Did You Know?

Laila was known to spout the unknown.

It had started when she was really little, where she found a silly TV program about training dogs. Her bright brown eyes would take in every minute of the show, absorbing the little facts that no one really regarded. Most people would watch it for the slight reality TV appeal, the drama and the eventual success about training a dog. But these little facts stuck to her, and she would tell everyone about them.

“Did you know that dogs usually eat grass to help with their digestive systems?” She had asked her teacher, Mrs. Kallen, one day. She had finished her work early; a bright girl like her never really took that long to complete her work. So she was drawing in her notebook. Every once in a while, she’d twirl her hair when she got anxious, making it stick up at odd ends.

“No, I didn’t,” the teacher had replied, mostly disregarding the question.

That was quite the norm already.

But the little did-you-knows had started to turn fairly peculiar. Laila was a beautiful girl, but she never had a lot of friends. Mrs. Kallen started to keep an eye on her, watching as those bright brown eyes had started to dim over the school year. How the other children were starting to get annoyed by her constant facts, or how she was becoming fairly withdrawn. Her medium length blonde hair was slowly losing it’s luster. The flower that she was started to revert her bloom.

“Did you know that a broken heart is an actual medical condition?”

Laila had asked Mrs. Kellen this one day when there was no one around. This child was no more than eight. The teacher knit her brow, looking down at her. Laila wouldn’t meet her eyes. She was staring at the other children at recess. There hadn’t been any excitement to her voice previously, not like at the start of the year.

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Kellen has asked, her curiosity piqued.

“A broken heart is caused by loss and extreme emotional stress. It can hurt your nervous system.”

Laila glanced at her drawing, a sigh passing through her that was far too old for her. The drawing--when Mrs. Kellen looked closer--was of a larger, angry man. A bottle was in his hands. A woman was beside him, with an unhappy face drawn on her. And to the side was a drawn door, and behind that door was a smaller stick figure. The smaller stick figure had Laila’s hair, and her face was just as sad as the other stick figure.

A couple years and five moves later, Laila was in the deep end of middle school. She still loved her little facts, but she had learned to keep them to herself now. No one really wanted to hear them. Her blonde hair had grown out, but she spent whatever she managed to get a hold of on hair dye. She was tired of people thinking that her hair and eye combination was strange.

But something that she had never expected to come out of that was becoming such a good actor. She excelled in theater, becoming one of the top actors in the school. She was starting to like this school, and was even able to hang out with some of her friends outside of class. They never came over to her house, though. This school had lasted more than one year. In fact, it lasted into high school.

It was one time at her friends house that a fact poked it’s head out.

“Did you know that whale sharks aren’t actually sharks?”

“Really?”

“Y-Yeah…” Laila wasn’t really expecting that. No one had wanted to know her facts, or really pay her the light of day. But Yvett did. She was really pretty, and they had become friends through theater. Dark brown hair like Laila had always wanted, but with dark blue eyes. Her hair was choppy since she cut it herself, and she was always way more hardcore than Laila ever was. Always suggesting they go do something that might get them in trouble. She already had piercings and was planning on getting a tattoo.

“That’s dope, I love whale sharks. Don’t they only eat plankton or something?”

“Yeah!” Laila was beaming. “And they usually have little fish that follow them around.”

“To protect them from the real sharks, right? They get food and protection at the same time.” Yvett was grinning at Laila as she was sewing a new patch onto her leather jacket. “The ocean is awesome, dude. I’ve always loved it.”

“I like the ocean, too,” Laila said with a sigh. “I-I have a lot of little facts…” she sheepishly mentioned.

“Oh yeah? Hit me with another one.”

Laila blinked. “You wanna hear another?”

“Yeah! It’s great, I love little facts. It’s more entertaining than my brother is anyway.” Yvett sent her a look like go on.

“Well, on the topic of the ocean, did you know that many clownfish will switch their gender if there’s no alpha female?” Laila shifted nervously.

“Wait, really?” Yvett asked. “I had no clue, that’s so odd.”

“Yeah, and male seahorses are the ones that hold the eggs of the female, via a little pouch. They can have up to, like, 2 thousand eggs or something.”

Yvett laughed. “Two thousand? Seems like a little much.”

“I might be wrong on that one,” Laila said, allowing herself to laugh as well.

Their relationship kept steady through the years. Yvett was there for Laila when her dad died in a drunk driving incident. Laila was there for her when her parents were scolding her about not being a devout catholic. Yvett was there when Laila went to therapy and was there through the years after. Laila was there for Yvett coming out to her parents.

Even when all the others had left, and they were well into their twenties, they were inseparable. They had shared any new facts they learned with each other, even about themselves. Yvett came with Laila when she told her mom that she was bisexual.

“So now that you’re out to your mom, and she took it pretty well,” Yvett had started as she drove. Her little VW Bug was a funny parallel to the badass vibes that she gave off. “I have another little fact for you.”

“Oh?” Laila asked. The window was down, allowing her now revitalized blonde hair to blow around. She was in a cute pink dress and had really leaned into that side of fashion. Meanwhile, Yvett was her opposite. Ripped jeans, biker boots, thick, patched leathers, gages, and cartilage piercings, the whole aesthetic. And yet, her smile was still as bright as the day.

“You’ll have to wait till we get there,” Yvett teased, sending Laila a wink.

The blonde pouted. “I don’t like waiting.”

“I know, but wait for me just this once, okay?”

Yvett had driven them to a beach. Not many people were out, since the waters were still cold in April, but there was a pleasant sea breeze that day. “It’s a pretty big deal to come out to your parents,” Yvett had said, her hand in one of her pockets as they walked to the beach. “So I figured we’d come to the ocean.”

The waves crashed along the shore, and Laila took in the salty smell with a grin. The ocean was one of her favorite places. Of course, Yvett would know that. How many times had they gone to the aquarium together? And how many times, in the dark blue waters that reflected off of Yvett’s face, did she want to kiss her? Too many.

“What was the little fact?” Laila asked, turning to the abnormally nervous punk.

“Well…” Yvett wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Did you know that swans can be gay?”

Was that a blush or the sunset?

“No, I didn’t,” Laila admitted. “Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?”

“W-Well, did you know that swans mate for life?”

“No… I didn’t.” Laila tilted her head like a confused puppy.

Yvett took a deep breath and pulled a tiny box out of her leather jacket. Her blue eyes finally met Laila’s brown, and they followed each other as Yvett got down on one knee.

“Did you wanna be my swan?”

The ring was a beautiful sapphire fish, with tiny diamonds around it. Laila gasped, not having the words to speak. It was when she started crying and held her arms out for a hug that Yvett stood up. Laila nodded into Yvett’s neck, giving her response. “Did you know,” she managed to get out. “That I’ve loved you since our first aquarium date?”

“Did you know--” Yvett whispered in her ear. “--That I’ve loved you since your whale shark fact?”

“And I have so many more to share with you,” Laila whispered, pulling back and planting a kiss on Yvett’s lips. “For so many years to come.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Yvett chuckled, pulling her new fiancé into a slow dance.

It was a good thing that Yvett liked little facts, because Laila had enough to last another century.

Yvett didn’t really think that was much of a problem.