Sitting in the photo booth, Rose tried her best to remain serious, as she had to in a passport photo. But she couldn’t help but run through her thoughts, making her feel hot and flustered. Why did she think Vanessa as beautiful? Why did she liked Vanessa being closed to her? What was this warm fuzzy feeling beating in her chest? Why was she now hot and flustered?

Could she…..?

No, she chided herself, Don’t be ridiculous. She couldn’t. She didn’t like girls that that.

Did she?

“No!” She said out loud. Too loud

“No what?”

The curtains slid open and Vanessa peered into the booth, slightly concerned at Rose’s almost violent outburst.

Rose blushed beetroot red, “Um, I didn’t like the photo.”

The machine spat out the photo slip as she spoke and Vanessa took a look, “No you look fine.”

“Oh, okay.” Rose said.

She was about to stand up to leave when Vanessa slip inside the booth and put coins into the dispenser.

“We might as well take some fun pictures while we here,” She stated, without even looking up to see Rose’s questioning glance.

Again that prideful feeling that Vanessa knew so much about her, she even knew when Rose was questioning her, swelled up inside Rose and she quickly turned her attention to the screen, trying hard to push those feelings away.

They went through the usual pretty photo and then the comical funny faces photos. Rose laughed especially at the crossed eye zombie looking face Vanessa pulled. They were about to take the last photo and Rose was wondering what face they would pull next, when Vanessa kissed her on the cheek.

It was nothing a simple friendly kiss, just a pose for the camera rather than Vanessa actually kissing Rose on the cheek. Friends pecked each other cheeks for photos all the time. Yet Rose instantly blushed violently and the warm feeling became hot. Her heart was thumping like crazy and she finished that question she had just shot down furiously earlier.

Could she like-like Vanessa?

“Should we add sparkles to the photos?”

Rose blinked, not realising the camera had flashed and Vanessa had pulled away to go through the selections on the screen. Rose spared a look at the last photo as Vanessa shifted through all of them. She then turned her glaze at Vanessa, once more just realising how beautiful she looked.

“No…they’re fine,” She replied softly.

She did.

Rose came out of her memory. She wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting there glazing at the photograph.

The photo had ended up catching Rose’s bright red blush when Vanessa had kissed her and Rose wondered why Vanessa hadn’t brought that fact up when they collected their copies of photos. But then Rose blushed at a lot of things, being awkward as she was. Perhaps Vanessa had simply not thought much about it.

Slowly Rose traced Vanessa’s face on that last photo. She couldn’t help but smiled slightly. That was the day she realised she had feelings for Vanessa and what had led her on the course of finding out that she was gay and coming out. And while she was still struggling with that latter, she still couldn’t help but feel glad that she had discovered something about herself that she had always been confused about but had never addressed before.

Rose glanced across the room at her waste bin. She wondered about throwing the photo away like she had with the rest.

But then she slid the photo back inside the book it had fallen out of. Placing the book onto her shelf she got up and left to go downstairs, still smiling.

Maybe Vanessa wouldn’t return her feelings or at least not out loud. And maybe Rose had moved on to Claire now (she was still thinking through that).

That didn’t mean that Rose couldn’t still treasure the good memories that they had.

Meanwhile, in her brother’s apartment, Vanessa dug into the rucksack and revealed the same photo Rose had just placed inside her book. Sitting up on the couch she was currently sleeping on, Vanessa glazed down at the pictures, unknowing copying Rose as she took in each one. Her eyes fell on the last one and her eyes softened, remembering that day.

Slowly she traced the image of Rose, remembering that was the day she had felt something more for her best friend and, for a moment, she smiled too.