djenne g.

Shay found herself a room upstairs, well Calle chose it for her. Her things were laid out on her freshly made bed.

Calle even blessed her with an old easel and set up her materials. She sat and began painting what she has been painting for months, Diane.

The two of them have been best friends since they were in middle school. For years, neither of them even thought about the other in that way. Diane dated boys until she realized she only wanted date women and Shay was there for her.

When Shay realized she wanted to date women, she never told Diane because she didn’t know what it meant for her. In high school, she kissed a female friend while drunk and it lead to sex. For years after, even though she knew she liked it. She was too afraid to admit it because she still liked men. What point would it make to announce it to everyone?

It wasn’t until one amazing sleepover that Diane reached over to hold Shay. This kind of intimacy was normal for them. Cuddling during sleepovers, kisses on the cheek, holding each other, all normal. It would have been nothing big but she looked at Diane and she looked back and there was a moment.

She could see her hair in bantu knots formed under her black bonnet, the moonlight giving her brown eyes a grey shine, her face so soft and they were so close she could feel her heart beating with her own and how easy it is to just be in her arms. Diane laid there looking at her and Shay scanned her face for more.

Diane finally pulled her close and kissed her softly on her forehead and immediately fell asleep.

There was no way Diane was interested in her. She would have kissed her lips instead of her forehead. That night would have been their first night together if only she were interested.

So that night, Shay decided to go to sleep.

It’s been months since they’ve slept in the same bed. They both avoided it. She’d rather sleep on the couch than be rejected by her best friend.

It doesn’t stop her from trying to paint the exact way the moonlight showed on her face. The light sharpened her cheekbones making her dark brown skin glow. There is no combination of blues, browns, yellows, reds, etc. That can do it justice but she hasn’t stopped trying.

---

Shay was two hours into this painting before her frustration made her give up and started throwing paint on the canvas instead.

Sher heard the front door slam and footsteps running up the stairs, followed by a knock at her door.

“Who?” Shay asked. 

“Me.” Diane opened the door and threw herself on the bed. 

“She stood me up! What the fuck. It was for our writing. Who does that?”

“Maybe her intuition told her you just wanted sex.”

“Nah. I don’t think intuition is all that good anyway.”

“Well she didn’t show up so… ”, Shay shrugged.

“Fine. Let me take you out. Get cleaned up. I like your painting by the way.” Diane got up and quickly left the room. “20 minutes.” She yelled from the hall.

Shay was so grateful she ruined the painting of Diane before she got here. She headed to the bathroom to wash the paint from her hands, face, and locs. They always dip into the paint like Medusa’s locs, having a mind of their own. Even if they’re tied up in a bun.

In 20 minutes, she is dressed and downstairs with Diane and heading out.

“Can I drive yours? I want this to be a surprise and I walked from the cafe because I was so upset from earlier.”

“Yea, no problem.” She said as she handed her the keys.

The pair of them hopped into Shay’s beat-up pink punch buggie and started driving.

After a thirty-minute ride, they arrived at an abandoned looking factory off an abandoned road. 

Shay and Diane often found weird places to discover together but they would usually plan the trip together so that they could rent out camera equipment. These trips are only good for their pictures.

“So why are we here?”

“I found this place and I thought we could have some alone time.”

“What for? We would have been alone in the house.”

“Honey. You know why”, Diane reached over to hold Shay’s hand.

Once again, not a shocking form of intimacy but then she pulled Shay’s hand to her lips and kissed it. Then she started leaning closer. Diane normally smelled of lavender and mint but today she smelled different, something more floral. They were so close that their lips were just barely touching. Shay could feel her entire body warming up, her heart pounding in anticipation. Just waiting to feel her lips on her own.

She was waiting for the moment their lips finally touched. She hoped it would be better than what she dreamed. What she didn’t expect was a hand on her throat, squeezing. SO hard she couldn’t breathe.

---

Calle finally arrived back at Diane’s home after dropping off Leo and then picking up items from her fellow coven member Violet. She needed to pick up some mugwort and a bunch of candles from the Wicca shop she works at. Violet always talks her ear off with strange facts and then ends it with giving her a tarot card reading. Now Calle knows for sure that what she needs to do next is move in with Diane. Something is coming and it would be better if she wasn’t living on the couches or the other coven members.

Calle is ever so grateful that no one told Diane about her living situation.

Calle decided this was the best time to check out the greenhouse. As she started walking, she heard a car pull up to the house. She peeked through the window and saw Diane so she opened the door wide and let her in. “Hello, love! Your energy is off.”

“That girl stood me up! How rude! At least I got myself some tea and the barista’s number.” Diane threw herself onto the living room couch and Calle followed. Throwing herself onto the love seat on the other side of the room.

“Great. Another perfumed pussy around the house. Did you bring anyone new today? Something smells off.”

“Nope. No one. Is Shay still here?”

“I don’t sense her here so no.”

“That is so creepy but I also wish I could sense people. I wonder where she went.”

“Cast a spell or use that new spangled ability. I have a feeling. Something is off.”

“You just magically have some feelings and now I have to track my own best friend? Invade her privacy?”

“Do it and shut up. My senses are better than yours.”

“Fine.” Diane threw herself into a trance, eyes going white for a moment, and then she was out of it as quickly as she went into it.

“We have to go. Now.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I saw her. She’s with me.”

“How?”

“Exactly. Grab my hand.”

“Can we drive? I hate this part.”

“No. I’m about to kill her.” Diane grabbed Calle’s hand, thought of Shay and then they were there. Just in time to see Diane choking the life out of a struggling Shay.

Calle used her power to yank the car door open and then ran in to quickly unbuckle Shay and pull her away. Shay was gasping for breath on the floor near the car.

Diane in the car grew pale, eyes turning black, hair turning grey and it began hissing as it came out the car ready to fight Diane. It leaped towards her only to be forced back by the force field she placed on herself and her friends behind her. She yelled at Calle. “What the hell is this thing?”

“It’s a shapeshifter!? A FUCKING SHAPESHIFTER?” Shay started regaining her breath and finally sat up in Calle’s arms.

“No shit!” She formed balls of electricity in her hands and began throwing them at the creature. It seemed to be holding it but in no way deterring it from trying to kill them all.

“It looks like one of the creatures from this book! I forget the name but try fire!”

Diane gathered both hands together to create a giant ball of electricity, hoping it would give her enough time to concentrate on producing enough fire to fill this thing. It seemed to have grown five feet since changing to its normal form.

The giant ball of electricity finally knocked it off its feet which gave Diane enough time to create a ball of fire big enough to kill the thing. There was a loud shriek before it fell into dust.

“Finally,” Diane says smiling and turning back to her friends.

Shay was lying in Calle’s arms with such fear in her eyes. When Diane walked close to her, she shrank away.

Calle put her hand up to Diane, telling her to stay back and Calle began murmuring in Shay’s ear. Softly stroking her hair and giving her kisses.

Diane knew that one of Calle’s gifts is to soothe but it breaks her heart seeing Shay lie there in anyone else’s arms but her own at this moment. She has been holding Shay for years but one step towards her seemed to scare her. She has never seen Shay give her a look like that. 

Diane thought it would be best to push down that hurt and do the most practical thing, checking the car to see if they could make it home. Gas was full, there was surprisingly no damage to the car. She looked over and saw the two of them still on the dusty road clutching each other so she sat and waited in the car.