Either and Both

I had gone with the little spoon, yet, when I woke up, I was definitely the one cuddling up to my girlfriend.

Ha. Girlfriend.

I have a girlfriend now.

I check the clock. 7:00 AM. 5 hours sleep is enough, right? We stayed up for a while after Elise texted her parents, I'd love to say it was a series of sexual escapades that would make a porn star blush, but honestly, it was 90% kissing and cuddling, 10% trying to find the most "We definitely didn't have sex" clothes before mum got home. As much as the horny part of my brain dislikes seeing Elise covered up, the rest is still squealing from seeing her sleeping so peacefully in my bed, in my clothes, in my arms. Alas, it's time to get up.

"Elise... We've got to get up for school." I say, gently shaking her arm, with no response. "Come on, we've gotta go!" I urge her, it'd be a tad obvious if we were both suddenly sick, doubt Mum'd buy it. Still no reaction. Oh. I know what she's doing. I lean closer and whisper in her ear. "Time to wake up, my Moon." Elise can't help but crack a smile as her eyes snap open.

"That's more like it, Mon Lapin." She answers, pressing her lips to mine. Damn, she's worth enduring morning breath for. "How long do we have?"

"Not long enough for whatever you're thinking, unfortunately." I answer, if I'd have known she'd be in this sort of mood waking up I'd have woken us up an hour early. "Let's go, I'm gonna jump in the shower, I'll grab you some clothes." I add, rolling out of bed and going through my drawers, probably best to go for a skirt for her, less chance it'll be obvious it's not hers, I guess I'll wear one too, why not?

"Are you not going to ask me to shower with you?" Elise requests sweetly. I say sweetly, I know getting clean is the last thing on her mind.

"I want to. More than anything on Earth. It's just... It might be a bit obvious." I answer. Elise's disappointment is obvious on her face. It cuts me deep in my gut. "Look, I want to tell my Mum, I want to tell everyone, the whole fucking world... I just need a bit of time, yeah?" This must have made her aware of how obvious her expression was, as she snaps back to attention.

"No, no. I get it, I have to talk to my parents too... Not so sure how they'll react... Your mum will be fine though, for all you know she figured it out like Rouge!" Elise reassures me. I never did find out how Rouge knew. No chance Mum knows though, she'd never be able to be that subtle. She came home last night but didn't seem particularly bothered when I said Elise was stopping over, as long as her parents were okay with it. Curiously, it sounds like Rouge bailed on the family gathering at some point, I only heard her return much later.

"We'll worry about that when we're not running late for school." I decide, putting her clothes on the foot of the bed. I shower and brush with unusual speed for me, I suppose I'm motivated to get back to my room. I return to find Elise flicking through her phone before she sees me enter and begins to head to the bathroom for her turn.

"I have a present for you, check online." She whispers ominously as she passes. Curiosity takes the better of me and I flip open my laptop to see what she could be talking about.

'Elise Monroe is Single.' I should be offended, but, given it said Pierre before, I take it as a promise. One day my name's gonna be there.

I dry my hair and begin putting on my make-up, Elise times her exit well, and I finish up around the time she reaches the room. I've started using the techniques Trish taught me, but I'm far from a master of the minimalist look though. "Hey, the clothes fit alright?" I ask. "I just finished up, do you want to borrow anything?" I add, gesturing to my make-up table.

"They're fine, a bit tight around the ladies, but then, that's just a treat for you!" Elise grins, taking a seat at the table. I perch on the bed and watch her work, All of my products don't match her usual shades, but it doesn't matter, even if off-colour, she's still gorgeous. "ooh, what's this?" She asks, picking up a thin, black lace choker from the desk.

"Oh... Ignore that, it's from a phase, it did not suit me!" I hurriedly explain. "I kept meaning to throw it out, guess I forgot it was there."

Elise disregards my protests, and places it around her own neck. "What do you think of it now?" She asks, grinning at me.

"I would say... That's my favourite item of clothing, absolutely, can't fault it." I stammer, drawing a giggle from my girlfriend.

We don't have time for breakfast at the house, seems like Mum and Rouge have already gone anyway, so we head straight for school. The walk is rushed but pleasant, it's like I feel lighter. I want to hold Elise's hand as we enter the school gates but we'd agreed to keep a low profile, last thing we need is rumours telling our families before we do. We enter the cafeteria, since we've managed to save enough time to eat, and are met with a surprising sight as we look for a place to sit.

"When did you get here?" Elise asks Trish and Rouge, the latter of which looks like she's on the brink of throwing up. We take our seats as Trish finishes a mouthful of her sandwich.

"This one here's not used to waking up after a late night apparently." Trish smirks. Well, that's just not true. Rouge stays up late all the time, wakes up early too. The only time I've seen her look sick is...

"Oh God..." I exclaim, looking as Rouge's exasperated face. "How drunk did you get?"

"I... That's not important..." She answers with a groan. "I just couldn't stand Minnie's 'Stepford Wife' routine, it was so fake, what, she got pregnant and now she's the perfect housewife? Bullshit, wound me up." Well, makes sense, it was a lot to ask for them to get along all night.

"She called me, begging for a rescue, so we hung out at my den until she had the guts to go home." Trish clarifies. She has a den? Apparently my curiosity is obvious. "I say den, it's a storage space for excess stock at work, I set up a couple of sofas and a mini fridge in there, I use it on my breaks." And when Rouge calls, I guess. I try to hide my immediate suspicion.

"Not like I could come home and listen to you two going at it." Rouge follows up, guess she's decided attack is the best form of defence. "Nice choker, by the way, very subtle, looks exactly like one that's been sat of Scarlet's desk for years."

Trish's eyes dart up, full of shock and excitement. "No way!" She begins, waiting for us to confirm our nightly activities, unfortunately we both adopt the tactic of staying silent, which it turns out, equals a confirmation. "Wow, that was fast! Wait... How did I end up being the last virgin?" Not quite the reaction I was expecting, but if it gets the spotlight off my newly acquired sex life, I don't mind.

"Maybe it's your seduction technique, doesn't seem to be working." Rouge responds pointedly.

"Ahh, well, what would work on you?" Trish replies, resting her head on her hands.

"I'm sure you'll think of something." My sister answers. Wow, she really has mellowed, I really need to ask her what happened at the party. "Besides, we haven't made Scarlet nearly uncomfortable enough!" She decides.

"True!" Trish concurs. "So, who came first? Which one of you was hairier? And who made the first move anyway?" She continues with a barrage of questions, something tells me she's not expecting answers. Pretty sure all of them are Elise though. "Never mind, I'll **** you in Drama!" Trish decides as the bell begins. Rouge leaves without saying much, and soon it's time to separate from my girlfriend.

Ha. Girlfriend.

I have a girlfriend now.