by Meghan Diane
A smile crept across my face. “Good, ’cause that’s all I know how to be.” I paused before taking another step. “Your refrigerator is where? And do you want one?” I asked, holding up the six-pack of cider.
“It’s in there.” He pointed. “And it’s all yours.”
I opened myself a cider, and one for Halley too, before walking into the living room. It was filled with a group of people that I still didn’t know very well, but who were becoming some of my favorite people. Stella and Halley were in a very animated discussion about what sounded like boys in skinny jeans. I think I’ll stay away from that one. Nico was messing with a stereo across the room, and Phoenix was sitting on the couch beside Halley, but her gaze told me she was lost in her own thoughts. She’s kind of adorable. I rolled my eyes and slid the subway token out of my pocket, playing with it between my fingers before heading toward the couch, before heading toward her.
“Not much for boys in skinny jeans I take it?”
“Not much for boys in general more like it.”
I took the seat beside her. “I feel ya there.” I reached over her lap and handed Halley the cider I had brought for her. God why does Phoenix have to smell so good?
“So,” I began, “you’re a superstar athlete, you play guitar, what else is there that I should know?”
Phoenix blushed under my compliments. “Well, I know how to make my own wine.”
She locked eyes with me and I felt that familiar rush in my stomach. I gripped the subway token tighter. I was falling for her, but I barely knew her. I wasn’t ready to take that jump yet. But dang, she was making it hard.
Phoenix’s eyes fell to the subway token in my hand. “Are you going to tell me what that’s for eventually? Or are you secretly wishing that one day the subway will start taking coins again, and you just want to be prepared…in Florida?”
I smiled weakly at her. I wasn’t ready to explain the token to her. I wasn’t ready to explain to her that I had a habit of messing up; that I had a habit of jumping from relationship to relationship.
“So you know how to make your own wine?”
“Diversion. I see what you’re doing. I’ll let it slide this time.”
I felt a weight on my legs as Halley placed herself in my lap. “Whatcha guys talking about? It looks intense.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “You mean more intense than guys in skinny jeans?” I gave her my toothiest smile. She glared back at me.
“Did you know,” I asked, pointing my bottle at Phoenix, “that she knows how to make wine?”
“I did in fact. She brought some to a party last semester. I think I drank nearly a whole bottle myself.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”
Nico sauntered over and plopped himself down on the floor in front of us, quickly followed by Stella. “Oh yeah, I remember that. How could anyone forget ‘The Pizza Incident?’”
Halley choked on her cider, spraying everyone within a three-foot radius. Stella jumped into the air, dramatically wiping away the moisture that had landed on her face. By now the whole room had erupted into a collection of laughter.
“I’d appreciate it if everyone could just erase that whole night from their memory. That would be great. K, thanks.”
This only made everyone in the room laugh harder.
“Can someone pleaseeee tell me what happened? I’m dying over here,” I whined.
“Right well,” Nico began, before an object came flying through the air and landed on him. That object happened to be Halley, who had sprung from my lap in a speed so fast I barely had time to register what was happening.
“He will not,” she yelled, trying desperately to cover his mouth with her hand. For a second it appeared as though she’d succeeded, until a high-pitched squeal told us otherwise.
“Eww. You did not just lick me.” By now she had jumped to her feet and was pointing a finger at him.
“I did in fact. And it worked.” Then in one swift motion, he knocked her legs out from under her, causing Halley to end up in his lap. “Now, as I was saying,” he continued.
This time Halley must have admitted defeat, because she curled herself up into his lap and hid her face.
“What happened was, Phoenix brought the wine, as we all know. And Halley was on this rant about some boy. It was some boy that she was apparently dating for a year. In my opinion I think he was made up and never existed.”
Halley lifted her head from Nico’s shoulder to glare at him before punching him in the arm. “His name was Ethan, and I was going to marry him. So yes, he was real.”
“Yeah, he was real,” I chimed in. “Though come to think of it, I’ve never met the guy either. So maybe you’re right, Nico.” I winked at him. “It was all a lie.”
Halley rolled her eyes. “I hate you all.”
“So anyway,” Nico continued. “She was on this bender because this mystery guy had broken up with her. So she drinks nearly this whole bottle of wine by herself. And she’s having a good time, right. Only then we don’t see her for a while. So we start to panic. And we’re looking for her, and looking for her.”
“In the meantime,” Stella chimed in, “we’ve ordered pizza. Because you know, that’s what we do.”
“Right, but of course,” I agreed, nodding my head up and down.
“So a while has gone by, and the pizza’s still not here, and we still can’t find Halley.”
“Oh no,” I moaned, seeing where this might be going.
Stella grinned. “This is my favorite part.”
I smile and take in the crowd. I don’t really care how the story ends. It just feels nice to be around this group of people. It feels nice to laugh, and to watch them laugh. It makes me feel like I belong. And to make it even better, there is a very adorable girl by my side. A very adorable girl who I wanted more than anything to kiss.
“So eventually someone goes to head home. And earlier in the night we had put everyone’s coats in Halley’s closet to keep them out of the way. It felt very grown up of us to have a coatroom.” Nico winked at me.
