“Where are we going?” Adelia asks me for what must be the tenth time in twenty minutes.

“Adelia,” I groan. I turn my head so I’m facing her instead of looking out the window of the bus.

“What? You can’t even give me a hint?”

I shake my head. “Nope. I want to surprise you.”

“Ugh, fine,” Adelia concedes. “Are we at least eating lunch there? I’m starving!”

“But you just had breakfast, didn’t you?”

“Well,” Adelia grimaces slightly. “I mean, not really. My stomach was doing flips because of how excited I was–and I still am–so I couldn’t eat much I guess. Haha.” 

Just then, Adelia’s stomach grumbles. “Oh my god.” She covers her face with her hands and buries herself in my shoulder, embarrassed.

“Addie, it’s fine,” I whisper. “There’s hardly anyone on this bus.”

“But that’s the problem,” Adelia replies. “That means it’s more quiet, so people are more likely to hear.”

I roll my eyes. Adelia decides to unbury her face from my shoulder just then.

“Wait. Did you just call me ‘Addie?’” Adelia grins, flaunting her breathtaking smile.

Oh, wow. I…did…?

I open and close my mouth a few times, unable to get words out. Finally, after some trial and error, I can make some words escape my throat. “I…guess?” My voice goes up a bit.

“Aww. You’re so in love with me,” Adelia coos, smirking.

“Shut up!” I exclaim. “Now I regret calling you that.”

“No you don’t, and you know it–”

I cover Adelia’s mouth with my hand to make her stop talking. “Shh.”

When I drop my hand, I see that Adelia’s cheeks are now a nice tint of pink. My hand was like the curtains of a stage; once opened, they reveal something.

“Wait, look.” Adelia points past me and out the window.

Turning to see what she’s staring at, my eyes are met with an array of quaint, vintage houses flurrying past us as the bus zips by. I wish the bus could slow down so that I could see the houses better.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Adelia asks. I turn back to her, and she looks mesmerized.

“Wow. You are a sucker for small towns, aren’t you?”

Adelia giggles. “I mean, yeah, I guess. Small towns just call to me.”

“They ‘call to you,’” I mock, using air quotes. “That’s dramatic.”

“Shut up,” Adelia plasters on a frown, but I know her well enough by now to know it’s fake. She loves to fake being upset with me, and honestly, I think it’s quite cute.

Looking out the window again, we drive past the houses relatively quickly into the heart of the town, where all of the cafes and bakeries and other cute small businesses are.

And then, I see it.

The bus stops at a red light, and looking just ahead, I can see what appears to be a cafe with a pride flag hanging in the window.

“Adelia, look!” I whisper.

I lean back so she can look out the window, and I know that she sees it because a huge grin spreads across her face. “They support the gays!”

I take Adelia’s hand and squeeze it. “Yes! They support us.”

Adelia looks down at my hand as if it’s sent an electric current coursing through her veins and arteries into her heart. “Uh, are you sure you want to hold hands in public?”

I then turn my gaze to my hand, but, instead of pulling it back, I squeeze Adelia’s hand once more. “Yes. I’m okay with that. Just…not when my parents are around.”

A soft smile takes over Adelia’s cute face, showing off her dimples. It’s then that I look at her. Really look at her.

Her ocean blue hair is braided into two neat French braids, with little wisps of hair framing her face, like little waves crashing down at the beach. Her eyes are a pale blue color in this lighting, and they’re accentuated with some eyeliner, precisely put on, looking like a cat’s eye.

Her lips are a slightly darker rouge from their normal soft pink; this time, there’s a little more red in them, mainly in the center, fading out into a delicate pink at the edges. Doamne iisuse hristoase…she’s beautiful…

“What?” Adelia whispers shyly.

“No, uh, nothing,” I stammer. “Just admiring how beautiful you are.”

Adelia’s cheeks return to the state of pink that they were a few minutes ago; she looks absolutely adorable when she blushes.

“I really like you,” Adelia whispers. “I’m happy we found each other.”

“Me too, Addie, me too,” I whisper back, squeezing her hand once more.