The school year was over, somehow. It felt like it had gone by in a blur. One afternoon they'd been shopping for new school supplies and then suddenly the days bled into weeks and the weeks bled into months and before they knew it they were at the last day of school. It passed rather uneventfully. The last day of school was always sort of weird, even if the school did their best to make it memorable. Each class had its own little party, they all played games on the schoolgrounds outside, and then at the end they had the annual slideshow, presenting pictures taken across the course of the year that represented the kids and their growth.
Now, standing in the pick up circle near the bus stop, waiting for their respective parents to come get them, each girl felt somewhat different about the year coming to a close. "What's the first thing you're gonna do for summer vacation?" Chaz asked, and the girls thought about it for a moment before she answered her own question, saying, "I'm gonna go with my mom to get a big pizza, and then we're gonna watch movies out on the back patio with my sister." "That sounds very domestic," Trisha said, "...I doubt I'll be doing anything with my parents. Dad's gonna be at work, and mom will be so busy with my sister that I'll probably just spend my first day of summer by myself. Be nice. I'll bring a lot of snacks upstairs and I'll do a lot of reading." "Well, I don't know about you losers, but my dad is taking me to an arcade, and we're gonna play fighting games against one another and eat nachos and drink soda," Allie said. "That sounds fantastic," Mae said, "Usually the first day of summer is my stepdad coming up with what our summer plans will be, and so I'll probably help him with that. We generally go on lots of trips in the summer. We'll probably go back to Disneyland, and then maybe go camping, and maybe see some family. He always asks me to help cause he knows I like planning stuff." A moment passed, as another school bus slowed to a crawl and another herd of their peers piled onto it before it pulled away once again. The girls shifted uncomfortably in the warm early summer breeze. "This was a weird year wasn't it?" Trisha asked. "It really was," Mae replied, "...are we gonna see one another this summer?" "Well we have to! We always have the minigolf contest during the summer," Allie said, "So we have to see one another to prepare for that and then compete to see who becomes minigolf champion. But I'd like to hang out with you guys outside of that, yes." "It all depends I think on how often I'll be in town," Mae said, "My parents say summer is the time we have to spend together as a family because we're all so busy during the year. I have school, my stepdad has work, but during the summer we all have free time and we should do things together." "I wish I could travel," Chaz said, "I wish my mom and I and my sister could go somewhere. We just don't have the money. I wanna see the Grand Canyon." "You're not missing much. It's just a hole," Mae said. "But it's so grand!" Chaz said, everyone giggling. Just then a car pulled up, and Chaz's mom rolled down the window. The girls all said hello to her mom, and goodbye to Chaz. Chaz stumbled into the car, pulled the door shut behind her, and they headed away. Now it was just the three of them. Trisha wasn't in need of a ride, since she lived close enough to walk home, so she just was waiting for everyone else to get picked up first before she and Mae walked to her house and Mae got picked up there. This was the way they did it last year, and the way they said they'd do it every year afterwards. Tradition was important. "I think you're right," Allie said to Mae, "For what it's worth. I agree. It's just a hole. I could dig a big hole in my backyard." "First of all, you don't have a backyard," Trisha said, "Second of all it wouldn't be a GRAND hole." "I hate traveling," Mae said, "Don't get me wrong, it's cool to see stuff I've never seen and learn things and visit places, but...I hate all the effort it takes. I hate packing. I hate sleeping in unfamiliar places. I miss just being at home, and being with you guys. The summer is always weird cause I should be enjoying what I'm doing, and I kinda am, but on the other hand I'd rather be home and just playing games with all of you." "I understand how Chaz feels though," Allie said, shifting her feet on the concrete below, "I'd like to travel. See some stuff. I wanna go to New York and see the Empire State Building. I wanna see something so tall that it'd make me sick to look up at, and then make me scared to look down from it." "I heard you could drop a penny off there and kill someone," Mae said. "That's an urban legend," Trisha said. "Yeah, only because it takes place in an urban setting," Mae said, making them laugh as she added, "They'd never call it a country legend. I like to believe it's true. The world's just more fun when you believe in stuff. Aliens, Bigfoot, killing people with pennies from the top of a tall building." A truck pulled up and Allie's dad got out. He walked around to the passenger side, took Allie's backpack and tossed it into the back before opening the door for her so she could climb up and inside. "We talkin' about aliens and bigfoot?" he asked. "We saw a UFO once!" Allie said. "We sure did, right in our trailer park," her dad said. "That's usually where they frequent, so that's not surprising," Trisha said, making him chuckle. "Someday we'll have a little UFO party. The four of you girls and I will hang out in lawn chairs and look for aliens through binoculars and a telescope. I'll make BBQ and we'll wait to be beamed up to the mothership." "That sounds awesome," Mae said. He grinned, then waved at the girls as he headed back around to the drivers side and climbed in. As the truck pulled away, Trisha and Mae sighed, then started the medium walk back to Trisha's house a few blocks away. It was early summer, the air was sweet and light, the leaves were beautiful overhead as they passed beneath trees, and all around them were the sounds of kids running home or being picked up by their parents or already home and playing in the yard. "What's on your summer reading list?" Mae asked. "A lot of stuff for church, actually, but also some easy chapter books," Trisha said, "...do you think things are different this year? Do you think we all kinda...acted strange? Like not ourselves? I feel like stuff was easier last year. Not as complicated and weird." "I