“So they open the closet door to get their coats, and there she is, asleep on the closet floor, surrounded by four pizzas, all half-eaten.”
Stella, who now has tears coming from her eyes, raises her hand to speak. “The best part about it is that she was cradling a piece of pizza in her hands, like it was the last piece on earth.”
“No, she wasn’t,” I stated incredulously, my mouth hanging wide open.
“Our little pizza thief.” Phoenix laughed. But when she noticed that Halley wasn’t laughing she reached over and patted her head. “It’s okay, my love, you did your best. How many of us can say we got away with stealing four pizzas from a group of hungry college kids? It’s impressive really.”
Halley narrowed her eyes at Phoenix. “You’re the worst.”
“But you still love me.” And I could tell it was true. This group of friends teased each other, but it was all for fun and not meant to hurt anyone. I had a feeling they were the type of friends who would, if one of them were in real trouble, do anything they could to protect each other.
Nico stood up. “Who’s ready for hookah?”
“Meeee,” three voices chimed in unison.
As Phoenix stood up to help, Nico shook his head no. “That’s okay, little lady, I don’t need help. But my guitar is in the corner if you’d like to entertain our guests.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and I couldn’t help but note the perfect shade of pink that Phoenix’s cheeks turned.
When it looked like she might protest, he gave her his biggest smile before turning to walk into the kitchen. “Play that one about the stars,” he said over his shoulder. “You know the one.”
Phoenix’s cheeks had now gone from a light shade of pink to a bright red. Could she be any more adorable? Only apparently she could. She sauntered over to the guitar and sat down on the floor with it. Her bangs fell into her eyes as she looked down at the strings. And when she began to
play I knew that there was nowhere else I’d rather be. She was amazing.
Chapter Nine
Wanna go for a walk?
I hit Send before I could regret my decision. This was a good decision, right? After the party at Nico’s we parted ways, Halley and I going back to her apartment and Stella and Phoenix to their own.
It was late but we still spent the next two hours sprawled out on her couch watching TV. Nights like these really made me appreciate our friendship. Sure I liked going to parties and the beach, but what I really enjoyed was her company. I enjoyed laughing at the dumb things on TV and eating everything that we could find. I missed nights like these and so when I got to have them, I soaked them up.
We watched TV until one a.m. before Halley finally stood up and announced that she was going to bed.
“I’m gonna stay up just a little longer,” I said, staring up at her from my position on the couch.
She gave me a skeptical look, before walking away. “Tell Phoenix I say hi,” she called over her shoulder.
My face ran hot. Damn I hate that she knows me so well.
But when Phoenix didn’t text back right away I began to panic. It’s late, what have you done. She’s not going to read it until the morning. I sighed and got up and crawled into bed with Halley. All hope was lost.
Three minutes later I heard the gentle ding. She was awake. I quickly reached for my phone.
It’s late you know. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?
I smiled. It was late, but she was still up. The window of opportunity was still open.
Is that a yes?
She was going to say yes, I just knew it. I gently rolled out of bed and stood up.
“Whatcha doing?” came Halley’s innocent singsong voice.
I gave her my most innocent look back. It wasn’t fooling anyone though. “I’m going for a walk.”
She gave me the look. The ones that moms give when they know you’re about to get into trouble. “It’s nearly one a.m.” She continued to stare me down with her piercing eyes.
“It is, and I like late-night walks.” When she continued to give me the look, I panicked and began half running to the door. “K, see you soon. Love you, mean it.” My face was bright red by now, I was sure of it.
“Mhm,” was all I heard back from the bedroom.
I looked down at my phone. I knew she’d cave.
See you in five.
I waited in the field between her apartment and Halley’s. One look at the sky told me that it was going to be a good night. The stars were out and they were shining as bright as ever. I rolled my trusty coin between my fingers. I felt the tension inside of me ease. If there were stars, everything was going to be okay.
I saw Phoenix’s silhouette appear in the distance. Here we go.
“Hey.” I smirked at the girl standing in front of me. “Fancy meeting you here.”
She laughed. “You’re crazy, you know that, right?”
I smiled. Yeah, I was definitely crazy.
We walked into the night and I could feel her moving closer to me. Instinctively I took a step to the side. I liked Phoenix. I knew I did. But there was still something so fresh that made me keep my distance.
“So, I like you,” she blurted out.
I blushed, thankful that it was dark out and she wouldn’t see. “I like you too.”
I turned to face her, to read her expression. She was doing the same. I could tell she was looking to see if there was more meaning behind the words for me. When her search came up empty she spoke again.
“You’re leaving soon.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “This is true.” I held a breath as I waited for her to go on.
“What does this mean for us? I mean I know that we’re not together. And I know you just got out of a relationship. But I wouldn’t mind if eventually we did have a future.”
I squeezed the coin tighter in my hand. “I wouldn’t mind that either, Phoenix.”
We were approaching a bench and I stopped in front of it, gesturing for her to sit down. I slumped into the seat, my eyes instinctually heading toward the sky.
“It’s beautiful again tonight, isn’t it?” she asked innocently.
