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“Say cheese!” Bee Jones shouted a second before pressing the shutter button down. The camera clicked and the couple in front of it pulled away from each other to glare at zir. “Bee! Don’t you think you have enough photos of us kissing?” the brunette girl teased.
“Never, Kia. Never.” Ze laughed and pulled her into a brief hug. After only two days ze had already missed them. Ze turned to the other girl to hug her too. “Lauren. Nice to see you both. How was your weekend?”
Lauren sighed dramatically as Bee sat down beside them. “Oh, my god. We went shopping for some clothes for her mum’s birthday. Do you know how hard is it to shop with her?” Bee made a sound of agreement. Ze definitely remembered the time they went to look for a dress for Kia to wear to the prom. God, it had taken hours.
“Shut up!” Kia blushed and elbowed her in the ribs.
“Make me.” Lauren grinned playfully, and Kia did just that by kissing her again.
Bee laughed again and regarded zir two friends. Ze had first met them two years ago when they’d all shared a class during the first semester of college. They had ended up doing a group project together and had quickly become close friends. Bee had actually played a large part at getting the two girls together. And they weren't the only couple ze had helped find each other. Truth to be told ze was getting tired of always playing the matchmaker and never finding anyone for zirself.
Bee was pulled out of zir thoughts when someone cleared their throat. Ze found both Kia and Lauren staring at zir with smiles on their faces. “So, Bee. What’d you do this weekend?”
“Nothing much, I spent the whole weekend on Tumblr basically. Oh, and I decided I want to do an exhibition of some of my photographs.”
“Yeah? That sounds cool. Where do you want to do it?” Kia asked.
“The café nearby, you know the one called Ida’s Art Café. They do different exhibitions every month for young aspiring artists. I talked to the owner, she said I could do mine next month.” Ze explained enthusiastically. It was no secret that Bee loved photography. Ze never went anywhere without zir camera. The bell rang, signalling them of the start of the first lesson. They all stood up.
“I’ll see you guys at lunch then, have fun in chemistry.” Bee told the girls.
“As if.” Lauren muttered darkly as they turned the other way.
After school Bee started to prepare for zir project. Ze turned on zir computer to go through zir photographs, some of which ze had posted online before. Ze actually had quite a lot of followers on Instagram and Tumblr. Bee wanted to be a professional photographer after ze graduated. Zir parents weren’t as excited about the prospect as ze was, and ze couldn't help but wonder whether this could help them see that ze really could do this. Really wanted to do this.
In the end ze decided on fifteen photos ze wanted to put up. They were pictures of people, of zir friends. Their art teacher, Mr Watson, had agreed to print them at the school. He had loved the idea when Bee proposed it to him. It took a couple of days to get everything ready.
At the opening night of zir exhibition Bee was nervous. There were a lot of people, more than ze expected. The situation felt huge, like it was the turning point of zir life. Ze didn't really know what ze was supposed to be doing so ze just stood there. Some people had already approached zir to complement the photographs.
Lauren appeared next to zir and nudged zir gently on the side. “That boy’s been staring at you this whole time.” She inconspicuously pointed at the blond haired boy in the corner. Bee turned to look. The boy quickly turned his head away but Bee thought ze recognised him. It was a boy from zir school, they had shared a couple of classes before. J-something. What was it? John? James?
“Really? Should I go talk to him?” Bee had to admit, the boy was cute.
“Duh.” Lauren rolled her eyes. Bee poked her side. “Alright then.”
Ze started to walk towards the boy. Ze saw the moment he realised ze was headed towards him. His eyes flashed around the room in panic, looking for an escape route.
“Hi!” Bee said once ze reached him. The boy flushed bright red. “He-hello.” He stuttered. Bee stuck out zir hand. “I’m Bee. What’s your name?”
The boy cleared his throat. “I’m James.”
“Nice to meet you James. What’d you think of the exhibition then?” Ze gestured around. Ze found it adorable how shy the boy was. James smiled a little. “It’s really good. You’re really good. I’ve actually um- I’ve seen some of them before. Online. I uh, follow your blog.” He admitted.
Bee was surprised. Ze’d never met anyone who knew zir from online before. Except Lauren and Kia, but they didn’t count. Ze was flattered. “Ah, thank you. I’m glad you like them. Maybe I’ll be taking photos of you someday.” Ze winked. Something about the boy made zir feel giddy and flirtatious.