think you're right," Mae said, nodding in agreement as she tugged at her backpack straps, hoisting them further up her shoulders, "I think things were easier last year. When Allie and I went school supply shopping with my mom, we talked about getting older and how scary it is. And now here we are, already the end of fourth grade. After a few months it'll be fifth grade, and then sixth grade. Then middle school! That only lasts for two years, and then it's high school! I don't want time to keep going. I want everything to stop, stay the way it is. I wanna keep doing arts and crafts in class and playing tag at recess and going trick or treating." They continued further along, turning a block, getting closer to Trisha's house. Neither one said a word for a bit, and then Mae sighed heavily and shook her head. "What if we all continue to get weirder and as a result more distant? What if, come middle school, we're no longer friends? What if we have entirely different groups of friends? Would everything we did together have meant nothing?" she asked. "Let's make a deal then," Trisha said, "At least you and me. Let's say that, no matter what, we'll always be friends, okay? No matter what happens, no matter who else we meet, no matter where we might end up or how much things might change, we, you and I, will always be best friends, okay?" "That sounds really hard, but I like a challenge," Mae said, laughing. "Cause, frankly, I don't know what I'd do without you guys," Trisha said, "I love my mom, but she's overbearing, and having an outside friend group, especially one where we're all from such different backgrounds, makes me feel almost normal. You know Allie and Chaz are Catholic, and that's what the majority of the kids at our school seem to be, but I'm Mormon and you're Jewish, and so we're kinda buddies in that sense. We don't belong with them, but we belong with eachother." Mae blushed. She'd always liked Trisha, and how she was able to make a good thing out of a not so good thing. As they reached the house and climbed up onto the porch, the girls set their backpacks down and sat on the enormous porch swing together, looking out at the street. "One day," Mae said, "We'll be adults, and we'll watch our kids come home from school, and we'll be sitting right here on this porch, being best friends still." "I like that," Trisha said, holding Mae's hand tightly, "Best friends forever." After a while of staying at Trisha's, having a snack and playing some computer games, Mae was picked up by her mom. When she got home, she headed into her bedroom and she looked through her school yearbook. There wasn't much to it, it was an elementary school yearbook after all, and none of the girls really participated in what few afterschool activities existed within the elementary school curriculum, but there was one photo. A photo that had been taken by a random teacher one afternoon while the girls were sitting together at lunch outside at their usual picnic table. Mae and Allie were on the top of the table, throwing cheese cubes into one anothers mouths to see who could get it in first, while Chaz sucked on a drink pouch straw and Trisha was laughing herself stupid. It was a black and white photo, but even without color it was so vibrant thanks to the life presented within it. This was the photo Mae would always remember, even years down the line. This was the photo that, even as an adult, she'd photocopy and have hung on the corkboard in her bedroom. This was the photo that defined their friendship. Four very different girls from four very different families. All together having a great time, just being kids. That night, Mae would fall asleep holding the yearbook open on her chest, this photo still on the page. Her lava lamp would be on, her air purifier would be going, and the TV in her bedroom would be on mute but cartoons would be playing nonetheless. And she would be asleep, dreaming of her friends. She made the decision to spend as much time with her friends before she went on vacation, and she was determined to make that happen. But for right now, at least, she had this. She had the photo. She had Trisha's promise. And she had the next 8 years of school to look forward to.
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Where had the year gone?
It was already the end of the year, and in these last few weeks of school, lots of fun activities had been planned, but the one the girls were most curious about was their first school dance. The school didn't have dances for students under grade 4, so this was the first time the girls were going to attend a school dance, and they each approached it with varying levels of cautious curiosity. As Trisha and Mae were being sitting in the car, waiting for Juliet to finish talking to Alice on the front porch. "Don't worry, okay? They'll be fine. It's an elementary school for heavens sakes," Juliet said, "I know it's typical to worry, especially for you, but just try and go inside and relax for a change." "...I never thought these days would come," Alice said, her eyes wandering from the conversation up to the car where she could see the outlines of Trisha and Mae talking in the backseat; she continued, "I just always sort of assumed she'd be little forever and never have to attend things like this. Now she's at the end of fourth grade. Where does the time go?" "I don't know, Vermont maybe?" Alice smirked, appreciating Juliet's attempt at humor. "Well, thank you for driving them," she said, "I owe you a favor." Juliet departed, getting back into the drivers seat of the car before starting the car back up and pulling out of the driveway, heading down the street towards the school. It was only a few blocks away, but she relished the thought of seeing her daughter walk into her first school dance, so she'd opted to drive them. The only thing was...Mae hadn't seemed all that eager to attend. In fact, she'd outright protested once she was told she had to go, and Juliet rarely made her do things she didn't want to do like this, but this was a rare exception where she knew the experience was too important to miss out on and that so long as she'd had her friends around her, she'd be alright. "We've seen one another in too many dresses," Trisha said, "Dresses to your aunts wedding, church dresses, we've seen one another in way too much formal wear." "I try not to wear dresses a lot," Mae said, shrugging, "but you seem to wear a lot of them." "They make up the majority of my