I burst into the bathroom of Mikey Page's house (my school's rich and spoiled dickhead) and shut the door hard behind me. Sitting down heavily on the toilet, I take a few shuddering breaths and try to calm my hammering heart. Because I was just kissed by the single hottest nerd in the school, at a party I never would have imagined being invited to.

And I know, it sounds stupid. But believe me when I say that there has never been a better-looking nerdy guy in all of Earth's 4.543 billion years. And yes, I know that number by heart.

But the thing is, I was just kissed by William Jordan, the hottest nerd in all of history...and I didn't feel a thing.

Despite my two-year-long crush on him.

And it was all because, just seconds before, I had glimpsed through the corner of my eye, someone else.

Well, to be more specific, two other people. Two girls.

Kissing.

I realize there are tears rolling down my cheeks that won't be stopping any time soon. What is happening to me? For years all I've wanted is to kiss the boy that just kissed me, and yet when it finally happens I run away because of two girls I've never even met?

But at the same time, I find myself glad. I mean, I could have lied, I could have kept kissing him, I could have pretended to want him and pretended to love him and I could have put myself in a situation I don't even want to imagine.

Because when I really think about it, all of a sudden I realize I don't want to be in a relationship with Willam Jordan.

Suddenly there's a rustle of fabric and suddenly the shower curtain opens to reveal a girl standing wide-eyed and red-faced - blushing, not crying like me - in the shower. Fully clothed, thank god. But there nonetheless.

She stares at me silently for a second, and I can't help but do the same.

She has fox-like curly red hair falling just to the tops of her shoulders, dancing around her soft, freckled face like flames licking a fallen leaf. I can see a tiny bun at the crown of her head, pulled tight with the hair just above and behind her ears, leaving a strand on either side to frame round, almost childish cheeks, and the rest of her hair on the back of her neck.

Gray-green eyes sparkle a little, lightly flitting up and down. I realize she is checking me out the same way I am her.

Curious. Quizzical. Somewhat stupefied.

Awed.

Suddenly I realize I've just been crying my eyes out and that I was wearing makeup. Was. I can feel the smears running down my cheeks, formerly mascara perfectly applied. My face heats up and I am very conscious of my entire body - the way I used to feel around Willam. The way I've always felt around him, until tonight.

I snap out of it and dry my eyes and face as quickly as I can, suddenly horrified at my own self. I stand up and pull down my flowing, deep blue dress so it sits where it's supposed to.

Shaking my head in utter humiliation, I turn and step to the sink of the massive bathroom, turn on the tap, and rinse my face. An hour ago I would never have considered this, having put nearly that same amount of time into doing my makeup - I'm really not experienced at that kind of shit - but now, after practically bawling my eyes out in someone else's bathroom, I think it's pretty much the only way out of looking like a clown.

But apparently I'm even more of a crybaby than I knew, because the second my face is clear of any tears, or the multitude of makeup I was wearing so proudly a few minutes ago, I'm crying again, balled up on the floor of this ridiculously luxurious washroom.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you had to see this," I manage to say. "I can't believe...I'm just..." And then I can't speak anymore.

And then I feel the arm around my shoulders.

And I gasp in shock. And I feel my face heat up. And I feel warmth rush through me where I'm being held. And suddenly I'm no longer crying.

"Shhh. I don't know why you're crying, but I'm not just gonna leave here to do it alone, if that's what you think. I'm not a bitch, I'm just a little drunk."

I can't help but to chuckle a bit at that.

"There we go. Dry the tears." The girl lets go of me and sits down on the floor and turns me to face her. The spot where she touched me still feels hot.

I wipe my face with my hands but then the girl reaches over and grabs a bunch of toilet paper for me to use instead. I mumble a thanks, wondering why and how this bathroom ended up without a box of Kleenex.

"You're welcome. Now tell me why you're so upset."

Her request, despite being quite blunt, is somehow gentle, even calming. Motherly.

And so I start telling her about the kiss, and then about my crush on Willam, then back to how I ran off on him out of fear for myself, about the two girls, about everything, and only when I'm done do I realize how stupid I sound, confessing these thoughts and feelings I never had until I saw that couple.

But she says nothing implying that she thinks I sound dumb, so I keep going. I tell her how confused I am, how terrified, and I cry. It's not long before my face is just as wet as it would be under the stream of water I forgot to stop, coming full force out of the tap in the sink above my head. I don't bother turning it off now.

Eventually, much too much later, my tears have dried once again and I can feel that it is permanent, though I still feel as if I could cry forever.

