Acute choice of words!

Chloe sat across the room from Zack, on the same bench as Madison. Nothing seemed odd about that. She thought she’d feel nervous in jail, but she was mostly just bored. Time was passing so slowly, and neither of her cellmates were talking much. Zack was wrapped up in catastrophizing things to their worst possible end, which sounded about right, while Madison was humming something to herself. It seemed familiar, but for the life of her, Chloe couldn’t place it. 60’s-ish? But more recent. Did that make sense? No?

“I’m booooooooooooooooooored,” Chloe groaned out loud to her friends, tired of being quiet on the subject. “Zack, do something entertaining. You’re the one who got us arrested.”

“Not now,” he shushed her, holding up a hand. “I’m deciding whether or not to jump the guard.” He looked half-serious, but Chloe rolled her eyes. Boys. Always scheming.

“Fine,” Chloe pouted, then turned to Madison. “Watcha’ doooooooing?” she probed, trying to find something to make the time pass. Madison opened her eyes, glancing over.

“Humming,” she answered with a smile.

“You know I was asking what song.”

“I do!”

“So … what song?”

“Oh, ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’ Old song. But I have a more recent version stuck in my head,” she explained, which made the sense-but-no-sense track a little better. “Do you want to hear it?”

“Sure!” Chloe piped, smiling back at her. It certainly sounded more fun than Zack trying to plan a prison break.

Madison’s first choice of movement surprised Chloe, standing up on to her feet. The sound of a guitar filtered in from somewhere, though that made sense as the cheerleader’s hips swayed slightly, slowly, in time with it. You can’t really dance without music.

Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood

You sure are looking good

You’re everything a big, bad wolf could want

Chloe felt at first it was her imagination. I mean, it was called “Little Red Riding Hood.” People called her crap like that her whole life. It’s just part of what you get being ginger. Societal conditioning was the only reason she was taking it personally. But while the brown-haired girl went on, lights around her seemed to dim as Chloe focused on the chanteuse-like, delicate rhythm her body conducted itself with.

Little Red Riding Hood

I don’t think little big girls should

Go walking through these spooky, old woods alone

It could also be the version she was singing. The original was … okay, it came off as sort of a creeper song. The pretty, acoustic strumming and the sincere tone of Madison’s voice changed that a lot. Namely, the context of the song just came off super-gay. Romantic, even. It’d be hard to argue it wasn’t a little sweet, honestly. That was probably it.

What big eyes you have

The kind of eyes that drive wolves mad

Just to see that you don’t get chased

I think I oughta’ walk with you for a ways

It was probably the eye contact. I mean, it was entirely possible to be making this much eye contact and not be trying to sing your way into someone’s bed. Theoretically. Possibly. Like she said earlier, this was just to alleviate boredom. Definitely the reason her eyes were locked on Chloe’s the whole time, only closing to hit a few higher notes with the right emphasis … and only looking away just a little after a more provocative line, a shy smile hinting that despite her affinity for center stage, Madison was a little embarrassed to be singing to her – no, sorry, around her, sure, yeah, not to – around her for reasons besides performance anxiety.

What full lips you have

They’re sure to lure someone bad

So, until you get to Grandma’s place

I think you oughta’ walk with me and be safe

And there was probably a conceivable straight-girl reasons for her to slide her jacket off like that, slow roll in her shoulders, giving it tension hanging on her lithe body for a moment before slipping enough to fall to the floor. And to walk slowly over to Chloe, in time with the tempo, pale green circling the beautiful brown of her eyes, stages of darkness from her sclera to her pupil pulling every bit of attention Chloe had to give, swallowing her whole.

Gonna’ keep my sheep suit on

‘til I’m sure that you’ve been shown

That I can be trusted, walking with you alone

Mmhm, no lesbian undertones in that. Or intimacy in the way Madison held herself when she reached the bench, motion only more restrained because any less would be pushing right into Chloe’s personal space. Which wasn’t at all something she wanted her to do, and even if it was, this was all conjectural subtext. Nothing to REALLY go on.

