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Diana rolled off her and said, “Yeah. But you’re right. And I have to get home so that I can change and get to the shop before my dad gets mad that I’m late.”

“Can we do this again tomorrow?”

“I don’t know about right after school, but maybe after supper? He goes back to the shop then. I could meet you here, if you can get away.”

“I can try. We’ll talk more tomorrow at school.”

“I wish I could walk down the hallway holding your hand,” Diana told her wistfully.

Cheryl rested her head on Diana’s shoulder and said, “I want that, too. But we’re about to graduate, and then, we won’t have to live here if we don’t want to.”

“Idon’twant to.”

“No? Where do you want to go?”

“Well, I wanted to be a doctor, but I don’t think that’s going to happen, so I’d like to go to nursing school in a city somewhere. No more small towns where everyone knows everyone else. I want to be able to blend in when I want and stand out when I want.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, taking Diana’s hand into her own.

“I want to have an apartment with someone. A woman. I can pretend like she’s my roommate, but I don’t want that, obviously. I don’t want people to ask questions, but I want to find a place to live where I can take her somewhere and be myself. Some bigger cities have places like that. You just have to find them. Anyway, I want to be able to wear pants and maybe a jacket or something, cut my hair, slick it back, if I want, and just dance with her all night before we go home and… make love.”

Cheryl smiled and said, “That sounds really nice.”

“Where doyouwant to live?”

“Not here. I’d have to come back to visit my parents, but if I stay here, they’ll just expect me to marry a man from school. I don’t want that. I might go to secretary school or something.”

“Why not write for a paper?”

Cheryl lifted her head and looked at her in disbelief.

“What made you say that?”

“You write for the school paper.”

“A lot of people write for the paper in school. It doesn’t mean they want to do it professionally.”

“You also mentioned that your dad was teaching youreporter stuff. I assumed you were interested in that.”

“I am. I just… My dad teaches me because it’s fun for him. I don’t think he really sees me doing it as a job. My mom is a secretary, so she wants me to do that.”

“What doyouwant?” Diana asked, pressing her forehead to Cheryl’s again.

“More of this,” she answered honestly.

“Well, we both want more of this.” Diana smiled and kissed her sweetly.

“I think I’d like to have a shot at a paper. Most women get the advice or recipe columns, but maybe I could start there and prove myself.”

“Maybe you could,” Diana replied. “I should go now. If I’m late, I’ll get in trouble.”

“Okay,” Cheryl said. “Just one more?”

Diana smiled before she leaned in and kissed her once more, a little deeper this time. Cheryl knew then that she’d been right to trust herself recently when she’d decided to no longer push these feelings away because they were part of who she was. She also knew that Diana wasn’t just any girl in her high school. There was something between them that she couldn’t explain, and it was drawing them together.

After their kiss, they stood and got dressed, leaving off their socks and shoes until they were on the sidewalk. Then, they pretended like they hadn’t just been necking in the field and walked a foot apart until Diana had to leave her to get home. Cheryl turned down her own street and went inside, finding her mom in the kitchen, probably getting things ready for dinner. She headed up to her room, changed out of her somewhat dirty clothes, and flopped down onto her bed. She stared up at the bedroom ceiling and thought about Bess, the woman she’d imagined herself kissing.

“We have at least three days. They might be gone longer. Can we not put on clothes at all the entire time they’re gone?” Bess asked her.