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When Piper first walked into her new school, she didn’t expect such a surprising first day. She’s endured the usual whispers and stares throughout the day until lunch when a girl approached her completely empty table. “McLean, is it?” she asked.
Piper looked up from her sad excuse of mac and cheese towards the source of the voice. Tired, and wishing she could just disappear, she sighed. “Yes, and my dad was the actor, no, I can’t tell him that he’s a loser for you, I’m here for a new start, please leave me alone.”
The girl tried a small smile. “Hey, I’m not here to make your life harder,” she said. Piper noticed her glimmering rhinestone nose stud, and immediately regretted blurting out her rehearsed sentence. The girl seemed friendly. “I’m Shel; I noticed you’ve been alone. Mind if I sit here?”
“Oh, fuck, sorry,” Piper mumbled, feeling her face heat up. She was just being nice! “For being rude. Feel free to, um, sit down.”
Shel laughed, and it sounded like the best thing in the world. “No problem. I get it.”
Now they’re sitting on Piper’s roof, watching the sun set, Shel holding a cigarette between her fingers. They’ve grown closer over the months, and the friendship turned into… something . Something that isn’t quite just normal friendship. Piper doesn’t want to question it, though; she doesn’t want to break something so fragile.
“Are you sure you’re not cold?” Shel asks, flicking her hand. The motion sends glowing orange ash into the air, though it dies out quickly as it falls. “It’s chilly for early October.”
Piper smiles, her feet dangling from the edge of the roof, feeling the cold air blow through her hair. She swings her legs back and front, her sneakers threatening to fall off. “I’m fine, don’t worry—I like it this way. Are you cold?”
“Nah, I’m fine. Just making sure.” Shel lifts the cigarette to her lips and inhales, the smoke that she exhales mesmerizing in the sunset. Piper catches herself staring at her friend too many times, admiring the way Shel’s lashes curl, the way her lips quirk up, and this time, she doesn’t look away. Wow, she’s gorgeous.
Eventually, the sun’s rays disappears, leaving the two of them with just the twinkling lights of the stars and the pale moonbeam. The vivid embers of Shel’s cigarette dies out, too, as she presses it against the concrete Piper’s roof is made out of.
The comfortable silence they’ve fallen into is only broken by the wind, blowing the fallen leaves astray, causing a rustling sound. Piper decides that fall is one of her favorite seasons. Spring remains her number one, the season of rebirth, but autumn… something about it is just so comforting. And as she looks at Shel in the dark, her outline barely visible, she decides that Shel is a part of it, too. “Hey, Shel.”
“What’s up?” her friend answers immediately, pulling Piper closer.
“I think I have a crush on you.”
A beat of silence. Shel doesn’t let her go, but Piper’s mind is racing in a thousand different directions, overthinking and worrying.
Finally, an answer. “I’ve been debating saying those very words,” Shel exhales, a clear smile in her words. “I have a crush on you, too.”
Piper laughs out loud. She’s never felt this happy, giddy even, in her life. The stars seems so much brighter, so much more vibrant, and everything seems alive even in the dark. “So… what does this make us?”
“Girlfriends?” Shel proposes, letting Piper’s head fall into her lap. “Anything you want.”
Slowly, Piper starts humming a melody. “How about... mine?”
"Yours."