wardrobe, yeah," Trisha said, "not by choice, but I guess I don't really mind either." When they got to the school, Juliet told the girls that she'd come get them when the dance was over, and gave Mae some change for the payphone just in case she forgot what time it was over. As she watched Mae and Trisha walk inside the decorated cafeteria, she couldn't help but notice Mae look over her shoulder at her mother, almost glaring at her, and suddenly Juliet got the feeling she'd be paying for this for a long time to come. *** "This is just fruit punch," Chaz said, sipping from the paper cup she'd been given by the punch bowl, Allie standing with her, who also took a sip and, after a moment of contemplating, nodded in agreement. "You're right, it is. It's just normal fruit punch. My dad buys this for 2 dollars a bottle," Allie said. "2 dollars sounds about right for the school budget," Chaz said, the both of them laughing; Chaz took another sip and then, eyeing Allie up and down, said, "ya know, I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress before." "I'm only wearing it cause it's mandatory," Allie remarked, "I hate dresses." "Hiya," Trisha said as she and Mae approached; Trisha got herself a cup and got some punch, taking a sip before looking back at Allie and saying, "I'm surprised you came. I didn't think you did social stuff like this for school." "I'm only here cause she is," Allie said, pointing at Mae, adding, "normally I'd stay at her house until my dad gets off work, but he has a date tonight after work and so I had nowhere to go, so I had to come here because she was coming. So really, this is all her fault." "Most things seem to be," Mae said. "Are there snacks here?" Chaz asked, looking around, "I want snacks. I need snacks." "I think there's a table over there," Trisha said, pointing across the room, "come on, let's go see what they have!" Trisha and Chaz linked arms and then headed across the cafeteria, leaving Allie and Mae alone. "I'm sorry I had to come. I tried to get out of it," Mae said. "Oh I believe you," Allie said, "I know this isn't something you like either." To say she didn't like it was an understatement of the highest grade. Mae had never been big on crowds, but she especially hated social outings such as this. Things where you were not only expected to show up, but also expected to be in a good mood as well. How could she be in a good mood when she was being forced to interact with people she didn't like at a place she hated and didn't want to be at? After a moment, Allie got herself some more punch and took a long drink. "If I'm gonna be here, I'm gonna drink as much sugar as possible," she said, making Mae laugh. Mae thought about dancing, but she hated dancing and didn't know how. But...she could see through the crowd a girl in her class that she liked talking to, and she thought maybe she would dance with her if she would want to. As she was looking, the girl looked at her and waved, smiling politely, which made Mae blush and wave back before quickly looking away. Finally, Chaz and Trisha reappeared, holding a plate full of snacks. "They have so many things!" Chaz said, "Look! Rice crispy squares!" "The best kind of square!" Allie remarked, making them all laugh. *** The truth, the secret truth that nobody else knew, was that Mae had actually anticipated coming to this dance at one point. When she'd learned of it a few weeks prior, she decided that she would actually attend, and that she'd do so with someone...the girl she waved at in the cafeteria. Her name was Melinda. She was in Mae's class, and she and Mae had become kind of friends, but not the kind of friends that hung out outside of school, just the kind that talked to one another in class and when they saw one another around school. But Mae had started feeling weird about their friendship, she'd started...liking her, in a way that wasn't just as a friend, and she didn't understand it. She'd never felt this way about anyone else. So, when she finally did approach Melinda and asked if she'd go to the dance with her, Melinda said yes initially, only to - a day later - privately rescind her response and apologize for saying yes in the first place. Ever since then, Mae hated the idea of coming to the dance, and also hated herself. She hadn't been in a good mood for weeks now, and nobody really knew why. But she knew. She knew and she was secretly ashamed of herself. But now, seeing Melinda at the dance, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, she could still have a dance with her. No. Not here. Not in front of other people. God, what was wrong with her? *** "Do you know how to dance?" Allie asked Trisha as the girls sat on one of the benches in the cafeteria, still eating from the plate of snacks she and Chaz had brought back. "Yes, I do, in different ways," Trisha said, "I took dance lessons for a long time, and I still dance from time to time. I would never do it in person though. I'd be so embarrassed." "I tried to dance once and my mom thought I was having a seizure," Chaz said. "Well were you?" Allie asked, making them laugh again. "I have to attend a lot of social church functions, so I wind up having to dance a lot there, and I hate it," Trisha said, "I like dancing, I actually like it a lot, but I hate doing it in public or in front of others or with someone else. It's like singing. I prefer to do it by myself. There's just some things that aren't meant to be done among other people." "Yeah, like going to the bathroom," Chaz said. "I would love to live in your head for a day," Allie said, staring at Chaz. "It's fun!" she replied. Trisha started looking around, and suddenly realized Mae was no longer there, and started to worry. As Chaz and Allie talked about the way Chaz's brain worked, Trisha's eyes scanned the dance floor, and the entire cafeteria, but she couldn't find her. She tried to relax, tried to tell herself it was okay, but she had a sense of worry in her gut. Unbeknownst to them all, Mae had gone outside and had taken the change from her dress pocket to call her mom and beg to be picked up, but before she could even get to the payphone, she heard a voice coming up behind her and turned to see Melinda of all people. "I'm surprised you came," she said. "I had to," Mae said, "Mom wouldn't let me not come." "I wanna explain," Melinda said quietly, as Mae hung up the payphone and pocketed the change again, willing to hear her out; Melinda took a deep breath, then blinked