Dividing by Zero

Brooke’s soft lips were on Erin’s, and Erin could feel her body tingling from the immense pleasure she was getting from the kiss. Brooke deepened the kiss, and pushed Erin down gently so that Brooke was sort of on top of her, without putting any real weight on her. Brooke’s tongue slipped in to Erin’s mouth ever so slightly, and-

Erin’s eyes opened slowly, and she let out a groan when she realized it was just a dream. It was her second one of the week, and as much as she hated to admit it, she really enjoyed the dream. Of course, she couldn’t like her best friend in the entire world, that was impossible. She wasn’t a lesbian, and neither was Brooke. It was just a dream. So, feeling slightly confused, she pushed the dream to the back of her mind, and tried her best to forget about it.

She hopped out of bed, rubbing her eyes and wishing she could go back to sleep. She went in to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and tried her best to calm her hair down. As usual, her sandy blonde hair was standing up on end, parts of it going to the left, and parts of it going to the right. She glanced at her cell phone, and seeing that she had at least half an hour before the doors to the school were going to open, she grabbed her hair straightener and went to work. After about six minutes, her hair was going in one direction, and she could move on to wardrobe.

She pulled open the drawers to her dresser, and hearing her stomach growl, realized she cared more about breakfast then looking particularly nice. She grabbed a light blue pair of jean shorts, a gray, somewhat tight-fitting v-neck, and pulled on some black Vans before grabbing her backpack and heading down the stairs.

Erin didn’t bother with make-up, she didn’t care for it, and in her opinion, her face was absolutely fine the way it was.

She walked into her kitchen, heading straight for the adjoining pantry where her prized Cocoa Puffs sat on a shelf that was just her height. She grabbed the box, shook it slightly, and realized with a frown that there wasn’t even enough for half a bowl of cereal.

“MOM!” she shrieked, getting irritated much too quickly-she was probably PMSing.

“What is it, dear?” her mother called back tiredly, and for a moment Erin felt bad for yelling at her. But feeling the way too light Cocoa Puffs box pushed that feeling aside.

“Why aren’t there any more Cocoa Puffs?”

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to the store yesterday. I had so much extra work to do, and I got home late as it was. I’ll get some today, I promise.”

Erin merely grumbled an irritated response before grabbing some frozen waffles and stuffing them angrily into the toaster.

So far, not a great start to the morning.

Fifteen minutes later, Erin was sitting in the car with her mother, staring moodily out the window, watching the houses and trees go by.

“I’m sorry about the cereal, hon,” her mom said, trying to ease the tension.

“It’s fine, Mom, don’t worry about it. I’m just a little pissy, I guess.”

Her mother nodded as she pulled up in front of Rosenthal High. “Bye, then. I’ll see you when I get home, okay?”

Erin nodded and waved goodbye to her mom before hurrying out of the car and across the front lawn of the high school to the asphalt right in front of the school’s front doors. Brooke, Lara, and Danielle were already there, talking in a huddled group.

“Hey guys,” Erin said happily as she approached them. Everyone said ‘hello’s back, except for Lara, who just waved half-heartedly.

“What’s wrong with her?” Erin asked.

Lara glared pointedly at Erin. “I have a name, thank you very much. And I’m irritated because it’s hot as balls out here, and they won’t let us in to the building.”

“Because it’s air conditioned inside,” Danielle said sarcastically.

Erin just laughed. “Hot as balls? Really? And yeah, it’s not any cooler in the building,” she agreed, realizing that it was unseasonably hot for late fall.

“Global warming!” Brooke screamed in response, making a few of the surrounding students turn and stare at the girls.

“That’s a bunch of bullshit,” Lara said, waving it off. “It’s just a weird day, deal with it.”

Brooke rolled her eyes. “Someone’s on her period…” she whispered, not so quietly.

Lara flipped her off, but Brooke paid no mind, knowing that flipping people off was as natural as breathing to Lara, and didn’t mean much.

“Look, they’re letting us in. Let’s go,” Erin said, trying to diffuse any harsh feelings in the group.

When they got in, Lara and Danielle went to the right, towards their lockers, and Erin and Brooke headed to the left, where the locker they shared was.

“So, how was your weekend?” Erin asked, trying to break the long, but not uncomfortable silence.

“It was okay, I guess. I did a lot of homework, and I slept a lot. Of course, you know all that, seeing as how we were texting pretty much the entire weekend.”

Erin laughed as she spun their combo lock. The locker popped open with ease, and she let Brooke take her books out first.

“Yes, well, the texting was important! And it was a bunch of great conversations, so don’t be complaining!”

“Who said I’m complaining? Here, hold this for a sec?” Brooke asked, handing Erin her phone. As soon as it was in Erin’s hands, it vibrated, and Brooke, who was busy getting books, asked, “Can you check who that is?”

Erin flipped open the phone, reading out a name. “Mikey. Who’s Mikey?”

“This guy from work. He’s really nice; asked me for my number yesterday, which of course I gladly gave! Did he just text me? Ah, I have to text him back!” Brooke exclaimed, smiling widely. “Here, your turn to get your books.”

Erin just smiled slightly in response. Why did she have that hot feeling in the pit of her stomach that usually only came when she was jealous of something?

Brooke nudged her. “Get on with it, you’re just staring in to space!” Erin shook herself out of her reverie and went back to stuffing books in to her bag, which she quickly finished doing and slammed the locker door shut.

“Ready for history?” Erin asked, putting a happy face back on, realizing that there was no reason to be jealous, since she didn’t have a crush on Brooke.

They headed toward history, chatting amiably on the way. About halfway to their classroom, Brooke linked arms with Erin, which sent an electric charge from the tips of Erin’s fingers to her shoulder.

Erin realized after a few seconds that Brooke was actually talking to her, so she stopped staring at their linked arms and tried to get back in to the conversation.

When they got to history, Brooke headed across the room and blew Erin a kiss before sitting down.

Erin could almost feel the air-kiss land on her own lips, and before she could stop herself, wished more than anything that it could be real.