched her up, disappearing for only a moment to retrieve the antibacterial ointment. "I was going to ask how you knew what to do." Her fingers were gentle in ways that sent shivers down Gemma's spine. "I-I don't remember you getting into fights in high school.." She thought back for a moment.
She remembered seeing Lina covered in bruises a few times. A split lip once. Gemma didn't ask why. It was none of her business then. That and she had her own things she was dealing with. She cursed at herself for not being a more attentive friend all the same. "I'm sorry you had to go through that alone." She said softly, suddenly wishing she had told someone about what was going on.
Shaking her head Lina looked up at Gemma and gave her a happier smile. "Don't worry about it. I came out fine, see?" Lina flexed her right arm and patted her bicep. Her silly little smile faded a little though as she gathered all the things she had taken in order to put them back. "My brother had gotten into some trouble during that time. Owed some very bad people a whole lot of money." she began putting everything back in it's rightful place, talking as if it was nothing when in reality she was panicking on the inside.
Lina didn't know how this secret would affect her relationships with her loved ones so she never told but here she was, telling the one girl who she recently realized she had feelings for. "I stepped in and helped him out," she paused briefly as she took a clean rag to Gemma's other hand. The good one that had gotten stained by her own blood. "who would've thought that fighting could pay that well."
Gemma smiled softly at her friend. She suddenly remembered a day at school where Lina had come in with a black eye, but she still smiled like she was now. Gemma suddenly wanted to touch the now healed skin just below her eye but her hands wouldn't move. It was a good thing two because Lina had gathered together the supplies she had gathered and went to put them away. Gemma could've poked her eye out and she didn't know how to patch up an eye... Instead, she said, "That's incredible, Lina."
She ran her fingers over the bandaged skin. "I mean it. Both for becoming so good at this." She waved her injured hand. "But also because you were able to help your brother." She looked down at the white tiles beneath her feet. "I... Callum and I didn't talk much senior year. I don't know what he was doing and he didn't know what was going on with me. I wanted to handle it myself. I didn't need my big brother looking out for me.."
She took a deep breath and looked up at Lina with a sad smile that mirrored the one she had worn before. "I was manipulated by Mr. Briggs. To do.. things." At "things" she looked down at the floor, her face red and her body tense. "He seemed pretty cool at first.. Like he wanted to help me. And then... things changed and he... well he changed."
Her cheeks felt hot for a few seconds and Lina was glad she wasn't facing Gem at the moment this happened. She didn't except her to actually take it the way she did. Somehow a certain weight was lifted off her shoulders. She had told someone her secret for the first time and it felt . . . liberating in a sense. It didn't mean she was about to tell every soul about it though. No, it was still a secret and Lina just wasn't ready to have everyone know it.
She wanted to tell Gemma that she did it for nothing because he didn't leave his little habit but at the same time she did save his ass so in a way, yes, she did help him. Lina went ahead and began rinsing the two rags she had used on Gemma while leaving the towel for the washer. She carefully listened to Gemma as she spoke but when she mentioned Mr. Briggs, Lina couldn't help but to glance over at her. Gem took a deep breath before she continued and as she spoke once more Lina didn't realize how tight her grip had gotten on the rag. Her knuckles were almost white and she felt heat on her cheeks but not the good kind.
Closing her eyes for a second Lina took a second to calm herself before turning the water off and drying her hands. Once again she stood in front of Gemma. Her hand reached out and lifted her head up gently. "You know, I could always give him a good punch." she offered, jokingly on the outside but she wasn't so sure it was a joke on the inside.
Gemma closed her eyes. She didn't want to see the look of pity on Lina's face. That was another reason she hadn't told her brother. Or really anyone else. There was really only one other person who had seen her and so far she had kept it a secret. She felt Lina's fingers on her chin, lifting her head up to look her in the eyes. Heat bloomed on her cheeks at the gentle touch. The afternoon light was coming in through the windows as the day turned to evening and the yellow turned to orange. They turned Lina's eyes gold and Gemma couldn't help but stare for a moment.
She smiled softly and looked away. "You couldn't before and you'd definitely can't now. You'll be arrested." She looked back at Lina. "I can't have you lose your singing career right after your big tour. Not because of me." She also thought, I don't know what I'd do if you got locked away. And that's when she felt something snap into place. For years, Lina had been by Gemma's side. She helped her study, distracted her early in the morning after having a nightmare, sung to her when she couldn't sleep. She had been a close friend if not her best friend for years and she realized she had come to rely on her. There was something else. Something she was afraid to voice in case she was mistaken.
Smiling, Lina thought about it. "Well, you may be right," her eyes locked with Gemma's once more, admiring her beautiful features. "You're pretty special to me and I think it'll be worth it." her smile brightened but then the clock caught her eye. If they didn't leave soon they might be the last ones there but Lina didn't mind if they stayed like this for a bit longer. Feeling a blush creep across her face Lina tried to look away but couldn't. "Uhm, you wanna get down from there? I think it's best if we get going soon. I still need a shirt." she laughed.
Gemma shook her head, but smiled softly. "No hitting. Promise?" At Lina's bright smile, Gemma found herself smiling back. It was beautiful and contagious and definitely more to their friendship than what she had originally thought. When asked if she wanted to get down. She merely nodded and put a hand on Lina's shoulder to help her hop down without injuring her ankle. It was that far of a drop, but still. Tile flooring is terrible on the bones. Lina's skin was warm and the air around her smelled of sweet soap and shampoo. She smiled remembering when their dorm room at school used to smell the same. "Thanks, Lina." She said softly and went to grab the rest of the things they needed to pack them into the car. Including the things they needed for s'mores. She also managed to grab Lina's favorite candy for the trip to surprise her.
"I promise, now give me five minutes. If you want," Lina reached over and grabbed her keys off the little hook that was on the wall. "you can get the car going and i'll bring the things." instinctively Lina leaned in and pecked Gemma on the forehead before rushing off to her room. After applying her very much loved rose lotion on her body Lina gave herself two little sprays of the lightly scented vanilla perfume she always used. Now that she was all dressed and ready to go she grabbed the backpack that had their more personal items and slung it across her shoulder.
Lina then grabbed the rest of the things and headed out to the car where Gemma waited for her, locking the door behind her. Stuffing it all in the back Lina hopped in. "Ready?"
Gemma took the keys with a nod and touched her skin lightly with her fingertips where Lina's lips had kissed. She smiled softly in the direction of her friend for a moment and sighed before gathering everything up in one fell swoop and headed out to the car. She made her it was the right temperature for the day. Within minutes, Lina had joined her, smelling of vanilla and roses so sweet and comforting she suddenly wanted to sleep on her shoulder. But they were in the car and Lina needed to drive so she just replied with, "Ready And they headed off down the road.
Gemma rolled down her window, allowing the air to blow back her hair and fill the car with the scent of the outdoors. Which mingled beautifully with Lina's lotion and perfume. She also turned on the radio and sung whatever was playing. It was light and bouncy and happy and for the first time that day, she felt it. Happiness. She grinned like a fool at Lina. By the time they had reached the campsite, her throat was sore from singing and laughing and her cheeks ached in way they hadn't for a long time. She helped Lina carry the stuff over and greeted everyone with a wave of her injured hand. "Hey guys! Sorry we're late!" "We brought the magic that are s'mores!" Lina chimed in, appearing from behind Gemma.