The Confession

Chapter 18 [https://www.rellawings.com/superluminal/chapternum/chaphead_18.jpg]

Thankfully, Quinn didn’t need to go to a hospital. She was, however, furious and looked everywhere for the dickheads who’d viciously shoved her down that water slide.

Perhaps it was best for all involved that she couldn’t find them. She might have murdered them.

Sooner rather than later, the three decided it was time to leave. The circumstances had cut short their fun in the sun and there wasn’t much to be gained by sticking around to seethe.

After piling into her car, Quinn turned to look at the girls. Instead of suggesting they return home, she surprised them, “Why don’t we go to a drive-in now? Sarah’s parents won’t be expecting us for another few hours and I don’t want to have to try to explain to them why we headed back so early.”

“—I’d like that—” Sarah mumbled. “Are you sure, though? You went through something truly awful today. Remember that my mom baked an apple pie? I bet a slice of her pie would make you feel better.” Sarah chewed her lip, waiting for a response. Leona frowned.

“It’s fine,” Quinn laughed, relieving the tension. “I’m so pissed off right now I can’t properly express it, but I won’t let those piss ants ruin my day. It’s not my style to let anyone screw with my head and make me into some kind of victim. If I ever see them again—well, they’d just better hope I don’t.”

Sarah chuckled nervously while Leona blinked. Sarah said, “I can’t wait to share that delicious pie with you, the both of you, but more than that—” she lowered her voice as she turned her eyes on Leona, “I want to be out with you as long as possible too. Um—please let’s not tell my dad about what happened today—at all. He might not let me go out like this ever again if he found out about how Quinn got hurt.”

Quinn quickly nodded in agreement. “Yeah—he probably wouldn’t trust me ever again, let alone this city, particularly if you repeated what I just said to him.” She said with a wry expression for Sarah as she went on, “Sad fact is he’s not exactly wrong… We all know things are getting worse— Unpleasant characters like those bums do hang around. Don’t worry though, we keep those kinds of creeps out of our raves. You weren’t in any danger there. You couldn’t have chosen a better one to try out.”

Leona winced, thinking about how Robbie got mauled by his old flame at her very first rave. She looked at Quinn with a slight frown as she said, “I don’t know about that—” Her sister shook her head, interrupting Leona’s train of thought, reading her mind. Learning the truth about what happened today would have Sarah’s father up in arms. Putting on a weak smile, Leona glanced at Sarah, instead changing what she was about to say, “But, Sis… You say raves are safe, but your friends there seemed kinda rough.”

“Nah!” Quinn spread her arms expressively. “Tough on the outside, sweethearts on the inside, all of them. You know better than that, Leona. You don’t judge a book by its cover!”

“That’s so true—most people are better than we think.” The ever-naïve Sarah smiled brightly, and Quinn’s words chastened Leona. She studied Sarah with a sigh.

That’s probably a bit too optimistic even from her, but she’s so cute… Leona, who knew how dark the world could be, smiled for her friend and reached over to take her friend’s hand.

Just the thought of anything happening to steal Sarah’s innocence from her or even make her want to cry made Leona’s heart lurch. But thankfully, this time at least, things had worked out, and she was unchanged.

scenebreak [https://www.rellawings.com/superluminal/scenebreak/wingsbreak.png]

SeaView Cinema had been a mainstay in the San Isidro area for close to three decades now. It was the site where countless wonderful memories got made with friends, family and date nights; from young couples going on their first dates to Leave-The-Kids-With-The-Babysitter Night for the parents to those looking to celebrate their golden anniversaries with a trip down memory lane.

Sadly, like so many other things in the area, the current reality of the drive-in theater didn’t quite live up to those fond memories anymore. Management and ownership had changed hands several times over the years, so of course things would change, but what was once a bastion of indie and art-house films had slowly given way to the more lucrative blockbusters of the modern era.

The distinctive character and personality of the place had slowly but surely been squeezed out for more mainstream fare over the years. Becoming more homogenized, more corporate.

Now everywhere the customers turned were piles of ads for candies, soft drinks and posters for the Next Big Thing To See. And the assault wasn’t only visual. They’d even gotten to all those little speakers that the drive-in handed out so you could hear the sounds of the movie while you rolled up your windows. You couldn’t ever completely turn them off and constant ads were played pre and post each screening.