“It is,” I breathed. But I was watching her now, not the sky.
She turned her face toward me and smiled. “I told you about how Cassiopeia ended up in the sky. Do you want to know how her daughter ended up in the sky?”
My face perked up. “Of course I do!”
“Well,” she started, “after Cassiopeia ran her mouth about her daughter Andromeda, it was announced that Andromeda would be a sacrifice to a sea monster named Cetus. She was stripped completely naked and tied to a rock.” She wiggled her eyebrows at this and we both giggled.
“Along came Perseus. He had just killed Medusa, and he must have been feeling pretty good about himself. He decided he would take down the sea monster. And he did. Then, like any man would do, he demanded to marry her. And she actually obliged and followed him to another country where they had seven sons.”
“Seven!” I laughed into the night sky. “Quite ambitious.”
This elicited another laugh from Phoenix.
“Anyway,” she continued, “when Andromeda finally died, Athena put her in the night sky by her mother.” Then she shrugged. “And she let Perseus be close by too.”
“That’s adorable.” I smiled, turning toward her.
“Oh you know, anything to make the ladies swoon.”
I slapped her arm. “Come on, it’s getting late, we should head back.” I reached for her hand to pull her up, never wanting to let go.
“Halley is probably wondering what I’ve done with you.”
“Lesbehonest,” I laughed. “That girl is asleep.”
She nodded in agreement. “You’re probably right.”
We walked back in silence, and I was grateful. I wasn’t ready for anything deeper and I knew if we spoke the conversation would turn serious again.
When we got back to Halley’s place we stood awkwardly for a second before she leaned in and gave me a hug. Here we were yet again, like two characters in a movie, this being the part where we’d kiss under the moonlight. But this wasn’t the movies. I gave her a quick squeeze before running into the house.
I crept into the room and attempted to get into bed without waking Halley.
“Did you have a good time?” she asked without opening her eyes.
Busted.
I closed my eyes. “Yeah, it was nice. I don’t know what to think of it though.”
“Mm, if you like her, go for it,” she slurred.
Before I could answer she rolled over, wrapping her arm around me. She nuzzled into my side. “Just don’t leave me. K. Love you.”
I shook my head. She was no help at all. “Love you too,” I whispered back.
* * *
The blaring of my alarm was an unwelcomed sound five hours later. I moaned and rolled over, turning it off with a quick swipe.
“But I don’t want you to leave,” Halley whined beside me. She pulled me closer. “Please don’t leave.”
“I know, I don’t want to go either. I want to stay here with my bestie forever in the sunshine.”
“Then do it,” she whined. “Stay with me! I will share my room. We can eat peanut butter and jelly. It’ll be perfect. I promise.”
I crawled out of the bed, searching for clothes to wear. When I glanced back at the bed, Halley was watching me. She looked so sad and so hopeful all at once. I didn’t want to leave her either, but I had a life to get back to. I had a job to get back to.
“Take you to breakfast?” I asked, hoping to bribe her. I started putting all of my clothes into my suitcase, noting that I’d have to get a new sticker before I left today.
“Fine, and I assume you’ll wanna invite Phoenix. Because I know you didn’t get in till early this morning.”
I blushed. “Maybeee.”
She gave me a knowing look. “Okay, I’ll text her.�
�� She looked up at me. “She’ll come.”
I smirked. “Okay, let’s go soon though. I’m starving.”
“Anything for you, princess,” she laughed as she threw a pillow at me.
“You love me.” I threw the pillow back at her, hitting her right in the face.
Halley and I were the first to arrive at The Hideaway, and as soon as I could I ordered a coffee. No morning could begin until I’d had my coffee and I especially needed it after the lack of sleep from last night. As I scanned the room, pretending to wait patiently for it to come, I had to admit the weird colors of this place were growing on me. It almost made it feel like home.
My eyes instinctively fell to the door and I watched as Phoenix made her way over to our booth. Her tousled hair said she’d just woken up and I couldn’t think of anything more adorable.
“Morning,” she sang as she slid in beside Halley, her smile leading the way.
“Hey,” I whispered back, not even trying to hide the grin on my face.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I was a little extra tired today for some reason.” She raised an eyebrow in my direction. “But I hope you’ve ordered already.”
Halley spoke beside her. “Well we haven’t ordered yet, but this one”—she pointed a finger directly at me—“has already ordered a coffee.”
Almost as if on cue, the waitress appeared at our table, the coffee once again sloshing over the sides of the mug.
“Here you are, darling.” She looked at the newcomer to our table. “And what can I get for you?”
Phoenix beamed up at her. “A coffee sounds amazing.”
They watched as the waitress shuffled away, disappearing into the kitchen.
“I’m sad that you’re leaving already.” Halley pouted from across the booth.
I shifted in my seat, causing the vinyl below me to squeak. I wasn’t good at goodbyes, and neither was she. I lowered my head in response, peering into my already half-empty coffee mug. “I wish I didn’t have to leave. I’ve had such a great time, and I don’t want it to be over already.”
“Are you sure you have to go?” Phoenix asked.