“But love doesn’t even exist”, she said. Her eyes cold and serious. As usual, not a hint of stress as she claimed it.

In contrast, the face of the girl in front of her was red, her fist closed tight and her lips trembling as she shouted.

“Could you stop acting as if you have the absolute truth about everything? Not everyone has an cold heart like you!”

That kind argument wasn’t news for them. So much that their friends just watched giggling or shaking their heads as it went on.

The stern girl was called Lorraine Jordan. A sixteen year high school student. With long and curly black hair and dark eyes that glittered as they moved. Prompt to use clothes who gave her a “cool” vibe, like jackets and jeans. She was always grabbing her colleagues attention because of her looks, smarts and cold personality. She didn’t have a lot of friends, even though most of the people around her would love to share her time, boys and girls alike.

The other girl, passionating arguing against Lorraine was Linda Kinsley. She was in the same class as Lorraine. Linda was fifteen, being two months younger. Shorter than the Lorraine, she looked like a child in comparison. Linda had straight blonde hair, almost always tied on a ponytail, green eyes like emeralds behind her glasses. She liked to wear skirts and dresses, but nothing too fancy or flashy. A humble girl that loved to read. It was hard to find her without a book around.

Linda got along well with everyone in her class. Except Lorraine.

She was a romantic, after all. Lorraine was not. Loraine was quite cynical for a teenager girl. And since both of them interacted in the same group of friends, that kind of conflict was frequent. That’s why, while Linda rebutted, with her thin lips trembling, the other girls just looked in silence, either joking with each other or rolling eyes.

And Lorraine wasn’t the kind to give up in a confrontation either.

“You’re so sunk in those stupid books that you can’t even distinguish reality from fiction, anymore. Romance is fiction. It has no sense and no place in the real world. There’s not charming princes, alluring heroes or sparkling vampires to make your life more beautiful. What we do have are guys who want a housekeeper or a personal hooker, and girls who are fooled by them. Marriage is more a prison than the dreaming delusion you glorify. Even those relationships that don’t fall on this spectrum are only trying to emulate a concept that exists to cage women.”

Face red, Linda glared at Lorraine as she answered.

“That’s so cynical. Didn’t you ever loved anyone? How can you even have a will to live believing in something like that? Actually, Isn’t that a bit sexist? You think all men exist to make women’s lives miserable?”

“It might be sexist, but also true. A little girl who doesn’t take her face from the books won’t truly understand how the world works”. She paused, staring at Linda. As much as the two girls fought, none of them would ever underestimate it. Even if in the eyes of others, those arguments are a little full of ad hominem to be taken seriously, the two girls at least knew that they were respecting each other arguments, in their own way. “Well, I guess it’s not only men. Some women can trick a guy to marry her and take advantage of him, too. It’s just not how it usually works, though.”

“So, no matter the case, your views of a relationship is one person trying to trick another?”

“Pretty much.”

“Can’t you even consider that two people can mutually fall in love and choose to live together?”

“It could happen. But the chances of true reciprocity in a romantic are minimals. And the chances of it lasting even worse.”

At this point most of girls had given up and went to do something else. Only Sara, Linda’s faithful best friend, stayed behind, waiting for her friend. Sara was a tall girl with short brown hair and slender legs. She was pretty much the only one who would stay behind her friend until the end on those discussions. With a smirk on her face, watching Linda's face get redder as she get angrier.

After the argument was over, and it always stopped the same way, with Lorraine clicking her thong and turned her back, Sara was always the one to listen patiently as her friend complained to her, both in their own desks on the classroom. Linda still pretty much furious, and Sara giving her a comforting smile.

“I can’t stand her. I really can’t. She’s so arrogant! So pedantic!”

“You two are always arguing.” Sara had a soft voice, and it was the only thing that could make Linda calm down. “Why you care so much about what she think, though? You seem really passionate about it.”

“It’s just...It’s so annoying, don’t you think?”

“Hum...Maybe. I don’t really care, to be honest. I understand. But she’s not the only cynical person in the world, or the worse. I know of people on this same school who can be even worse than her.”

“It’s different. She just has to drop her twisted opinions on us when we’re talking, even though no one asked. She wants to make us hate everything just like she does! How I wish she would eat her words and admit being wrong, like…”, she stood in silence, putting her index finger between her eyes. Sara knew that face. She was scheming something. “She should fall in love, you know”, she finally talked again. “Of course! I just need to make her fall in love so hard that she will never be able to talk like that ever again. Oh, I want to see her fawning about someone so much. I want her heart to warm and melt so desperately that it’ll break her down. “

“You’re scary, Linda. And how you plan to make the girl that, must I remember, as you yourself said, has a cold heart?”

