Far away on the other side

Jackie flopped down on her bed and pulled the large quilt over herself, curling into a ball and sobbing profusely.

The phone she had been holding moments before lay on the floor, the person on the other end still talking – calling Jackie’s name but she ignored it, to angry and upset to pick it up.

She should have expected this, Jackie berated herself, after all it was her idea that she and Becca have this no strings relationship and Becca had told her that she liked boys but it just hurt so much that Becca would fall in love with a boy and leave her.

Jackie threw the quilt off and picked up the phone, pressing the ‘end call button’ and dumped it unceremoniously back down. She went to her dressing table and collected a tissue, dabbing at her eyes to try and take away some of the blotchiness.

“Jackie!” her mother shouted “supper”

Slowly Jackie put down the tissue and left the safety of the bedroom; she descended the stairs and met her mother waiting for her.

“Have you been crying?” her mother asked, catching her chin and expecting Jackie’s face.

“Yes, I…there was something on TV” Jackie lied knowing her mother would not understand or welcome that fact her daughter had been seeing another girl.

Her mother nodded, excepting this answer and ushered her few to the dinning room and Jackie ate supper quietly and with her head down so no one would know her heart was braking into a million small pieces.

**

On the other side of town Robert was making dinner – defrosting fish fingers and two sugary alcoholic drinks in the fridge in waiting for seeing his girlfriend Hannah.

His parents where out this evening and he’d planed for him and Hannah to have a romantic evening into together but his culinary skills where hardly up to romantic.

The doorbell rang one and he rushed out to open the door and enveloped Hannah in an embrace and a quick kiss before drawing back and noticing someone lurking in the shadows.

“Who’s that?” he asked and Hannah gave him a sheepish look.

“My cousin’s staying with us and mom made me bring him” she looked over her shoulder and called “Ben!”

A young man, his blond hair hanging foppishly over his face and clothes, uncool and unkempt hanging from his skinny frame shuffled forward and smiled crookedly at Robert before offering a hand out to shake.

“Sorry” he whispered as Robert took his hand and shook it, still a little dazed at how quickly this had happened.

“its okay” he said and Ben smiled at him again.

Against his own wishes Robert returned the smile, feeling his palms grow sweaty and drew his hand away quickly.

“Um…just come in a and make yourself at home”