BrookLyn's Journey Read Online Free Page B

She sat there trying to understand what was going on.
    “You want me to stop?” Gabriella pull ed her soft light brown dreads back into a ponytail.
    “No . Y es . W ell , I don’t know. I’m scared.”
    “Of what? Me?” She focused her seemingly ever-changing eyes directly at BrookLyn .
    “No . N ot you. I’m afraid of what we’re doing. I’ve never ... ”
    “How did it feel?”
    “It was okay. But that doesn’t mean I’m not scared.” BrookLyn’s head was one ball of confusion . This entire day had been filled with so many different feelings. From rehearsing to get permission to go to the party, to needing to ride home without Tiffany, to being locked out...now this.
    “I really like you and don’t want you to be scared. I’d never hurt you . ” Gabriella spoke with the gentleness of someone she ’d known all of her life. S omehow BrookLyn felt as if she had known her longer than she ’d kn own herself .
    “I don’t even know what I’m doin g — or supposed to do.”
    “I’ll lead and you can follow. That doesn’t have to be tonight , or ever for that matter. But if it comes to a moment like this again, I’ll take it slow.”
    For the first time in my life, I think my heart may have melted. Gabriella ’s words wrapped around BrookLyn’s anxious heart , calm ing it and making her feel more comfortable with each soft-spoken word. BrookLyn felt hypnotized. Right now , she saw a different Gabriella than she ’d ever seen in church.
    “I guess.”
    She wasn’t sure where they would go from here or what tomorrow would be like , but before she could ask her anything, Gabriella covered her mouth again. She had sweet soft lips and BrookLyn liked the way she smelled as she pulled her closer.
    What in the hell is going on here? What do I know about feeling good? That’s what her mother would say. Maybe she didn’t know anything about it before tonight , but she knew whatever this was , it felt good.
    “You okay?” Gabriella pull ed away from her .
    “Think so,” she said. She was starting to feel safer than she had been earlier. She wasn’t ready to go any further but this felt nice. She leaned in.
    Gabriella smiled and held BrookLyn in her arms . “I’ll make you feel good all the time. I’m not saying just like this. I mean , I’ll keep you safe. I want you to be my girlfriend.”
    “Girlfriend ? ” BrookLyn was clueless.
    Gabriella laughed at her . “We won’t tell anyone outside of my friends because of your parents. But we can be together , if you want to be with me.”
    “And how would that happen? I have parents that never let me out of their sight. ” BrookLyn’s thought s always came back to her parents. Why couldn’t I get into the house? She shook it off. “ Plus, we go to different schools ,” she continued. “ I’d never see you even if I wanted to.”
    “We’ll see each other. So?” Gabriella looked at BrookLyn as if it should be the easiest decision in the world.
    It wasn’t. “Let’s just try and figure it all out later. I’m tired.”
    “I am too , but I’ve liked you for a long time and I can’t believe that you’re finally in my house. That blows my mind. I’m not willing to go to sleep and miss a moment of you being here beside me. I wanna watch you dream. You go to sleep and I’ll hold you.”
    “Are you serious?” How is she just going to watch me sleep?
    “Yes, I am.”
    “Does your family know that you like girls?” As tired as BrookLyn was, questions kept popping into her curious head.
    “Yes.”
    “What do they say?”
    “My aunt isn’t happy about it. She said I’m supposed to like boys. How can you make me like something I don’t? She was really mad at first and used to call me names. Nothing I can do to change how I feel. I tried , but boys ain’t my thing. I can’t ignore it. Everybody else is okay with it, I guess. They’ve never said anything different.”
    “What does she say?” Her parents would be ten times worse ,