a few times and spoke, "um...when you asked me if I'd go with you, you asked me in front of my friends, and I didn't wanna seem mean so I said yes, but I didn't mean it. It's nothing personal. I just...I don't feel those kinds of things. Plus my dad was really angry when he found out you'd asked me. But I never did it to be mean to you." "...I was really upset," Mae said. "I bet," Melinda said, "but you have to know I didn't mean to be mean. I really didn't. I like you, you're my friend, and we have a lot of fun in class. I just...don't feel like that. Actually, I've never known anyone who has, so this is all sort of weird for me." Mae wanted to run and hide. Was she really all that different? "Still, I felt like I had to explain and apologize again," Melinda said, "but I also want you to know I don't feel weird about you now or anything. You're still my friend, okay?" Mae felt a bit better. She even managed to crack a slight smile, and nod. She was happy Melinda was so nice about the whole thing. In fact, her kindness was one of the things Mae liked best about her. "Um," Melinda said, "but, you know, even if we didn't come together and I don't, you know...we could still dance together if you want. That'd be fun. I like dancing with my friends." "I don't really know how to dance," Mae replied. "It's okay, nobody does!" Melinda said, laughing and taking Mae's hand, "Come on!" Chaz got rice krispy treats, Trisha got to show off her dance moves, Allie got to be around her friends and Mae got to dance with someone she liked. All in all, it wasn't such a bad night after all. *** Years later, many many years later, Mae would invite Melinda to her wedding. She would happily attend. They would laugh and talk and even dance together, and even now - as a newly married woman - Mae couldn't help but feel like that fourth grade girl once again, feeling nervous dancing with her first serious crush. Mae would always harbor a secret crush for her, just because that's what you do with your first serious crush, but in the end she was grateful just for her friendship and for not being hurt for being who she was. But that night, that night at the dance, Mae actually had a good time. She never really wanted to attend a dance again, but she did appreciate going if only because she got to dance with Melinda. Lying in her bed that night, Allie asleep on the floor beside her - her father had stayed over with his date - and staring up at the ceiling above her at the glow in the dark stars, she couldn't help but feel grateful her mother had made her go after all. Sure she'd never attend another school dance, but at least she'd been forced to go to this one and had gotten to dance with Melinda. Mae looked over the bedside and nudged Allie in the arm. "yessum?" she asked, half asleep. "Would you like me even if I was weird?" Mae asked. "If?" Allie asked, making Mae chuckle. Even half asleep Allie was hilarious. "I just mean, would you still be my friend even if-" "Mae, we'll always be friends, okay?" Allie asked, "We're friends cause you're weird. Cause I'm weird. Nothing's gonna change that. Now goodnight. I was having a dream about riding robo dinosaurs." That was the only answer she really needed. "I don't know how people wear stuff like this all the time," Trisha said, fidgeting in the back passenger seat in her dress, "I only wear dresses to Church, and maybe to certain formal family events. Can you imagine wearing something like this all the time?"
"I can't, no," Mae replied, "but it's nice. It's nice to be pretty. I like it anyway. I'm surprised your mom let you come." "My mom likes weddings," Trisha said, "She says weddings are the most honest expression of love two people can have for one another because they're openly celebrating it." "What does she think anniversaries are?" Mae asked, and Trisha got a weird look on her face. "I...don't know," she muttered, making Mae chuckle. Mae had been allowed to invite one friend to her aunts wedding, so she chose Trisha, because Trisha was the most proper of her friends, in the sense that she knew how to behave well at things like this. The aunt in question getting married was Mae's aunt Mary, who was finally marrying her longtime boyfriend. The two had been together for over a decade, and were finally tying the knot, much to the family's relief. As they parked the car, the girls were impressed by the amount of guests and tables of snacks laid out. The wedding was taking place outdoors at a small country club estate, all very well to do, and paid for by Mae's grandparents. Mary was their youngest, so they were happy to see her finally get hitched, and as such they had no problems paying for the necessities either. Mae and Trisha climbed out of the car as Scott exited the drivers seat, stretching. "God, an hour and a half drive," he said as Juliet came around the car and stood beside him. "I know, she couldn't get married somewhere close by, it has to be somewhere special." "Who does she think she is?" Scott asked, the two of them chuckling. Mae liked it when her parents got along and joked together. She often wondered if she'd ever meet someone that she could have the same sort of relationship with, where they were partners but also best friends. Trisha took Mae's hand, and together the two girls walked behind Mae's parents up to the estate courtyard, passing through the gates. "Look at that fountain," Trisha said, stopping and pointing, "it's a mermaid!" "That's so cool," Mae whispered in awe. "Maybe your aunt picked the right place after all," Trisha said, "I want a mermaid fountain at my wedding." "I just want a mermaid fountain, I don't need to get married for it," Mae said, the girls laughing. As they got further into the courtyard, they saw the bridesmaids hanging out together, all wearing emerald green dresses, eating snacks and laughing. They all looked so young, but they were adults. Age was weird to the girls. Suddenly a hand tapped Mae's shoulder, and she squealed only to see her Uncle Owen come around in front of her, kneel and grin. "You like the fountain?" he asked, nodding towards it and both girls lit up. "It's so cool," Trisha said, "does it belong to the club?" "No, we had it brought in specifically for this event," Owen replied, "it just...felt right, ya know? So, you girls want any snacks? We have a lot of sweets. Little cupcakes and fancy cookies, or there's a platter of nice cheeses and meats. Take your pick." "I promised my mom I wouldn't have