The girl who has held me in her arms, who has dried my tears while I was too busy crying to notice, who has brushed my cheek as gently as if she were feeling that of a newborn baby, the girl who has probably saved my life in these past twenty minutes asks me for my name.

Such a simple request, and yet it almost sets me back into tears. I hold them back though, and I tell her with a shaky voice the name that has been mine for the past sixteen years without my really caring, without really knowing how important such a little thing can be.

"My - my name...." It takes me far too long to grasp what she means.

"My name is Lily."

There is a short silence, in which my heart starts pounding inexplicably as I wonder how this girl who has her arm around me shoulders and her hand on my leg will respond.

"That's a lovely name," she says, and somehow it seems like she really means it, even though mine is just about the most common a name can be.

And that's when I realize that my heart isn't, in fact, pounding inexplicably. And that's not to say that it isn't pounding, because it is - it's beating a mile a minute and surely pumping hard enough to send blood to my body to last the rest of my lifetime.

But I realize now that there is a very clear reason for it.

I take a deep breath and do my very best to slow my heart to a semi-normal pace. I'd be shocked if this girl making my heart pound weren't able to feel it doing so just through my shoulders.

And then I force myself to speak, praying to God - or whatever, whoever - that my voice doesn't shake the way I suddenly am underneath this suddenly-beautiful girl's touch.

"Uh, what's - what's your name?" Yeah, clearly God doesn't care, because at least in my mind, I sound like a leaf in the wind.

But apparently I'm just as deaf as god is unresponsive, because she answers immediately and doesn't seem to even register the tremor in my voice. "I'm Storm." And the smile, oh, the smile that comes with this announcement, it sends my stomach into a flurry of what I can only describe as jubilant admiration. No. No, not a flurry - a storm.

"Have you ever questioned your sexuality like this before?" she asks, completely oblivious to my mini freak-out, her smile now gentle, soft like a pure, clean white bedsheet.

What a strange analogy. And yet it feels so perfect.

It takes me a second - or five - to register her question, my mind is so overwhelmed by her. Just her.

"My..." I take a deep breath, thinking how stupid I seem. "My sexuality."

"Yeah," she says, calming me far too easily. "Have you ever thought before about who you're attracted to?"

I pause once again before hesitantly saying, "No...I always just thought...well, I liked Willam, so I liked boys, right? I mean, it makes sense. Girls never used to bother me, I mean, like, when they're...you know. I always just assumed...I mean, I never even considered it. I didn't have to! I never used to think girls were..."

"Hot?" Storm gives me the tiniest chuckle, and a rush of warm floods my veins just like the alcohol, the beer I couldn't stop myself from downing as I ran away from Willam, from the boy who finally wanted me back, just a moment too late.

"Well, I mean...Yeah." And as I say this, I look over at Storm from my position on the floor; sitting on my butt, curled in a ball. All this time I've stayed like this, too chicken to even look at her feet. But now I stare her right in the eye, and she gazes straight back.

"Funny coincidence, you know. If you believe in those."

I don't understand. But Storm says nothing more, leaving it to me to ask. "Oh, yeah? What exactly do you mean?" I'm shocked by how smoothly I'm suddenly able to speak.

"Well, it just so happens that I was hiding in here for a very specific reason."

I raise my eyebrows, wishing I had the ability to just raise one.

"You see, I'm very gay, and I'm also quite certain that I outed myself to just about everyone at this party, oh, I dunno, maybe ten minutes ago. Although it is a good sign that you hadn't heard."

"Oh, wow, uh..." I want to try and console her, say something, but I can't think of a single word. She's gay. This girl who is making my heart practically explode inside my chest is actually gay.

"It's fine. Pretty tough situation to respond to, I get it."

"I...yeah."

"So, do you believe in coincidences?" She raises one eyebrow - one! She can raise one eyebrow!! - and waggles it (!!).

I find myself blushing furiously, my heart thudding like a motor and my face bursting into a smile. I can barely control myself enough to reply. "Actually, I've never been one to believe in anything of an accidental nature. So I guess you could say no."

Storm smiles and I can see in her eyes that she feels just like I do - she is bursting open with unexplainable glee, and we are both, in that moment, idiotic fools, but it's okay because we are fools for each other and we are both feeling so exultant that it doesn't matter how stupid I feel.

And then we are kissing and I know for sure that Willam no longer means anything to me and despite knowing that I'm going to have to go out there, leave this bathroom to break his heart, I am overjoyed, exploding with the knowledge that I am kissing Storm, I am kissing her and she is kissing me and I just can't believe this is actually happening.

We break apart after a long time that is somehow far too short, and as we both inhale desperately, I say, "No, I'm pretty sure this is fate."