The only reason Quinn even considered bringing them to the SeaView was because she knew some of the concession workers. They also worked the rave circuit, because, of course they did. They weren’t exactly the best employees, but truly loved the movie-going experience and plenty of them wanted to make movies themselves.

A few of their representatives had asked Quinn if she’d be interested in letting them use a track or two of hers for their scores, particularly for action scenes, but she’d declined since she didn’t think her music quite fit with what they were trying to do.

After paying for admittance and picking up their speaker box, the three pulled up to a parking spot in the drive-in well ahead of when the next screening would start.

While they waited, Quinn seriously asked Leona, “Hey, squirt. Why the long face?” Before Leona even had time to respond, Quinn’s eyes promptly turned to the other girl present and smiled, saying, “Sarah, chill out here while we grab some concessions at the stand. What would you like? A hot dog? Some chicken strips? Popcorn? Something to drink?”

Sarah’s head tilted as she considered the question. “Um—I think… Do they have pizza? And maybe a soda?” Sarah asked with a wondering expression. “But why can’t I come with you? We’re here together, right?”

“Pretty sure they got pizza!” Quinn laughed. “It’s just sister talk. I wanted to ask if Leona’s okay after my tragic near-demise earlier.”

Sarah nodded. “I understand now! I wasn’t thinking about how she’d feel… I mean, I know she’s sad under those smiles right now—” She threw her arms around Leona in a tight hug. “She’s absolutely right! Go have a talk! I’ll keep myself occupied.” Sarah pointed at the central movie screen playing trailers and advertisements for businesses in Seaside City and San Isidro.

“Thank you.” Leona blushed, looking at Sarah. Her heart thudded. She was absent-minded sometimes but so stinking cute. Way more than Leona could hope to be. She felt a spontaneous and intense urge to kiss Sarah.

Quinn waited, smiling, but when nothing happened, she shook her head. “Alright, enough with the googly eyes back there, you two!” She laughed. “C’mon!” Quinn vaulted out of her car and Leona hesitated before finally bounding out herself. Sarah blinked and chuckled as she watched them land and walk off together. She couldn’t wipe a questioning look from her face.

When they were far enough off towards the concession stands, weaving between vehicles, Quinn took Leona’s hand. “Alright, you wanted to know what I’ve got on my mind, right? We should talk a bit privately about what happened earlier today. You’re acting awfully, emo.” She tweaked Leona’s nose and went on, “Y’ know… I mean, I know you got scared when I came barreling out of that slide headfirst—but that’s not what I really wanted to talk to you about right now and I know it’s on your mind.”

A commercial suddenly and noisily spiked in volume in the background at that moment, interrupting the moment in a way that had the two glaring at the screen. “Extensive Enterprises. Always look for silver linings!” After the overly chipper commercial moved on to an ad for a local restaurant, Leona shook her head.

She opened her mouth and admitted, “I was hella scared. I felt so helpless. There was nothing I could do. Nothing at all—” Tears started leaking out again.

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Quickly wrapping her arms around her weepy little sister, she said, “Awwwww—it’s okay——that’s life sometimes.” After a long hug, she patted Leona’s head gently. “Things will happen—and y’know—worrying about what might happen or thinking too much about what’s past—it’s not good for you, got it?”

Leona sniffled and her lips twisted as she replied, “This from the woman-turned-berserker who ran around like that rampaging maniac looking to slaughter the guys who trashed her.” Leona laughed weakly.

“Hey now, can you blame me for that?” Quinn protested with a grin. “Still, I can’t believe they got away after what they did. But honestly, what I really wanted to talk about was you. I’m more glad Sarah didn’t find out your secret at the waterpark. I mean—if my eating it hard saved you from being outed, I’m happy enough.”

“Your life is worth way more than a stupid secret, idiot.” Leona couldn’t help but chuckle again at how lightly Quinn still sometimes took everything, but her expression quickly turned serious again. “When I look into Sarah’s eyes, I just… I want to kiss her—and—— I regret keeping things from her. I’m afraid of what she’ll think of me when I tell her, but I think—”

After giving a low whistle, Quinn commented, “So you’re going to tell her then? If her parents catch wind of it, you know what’ll happen. They don’t seem like typical we’re-all-God’s-children types. I’m not sure it’s for the best.”

“I don’t know—they seem like decent enough people—” Leona protested.