any sugar," Trisha said quietly. "Well your mom ain't here, is she?" Owen asked, "I don't see why she'd need to know. Go, you're young, gorge yourselves on forbidden desires." The girls, giggling to themselves, raced off to the snack tables to eat sugary delights, while Juliet and Scott approached Owen, who was watching the girls rushing off, laughing to himself, his hands in his pants pockets. As Juliet and Scott approached him, he turned and nodded at them. "Congratulations," Scott said, shaking his hand, "it's about damn time." "That's what she said actually when I proposed," Owen replied, grinning, "no, but thanks, seriously, I'm...I'm happy to make it official in the eyes of the government, and our lord and savior, whoever that winds up being." "Where is my sister?" Juliet asked, and Owen pointed to a small white wooden building that looked almost like a shed. Juliet thanked him, then walked on by, heading towards the building as Owen turned back to facing Scott. "So tell me," Owen asked, "does being married change anything really besides your finances?" "Are you asking because I'm Jewish?" "...that hadn't even occurred to me, and I apologize," Owen said, the both of them cackling. Meanwhile, sitting at a table nearby the snacks, Mae and Trisha exchanged sweets with eachother, each one trying to get the other to try something different. After a while, the girls had had their fill of sugar, and decided to switch to actual food instead, loading up small plates and carrying them around as they walked amongst the grounds, looking at all the beautiful flowers that surrounded the estate. "Do you think you'll ever get married?" Trisha asked, and Mae thought about it. "I...don't know," she said, "I mean, I like the idea, it's cute, but...it seems complicated. I like the idea of just being on my own too, you know? Not having to listen to anyone else. What about you?" "I will," Trisha said, "I'd have to find the right boy first, but I will. But my mom's gonna throw a fit if he isn't from our religion, so that will be fun to deal with." "You can't date outside your religion?" "I will, she just won't like it," Trisha said, chuckling. "...do you think..." Mae asked, before pausing. She wasn't sure she should ask this, considering how religious Trisha's family was, but she knew Trisha wasn't like them exactly, so she figured it'd be safe; she cleared her throat and started again, asking, "do you think sometime it'd be okay to marry a girl?" There was a pause, and Trisha thought for a moment. "I mean," Mae said, "all my best friends are girls, and your partner is supposed to be your best friend, right? So why wouldn't it be okay?" "Well, my church says that marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman, but when I asked about that, they couldn't explain why they believed that. I think it's because the church wants more people to be born so they can have more people in the church, but mom says that's heresy to think so. I don't know though, I think it'd be okay, right?" Neither girl really knew what to say in regards to it, so they instead dropped the subject altogether. Mae felt awkward now. She'd never brought this question up to anyone before, for fear of the answer, and now she felt even weirder about it. She went back to her snacks. Meanwhile, Juliet had entered the little shed building, and found her sister Mary sitting down, smoking a joint. Juliet sat down and Mary immediately passed it to her. She took a long inhale, then waited and exhaled before going again and then passing it back, Mary smirking all the while. "If mom could see us now," Mary said. "She probably could, it's not that door has a lock," Juliet said, "...so, are you nervous?" "Please, when have I ever been nervous?" "Your entire life you've been a nervous wreck," Juliet said, laughing, "but today is the one day it's totally okay for you to be nervous. You're gonna be a wife in a few hours, that has to be somewhat stressful. Are you worried about anything?" "I'm worried that he's only marrying me because it's easier than starting over." "What? That's ridiculous, you know he adores you." "I know it's ridiculous, that's what irritates me about it," Mary replied, "Is how aware of its ridiculousness I am. Yet, I can't help for shake it. I think it's just something women of our generation had built into us thanks to the women who came before us. Like, mom likely never attended any suffrage rallies or political protests, you know? Her entire purpose was just to be a wife, and I think that got passed down to us, but we learned about the world, and how we deserve more than that from it." "Boy I bet mom really regrets sending you to college," Juliet said, making Mary laugh and choke on the smoke she was trying to exhale. The ceremony went off without a hitch, and was lovely. Trisha and Mae sat in the front row, watching as Mae's aunt and uncle were married. Cheering, whistling, celebrations. The wedding was a lovely way to spend a weekend, and it was a gorgeous day outside to boot. Afterwards, the girls climbed back into the car and headed home. Falling asleep in the backseat, Mae's head on Trisha's shoulder while soft rock played over the car stereo at a low level, it felt like it'd been the perfect kind of day. "I like weddings," Trisha said quietly. "Me too. I like it when things are happy and nice," Mae said, "It's a shame most marriages don't seem to stay that way." "Let's plan our weddings together," Trisha said. "That sounds cool," Mae said, yawning, "I'll get the markers if you get the paper and we'll draw what we want it to look like." "Sounds like a deal," Trisha said. As both girls drifted off to sleep, Juliet looked behind her seat at them, smiling warmly. She looked back at Scott as he drove, and she cozied up in her own car seat, thinking about her sister and what she'd said about getting married. Juliet hoped she was setting a good example for Mae - and to an extension her friends - that a woman could be more than just a wife. A woman could be anything she wanted. She didn't have to be defined by the marital status of the state. But most importantly, she wanted the girls to know that a woman could be just that, a woman. And there was nothing wrong with that at all. It was one of those rare weekends where each one of the girls weren't able to do something with eachother. Chaz, for instance, was helping her mother clean the entire house and map out their backyard remodeling she planned to do. Allie was hanging out with her dad because he actually wasn't working for a change. Trisha was busy doing schoolwork, house chores and preparing for church duties. Mae, on the other hand, was the only one who had absolutely nothing to do and, as a result, had to stay home because nobody else was available. These weekends didn't come around often, but when they did they sure were a bummer.
