Learn About Love

As far as Amy Westwood was concerned, her best friend Liza Bloom was utter perfection. A living legend, a monolith of the Gods trapped beneath mortal skin, and the stuff of an ambitious child’s fantastical dreams all folded together like dreamy lemon cake batter. Everything from the subtle spring in her pigeon-footed gait to the way glittering bangles on her pale wrists jingled together when she gesticulated made her larger than life. Although Amy had trouble believing teenage heroine Liza Bloom to even be human, she was undeniably the most perfectly crafted one Amy had ever met. Down to the very last freckle on her joyously sprinkled cheeks. 

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Even her name, so nicely square to her, hearkened Amy to visions of a movie star, coated in glitz, glamour, and the adoring stares of thousands of devoted fans, fantasizing themselves to be her lovers. Her eyes (brown and simmering golden), her hair (flaxen feathers tinted pink in a bathroom sink at 2am), and even her voice (made for singing love songs) left Amy’s mind wandering far off the beaten path and her heart hammering away like a determined one-man band. 

There was nothing Amy loved and hated more than basking in every little thing her lovely Liza did, even if she wasn’t hers. 

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Every almost imperceptible movement.

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Every word that drifted from her princess-pink lips.

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Every last inhale and exhale.

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“Amy?” Silver bells, or were they the resounding echoes of Liza’s voice?  struck at Amy’s eardrums and shook her violently from her recurring reverie. 

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Nodding her head with vigor and blinking her eyes open, Amy plastered a prize smile on her face and turned her attention to the feat of nature sitting across the wrought-iron table.

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Liza Bloom.

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Head cocked to the side, bangs sliding awkwardly across her creased forehead, lips parted practically begging to be traced by curious fingers, Liza quirked her blonde brows 

“Lost you there for a second” She crooned, sitting back in her chair with a faint laugh ghosting across her face. 

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Amy chuckled, hoping her cheeks weren’t too flushed, “sorry” she flailed her hopelessly empty hands in the air, feigning exhaustion.

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Liza smiled again and Amy felt the air scramble out of her lungs, leaving her breathless and dazed. 

“We’ve all been there.” Liza agreed, feigning solemnity over Amy’s less than troubling claim. She rested her chin on her palm, scrunching her face up at something over Amy’s shoulder. “I never did like people who put their pets in little costumes like that.” She noted, rather matter-of-factly for someone simply pointing out the oddities of a man wearing a threadbare sweater vest and walking his speckled beagle twin.

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Amy smirked as the duo passed their prime people-watching perch outside the coffee shop and waited until they were around the corner to let her laughter flow freely. 

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Another magical thing to be noted about Liza Bloom, Amy thought, her uncanny ability to always find something that makes others smile. 

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That and her ability to drain a large iced latte in seven minutes flat.

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Shaking her plastic cup, now empty but for the coffee-stained ice littering its bottom, Liza jutted her lower lip out and pouted. “It’s a problem, isn’t it?” She asked, all but reading Amy’s mind as she gestured to the cup. 

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Amy didn’t bother smothering the giggles bubbling up inside of her as they slid out of their seats to trek back to Liza’s car.

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There it was again, the great conundrum of Liza Bloom and her effortless charm.

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For every molecule in Amy's body that seemed magnetized to Liza in a solely platonic way, two molecules longed for something more. Something deeper that Amy could never quite wrap her head around or truly express. 

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These molecules, jacked up on whatever strange sin flowed through her veins, were responsible for her wholly unreciprocated (as far as she knew) attractions and ceaseless daydreams. Those that consisted of tangled limbs, warm breath brushing unseemly places, and gently wandering hands. 

They were in her car when Liza stated “I love our little coffee dates.” As she squinted against the afternoon sunlight beaming through the front windshield.

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Dates? Dates! 

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With a buttery glow melting across Liza’s cheeks, she was akin to a sunflower, bathing in the omnipresence of that great star, and soaking up every ounce of blissful warmth until the day was through. Amy’s heart clattered frantically against her ribs, coaxing her to touch Liza’s sun-soaked cheeks and feel their apparent warmth for herself. 

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“Me too.” Amy croaked, forgoing flirtation for survival and tearing her gaze from Liza’s flamingo hair and galaxy eyes. 

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“It’s nice to have someone you love to see, you know?” Liza said, her tone suddenly soft. “Someone you can just...be yourself around. I know it sounds cheesy but when I’m with you I can just forget all the shit that comes with life and just enjoy myself.” Her laughter was strained. 

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Amy let the seat belt slip from her fingers as she turned in the passenger seat to face Liza. Her eyes were downcast, focused intently on pale hands clenched on the leather steering wheel.

“I know what you mean,” Amy responded, lowering her voice in hopes that she could discern this strange shift in Liza’s mood. 

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Liza’s eyes roved from her hands, now slowly unclenching, to Amy’s face, full of concern. 

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“I really do,” Amy said, gulping down the sensation of Liza’s closeness. “When I’m with you it’s like nothing else exists. Like we’re the only two people on Earth.” She said, trailing off as she realized her implications.

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Throat dry, Amy broke the spell before it could set in and tried to scramble back, away from the whirlpool of Liza Bloom.

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But, before she could, Liza’s right  hand caught her wrist and her left caught her cheek, twisting them closer together. 

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Breath coming out hot and fast, Amy felt nothing but the gentle pressure of Liza’s skin against hers as she closed the distance between them.

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And then they were kissing.