Popcorn Love

“Elena, please, must you always take so long to dress yourself?”

Elena’s neatly flipped hair swished around her face as her head poked out of the open closet doorway. She narrowed her eyes at the woman sitting on the end of her bed. “Mother, it has barely been twenty minutes. Stop being so dramatic, and, for the record, I have done much more in that time than dress myself.”

“Do tell, dear, because as far as I can see,” Nora replied, pointing toward the visible parts of Elena’s crimson bra and the naked flesh of her stomach, “you haven’t actually dressed yourself yet.”

A few strands of hair flew away from Elena’s face in the gust of air she huffed out. “Perhaps that particular task would have been finished already had I not been repeatedly interrupted by your barks of impatience and endless questions about my utterly disappointing dates.”

Elena ducked back into the closet as Nora chuckled deeply. The elder woman glanced toward her own reflection in the mirror above Elena’s vanity and patted a hand at her hair where it was pinned up and rubbed down a few wild strands.

“Speaking of,” she said, “when is Vivian due to arrive?” The three women were attending a Broadway show that afternoon.

“Soon.”

“Oh, well thank you for being so specific, darling.”

Appearing from within the closet a moment later, a smile planted itself across Elena’s painted red lips. She slipped on her heels then posed dramatically in front of her mother, one hand on her hip and another lain delicately across her forehead. Bright red pumps made for a striking splash of color, paired with Elena’s form-fitted black dress. Her hair was slightly curled around the edges and lay gently against her olive complexion.

She had done this often as a little girl. She would dress up in various outfits carefully selected from her own clothes and a few of her mother’s, decorate her hair with a sparkling headband or clip, and paint her face with bits of lip gloss and eye shadow. All dolled up, Elena would put on a mini-fashion show for her mother, walking an imaginary runway while stopping every few steps to strike a pose. Nora, of course, applauded the show while praising her daughter’s stunning beauty and stylish attire. She and Elena frequently liked to joke that those little shows had been the promising start of Elena’s career.

Nora clapped now at her daughter’s pose as well. “Flawless, my dear. Simply flawless. Takes me right back to when you were a child.”

Elena laughed and walked over to kiss to her mother’s cheek before using her thumb to wipe away the lipstick left behind. She then turned back to her vanity to grab a few pieces of jewelry to match her outfit.

“So, Daddy is taking Lucas to the children’s museum?” she asked as she popped in her earrings.

“That was the plan, though you know your father,” Nora said. “I’m sure he and Lucas will have had quite the adventure about the city by the time we return from the show.”

Before Elena could respond, the sound of the front door closing echoed through the house, followed by the clicking of heels, and then Vivian appeared. She smiled brightly at the two women before turning her attention to Elena.

Vivian bugged out her eyes. “How did you do it, Mom? She’s actually dressed and ready to go on time?!”

The small hairbrush Elena sent soaring in her direction pulled a shriek from her lips, and she laughed triumphantly when she successfully dodged it.

“You are lucky that you are even invited.”

“Ah, what did I do now?”

“From what I’ve heard, dear,” Nora cut in, “you have made Elena’s dating life even more of a hell than it was prior to this little adventure the two of you agreed upon, and in only two dates. Well done, Vivian.”

“Mother! Don’t encourage her.” She turned back to her best friend. “Honestly, last night was a simply horrific experience.”

“I think you are too harsh of a judge.” Vivian pursed her lips and attempted to look serious despite the mirth dancing in her azure eyes.

“He spoke about his bowels at the dinner table.”

Vivian actually gagged while Nora shook her head.

“My dear, I would love to have seen your face.”

“It wasn’t pleasant, I can assure you.” Elena’s dark eyes turned back to Vivian, who was now laughing about the entire thing.

“That was only the beginning, Viv. It ended as uncomfortably as it began. I was beginning to think you set me up with a dud on purpose.”

Vivian’s laughter instantly died in her throat. Her eyes widened just slightly. “That’s ridiculous, Elena.”

“As was the date.” She propped her hands on her hips.

“I can’t learn a person’s entire life story prior to setting him up with you, Elena. If that were the case, then I would be dating him. He looked good on paper. What more do you want me from me, woman?”

“You didn’t even meet him first?”

Vivian’s cheeks flushed a light pink as she turned and her eyes pleaded with Nora for help. The older woman shook her head. “You’re on your own with this one, my dear.”

“Gee thanks, Mom.”

“Look, Elena, I will make it up to you. The next date will be better, much better. Oh! I will set you up with a woman this time! How about that?”