“I just need to find the kind of guy she likes. I need to get closer to her.”

“Think you can manage that after all this time and all the fights?”

“It’s not like she hates me… right? We should still be friends. We just need to spend more time together, or spend any time together at all.”

That decided, after classes were over and seeing Lorraine exiting ahead of everyone like she always did, Linda followed after. She catch up on the school’s entrance. Without ceremonies or warnings, took her hand and pulled her in the opposite direction that she was going.

Lorraine looked at her, frowning at the unexpected action.

“You have some time, right? Let’s go have some fun”, Linda said. And less than half-hour later, both girls were sitting across each other on a table in a famous cafe in the city.

Lorraine knew about the place, but never attended it. After all, it was a famous dating spot, full of couples having the kind of conversation that usually annoyed her. Linda, unsurprisingly, looked way too comfortable there. Although, as far as Lorraine knew, she never had an actual boyfriend. But it looked like the kind of place she would go, even alone.

Linda had started to wonder if that was a good idea. In fact, she was amazed that Lorraine had followed her. As fas as she could remember, her colleague always refused every invitation she ever received at school. Not that Linda had bothered herself to actually invite her first.

The waitress placed a cute strawberry cake in front of Linda. Lorraine had asked for a cup of coffee with cream. She still wasn’t sure what she was doing there.

“So, what…”, Lorraine started, but stopped, seeing Linda smiling at her.

“It’s a nice atmosphere, huh?”

Around them, a lot of couples snuggled on each other, holding hands, feeding each other, smiling and talking. Definitely not the kind of place Lorraine was comfortable with.

“It looks...pretty fantastical”, she said. Linda pouted.

“Really? Going to start the ‘it’s all a fake’ now, even here? You can’t see even when it’s happening in front of you?”

“Well, it sure is happening, as in, they are there. But why it’s happening. You probably look at these people and assume ‘of course they’re all in love with each other’. That’s so ingenuous”.

“Oh yeah? So…”, Linda pointed with her head to a couple ahead of them. The guy had the girl’s hands on his and smiled fondly at her. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. “What you say about those two? Are they’re both faking it?”

“Hum, I don’t know about faking, but... have you looked at their hands yet?”

Linda looked to Lorraine with a confused expression.

“His fingers, to be specific. After that, look at hers.”

Discreetly looking at the couple again, she understood what Lorraine was talking about. The bright golden circle on his ring finger. There was none on hers.

“I know what you’re going to say already.”

“Wouldn’t you assume the same?”

“Well, we don’t know, really. Maybe she doesn’t like to wear rings and leave hers in home. Maybe she lost it. Maybe it’s not really an engagement ring”.

“You’ll really look for a lot of ‘maybes’. That’s why you’re so naive”.

“Well, and you’re a real cynical!” Linda felt the blood rising to her head again. “I’m sure you could find a twisted story for every couple here, can’t you?!”

Lorraine smiled mischievously.

“You really want to know?”

Linda was dispirited as the two girls walked back from the cafe. Lorraine had a depressing story for each couple. Most of them actually made a lot of sense. Even the cake felt bitter as she eat it listening to Lorraine’s conclusions. At some point she was so disheartened by all the talk that she wasn’t even angry anymore. She was just sad.

“But you know”, Lorraine said, breaking the awkward silence that had formed between them. “That’s a pretty creepy hobby you have there. Stalking couples.”

“I’m not stalking anyone! I just like to be in a place so full of affection and love. Hum...that’s not creepy, right?”

Lorraine looked at Linda, smiled, but didn’t answer. That just made it more awkward and she found herself babbling.

“J-just, you know. I’m j-just...not like you. Seeing people, hum, being, I mean, loving other is, like…”

Lorraine giggled.

“Oh, shut up!” Linda sighed and let her arms fall. “Anyway, I failed.”

“Failed at what?”

“I wanted to know more about you. I mean, I really wanted to learn about...what kind of guys you like, or something.”

“So that’s what this was about, huh? Well, it’s funny because you didn’t even tried. We pretty much spent all the time arguing”.

“And who is the one to blame, huh?! Well, no matter. It’s impossible anyway. I’ll admit. I wanted to see you fall in love, but I guess it’s useless”.

Lorraine stopped her pace, surprised. Linda turned to look at her.

“Why do you care? My life has anything to do with you. We don’t even talk to each other that much. I’m not even sure if we are friends or notl”.

“Well, it’s because...hum...I’m not really sure, to be honest, but...You pisses me off!”

Another smirk raised on Lorraine’s lips.

“See! That face. That smug! I hate it!”