Mae was laying upside down on the couch in the living room, watching cartoons, when her mother stepped in front of her and looked down. "What are you still doing here?" she asked, "Aren't you and the girls getting together?" "Everyone is busy," Mae said, shoving a handful of crackers in her mouth and chewing, "gotta be alone." "Oh, well, that's a shame, I'm sorry," Juliet replied, sitting down on the couch next to her daughter and adding, "but you know, being alone isn't a bad thing. I mean, you of all people don't need to be told this, you're an introvert as it is. You could find lots of stuff to do by yourself other than watching TV." "I like TV," Mae said. "We all like TV, but surely there's something more constructive to spend your time doing," Juliet said. "I could watch TV in your bedroom," Mae said. "A change of location doesn't mean the activity suddenly gets better," Juliet said, chuckling, "um...what about coloring? We could do some coloring pages together? I could print some stuff out and we could sit on the floor and just color for a while?" Mae thought about this for a bit, then shrugged and said okay. Juliet patted her on the shoulder, then went to the home office to print some stuff out while Mae went and gathered her coloring utensils. When they both finally met back up in the living room and spread everything out on the floor, Mae realized how lucky she was to have a mom who genuinely wanted to spend time with her. Not every kid gets that, she knew, and she was thankful for it. Unlike Trisha. *** Trisha was sitting at her desk in her bedroom upstairs, trying to finish her homework, when her mother entered the room, carrying a laundry basket. Trisha turned to look at her, and her mother smiled at her then started taking the clothes from the basket, hanging them and putting them in the nearby closet while Trisha went back to work. "Have you decided what you're going to read during scripture class tomorrow?" her mother asked, and Trisha sighed. "No. I haven't. I'm kind of focused on homework right now," she replied. "Okay, well when you get a chance-" "I will." "...is something upsetting you?" Alice asked, looking at her daughter. Trisha set her pencil down and turned in her chair, adjusting her hair band and sighing. "I just...I know it's important, and I know homework is important, but this homework isn't due until next week and I can find something to read for class tomorrow morning, it isn't hard. I just don't like not getting to do things on the weekends. Every other kid gets to have fun, but I always feel like I'm stuck working on something and it isn't fair." "Well, that's life." "Yeah, when you're an adult! I'm not an adult!" Trisha remarked, sounding angry, surprising both herself and her mother with her tone as she continued, "I deserve to have things be easy and fun once in a while! Otherwise, maybe, I don't know...I'll grow up and not have any good memories of childhood. Do you have any good memories of your childhood?" Alice stopped, seated herself on the bed and thought. It dawned on her that, no, in fact she didn't. Her mother had done the same to her, and she'd hated her for it. Now here she was, doing the same thing to her own daughter, and her daughter was hating her for it. Alice sighed and shook her head. "You're right. You're absolutely right and I can't deny it," Alice said, "I've worked so hard to do the opposite of everything my mother did to me, and yet I feel like I'm just replaying her greatest hits. I try to let you have your own friends, I try to let you have your own interests and hobbies. The only thing I really ask of you is that you go to church with us because faith is so important to me. Faith was there to comfort me when my mother wasn't, and I guess I hope it could be the same thing for you. But I don't wanna be her. I don't want you to grow up to hate me." "I don't hate you mom, at all," Trisha said, "I'm sorry." "No, I'm sorry, you're...you're right, you're right. Go outside, go play with your sister for a bit. You can finish this stuff before bed or tomorrow or something," Alice said, "childhood is short, adulthood is too long. Make memories worth having while you can." Trisha stood up and walked to the bed, then sat down and hugged her mom, who happily hugged her back before watching Trisha go downstairs to gather her sister and go outside to play. Watching from the bedroom window as she continued to put away laundry, Alice felt like in some small way, she'd proven her own mother wrong, and that was more than enough of a win for her today. *** "How did you learn so much about remodeling?" Chaz asked her mother as they sat in the backyard, sipping tea and looking at the plans she'd come up with. "Well," Karen started, wiping her mouth on her sweater sleeve, "in college, I used to spend a lot of time with grandpa and he taught me how to build things. You know how grandpa is, very hands on, very do it yourself kind of guy. He built a ton of stuff when I was a kid. So I learned a lot of skills from him, but then..." She hesitated, then continued. "...when I met your father, he and I had the same interests," she said, "so for a while, we'd do the same things together, and one of those things was, surprisingly gardening and landscaping. He loved being able to create something out of nothing, a yard out of a pile of dirt. So between grandpa and him, I learned everything one needs to know in order to do this sort of project." Chaz smiled at this story. Her mother rarely spoke of her father, for good reason, but it was nice when she spoke of him well. She looked back at the plans her mother had drawn up and sighed. "Is this gonna be hard?" she asked. "Well, that's why I had kids, free labor," Karen said. "Hey!" Chaz said, the both of them laughing. "Is there anything you'd like to add to the yard?" Karen asked, and this surprised Chaz. She thought about it for a moment. They already had a hammock, a little playground set, what more could she ask for? The yard wasn't big enough for a pool, and that'd be too expensive and difficult anyway. Then a light went off in her head. "Bees!" she