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The old band closet was a place that Emma Nolan visited frequently. Not because she was in band, of course. The band teacher here was very homophobic. It was for Alyssa. The band closet was the only place she and Alyssa could be together without the rest of the world knowing, and it was Emma’s favorite place on Earth.
Where was Alyssa? Normally, she was never late, and Emma started to panic. What if she wasn’t coming? Was this how they were going to break up? She didn’t want to get dumped like this!
In her panic, she hardly noticed when the door creaked open. She looked up to see Alyssa coming in, wearing her pink cheerleading outfit and soaked with sweat.
Emma had hardly realized she was staring until Alyssa started to blush.
“Sorry I couldn’t get here on time,” she stuttered, and walked over to the crate where Emma was sitting, “Cheer practice ran late and-”
Emma couldn’t resist the urge to kiss her. Immediately, Alyssa fell into it. Somehow, they both ended up on the crates, that weren’t particularly comfortable, but Emma was happy so long as she was with Alyssa.
Alyssa had been wearing raspberry lip gloss, and it gave Emma the urge to kiss her harder. Alyssa responded by her grabbing her shirt and pulling Emma down on top of her.
Gasping for air, they broke the kiss, but it was only for a second. Soon, they were back at it again, and Emma thought her whole world was going to explode. Because basically, Alyssa Greene was her whole world, and she wanted it to always be that way.
Removing her lips from Alyssa’s, Emma pressed a kiss to the hollow in Alyssa’s throat and started trailing kisses up her neck. She heard Alyssa let out a sigh, as she pulled Emma’s lips back down to hers.
“Are you sure there are stale clarinet reeds in there?” Emma heard a voice from outside the closet.
“Of course there are, I stashed some in there early last year,” Someone responded.
Emma and Alyssa broke the kiss and stared at each other in shock. Alyssa, who had been propped up on her elbows whispered, “Let’s get behind the crate.”
She nodded but didn’t want to do it. Emma never got to see Alyssa other than sometimes in the hall and their band closet flings, and she needed to make the times count. Hiding behind crates together was not exactly her opinion of “quality time”.
Just in time, they stepped over the crates and managed to get down low enough that whoever came in wouldn’t see them.
Peering over the crates, Emma saw Gemma, a girl who played clarinet, and Mr. Dilsmond, the band director, looking for what must have been clarinet reeds.
“I don’t think they’re in here,” Gemma spoke to Mr. Dilsmond.
“Hmmm. Check over there,” Mr. Dilsmond pointed over to where Emma and Alyssa were hiding.
Emma felt Alyssa’s panicked eyes on her. And she understood why. If someone saw Emma, it didn’t matter. She had no reputation, and she was already out with her family (who had left her.) But Alyssa was popular. Her mom, head of the PTA, had no idea her daughter was lesbian. If the news got out, Alyssa’s life would be hard, and she probably would never get to see Emma again.
Even though it was Alyssa’s life, Emma wasn’t ready. She really liked Alyssa. More than she would ever admit out loud. She wasn’t ready to throw away what they had.
Against whatever brain cells she had left, Emma reached over and put her arm around Alyssa. If it was going to end today, at least they had one last hurrah. They had experienced one last moment in each other’s bliss, and Emma was not going to let it go to waste.
Just as Emma was thinking of how she was never going to kiss Alyssa again, Gemma shouted, “Oh here they are! The rest of the clarinets are going to be thrilled.”
She saw Mr. Dilsmond nod in agreement before he replied, “Let’s get out of this place. I know it used to be mine, but it’s giving me the creeps.”
When she was sure they were long gone, Emma released her grip around Alyssa and sighed. It was a sigh of relief and a sigh of joy. She would get to see Alyssa again, and her joy would live on another day.
Alyssa, on the other hand, just started laughing. It wasn’t any sort of rude laugh or the type of laugh that implied she was funny. It was just one of those plain exhausted laughs. Emma could practically hear her thinking, “I can’t believe that just happened.”
Alyssa was still laughing when she just dropped her head to Emma’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?” Emma whispered back.
“For being here,” Alyssa smiled onto her shoulder. The silence that came after that was comfortable. Just sitting there, and holding one another was enough for them. It made them happy, and that was all they truly wanted. All they wanted was to be truly happy.
The ringing of Alyssa’s phone broke the silence. Alyssa picked it up, then groaned. “It’s my mom,” she complained.
Answering the phone, Emma could hear the shrill voice of Mrs. Greene. “Alyssa! Where are you? I’ve been waiting in the parking lot to pick you up from cheer for thirty minutes!”
Her reply was easy and convincible, “Sorry mom. I just had to pick up some homework. I’m on my way out right now.”
After hanging up, Alyssa looked at her. “Sorry. I have to go.”
Emma nodded. “It’s okay. Bye.”
Standing up, Alyssa pressed a kiss to Emma’s cheek, “Bye.”
As Alyssa left, Emma realized that maybe, just maybe, their relationship had some hope. And maybe, just maybe, they would figure it out. But one thing was for certain. Emma was very happy.