“A woman?” Nora arched a brow. “Elena, I’m surprised. Have you finally embraced your inner lesbian?”

Elena’s entire face flushed as she dropped her forehead into her hand. “Please, can we not talk about this?”

“Oh honey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I’m not ashamed, Mother.” But she kept her head down, avoiding Nora’s eyes and teasing smile.

“Well good. Because it’s about time you were honest about it, Elena.”

Vivian cackled as she watched Elena’s cheeks grow redder under the thin curtain of dark hair that had fallen around her face. “That’s what I said!”

The familiar glare shot in her direction only caused her to laugh harder.

“What? I did!”

“I hate both of you.” She grabbed her small clutch from the vanity and strode by Vivian and out of the room. Vivian and Nora followed Elena down the hallway.

“It’s perfectly natural, Elena.” Gathering their purses, they made their way to Elena’s car. “I was a lesbian once myself.”

Elena halted in the middle of the walkway and whirled around. “Excuse me?”

Vivian clamped a hand over her mouth. Her entire body shook with the laughter she fought to contain as Nora shrugged and repeated herself. “I was a lesbian once.”

“What do you mean ‘once’? How can you be a lesbian ‘once’?”

“Oh dear,” Nora said, waving her hand dismissively, “it was the seventies and I was a teenager.”

“And?” One red pump tapped impatiently, Elena’s expression severe as her mouth pressed into a thin line.

“And everyone was still hung over from all of that ‘free love’ crap from the sixties.”

“And?” She could not believe what she was hearing. How had she never known this?

“And I went through a bit of a lesbian phase with a girl at school.”

“What about Daddy?”

“What about him? I hadn’t met your father yet, dear. I was completely within my right to engage in certain activities with my friend.” Nora then sighed almost wistfully. “Still the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“Mother!”

“Oh my God.” Vivian’s voice squeaked between rolling giggles. “This is the best day of my life.”

* * *

Allison finally woke up at around three in the afternoon, having slept her Saturday away. Rolling onto her back, she stretched out her limbs, her body tangling in the sheets. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, fully amped by her hilarious night with Elena, and, once she got back to her dorm, she had stayed up most of the night watching movies.

The muscles of her biceps strained and her toes curled down as she stretched her body as far as it would go. She groaned and yawned. Sufficiently stretched, Allison popped her knuckles, her elbows, her knees, and her neck, and crawled out of bed to finally start her day.

After a shower, she slipped into a pair of black leggings, a long gray V-neck T-shirt, and fuzzy socks. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and then crawled back into bed. She had absolutely zero plans for the weekend, and her roommate was out of state until Monday, visiting some distant cousin or something. The note she left on the massive dry-erase board that hung between their beds made Allison laugh as she read it again.

Alli,

Would’ve said goodbye but didn’t want to interrupt your snore-fest.

Be back Monday. No sex in my bed unless you wanna buy me new sheets.

XX, Macy

Allison munched on her cereal as she clicked on the small television she and Macy shared, flipping channels before settling on something random she only paid partial attention to as she ate her cereal and reached for her phone on the bedside table. When she saw she had a text from Elena, she smiled, causing milk to dribble down her chin and onto her shirt.

“Shit.” The blanket became her napkin as she opened the text message, grinning again as she saw the photo she had sent to Elena the night before. There were six simple words Elena had sent in response.

Thank you for the picture, Allison.

That was it, but for some reason, Allison could not stop smiling. She stared at it for several long moments before putting her phone back on the bedside table.

For the next few hours, Allison cycled through a number of random activities, none of which were very entertaining. She watched TV for a bit, washed the dishes, and played Bookworm on her phone. She even tried to read for a while, her favorite pastime, but simply could not get into it.

She hated days like this, when she desperately wanted to do something, anything, but everything she actually did just bored her. It drove her mad. She finally gave up after a while and figured she might as well do something productive, since there was apparently nothing that was actually going to please her. There were a few chapters she needed to review and take notes on for class, so she went to grab her textbook from her backpack, but her backpack was not where it usually was on the floor at the end of her bed.

After going through everything twice, Allison finally accepted that the damned thing just wasn’t there.

“I must’ve left it at Elena’s.”

It was most likely still sitting on the floor next to Elena’s couch. Allison grabbed her phone again.

Hey Elena. Sorry to bother you, but I think I might have left my backpack at your house last night. Could you check?

Hopefully, she would be able to just swing by and grab her bag. She sent the message and then plopped down on her bed to wait for an answer she hoped would be swift.