said, "I wanna raise bees!" "You wanna raise bees?" Karen asked, sounding shocked, "I can't even get you to clean your room and now suddenly you think you can look after an entire hive?" "Bees are cool, and they'll make honey for you!" "Sweetheart, I appreciate the earnest interest, but I don't think either one of us is capable of handling bees. Plus you need a bunch of equipment, and that's gonna cost a lot. I like the idea, I really do, and if we could genuinely do it I would, but...I just don't think its feasible, mostly financially more than anything else. This remodel is already costing me quite a bit." Chaz was, admittedly, disappointed, but she understood her mother was right. Bee keeping was an expensive hobby. She sighed and looked back at the plans. "Can we get a dog?" she asked. "That's a lot more feasible, yes," Karen said, laughing. *** Allie and her dad were sitting in the living room that evening, eating dinner that they'd cooked together. Homemade Mexican food, their favorite besides BBQ, and they were watching a game show of some kind. Her father sipped his beer, then leaned forward and took a bite from his burrito. "Do you think you could win on a game show?" Allie asked. "I'd never try." "Why not? You allergic to money or something?" Allie asked, making her dad laugh. "No, it's because the money you win on a game show is taxable, meaning a good percentage of your earnings go directly to the government. The only money that isn't really taxable is inheritances, but trust me, they'll find a way to get that too one of these days," he replied, "as fun as the idea is, it just isn't worth the financial headache that comes with the glory of winning Wheel of Fortune." Allie nodded. Her dad knew so much, and she was always learning something new from him. "What about me? I'm a kid, they can't tax a child," Allie said, genuinely believing she'd found a loophole. "Oh, you'd think that," her father replied, "but no, the money doesn't go to the child, it goes to the parent, you know, the one with the bank account who can cash it? Trust me Al, these things ain't worth the time and effort." "Well, what about the prizes they give away? They can tax money but they can't take half a jeep, right?" Allie asked, "someone from the government doesn't come and cut your new car in half and tow their part away, do they?" Her father lost it and started straight up cackling. Allie smiled and blushed. She loved that her father found her this funny, and she loved making him laugh. "No, I...I don't think they can do that," he finally said, holding back laughter, "jesus, Allie." Allie finished her dinner, then cuddled up to her dad and he stroked her hair until she fell asleep. After she was asleep, he carried her to her bed and tucked her in, then stood in the doorway of her bedroom and looked at her, tears in his eyes. He didn't have much. He'd lost most of what he'd ever had. But he had his daughter, and goddammit if that wasn't enough for him. *** "What'd you do this weekend?" Trisha asked Mae as they walked to school on Monday. "Colored with my mom and watched TV," Mae replied, "...I don't like the weekends where we can't hang out." "Yeah, they're weird," Trisha said, "Is that a bee in that jar?" Mae looked over to see Chaz, who had run up behind them, joining them and in fact holding a mason jar with a bee inside of it. "I'm gonna let him go, don't worry, I just think bees are cool," Chaz said. "Bees ARE cool actually," Mae said, "they have great colors. Black and yellow. Who'd have thought those would go so well together? Much better than Halloween's orange and black scheme." "Did you guys know the money you win on a game show is taxable?" Allie asked, now joining them as they approached the school. "Really?" Mae asked. "She's right," Trisha said, "My dad won money on a game show once and they took the majority of it. It's really not worth the effort." Each girl had had a different weekend, and each girl had come away with a different sense of appreciation for something they didn't have before. But being back together like this, Monday morning, was when they really knew just how much they meant to one another. Friendship was their biggest bond, and it would carry them throughout their school life, entangling them to one another until the end. Each girl was so very different, and yet those differences made up the whole of who they were as a group and why they liked eachother so much. You know what they say. It takes all kinds. 4 stickers, each one different, each one obtained from a quarter based machine in the local video rental store. The first was a cartoonish vampire bat, which belonged to Mae. The second was a beautiful unicorn ripped straight from the pages of a fantasy book, which belonged to Trisha. The third was a retro spaceship that belonged to Chaz and finally, the fourth was a pseudo realistic T-Rex which belonged to Allie. They'd gotten them one Saturday night while renting movies for a sleepover at Mae's, but now, sitting in the living room with the movies on, each one inspecting their particular sticker choice, didn't know what to do with them.
"My mom makes scrapbooks sometimes," Trisha said, "We could just do that, make a little scrapbook and put all our stickers we collect in them." "I'm not sticking Batholomew into a book," Mae said, making the other girls giggle. "I say we each pick a place and then we put our sticker in that place because the place means something special to us," Allie said, "That way, whenever one of us winds up at that place, we might see the sticker and think of eachother!" "That's a good idea actually," Chaz chimed in, "how about we each come up with one tonight and then tomorrow we go around and put them up?" So it was decided. The following day, Saturday, the girls would collectively go to each spot each one had chosen and place their sticker there. The next morning, the girls woke up, watched cartoons, ate junk food for breakfast and then went gathered their stickers and bikes and began the trek. The first stop would be Chaz, and only because she'd picked the closest spot. Chaz's spot was at a park, the one where she'd had her 7th birthday to be exact. As the girls pulled up to the spot near the BBQ grill and the picnic tables, hopping off their bikes so Chaz could place her sticker, none of them were really sure why exactly she'd picked this place in particular. "I don't think I even went to your 7th birthday," Mae said. "None of you did," Chaz