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The cool breeze blew across the parking lot. It was evening, spring. It was still bright. The darkness had not taken over the sky yet. Inside the red Chevrolet sat two young women. One in the driver's seat and looked quietly out the window.
Mary, the woman in the driver's seat, took a slow puff of her cigarette. Her black, curly hair reached down to her shoulders. You could clearly see her warm skin shining in the glow of the sunset.
She routinely breathed the smoke out of her mouth. The woman next to her had long, red hair and green eyes. She sat with a face that were weighed down by so much grief it looked unnatural on her youthful face.
Lily, the woman, took a cigarette from the pack in the glove compartment. The last one. It had not been her intention to run out so early. She lit the cigarette familiarly with the lighter she had been gifted from Dorcas. Lily took a long suck. Empied her brain. Cleared out her feelings. Exhaled. Again, again, and again. She looked over at Mary. Sometimes it was hard to do anything else when you were with her.
Lily had always found her very sensational. She could look at Mary a thousand times everyday and never get tired of her captivating features. Lily finished smoking the smoke with a quick suction and slow breathing. She could gradually feel the nicotine affecting her mind. The lightness of her body, the rush of the heart. Her senses that were no longer as much on guard as they had been before. The feeling she had become so used to now.
Mary picked up a new package of cigs from her pocket. They always shared everything. Cigarettes, secrets, and kisses. Anything. Lily smiled thankfully at Mary. She understood it. The things with Petunia, the stress with potions, everything. Lily did not know what she had done to make herself deserving of someone like Mary. Mary, who had always been the sunbeam on a gray winter day. The star that shined the most in the night sky. It was Mary she could trust.
"Are you okay?" Mary asked a little worried. Lily used to be more talkative on their rides. She replied with a strained shrug. "I am just tired. Tired of it all. I do not feel prepared for our exams at all.” It was true that Lily was worried about them, but she had never failed one. “You are the most diligent and hardworking person I know. You're going to do bloody awesome, Lily. ”
That was not so little to say, especially when it came from Mary. Her quick, witty comments had landed her in some trouble, but at the same time she had built up a network of friends and acquaintances, all of whom admired her courage and audacity. Mary Macdonald was popular. Well liked. Appreciated. Lily could feel the anxiety feeling melt away in her body, affected by her words. She could not stop herself.
Lily's lips met Mary's in an appreciative kiss. It was urgent but necessary for Lily. She could not always describe how she felt in words, but her actions could. That's how she said thank you to Mary. They stopped for air. "Wow… what was that for?" Mary asked in a teasing tone. "It was just because you're you," Lily said, kissing Mary again. "And that was how you keep being you."
Lily felt intoxicated by being with Mary. She felt free. "Idiot," Mary said, but her cheeks burned, in contrast to her own words. This is how life should be lived, Lily decided. With her loved ones.
It was the two of them. “I love you Mary. Always. You know that, right? I don't think I've said it before.”
Mary’s eyes were glazed with saltwater, but not because she was sad. "No. But you have shown it. And you're saying it now. I love you too, Lily. ” There they sat. Two young women who had found the love other people could only dream of. Lily and Mary against the world. The world against Lily and Mary. Whatever happened nothing could be able to tear them apart.