* * *

After the show, Elena drove her small group to her mother’s house, and the moment the three women went inside, they were instantly bombarded by a tiny flying boy. Lucas crashed into Elena’s legs with a loud squeal of “Momma!” before jumping over to Vivian’s legs and then Nora’s.

Hugging each of them, he began to babble in rapid-fire excitement about his day. Elena reached down and grabbed her son by the shoulders. “Lucas, Lucas, slow down,” she said. “Did you have a good time with Pop?”

“Yeah! I slided down a fire pole!”

“You slid. That’s great! Did you save anyone from a fire?”

“No silly.”

“Silly?” Elena gasped and poked Lucas’s belly, making him giggle. “You’re the silly one, mister.”

A light blue tint coated her sons’ lips, teeth, tongue, and cheeks, and Elena frowned as she noticed it. It felt sticky on her thumb as she rubbed across his cheek. “What is all over you?”

“I may have given him a popsicle,” another voice said, and Elena glanced up to see her father leaning in the doorway of the kitchen, smiling at her, “or two.”

“Daddy.” Elena scowled. “You know how he is when he’s had too much sugar.”

“I’m so fun!”

Everyone in the room burst into laughter, and Elena kissed Lucas’s forehead. “That you are, munchkin.” She licked her thumb and used it to scrub away the gunk on his cheeks while he squirmed and pushed at her hands.

“Moooooooooooom. That’s gross.”

“Oh hush.” She licked her thumb again and scrubbed a bit more, but threw her hands up when he grumbled and pushed at her again. “Fine,” she laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. “You can just be sticky.”

“Gram will give me a bath.”

“Oh, I will, will I?” Nora asked as she crossed the room and pressed a brief kiss to her husband’s lips. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tucked her into his side.

“Yeah!” Grinning widely, Lucas looked at his mother. “Can I stay with Gram and Pop, Momma?”

“Overnight? I don’t know, munchkin. You will have to ask Gram and Pop.”

Lucas whirled around to face his grandparents. “Can I?!”

“Of course you can, Lucas,” Nora said.

After a cup of coffee with Elena’s parents and listening to Lucas ramble on about his day for a while, Vivian and Elena made to leave. Hugs and kisses were passed around, and Elena propped Lucas up on her hip to give him extra. “I’ll pick you up in the morning, okay munchkin?”

“Okay Momma.” Little fingers tangled in Elena’s hair. “Miss me!”

“I always do, baby.”

Vivian leaned in and smacked a kiss on Lucas’s sticky cheek before Elena put him down again. “Be good for Gram and Pop,” she said, and he nodded that he would.

As she pulled out of the driveway, Elena could see him standing at the window and waving as Elena and Vivian left, face pressed to the window until the house was out of sight.

* * *

“Elena, whose bag is this?”

Elena came around the corner and into the living room with two glasses of wine just as Vivian held up the item in question, a green and blue backpack. “Christ, it’s heavy.”

“Oh. It must be Allison’s.”

“I see,” Vivian whispered to herself, taking the small glass of wine from her friend before settling onto the couch. “Well, you should probably text or call her. I’m sure she will need it for school. Maybe she could pick it up tonight.”

“That’s true.” Elena set her wine on the coffee table and retrieved her phone from her purse. “I will text her. She is probably out with friends tonight anyway, but perhaps she could come and collect it tomorrow.”

Dropping back onto the couch, Elena held her phone out to show Vivian a message. “She apparently beat us to it.”

Hey Elena. Sorry to bother you, but I think I might have left my backpack at your house last night. Could you check?

Vivian watched as Elena tapped out a quick response.

Yes, it is here.

Not even ten seconds later, the phone beeped with a response. “Wow,” Vivian said. “She must really want that backpack.”

A quiet laugh slipped from Elena’s lips as she read the message, while Vivian read it over her arm.

Sweet, any chance I could get it from you? I mean, are you busy? Are you home?

It was interesting how Elena seemed to slip into another world while responding to the babysitter. Vivian wondered if Elena even had a clue how she looked in that moment—her eyes fixed on her phone screen, a small smile gracing her lips, and her teeth gently biting at her full bottom lip. She looked like a teenager again, having just gotten a text message from her ultimate crush.

This is just sad, Vivian thought, willing herself not to laugh. How blind can you be?

The clicking sounds of the phone keys were the only sounds in the room as Elena typed out her message—Yes, I’m home. Are you not out with friends?—and pressed the send button. She then frowned and speedily wrote another message—I’m sorry. That really isn’t any of my business.

