“Finding a Voice”: Chapter Twelve

The ride back to the dorms had been filled with silence, and Lana was curious as to Ziggy’s thoughts on the night’s dinner. She hadn’t expected the evening to go perfectly, but she certainly hadn’t expected for her mother to embarrass her by pulling her into the study and lecturing her on dating Ziggy. It was her understanding that her parents wanted her to know the barriers that everyone else had to get through to live a decent life. Therefore, it was confusing to her as to why it was okay for her to live like an average person for a period of time but not okay to date someone without a successful reputation.

Lana looked at the other woman as they walked to the dorm building, but Ziggy’s focus didn’t waver. She knew that Ziggy was probably pissed about her dinner experience, especially since her mother had taken every chance that she could to put Ziggy down and make her feel like she didn’t belong. As they walked down the hall and into the room, Lana decided that the only way to mend the situation was to talk about it. She got herself comfortable and directed for Ziggy to sit by her.

“No thanks,” Ziggy said, shaking her head. “After tonight, I would say that it’s obvious that we will never work out. I see where you get your charm from. Your mother’s a peach.”

“I’m going to ignore that comment,” Lana responded. “I didn’t expect things to go perfectly tonight, but I definitely didn’t expect that.”

“What do you mean? Everything went swimmingly,” Ziggy commented sarcastically. “Your mother nitpicked my outfit, my political affiliation, and even my lack of wealth, and your father told me how my music dreams were an epic recipe for failure.”

“Yeah, they can be insensitive at times,” Lana replied. “I don’t really understand though. They were the ones that kicked me out and made it so that I had to live in the dorms. They said that they wanted me to understand how an average person lived. They thought that I was too spoiled. However, from their behavior tonight, I would say that they aren’t any better than I am.”

“They don’t exactly seem like open-minded people,” Ziggy said. “How are they going to put you in the dorms to try to teach you respect for others when they don’t respect people?”

“I don’t know,” Lana said. “I don’t get it, and I don’t know why they had to treat you the way that they did. That was uncalled for.”

“You really don’t know?” Ziggy exclaimed, looking at her in disbelief. “They treated me that way so that I didn’t come back. They took one look at me and realized that I didn’t come from money, and it is evident that they want you to be with someone of status.”

“I wondered if that was going to be an issue,” Lana replied, looking at Ziggy apologetically.

“Well, if you knew that it might be, why did you subject me to that? Why did you even consent to last night?” Ziggy inquired, clearly emotional.

Lana looked at the other woman, wanting to comfort her. She could empathize with her feelings as she never felt like she was good enough to meet her parent’s standards.

“No reason, huh?” Ziggy asked, storming towards the door. “Well, you can consider our little experience last night as a notch on your bedpost. Clearly, we are far too different to be in a relationship.”

“Ziggy, wait,” Lana called, not wanting her to go. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry about dinner. I’m sorry about my parents. I’m sorry about everything, but please don’t judge me based on their actions. I understand that when you first met me, I might have been a little stuck-up, but since I’ve lived in the dorms, I’ve changed my perspective. I finally have begun making friends, and I feel more at home here than I did when I was living there. Part of the reason that I feel that way is because of you. I know that everything isn’t perfect right now, and I get that we’re very different people, but I want to try this. I have feelings for you.”

Ziggy stopped reaching for the doorknob and turned around to look at Lana. The two stood there in silence for a moment until eventually Ziggy opened her mouth to speak. “Do you really think that this could work?”

“I do,” Lana said, listening to her heart beat hard in her chest. “I don’t want to just be friends with you, Ziggy. My feelings for you are much stronger than that. I really think that we might have something special here.”

“Okay,” Ziggy said, approaching her slowly until they stood face-to-face. “I’ll give it another shot,” she replied, kissing Lana lightly on the lips. “But only for you.”