“No, that’s okay. Can you maybe tell me what made you come in today?”
“Dell?” Murphy asked. “You saw the thing online and wanted to come in.”
“Here’s the water,” Harlow said as she walked into the room, holding four bottles. “I just got these instead of trying to carry four glasses.”
“Thank you,” Larissa replied.
“Yeah, thanks,” Murphy added.
“Thank you,” Della said a little more softly but took the bottle handed to her and set it on the table. “Um… I guess I thought it could be interesting. We’ve never told our story before. Murphy isn’t exactly a big talker when it comes to telling people about us, but I thought maybe it could be fun.”
“Not a big feelings person?” Harlow asked as she sat down next to Larissa after passing her a bottle of water.
“I am with her. No one else,” Murphy replied.
Della smiled at her and said, “She came here because I asked her to.”
“So, how did you two meet?” Larissa asked.
“High school,” Murphy answered. “I’m a year behind her, though. I’m a senior now. She’s in college.”
“And you started dating?”
Larissa set the water down and picked up her pen.
“I transferred during my sophomore year,” Della said. “My dad got a new job, so we moved, and I hated being the new kid until I met her. We were friends first.”
“I knew I liked girls, but I didn’t know for sure that Dell did,” Murphy added. “So, I guess I played it cool for a while, just in case.”
“How did you two actually get together, then?” Harlow asked.
Larissa turned to her, wondering why she was so into this. She’d expected Harlow to sit there and listen, or maybe be disinterested in the whole thing and only there to help hershould she need it. She knew she didn’t mind Harlow asking questions or participating; she just hadn’t planned on it.
“It was my junior year, and I didn’t have a date for the prom,” Della shared.
“Yeah, but we weren’t a couple after that,” Murphy corrected.
“But that was when I realized that I liked you as more than a friend.”
“What happened?” Larissa asked as she took her notes. “And if you don’t mind, be as specific as you can. Feelings, thoughts, events, anything you can share.”
“Um… She didn’t have a date,” Murphy said. “And I was a sophomore, so I couldn’t go to the prom, but I asked her if she’d maybe wantmeto go with her as a friend. She said yes.”
“Was that when you realized?” Larissa asked.
“No. I mean, IthinkI knew before that. It’s easy now for me to look back and think that I obviously had feelings for her, but I didn’t feel it in that moment. It was the night of the actual dance. She came over to pick me up and to let my parents take pictures. My dad was being a real asshole about the whole thing and stayed in his office. My mom didn’t care that I was going with a girl and took pictures. Murphy was wearing a suit, and I knewhermom probably hated it, but Murphy has always been who she is. It’s like she’s brave all the time and doesn’t care what people think. I’ve never been that way, but she is, and I saw it that night when kids were wondering why we were there together and why she was wearing a suit meant for a guy because her mom wouldn’t help her get one made for a girl. It was a whole thing, but that night, I had so much fun with my best friend, and it felt like a little bit of her not caring about what other people thought rubbed off on me.” Della smiled widely. “We danced to a few slow songs, and she held me. A few peoplestared, but it wasn’t a huge deal; there was another gay couple there. It was more that no one thoughtwewere together.”
“Which we weren’t,” Murphy said. “Yet.”
“So, what happened after that if you didn’t get together then?” Harlow asked.
It was actually helpful, having Harlow do the asking, because it meant that Larissa could focus on taking notes, and as she went to take another one, she realized that she hadn’t set her phone to record the conversation to help with those notes later. She didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the conversation to ask if she could record it because it was going so well so far, so she left it alone for this interview.
“We’ve only technically been together for six months,” Murphy said. “Our anniversary was last week.”
“Why did you wait so long?” Larissa asked.
“She meant to say congratulations,” Harlow said with a little laugh.