“Yeeeah, when you say it like that it sounds more like you’re trying to convince yourself rather than me, but Sarah—” Quinn paused and actually seemed to mull over what she wanted to say next, this alone caused Leona to stiffen and focus, “I’m one thousand percent sure about this—she’ll call you a best friend to your face, but her feelings go deeper and I think she’s hiding from it. I think she likes you and it confuses her. If you’re not out of the closet even to yourself, it can scare you. With parents like hers… I can understand. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. If you want it to bloom, you’ll have to tell her at some point, but doing it now might also put an end to things early. As things stand, nothing will happen if you say nothing. But, a word of warning, if you try to date her without being upfront, things’d probably end up even worse in the long run.”

Leona stared down at the ground, nodding softly. Quinn was oddly wise whenever she wasn’t wound up or being impulsive.

“Anyway, let’s go get that food—and when we get back, I think I’ll feel the sudden need to go to the bathroom... Whatever you decide to do, you two should be alone for it.”

scenebreak [https://www.rellawings.com/superluminal/scenebreak/wingsbreak.png]

When the sisters returned with their food, Quinn passed Sarah her promised big foldable New York-style slice of pizza and a giant plastic cup of some fizzy soda. Sarah grinned brightly in anticipation of the upcoming sugar rush. Leona held her chili cheese dog and an equally large cup of lemon-lime soda that she affixed within one of the pop-out cup holders that came out of the back of the central armrest box.

“Enjoy your food. It’ll be a bit before the show starts, and gosh——all that water I swallowed must be catching up to me. Be back when I get this settled.” She pointed at her waist. Sarah cracked up while struggling to not dump her food on the car’s seat. Leona grinned broadly, but fidgeted. Her heart was actually thundering. Quinn’s exit was quick and surprisingly graceful (compared to her usual anti-subtlety), though she still walked exaggeratedly so no one watching would question her excuse.

Leona settled down in the seat next to Sarah and for a while, all they did was share warm smiles in silence. The announcement that the movie was starting interrupted their moment, blasting through the radios of the cars, breaking the spell of relative silence and prompting Sarah to ask, “Did you settle things? You seem happier now. Your sister seems tough, but silly.” She giggled.

“Yeah—we did.” Leona nodded and swallowed a gulp of her soda through her straw. “Um… Sarah, y’know—there’s something I want to tell you—and I hope you’ll whisper with me—” Her voice lowered into a whisper.

“What? Is Quinn hurt? Does she need to go to the hospital after all?” Sarah concernedly asked.

“No—it’s nothing like that. It’s… I’m… something about me that—it’s——unexpected, maybe—” Leona blushed at the thought of confessing her secret to Sarah right here and now.

Sarah smiled. “You’re way too cute right now and you’re emotionally strong and—” Her voice trailed off as she puzzled it over. Leona blushed more deeply at Sarah’s having called her cute. Sarah had discovered her weakness. “Oh Lord, are you a Satanist?”

Leona practically fell over, her head crooking. “What!? No! Your parents might think that if you ever blabbed about this, but no—I’m a good person!” She vehemently protested.

Sarah waved her hands wildly and rushed to say, “I know you are, Leona. You’re my best friend.” Sarah gulped, clearing her throat. “No, I can’t pretend—I think I already know what you’re going to say to me—”

“You do?!” Leona gasped.

How can I be cute if she’s already guessed about my secret?!

Sarah nodded confidently. “I want you to know that I still want to be your friend despite this, but I—I don’t think I really like you the way you want me to.” Sarah looked down and away, fidgeting.

Wow! She figured out that I like her? That’s it?! Wait, but isn’t that actually a huge deal?! I want her to be my girlfriend!

Leona blushed furiously and backpedaled, asking, “Y-you think I li-li-li-like you?” Her eyes looked anywhere else but Sarah’s face, but she still somehow felt when Sarah’s eyes widened and filled with tears.

“You—you don’t?” Leona’s head ratcheted back to face Sarah. She was blushing even more than Leona at this point. “I—I—I thought… You know——I was a fool to think that you’d—”

Leona giggled softly and shook her head in response.

Could it be that maybe she’s acting like some kind of tsundere? She’s saying things she doesn’t really mean?

With a wry smile, Leona put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder and shook her head as she said, “No—it’s, it’s not that—” It was hard to say, but maybe there wasn’t any hope that Sarah could ever return her love in the same way.