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“Want to hear what I think, though?” Linda glared at her, in silence. “I think you get angry because you know I’m right, and don’t want to give up. That makes sense. You don’t like to listen to what I have to say because you know it’s the truth, and you don’t want to admit it. That explains why you’re so worked up about the whole issue.”

“Don’t be stupid, that makes no sense.”

“Really?”

Another smile formed on Lorraine’s face. Linda wondered if that was really a snob face. She thought it was, but looking at her better, it didn’t looked different from the smiles Sara gave her. She also realized she never saw Lorraine smile outside of theirs discussions.

She was in front of Lorraine, blocking her way. Lorraine just waited, wondered what Linda was going to do.

“Well, since it’s not a secret anymore, I can just ask. What kind of guy you like?”

“So you can find me a boyfriend and prove me wrong?”

“Well, maybe, yes. If you don’t believe that can happen, there’s nothing to fear, right? Just tell me already.”

“So you’re the kind of girl who would play with others people feelings to get what you want, huh? That’s a surprise.”

“Whatever. I’m not sure you even have feelings, to begin with. If you really can’t believe in love, that is. If you actually do, I can help you be happy. So what’s the problem?”

“You still don’t get it, right?” Lorraine sighed. “I’m pretty sure I don’t have any preferences for...guys. Say, how would you even know you’re in love with someone?”

Linda pressed her finger against her lower lips and thought. Since it was for Lorraine, she thought, the way she put it should be really well thought to make sense on her really rational mind.

“You have, like...someone you like? Like...not really love, but just liking to be with them.”

“Well, there’s mom, dad. I also have a little sister.”

“I don’t mean like that. Outside of your family. I mean, I think it could be inside the family too, but, that’s actually wrong. What I mean is, there’s someone, like, in school, for example, that you really like to talk with?”

“Hum...maybe…”

“There’s someone who is, let’s say, always on your mind, or something?”

“Always?”

“Well, that’s impossible, I guess. Someone you think about a lot, then. You get happier thinking about this person. Sometimes they turn up into your mind when you go to sleep. And maybe you could lose a little of sleep because of that...or maybe not.”

“Hum...maybe, yeah. I don’t really lose sleep because of anyone, though.”

“I’m sure you don’t. That’s kinda against the image I have from you, anyway. But that’s enough.” Linda gave a honest and gentle smile to Lorraine. “Maybe you’re in love with this person. See, it doesn’t need to be something magical. But if you would like to spend time around them, maybe you would like to spend your life with them?”

“You think I should bet my feelings on some ‘maybes’?”

“Mayb...I mean, I’m sure there’s a way to make sure. I don’t really have experiences with it, but I think there are things that will feel different if you do it with someone you like. Like...kissing, maybe?”

A light red shade painted on Linda’s cheeks. Lorraine giggled. It was uncommon to see someone blushing only by talking about kissing. She was sure now that Linda had no experience with that kind of thing.

“So kissing that someone would make me realize if I like them or not…”

“Yeah, of course, I'm not saying you should grab the guy by force and kiss him, but…”

Linda stopped talking as Lorraine hand brushed her hair to the back of her ear and landed on her cheek. Astonished she saw Lorraine’s face approaching her own. Her heart beated faster as she felt the girl’s breath close to her.

Lorraine’s lips joined Linda’s. Her eyes closed. It was a tender kiss, not forceful, their lips just touching with their mouths closed. Still, both their hearts beat like crazy for the few seconds their mouths made contact.

Lorraine turned away from Linda and gave two steps back. She had a smile in her face, but it this time Linda wasn’t annoyed by it.

“W-what are you…” Linda started. Her face was hot.

“Just doing what you said. Making sure of my feelings, or whatever. So I…”, she stopped, thinking, then smiled. “I’m just messing with you, sorry. Think twice before meddling in other people's life from now.”

Saying that, Lorraine turned and walked to the other way. Still confused, all that Linda could do was to stay put, trying to process what had just happened.

The next day, a cheerful Linda grabbed a surprised Sara by the arm. Sara knew her friend well enough to realize that she was in a good mood.

“So, was your mission successful? You look happy.”

“You might say so.” she said as the two girls started to walk towards their classroom. “She tried to pass it as a joke, but I'm sure she was serious, now. Yes, I know who Lorraine is in love with. It’s...huh...it’s me.”

Sara looked at her friend, without believing what she was saying with a smile on her face.

“Are you feeling well?”

“She kissed me… on the lips. And then tried to shove it off as a joke, or vengeance, or something. But the more I think about it, the less it makes sense. She really is infatuated with me.” Linda smiled mischievously, as she added: “I won. And even better, I'm the one I should thank for this victory. Talk about ironic.”

