One Day At A Time - Revised Edition

Ava sleeps in late the following Saturday, late into the early evening.
On most weekends, she's awake at around nine o' clock, but today she's sleeping late enough to concern her mom.

Donna opens the bedroom door as quietly as she can,
"Ava, honey, it's almost one. Are you doing alright?"

Ava rolls over in bed and squints at her mom.
"It's one? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."

She sits up and rubs her eyes.
When she opens them, her mom is standing by her bed. "You didn't say, 'goodnight' to anyone last night. How was the party?" Donna says, then goes silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask so many questions when you just woke up."

"No, i-it's okay, Mom." Ava reaches for her glasses on her nightstand. "The party was... good, I guess. I had a good time with Rose and Lucas... and Lilly." She hesitates with Lilly's name, because she still doesn't know how to feel about her.

She kissed her twice and learned that Lilly loves her, but she also learned that Lilly had told her friends something important regarding her that she wasn't told about. Wasn't trusted with.

The odd, aching feeling from last night is still sitting in her stomach.
Though, she's pinned down what she feels: confused.

She is extremely confused.
She is confused on why she wanted Lilly to kiss her again and she's confused on why she'd be the last person Lilly would confide in about such a huge thing.

Donna sits down on the edge of the bed.
"Did anything happen that you want to tell me about?"

Ava could tell her mom about Lilly being in love with her and kissing her and the whirlwind of confusion that has caused her in the last few hours, but she doesn't want to think about it.

She hates her mind being clouded up with all these thoughts, all of this confusion.

"No, nothing happened."
Ava is never the type to lie, for she is always very direct, but she doesn't want to worry her mom with the mounds of confusion.

Donna looks at her and stands up, saying,
"If there's anything you want to talk about, you can come to me, alright?"
"Alright."

Ava pulls herself out of bed and heads into the kitchen for breakfast- lunch.
It's lunchtime now.

"Good mornin', sleepyhead!" Andy says from the kitchen table through a mouthful of grilled cheese sandwich.
"'Morning..." She replies with a yawn, reaching for a bowl, then the box of cereal.

Despite not wanting to think about it, Ava obsesses on the thought of, "Lilly kissed me. I wanted to kiss her again." through lunch.

A strange amount of guilt about not telling her mom the truth sets in rather quickly.
She doesn't want to deal with the confusion that comes with lying.

She can't deal with anymore confusion.

After Andy leaves the kitchen table, Donna cleans up after him, tossing his plate into the dishwasher.

"Mom," Ava says quietly, looking up from her empty bowl.
"Yes?"
"Something, something did happen at the party last night."
Donna turns around from the dishwasher, curiosity and intrigue painted all over her face.

"What happened?"
"Lilly kissed me." Ava answers straightforwardly. "And she loves me and, and I kissed her a second time." She takes a deep breath, "That's what happened."

Donna looks...
Ava can't really tell what her mom is thinking and she doesn't know if that makes her feel better or worse.
"Oh, um... alright. I'm really glad you can tell me things like that." She starts. "How do you... feel about it all?"

It's not Donna's fault that she can't read her daughter's mind, but Ava hates that question, because she doesn't have an exact answer for it.
"I don't really know. I feel confused. Really, really confused."

"I can see why. Your best friend is in love with you."
Donna said it bluntly and hearing it said again by another person gives Ava an odd bubbling feeling in her chest.

Lilly loves her, Lilly is in love with her.
That thought repeats itself in her head on a loop.

For the whole day, she sits with it, letting it seep into the depths of her mind.

It's such a confusing thought, such a hard thing to wrap her head around, because she never thought anyone would feel that way about her.

She has never considered romance, much. For a long time, she thought of growing up and being roommates with Lilly, living together forever as the best of friends.

But the person that's been in front of her for her entire life feels that way. Her future hypothetical forever roommate feels that way.
To know that there's someone out there, someone right in front of her, who feels that way about her is a comforting thought. Comforting in a way she also can't explain.

After sitting with it for a day, the thought becomes more comforting than confusing.

There is still the issue of being kept out of the loop, but she's older now.
She can communicate how she feels. Or at least try her best to.

She can do it.
She's older now.
She can do it.