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“Great...” I grumbled.

We talked a little more, until he had to start his work and I was able to enjoy the rest of the hours of training under the stretcher with the ice being changed every half hour on my leg.

Practice would last three hours and for that entire time I was there, quiet, bored, and with my phone scrolling through social media. When the movement finally increased, with the end of training, Kendra appeared in the infirmary.

“Ready to go?” Ken didn't even waste much time that day. And neither did I, we just grabbed our things and left.

Luckily, I was already feeling a little better, so we were able to walk to the dorm. I had the rest of the morning free and, with that, I just wanted to be able to finish doing some stupidprogramming work. I didn't know why I signed up for that rubbish, but they said it was useful for life.

Along the way, Kendra decided to bring up a delicate matter.

“The girls think I have a crush on you…”

I looked at her, wanting to be funny, but just seeing the expression on her face made me swallow the smile. I needed a few seconds to rethink my next words.

“Hm… And what do you want to do about it?”

Kendra shrugged.

“I do not know yet…”

I glanced at her surreptitiously.

“We can do things in our own time, we don’t need to satisfy anyone, Ken.”

We walked a few more meters. The weather was mild and a sweatshirt for running around was essential.

“We're spending a lot of time together; I think everyone is noticing.” Kendra seemed really bothered by this.

“They're noticing the time we've been together, they don't know what we do or what we talk about.” I pointed out, trying to bring reason to her thinking.

I wasn't afraid of what others might think, but Kendra was. I already knew the world could be cruel, but... honestly? It would be cruel anyway. That's why I tried not to give so much power to outside things that could hurt me, because, in the end, those things didn’t hold any real meaning in my life. For example, what Martin did hurt me and that meant an absurd amount of pain for me, but other people's comments and looks only hurt enough, they would never tear me apart, because those people didn't mean anything to me.

Strangers would always judge you much more and it would be up to you to know your truth.

“I… I'm…” She snorted. “Nevermind.”

“What is it?” I grabbed her arm and made her stop in front of our dorm. “Talk to me, Kendra.”

“You don't understand!” She complained. “It's hard when you don't have an option... And people are bad, Veronica. What do you think will happen when the entire female side of the team finds out about this? I don't have the option of turning a blind eye and being a little straight every now and then like you.”

That conversation would be tense and it wasn't fair for us to have it with the possibility of someone overhearing us, so I took her with me to my room — even though she was reluctant — and when we were finally alone, I said:

“First, I'm not half straight, I'm bisexual, there's nothing you can do about it. I'll always be like this, even when I'm with a guy, so please, have a little more respect.” The words came out as a complaint, it wasn't the intention, but it worked, because Kendra realized her mistake.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...”

I interrupted her: “I know, it's okay!” And I continued: “Second, I'm not ashamed or afraid of certain things because I know who I am. What others want to tell me I am is their problem! I like being with you and that's enough for now, Kendra. What others may think, theorize or anything like that is their problem.” She sat on my bed, clearly shaken and upset by it all. I ended up kneeling in front of her, holding her hand and noticing the tears pooling in her eyes. “Kendra, I want to shout to the whole world how much I love being with you, but I'll only do that when you feel ready.”

A sad little laugh escaped her.

“Wow, how romantic.” She joked.

“I want to be happy, and right now, being happy involves being with you, so please don't think too much about others. Just think about me, about the two of us...” I leaned up and stole a peck from her. “The two of us together. Can you do that?”

She needed to take a deep breath before agreeing.

I smiled, a little satisfied that I had managed to convince her, and kissed her again, this time more tenderly and more deeply. Slow. And completely incendiary. Kendra pulled me up and I pushed her down. I fell on top of her, but still with my feet off the bed. I kissed her until she was breathless. Then I went down her neck.