ONE AND ONLY

CHAPTER 28

It was Friday lunchtime and Tina and Carmen were standing in the queue in the canteen waiting for their turn to buy some soda and potato crisps. Tina had made her own lunch since she was about 11 and usually could count on one parent or other remembering about her lunchtime needs at around 8:30am when it was far too late. Tina had a container full of tuna and pasta and lots of salad - as that covered the healthy options for her she would treat herself to some fruit, a can of soda and a yoghurt.

Carmen had suffered all week with the knowledge that their two friends both seriously had the hots for one another. She desperately wanted to tell them but she knew that Shane was right. Bette needed time to get her head round her sexuality even though she seemed cool about it - well that was how it seemed. Bette had been the centre of attention in the last few days like she never had before and instead of it throwing her it seemed to amuse her and she’d talked to more people in four days than she had in the last four months. But this moment of fame had not really changed Bette - she had always returned to her three friends. There really wasn’t any doubt about her loyalty to the girls she knew were her real friends.

The attention was now on the fact that Bette and Tina were going shopping the next day and the plan was to hang out all day

“Carmen”
“Yes - what Tina ?”

“What did you wear that made Shane notice you ?”

“It didn’t take much “ Carmen said smiling

“What do I wear tomorrow ?”

“You want her to notice you ?” Carmen asked

“Yes -I suck at this Carmen. I know how to make a boy look at me. But I don’t want to go over the top - a low cut top might frighten her “

“What would you normally wear ?” Carmen asked “ For a day out - what are the plans anyway ?”
“We are meeting up for coffee, then her dad gave her some money for how well she did in the race - - she wants a little MP3 player - after some shopping we are going to have lunch. There is an 80’s movies retrospective at The View - 12 different 80’s movies being shown on different screens throughout the day “
“That sounds awesome - what’s on ?”

“Footloose, Airplane, Naked Gun, Breakfast Club Police Academy - its my idea of heaven “
“That sounds brilliant - I saw an 80’s box set on sale last week - it might be worth seeing if its still for sale. Sorry - that’s not the issue - so you are going for food and shopping and hopefully ending up at the movies “
“Yes “

“Are you going to make a play on her ?”
“Hell no -I might tell her that I gay - what do you think ? Would that freak her ?”
Carmen wanted to laugh but she shook her head “ Bette is too cool to freak if you told her that you are a zombie “
“Well I am not a zombie - but I am a dyke”

“She’s not going to get upset about it - she’s fine about us “
“That’s true - so what should I wear ?”
“Well the forecast tomorrow is pretty warm - so nothing that will make you sweat.”
“I have some low cut tee-shirts”
“Do you want to show her your boobs ?”

“I want her to see that I have some”
Carmen resisted the temptation to tell Tina about a game of basketball on Wednesday when Bette hadn’t taken her eyes from Tina’s chest for a good 15 minutes. This wasn’t easy but Shane had been right - it was fun.

“What would you normally wear ?”
“Jeans, sneakers and a shirt or tee-shirt”
“Well wear the same. If she turns up wearing casual and you are dressed to kill it will be odd for you. Remember she just thinks it’s a day hanging out with her friend”

“Yeah “ Tina sighed and walked forward and took a few minutes to pick out a yoghurt and an apple. She walked to the cashier and paid for what she had bought. She waited for Carmen while watching Bette who was sitting at a table eating her lunch with Shane.

“You have it really bad “ Carmen said softly

“I have it SO bad “ Tina agreed “But she’s worth it - she’s something else”
“She is - I am really pleased that you have seen what she has to offer. You are doing the right thing Tina - we all know you could have taken the easy option”
“What - by dating someone else “
“Yeah”

“It would be dishonest wouldn’t it . I know my mothers can just be so embarrassing but I admire them so much. My alpha mom doesn’t take any shit from anyone. And one of the things that I have learnt from them was that you should follow your heart. It would have been easy for both of them to advance their careers by pretending to be hetero - that’s something I would never do and I wouldn’t be with someone when I was so crazy about someone else”

“Good for you “

Tina smiled “ I don’t lack self confidence - I wish I could give Bette some of it”
“I think Bette is making progress - she has had a very unusual week for her. She’s shattered a lot of people’s perceptions of her - they have her down as just the bookworm girl -so its shaken people up that she is also such a great runner. I think the running has given her a self confidence that no one could have imagined”

“I hope I didn’t freak her out by telling her that she was the prettiest girl in the school”
“It was probably something that she needed to hear. Relax Tina - just have a good chilling day with her. don’t have any expectations - play it by ear “

Tina nodded “I just am so wary of scaring her off”

“Bette is tougher than she seems.”
“You think ?”
“I do - I think she is capable of taking most things in her stride. This is new for her- she doesn’t do the sort of day that you two have planned. “