Sabrina is nowhere in sight. I search the aisles, our classroom, the restrooms; I even go to the cafeteria although I know for a fact that it will be empty at this time. My fists are still rocks at my sides, swaying with each stomp of my feet echoing all around. I search pretty much everywhere before finally giving up and leaving school. But as soon as I do, I find Sabrina sitting in the front steps. She's holding her knees to her chest, as if trying to keep warm in the coldest winter, concealing her face against her legs.

"Are you okay, Sabs?"

She has the weirdest reaction. First her face shoots up to look at me. Then her eyes go wide and scared as her extremely pale face turns purple, and to end it all, she hides again from me.

"I'm okay don't worry I'm fine she just said..." Her muffled voice rushing at seven hundred miles an hour is quite endearing, and that's when my fists loosen up. I sigh easy, feeling my tensions leaving me yet again. I'll think later about Lisa Hardings' words. Sabrina needs me now, so I sit right at her side.

"It doesn't matter what she said." I say softly, hoping I could be contagious enough to get her out of this shell she's hiding within. I have the strongest urge to put my arm around her, but I think it could potentially make things worse, so I decide against it.

"She likes you, Layla." She says; her face still buried there. This makes me scoff.

"I hardly think so." My sarcasm escalates quickly. "We have been ignoring each other for the longest time so there's no reason..."

"She said that too." Sabrina interrupts, finally lifting her face to me, her face still a mix between bright red and purple. She's all serious, not unlike when she decided to go see Hardings on her own. "That's why she started thinking about you..." She looks as if she could die out of embarrassment, and quickly hides again in the nook between her legs. "Romantically."

"And why is this such a big deal to you?" I say, trying to keep calm and keeping my hands to myself. I really want to stroke her hair and let her know that everything's fine. "It's not as if I like her at all, so the fact that she likes me doesn't really matter."

"She's a girl, Layla!" She explodes, her eyes again on mine.

And this is the first time she makes clear what the problem is. Girl on girl. I don't know how to handle this situation now. I only have a simple question for her.

"You think that's bad?"

She opens her mouth to reply, but nothing comes through her lips. She looks ahead, at the stairs. We stay in silence for a while. I can see Hardings in my periphery, bolting out of the school without as much as a glance at us.

"I'm not sure what to think about it, Layla."

There's a full minute where we both stare at the park across the street. Instead of spreading my calm to her, I drag my own knees to my chest.

"Isn't one supposed to just like whatever they like?"

"That's not the way I was raised."

"I never thought about this before, you know?"

"Me neither."

We watch a bunch of kids take turns on the swings. There's a question nagging at the back of my skull, and I can't help saying it aloud.

"Would you stop being my friend if I told you I like girls?"

"Do you?" I can feel her eyes on me now. Knowing that she's looking at me makes me self-conscious. I can feel my blood rushing to my cheeks.

"Just answer my question."

"You're a lot more than that, Layla." She says, her usual calm demeanor settling up between us. "I live in your house, sleep in your room, share your desk at school. I talk to you more than I talk to the rest of the world combined. We share books, lunch, we go to movies together, we walk to school and back home together. It feels like home because of you. You're my very best friend ever, Layla, and I can't afford to be angry at you for liking whatever you like. If it turns out you like girls, I'll be supporting you hundred percent, just as much as with guys."

I look at her, drink her easy smile. I lock eyes with this amazing foreign girl. She's right. We're a lot more than our love interests. I give her my most confident grin, because she's expanding my world beyond all kinds of borders. Having her at home has been the best thing that happened to me in my life. Who knows, maybe I like her in that way, as Lisa Hardings said. And so what if I do?

I stand up, extend a hand to Sabrina and help her to her feet. We walk home as usual, leaving the whole Hardings incident behind our backs.