Rumours started to swirl.
"Did you see Molly dumped Adam and now she's spending all this time with Jessica Winters?"
"Maybe Jessica hexed her or something?"
"Is Molly… you know?"
Molly heard it all in the hallways. She pretended not to care, but it crawled under her skin.
Amy asked quietly one day, "is it true? About you and Jessica?"
"There's no 'me and Jessica,'" Molly snapped. "She just helps me pass math."
But it wasn't just math. And she knew it.
Meanwhile, Jessica was spiralling her own way.
"I can't do this," she told Hannah while serving new arrivals at the bookstore. "She's confusing as hell. One minute she's flirting, the next she's acting like I'm radioactive."
"Classic internalised denial," Hannah replied. "She's probably terrified of what she's feeling."
Jessica sighed. "Well, I'm not a therapy session. I'm a person."
But she still showed up for tutoring. She still waited for Molly to say something. Anything.
Then one afternoon, it happened.
Molly was standing by the window, arms wrapped around herself.
"I'm scared," she said quietly. "Of what people will say. Of how my parents will react. Of… how I feel."
Jessica stepped up behind her. "What is it you feel?"
"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know if I'm ready."
"Read for what?" Jessica pushed.
Molly sighed, hesitantly she spoke softly "You. You scare me Jess, you confuse me."
Jessica hesitated. Then: "Then let me be something simple for you. Just someone who makes you feel seen."
Molly turned. Slowly. And for the first time, she didn't flinch away from what was in her eyes. She didn't flinch away from the way Jessica's eyes lowered to her lips. She stepped closer, taking Jessica's hand with her.
The air froze.
Molly leaned in, pulling back slightly. Doubting.
Then, Jessica closed the distance. Urging. They kissed.
Not fireworks. Not dramatic music. Just slow, uncertain, heart in-your-throat kind of real.
When they pulled apart, neither of them moved.
"Wow," Molly breathed.
Jessica smiled faintly. "Took you long enough."