“You didn't win anything until you make her admit to it, though. Even if it’s true, and I’m not saying I believe that, she still will deny it and keep saying what she was saying before.”

“Oh, but that's what I'm going to do right now..”

Sara thought about asking Linda to wait, but her determined steps didn't stop. And Sara had to admit, she wanted to see where that was going.

In the classroom, Lorraine was on her desk as always. Her finger playing with a strand of her black hair as she turned the pages of her notebook. Her eyes followed Linda as she showed up, but hastily turned away. The gesture caught Sara’s attention.

Linda stood in front of Lorraine desk and, smiling, slapped her hands on the surface. Making the girl look up to her.

“It’s time to admit your defeat! You took me by surprise yesterday, but I won't back down now.”

With whispers of “this again”, the students that were chatting waiting for the classes to begin turned their eyes to Linda.

Lorraine examined Linda’s face, but didn't allow her eyes to scan her for much time. Sighing, she talked, trying to look uninterested:

“If it's about yesterday, sorry. It was just a joke, really.” she let a smile born on her face. “I'm sorry if I took your first kiss. I guess it was a little too much.”

“So you really kissed her?” Sara said.

Listening to that, the students near then suddenly looked more interested in what was going on. Voices started to whisper to each other around them: “kissed her, she said?”, “what is going on between those two?”, “is Lorraine a lesbian?”, “what about Linda”.

Unfazed and not buying Lorraine provocation, Linda kept her hands on the desk and the smile on her face.

“Keep saying that if you want, Lorraine. But it makes no sense. You're not the kind of girl who would do something like that as a joke. And the way you did it, the way you touched me. The...way you kissed me. That wasn't a tease. You wanted that. That's the kind of thing I understand the best.”

Lorraine’s face became stern suddenly.

“You believe that? That I would fall in love with someone like you?”

“Yeah, I do. In fact, I’m sure of it. I spend the night thinking, and it just makes sense. And then… “ she pointed her finger into Lorraine’s direction, triumphant. “I won. You can't say love doesn't exist or that it's a bad thing to my face anymore. No when you’re in love with mel.”

Lorraine opened her mouth, but didn't said anything. She still had a serious face as she said, in a cold tone:

“Well...fine then, you’re right. I'm in love with you.” as the smile in Linda's face grew bigger, Lorraine continued, stopping her from saying anything. “But you didn't win anything. I never said it's impossible to like someone, or even love them. I just think the way you and other naive people like you see these things is quite ingenous. Yes, I'm in love with you, but what happens to me now? I'm in love with a girl that's always daydreaming about charming princes or hot guys. All I can do is suppress my feelings and one day see the one I love in the arms of another. I'm in love with you, Linda, sure. But that will only bring me suffering. Is that the kind of feeling you long for so much?”

Linda’s face became serious as she glared at Lorraine. She raised her hands on her face and pressed her eyes closed.

“These kind of words again. No, actually, now that I’m involved in it, it’s even more annoying.” She pointed again to Lorraine’s face, saying with determination: “Okay! It’s settled, then! I'm gonna make you my girlfriend!”

The girls, and some boys, around started to whisper even after listening to her. All the class got agitated. Lorraine was astonished as she looked to Linda, her mouth half open. Sara grabbed her friend by the arm.

“Aren’t you going to far now? Proving your point will hardly justify this, you know.”

“No, I'm serious. It’s decided. She’ll be my girlfriend. I won’t turn back now.”

Lorraine tried to force a smile, but her voice was shaken as she said:

“Are you kidding with me? Do you think it's funny? You think playing with my feelings will change my mind?”

“I'm not playing. I said I’m serious. Believe me. I'm determined to make you my lover. I want to make you happy. Temporary happiness won’t mean anything. So, I'll make you happy every day of your life, if that's what it takes to change your attitude.”

Lorraine started to talk again, but her words were as Linda hold her hands and slowed leaned forward. Lorraine’s heart accelerated as Linda’s face approached. The face of the girl she loved. Her smell involving Lorraine’s completely. She felt in ecstasy as their lips touched. A kiss not different from the one they had shared the day before. But there was an entirely new feeling in her chest now.

Every eye in the class were attracted by the scene. But only silence followed. Sara also looked at her best friend intrigued. Even for Linda, that was weird sometimes, that looked a little too much to do just to prove her point.

As their mouth parted, Linda smiled at Lorraine, now with her face flushed because of the show they provided to the classroom.

“So…,” Linda said, in a tender voice. “Your answer now.”

“I…” Lorraine felt more nervous than she ever did before. Staring deep into Linda's eyes, feeling her mouth dry, she said. “I love you. Please...be my girlfriend.”

Linda smiled. And without any malice in her voice this time, she said:

“So, I win.”