James sputtered. “Yeah maybe.” He ran a hand through his hair nervously. “I actually wanted to ask you something. Uh.”
“Yeah?” Bee encouraged him.
“I was wondering if you’d like to- If you have nothing else and if you wanted to-”
“Go on.”
James took a deep breath. “I was wondering if you’d like to go out sometime. On a date.” He said in rush, face crimson.
“Oh. I’d love to. How about tomorrow evening? Would that work for you?” Bee hadn’t been on a date since forever and ze was really fascinated by the boy.
James was obviously surprised by Bee’s quick agreement. “Oh, um, yeah. Yeah. Tomorrow’s good.” They quickly worked out he time and place. Bee saw Lauren wave zir towards her and Kia.
“I’ll have to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Bee winked again and walked to the couple.
“What was that?” Lauren gushed. Bee smiled self-consciously. “I’ll let you know that I have a date tomorrow.” Ze explained. Kia giggled and shoved zir shoulder.
“No way! That’s awesome! Are you excited?” She asked.
“Of course. I’m seeing James tomorrow.”
“Maybe you finally found someone special for you. You’ve been complaining about being single for ages.” Lauren teased.
“Shut up!”
James was already sitting at the table in the restaurant when Bee got there. He was looking around nervously, possibly thinking he’d been stood up. “Sorry I’m late! My bus never showed up, I had to take another.” Bee explained hastily. Not probably a good first impression ze was giving.
“Ah, it’s fine. It’s all fine. I’m glad you could make it.” James smiled shyly. He had stood up as Bee arrived and now held out the chair for zir. “Ah, thank you.” What a gentleman, ze thought.
The waitress arrived almost immediately, handing out the menus and asking for drinks. After they placed their orders Bee looked around. Ze’d never been to this particular restaurant before. It felt very cozy and welcoming. There was even a candle on the table between them.
“We used to come here all the time with my grandma. It was her favourite.” James explained with a distant look in his eyes. Bee smiled at him softly. “Were you close?” Ze asked. James nodded and told zir all about his grandparents while they waited for their meals.
When the food arrived they started to eat in silence. It didn’t feel awkward at all though. Bee felt comfortable around the other boy.
“I like your nails.” James interrupted the silence. Bee looked at zir nails, they we painted with black and yellow stripes.
“Thanks. They kind of go with the whole bee theme.” Ze joked.
“Yeah, I realised that.” James flushed bright red. Again. He was always blushing. Bee had never met anyone who blushed as much as James. And looked as cute as he did.
Thorough the dinner they chatted and got to know each other. Bee found out that James lived with his brother and mother and that he had a cat called Puppy. Apparently they had got the cat when James was very young and he’d been allowed to name him. Bee was enjoying zirself immensely as James was a really good storyteller once he got over his initial nervousness.
After they finished eating James insisted on getting the whole bill. He had invited zir so he would be paying. End of discussion. Bee tried to put up a fight but quickly gave in. They left the restaurant together, walking towards James’ home and idly chatting.
As they reached James’ door Bee turned to him. “I had superb time tonight. Maybe we could do this again at some point?” Ze asked. James nodded. “Yeah, I’d love that. I had a great time too. Um, can I, you know.” He waved his phone in his hand.
“Of course.” Bee took the phone and saved zir number on it. “Text me so I can get yours too.”
“I will.” James promised. He then hesitated. He was hovering at the doorway and seemed to be gathering up courage.
Bee took a pity of him. Ze stepped forwards and cupped his face into zir hands. “Can I kiss you?” Ze whispered. Ze felt more than saw James’ small nod and closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was soft and chaste but still perfect, Bee thought. Ze opened zir eyes to see James grinning at zir, blushing like usual. “I’ll see you on Monday then?” Ze smirked.
“Yeah. I’ll, I’ll see you then.” James stuttered. With one last look Bee turned away and started zir way home.
Only a couple of minutes later Bee’s phone beeped. Ze dug it out of zir pocket and saw one new text from a new number.
I wish it was Monday already. James x
Bee couldn’t stop the smile spreading on zir face. Ze really liked that boy. Ze pocketed the phone and continued zir way home while humming happily.