Little Red Riding Hood

I’d like to hold you if I could

But you might think I’m the big, bad wolf, so I won’t

After all, it was fairly normal for friends to say things like that before their gorgeous legs straddled your lap! Especially when wearing a cheerleading skirt that left little to the imagination and possibly less between your lap and their genitals! Yeah? That’s a thing, right? Okay, even Chloe’s mind couldn’t make that one work.

What a big heart I have – the better to love you with

Little Red Riding Hood

Even bad wolves can be good

I’ll try to keep satisfied just to walk close by your side

Maybe you’ll see things my way, ‘fore we get to Grandma’s place

Chloe couldn’t find a good reason for two perfectly heterosexual women to be sitting like this, one of them gently running the back of their fingers down the others’ cheek, neither possessing the will to look away for even a second by now. She felt so warm, was it warm? The holding cell was honestly a little drafty when they came in, but it seemed like such a distant memory as Madison stayed mounted on her, all sorts of things running through Chloe’s head about what “my way,” meant in this context.

Little Red Riding Hood

You sure are looking good

You’re everything a big, bad wolf could want

The rest of the instrumentals continued even without Madison’s voice, though no more words. After all, it’d be hard to keep singing, the way Madison leaned down, the light pink of her lips pressing against the darker shade of Chloe’s own. Chloe felt her hands slip to Madison’s waist, pushing back up, neither action coming with any sort of thought behind it anymore. Just how she felt: soft, hot, welcoming. God, was this what kissing was supposed to feel like? Chloe couldn’t help but let out a small, squeaking groan as Madison ran her fingers through her hair before finally leaning back as the song ended.

“I could see you watching me all night,” she whispered to her, voice satisfied and mischievous. “Trying to keep it all down, be polite and respectful …”

“I’ve never … with a girl … anything,” Chloe told her in a daze, feeling only truthful rather than exposed by the statement. “It just never … then it did …”

“I know,” Madison answered, kissing her again, this time softer and only for a few, wonderful moments. “Take your time. Besides, you don’t even know if I like you.” Chloe tilted her head. Unless she was reading things wrong, this seemed like a pretty clear indication of SOME interest, even if she’d put up a hell of an effort to deny that. “And that’s the smaller hurdle.”

Chloe glanced over at Zack, who was in the same, pensive position since this strange flirtation started. He didn’t look up. God, he almost looked like a statue. Suddenly, Madison’s hands slammed Chloe to the wall by her shoulders. Chloe gasped in a short burst of pain, eyes opening, then popping wide to see Madison no longer possessing the delicate dance of color she had moments ago, but pitch-black pools of ink. They drilled into her own blue eyes, effortlessly insistent in demanding her entire attention.

“Tá tú á fiach, iníon Cahan,” she intoned, voice powerfully deep, the room shaking as she spoke. A ringing sounded in Chloe’s ears as the shaking grew intolerable, forcing her eyes shut to try to block it out as the world threatened to collapse around her.

Chloe started awake with a scream, which sent Madison, who was sitting on the floor in front of her, tumbling back. Chloe jerked side to side, looking for any sign of harm. None was immediately apparent, but it did little to wick away the cold sweat she could feel on her neck and forehead.

“Jesus, it’s just origami!” Madison panted out. Chloe looked down to see very small origami animals littering the floor. It took her a second to piece things together.

“No, I … I had a nightmare. Or maybe just a dream. I don’t know, it was … in between,” she explained, leaning back against the wall. “Were you … what were you doing with those?”

“I was stacking them on you,” Madison stated, matter-of-factly, as if Chloe not understanding that already was just insane to her. “What? It’s boring in jail. You make your own fun.” The words made Chloe blush as the bulk of the dream’s subject matter came back to her, but she pushed that off. Not helpful in the moment.

“That’s fair … sorry I scared you,” she sighed as Madison popped up, then sat next to her. Looking across the room, of course Zack wasn’t here. He would be with other boys, not them.

“S’cool, over now!” Madison shrugged as she spoke, already perfectly fine. That was a capacity Chloe deeply envied. Things rarely hit her as hard as Madison, who she knew was a deeply sensitive woman, but Chloe’s recovery left a lot to be desired. “Still bored, though. Oh, hey, what did you dream about? That could be fun!”