Ha! came the reply from Allison. It’s all good. No, I don’t go out a lot, and my roomie is out of town. So, could I come get my bag now then? I’m bored as hell and have nothing else to do. Might as well do some homework, right?

Vivian cleared her throat as she read more messages over Elena’s arm. “Maybe you could just take it to her.”

Elena looked at her, arching a brow, but Vivian only shrugged. “What? She always comes to you, you know, babysitting and whatnot. It’s not like you’re doing anything, and that’ll save the girl from having to take the subway. Life is good when you can avoid the subway on a Saturday.”

“That is true.” She chewed on her lip. “But you and I are spending time together.”

“Elena, we see each other nearly every day. I think I will survive. Besides, I have quite a bit of paperwork to catch up on this weekend anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely positively.”

Elena poked Vivian’s thigh. “Well, don’t sound so enthusiastic about it. You’re going to make me feel as if I’m bad company.”

“Oh please. You know you’re my favorite company.”

Elena grinned at her as she turned back to her phone. It amused Vivian to see Elena’s lip suck right back between her teeth as she typed another message. She just shook her head and laughed internally while she waited for Elena to finish.

Perhaps I could bring it to you, Elena typed, if that suits you.

The response was nearly instantaneous. You’d do that?

Of course. Elena grinned unconsciously yet again. It would be no problem.

Ten minutes later, Elena and Vivian were walking out of Elena’s front door and toward their respective vehicles. Elena carried Allison’s heavy backpack in one hand and her clutch and keys in the other. They stopped in the middle and hugged one another, planting a kiss on each other’s cheeks.

“Have fun with the college girls,” Vivian teased as she poked Elena’s ribs. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“So, basically everything is fair game?”

“Exactly.”

They said their goodbyes, and Vivian grinned all the way to her car. She had a feeling they were on the brink of a breakthrough.

* * *

As she walked up to the large building that was Allison’s dormitory hall, Elena texted to let her know she had arrived, because each building required key-card entry. She was thankful that it was spring, so it was a fairly warm night. She would not want to have to wait in the cold for Allison to come collect her, not to mention the fact that it had taken her some time to find parking and it hadn’t been terribly close. A freezing walk back to her car would not have been fun.

It was only about three minutes before Allison came bolting out the front door of the building with a lopsided smile on her face. Elena’s eyes traced down Allison’s body—her messy ponytail, baggy gray V-neck, and her black leggings, which perfectly accented her toned thighs and calves. Laughter bloomed in her chest as she realized that Allison’s feet were protected by only bright orange fuzzy socks and slip-on house shoes.

Allison whistled as she reached Elena, checking out the woman’s black dress and red pumps. “You know, it’s just a dorm,” she teased, reaching out to take her backpack. “You didn’t have to get all dressed up.”

Elena looked down at herself, blushing slightly. “Oh, right. I went to see a show earlier with Vivian and my mother.”

“Ah, makes sense then.” Scratching at the back of her neck, Allison glanced toward the ground. “You look really nice.”

“Thank you, dear. You look quite comfy.”

Allison followed Elena’s gaze down to her feet and laughed as she wriggled her toes around inside her socks. “Oh yeah, they’re my faves. My feet get really cold.”

“Mine too.”

“Well, you need some fuzzy socks then.”

Elena smiled. “Perhaps I do.”

“So, uh, thanks a lot for doing this,” Allison said as she held up her backpack. “I really appreciate you driving all the way over here to bring me this; that was really nice of you.”

Elena just nodded, smile still firmly in place, as she tucked her clutch under arm and tangled her fingers together in front of her, resting her hands against her abdomen. “It was no trouble at all.”

“Cool.” A long silence fell between them as they stood together in the warm night air, nothing but the sounds of traffic echoing around them. The moment dragged until it was almost awkward, both of them just shuffling in place, until Allison looked up at the exact same time that Elena did, and their eyes locked together. Stomach flipping, she quickly cleared her throat.

“Um, well, do you wanna come up?”

Elena’s eyes widened slightly. “Up to your dorm room?”

“Yeah. I mean, we could just hang or whatever for a while if you want. The roomie and I have a lot of movies. Unless you have other plans. That’s cool, too. It’s no bi—”

“No, no. I have no plans. I…all right, yes, I suppose it would be nice to have a companion for the evening.”

Allison laughed. “All right then, companion.”

When Elena only rolled her eyes, Allison slung her backpack over her shoulder and began walking backwards toward the front door of the building. “Come on,” she said, motioning for Elena to follow her.

Elena didn’t hesitate, her heels clicking against the concrete as she hurried to catch up.