The next day rolls exceptionally fast, today was now Tuesday, only the last full day that Lyla would be in the state, next she’ll be on an hour flight to her homeland. Jenna was thinking of making something special for her. Even though they’ve only really known each other for two days, it seems like they’ve been old friends, which could be so. She remembers a girl with the same name, this was around when they were in grade eight, and with what the girl has said about living in Canada for this in her timeline she might as well be the same girl she fell in love with all that time ago.
They lost contact after the year that the girl moved back to America, it’d only been nine years they’ve been apart, she moved on from her feelings, but this girl... she just brings them all back. She seems so similar yet so unfamiliar to the other that they could maybe, just maybe be the same person. And she’s known that the other only had a younger brother of Michael and no sisters and that she was from Ohio. Even their birthdays are the same! Well from what Jenna can remember... It's only been nine years, don't expect her to know everything.
Why does that girl remind her so much of the other? Her best friend and crush from grade eight, maybe she can ask her when she comes back.
Lyla on the other hand was packing for her trip until she looked at the photo on her nightstand. It was of her when she had longer hair that was almost down to her waist if not at her waist if it wasn't for her cursed curly hair and was only three years out of the closet, or the bicycle shop as she would joke with, and another girl. The other girl reminded her so much of Jenna, even sharing the same name. Along with everything they’ve shared and even when she said her birthday it matched exactly with the girl.
Maybe they were the same.
And if they were, she still in love with her.
When Lyla walks into the coffee shop that morning Jenna was waiting there, two drinks in front of her.
“Mornin’, what have you made this time?”
“Well your usual and my favorite, we have time before the rush comes in.”
“Alright...” the nervousness comes back to her, giving her the feeling that she’s about to throw up, a feeling that she’s known since, possibly the dawn of her existence.
The two grab their own drink, Jenna trying desperately to move her hand so it wouldn’t touch the others. After that moment of panic they sat at the girl’s usual table which was right across from where they just were.
“Lyla, I have a question...” The girl looks up, the straw stuck on one of her canine teeth.
“I’ve been looking through some old things and I was just wondering if you'd recognize this. I feel like we’ve met before...”
“How would I know if...” The comedian trails off.
Jenna holds up her phone to the other, it was a photo that she kept of the two of them, Ali, Denise, and Raine in the eighth grade, it was just before they quarantined for the rest of the weeks that led up to winter break at the end of 2020.
“I- Jenna, how do you have this?”
“It’s been in my phone forever and you remind me of the girl from the photo.”
“That’s because that girl is me.”
“That’s me in that photo-” Lyla pulls out her own phone, goes into her photos app and scrolls for a while. Nine years must have a lot of things in them. The girl stops on a picture after scrolling for what seemed like centuries and opens it, it was the exact same one. “I was the one without the mask because I hated them.”
“Oh I remember fully, when you would rant about them being uncomfortable at the start of that year.”
“So glad that’s over now.”
“Well it’s great that I found you again.”
Both of them smile and catch up for the rest of the hour, finally settling on that Jenna would come over to the apartment and they’d hang out.
“So I’ll text you my address alright.” Lyla grabs her messenger bag before putting some cash in front of the other. “Thanks for the iced coffee.”
“You’re welcome.” And with that the dirty blonde haired girl leaves, letting the moments drip like honey in the back of the coffee shop worker's throat. Her mind flashes through the different memories until it lands on one that was in April of 2021, they were in online school because that’s what the school board decided to do.
It was also the time that Lyla confessed for the third time, or that’s at least maybe what she remembers. This time was different than just your "oh I’m sorry, I don’t see you in that way." type thing, this time she might’ve actually had feelings for her. But she wasn’t sure of them at the time.
Lyla tried to help but it was just too much, mentally and emotionally. Finally she decided to take a break from the other, they had sent very sappy letters the night that they took a break.
From what she remembers, Lyla was crying hard and was blaming herself for it as she usually would. One of the last regards she had was that she loves her.
Now tears were pricking the girl’s eyes from remembering the time, but she had to take a break, lose the feelings and only take the step of loving the other as a friend, it was hard but it was needed.
After then she doesn’t remember what happened and then the girl moved, just a few days after her birthday, and for the next nine years she’s been laughing with her other friends, getting work done, and finally moving to New York to attend school.
But deep down, she doesn’t know how deep, but deep in her heart, she still loves her and she, probably, always will.
