Page 80 of Full Court Crush

“Thanks.” Keira laughed. Amelia gave her sides a little squeeze before letting go and turned to walk down the path. Keira easily fell into pace alongside her. A comfortable silence lingered as the breeze tickled Keira’s exposed skin.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Amelia began, her voice wavering slightly.

“Okay?” Keira replied, confused.

“I wanted to make it clear that what happened between us…the way I acted…it wasn’t anything to do with you.” Amelia exhaled slowly, then continued.

“Amelia, you don’t have to keep apologising—” Keira said.

“Please.” Amelia stopped walking and touched Keira’s arm. “Please, let me finish.” Her tone was simultaneously determined and uncertain. Keira nodded, and they resumed walking.

“I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection over the last few weeks. I’m ashamed of how I behaved. I’ve always carried around this…boulder…of my parents’ expectations of always doing what’s expected, always toeing the line.”

They walked past the outdoor basketball courts in the centre of the park. Keira had initially wondered if Amelia had brought her here to shoot some hoops, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“I was never ashamed ofyou, though,” Amelia stressed, bringing her hands in front of her, and fidgeting with them. “I was scared of making a mistake, but…you, us, we were never a mistake. I was letting my fear stop me from being happy. You made me happy.”

They rounded the corner and headed towards a nearby cafe. Keira’s heart beat harder in her throat. She wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. Like she was finally going to reach a mountain ridge’s peak, revealing an amazing view or a bottomless crevice for her to tumble into.

“Sorry. I’m rambling,” Amelia said. Keira hoped that was a sign it was okay to talk now.

“Thank you, for saying all that. But it wasn’t just you. At the first sign of trouble, I ran away. Both literally and figuratively.” She chuckled wryly.

“I think you ran because I pushed you,” Amelia said, sounding sad. Keira wanted so desperately to reach out and take her hand, and tell her everything was okay. That they were okay now. She could stop beating herself up over this.

“Anyway, I…I wanted to show you how sorry I am. And how serious I am. About us.” Amelia continued.

Keira’s heart beat even faster. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.

“I have a surprise for you,” Amelia said.

They approached the outdoor tables at the cafe. A lone figure at one of the far tables, with their back to them, stood and turned around. Keira's eyes went wide.

“Sonia?!” Keira dropped her coat on a nearby chair and sprinted to her friend for a hug. She ran into her so hard she nearly sent them both flying.

“Hey, Keira,” Sonia said quietly into Keira’s ear, squeezing her tightly like she never wanted to let go.

A wave of emotions flooded through Keira, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Sonia was here. Not in another country. Not several time zones away. She washere.

Keira picked Sonia up and spun her around, much to Sonia’s chagrin.

“What’re you doing, you lemon, put me down!” Sonia half laughed, half commanded in her Canadian accent.

“Sorry,” Keira said, not sorry at all. “What are you doing here?!”

Sonia looked towards Amelia, then back to Keira.

“I figured it was time to come and see the city you didn’t shut up about when we lived together.”

“But how, why now?” Keira was dumbfounded.

“You’ve got your girlfriend to thank for it.” Sonia took a step back. Keira looked between Amelia and Sonia.

“She’s not my girlfriend, Son,” she said awkwardly, glaring at Sonia while scratching the back of her head and flushing pink.

Amelia took a step towards her and took both her hands. Keira felt that familiar spark of electricity as soon as their hands met.

“But I could be, if you wanted me to be. If you’d give me another chance,” Amelia said earnestly, gazing into Keira’s eyes.