Considering her options, Leona lay out her cards, anyways. What did she have to lose if Sarah couldn’t bring herself to accept her love? “I’m—I’m just literally not who you think I am is what I really want to tell you.”

“You’re not—?” Sarah blinked, relieved, but still not exactly satisfied. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say, but I’m relieved now that it isn’t that you… I mean, hahaha!— You kind of were making me question some things that I——that my parents—the Bible—”

Leona blinked, realizing Quinn was right about her and these words confirmed her own suspicions. But how to move forward?

She reached over and put her hands on Sarah’s shoulders, the both of them, and looked into her eyes.

Sarah blushed red as though Leona had pinned her against a wall. “Hey—here’s everything I wanted to tell you. I won’t hide it anymore from you. Biologically, I’m a boy. I wasn’t born a girl. I mean—there’s still that part of me that still is even if the rest of me is 100% girl—at least what anyone could see on the street… But well, I needed to tell you before I burst—before things got out of hand I—I couldn’t live with myself anymore if our friendship ended because I didn’t share it.”

With a gulp, Sarah’s eyes widened more and more as Leona spoke. At the end she panicked and jerked away. When she’d backed up enough to press herself against the door, a hand on the door latch, she stopped completely before shaking her head. Contrary to everything Leona expected, Sarah started to laugh and slapped herself, bursting with gales of increasingly merry laughter.

“Oh, oh wow! That’s… That’s so weird! I’d never have Leona… But it’s good! Weird, but sooo good! And if you’re actually a boy, that means that there was no reason to worry so much!” Sarah beamed brightly and threw herself at Leona to snuggle against her chest with no reservation. Leona gaped cluelessly as Sarah softly laughed it out and her shirt started feeling awfully wet suddenly. Sarah was crying, her fingers tangled in Leona’s shirt. “Mmm… Leona, I’m so happy right now——so much that I can’t properly express it.”

Leona couldn’t stop gaping in astonishment. All she could do was blush, but after a moment, she warmly embraced Sarah. “I-I’m happy too.” She felt a weird sense of worry about this situation. “But why were you worried?”

Leona was about to continue to ask for an explanation but Sarah lifted a hand and pressed it against Leona’s mouth.

“No, never mind that… What most matters right now is that now that I know the truth, I can finally feel comfortable with these feelings.” Sarah continued to snuggle with a smile, and she let out another trumpeting of laughter. Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned back to poke one of Leona’s breasts. “These boobs of yours feel so real—wait, they really ARE real! Just having pressed up against them didn’t really sink in until now. I just know that they’re absolutely not fake. What gives?”

With a twist of her lips, Leona wondered whether Sarah really didn’t know anything about the world outside her cocoon.

“You really don’t know? Like I said, I’m not a boy. Well, I guess I’m kind of stuck in between. Like others like myself, I went through some serious changes when I decided that I’m truly a girl on the inside. Simply put, it’s called hormonal replacement therapy or HRT. I’ve been on a medical treatment regimen for many years now and learned early about who I really am—three years in total so far—and someday I’ll be a complete girl—with surgery, but I won’t be able to have kids. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about myself before now—it just never felt like the right time, even though we haven’t known each other too long yet—and I know that knowing this about me might cause some problems, but… I didn’t want to trick or lie to you. And until now I didn’t know how to express it—”

Sarah waited for Leona to finish and nodded before launching herself forward, embracing Leona with more warmth. “I think I kinda get it. It’s so weird. But I hope we can still be really good friends.”

Leona nearly shorted out as she gaped down at Sarah, uncertain about how to proceed. Was it really going to be this easy? Why did Leona get this funny feeling something was seriously off? With Sarah’s affectionate hug and her words about friendship at odds in her mind, the wires were certainly getting crossed somewhere.

Mumbling against Leona’s chest, Sarah admitted, “I get that you didn’t feel you were really a boy, I guess—but holding you like this—it just doesn’t feel real. I don’t at all understand how you can be a boy. There’s nothing boyish about you. But I’ll trust what you’re telling me without proof. No, don’t dare show me!” Sarah blushed crimson. “Like I said earlier, I’m glad you were born a boy. I um… I—kind of——ahem… Ever since we met I’ve been happier—y-you know?” Sarah looked up through lowered lashes into Leona’s eyes, seeking understanding.

“Me too… I’m happier that we’ve met.” For Leona, tonight the universe had been turned entirely upside-down. Could things get weirder?!

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