said, "It was a small birthday." "Small like family only?" Trisha asked, and Chaz nodded. Chaz walked slowly to the BBQ grill and got on her knees, her shorts getting covered in dirt and gravel. She smiled as she pulled the sticker from her pocket and looked at it, sighing. "This was the last birthday I had when I saw my dad," Chaz said solemnly, "he made BBQ for everyone, and he gave me a bunch of easy to read chapter books, none of which I ever read, but all of which I still have. That was the best birthday ever, just because he was there." She started to peel the sticker, but Trisha grabbed her wrist and knelt beside her. "Are you sure this is where you wanna put it?" she asked, and Chaz nodded, peeling the sticking off and slapping it onto the side of the grill. Trisha helped Chaz stand up and together they stepped back and looked at the sticker on the BBQ grill, admiring it. Chaz couldn't help but smile. She missed her dad, and she couldn't forgive him for leaving, but she also couldn't forget how much she loved him, and how much she wished he'd loved her enough to stay. After a moment, she climbed back onto her bike, and they rode off to the next location. *** The next location was Allie's, and it was a small minigolf park near the middle school, somewhere the girls had actually been to fairly frequently, alone and together. As they peeled up the curb onto their bikes and came to a skidding halt, Mae couldn't help but feel a little odd that this was the second location chosen that didn't really revolve around their friendship. She grimaced as Allie pulled her sticker out of her coat pocket and headed up the hill, where the three primary color headed dragon statue was. The other girls followed. Allie stopped at the dragon and slapped her sticker onto the red one, her favorite color, before standing back and admiring it, hands on her hips. "A T-Rex on a Dragon, doesn't get much cooler than that," she said proudly. "Gotta admit, it's pretty cool," Chaz agreed. "Why'd you pick this spot?" Trisha asked. "Well, my dad and I come here to minigolf alot cause it's one of the cheaper activities we can do together besides, like, the movies, and also remember last summer when we all came here when they had the tournament? We all got loads of slush drinks and nachos and got to play for free since we were the right age." "That was a lot of fun," Trisha said, "Probably the only time I'll ever participate in a sporting event of any kind." Allie's smile faded a bit as she reached out and touched the dragon, running her hand down the neck. She and her dad had used to do minigolf a lot more frequently, but these days he worked so much they rarely seemed to do much of anything together anymore, and this saddened her. At least she had this. The sticker, and the dragon it was stuck to. The memory would last forever, even if the games didn't. After a few minutes, she sighed, put her helmet back on and they all climbed aboard their bikes, riding off to the next location. *** Trisha had the third spot, and hers was...well...odd to say the least. While the others had been places the girls had been together, Trisha's was at her church, or more specifically, the bible study beside it. None of the girls had ever come to church with her before (Trisha was a mormon, and the other girls were not only varying faiths, but also didn't really attend their own churches to be fair), so it was an odd decision to them, but they weren't going to bring that up. This was her sticker, and this was her spot to place it. They parked their bikes at a bike rack and walked to the building where bible study was held, Trisha unzipping her coat pocket and pulling her unicorn sticker out. "I love fantasy stuff," she said, "which is maybe why I love religion. Whether it's real or not doesn't matter, it makes me feel safe and happy. It gives me comfort. That's why I like my bible teacher. She tells me that so long as I believe for my own sake and not the sake of others, then I'm doing well." Trisha didn't have to say it, but they all knew she was referencing her mom. Despite loving her mom, and despite her mom being pretty alright, she was weirdly controlling and overly religious to a fault, and it made the girls uncomfortable at times. They could only imagine how Trisha must've felt on a day to day basis, being her daughter. Trisha peeled the sticker off and plastered it onto the side of the building, near some bushes so nobody else would see and remove it. Afterwards, she stepped back and sighed. Trisha had a clearly complicated relationship with her family, her religion and herself, but at least, she thought, at least there's stickers, and there's nothing complicated at all about those. *** The fourth and final spot was Mae's, and it was not going to make anyone feel good. Mae picked the the school bus stop they had all used at one time or another. The pole was already splattered in stickers, wrapped around the entirety of it, so it was an odd choice, but as she climbed off her bike, silently angry, she pulled the bat sticker from her pants pocket and looked at it. She looked up at the bus stop sign, then back down at the sticker and sighed. "I thought we were putting these places that meant something to us," she said, "that meant something about our friendship. That's why I picked the bus stop, cause it's where I met all of you for the first time. But...I guess it's selfish for me to think that our friendship comes before family or whatever." She began to peel the bat, but Trisha stopped her. "It's not selfish," she said, "All those places we picked are all places we've been together too. We've all gone to that park where Chaz put hers, we've all played minigolf where Allie put hers, and you even came to bible study with me one time, remember?" A moment passed, and then Mae's eyes lit up. "I did! I forgot about that! In second grade, I went to bible study with you one weekend cause it was the only way we could spend the weekend together!" she said, sounding chipper now, almost laughing; she looked at the bat sticker and peeled it, then told Allie to get on her hands and knees. Allie walked over and did just that, letting Mae climb up on her back and slap the sticker onto the bus stop sign. She then climbed down and admired their handiwork. "God speed Batholomew," she said, all the girls laughing together. *** 4 stickers, each one different, each one obtained from a quarter based machine in the local video rental store. The first was a cartoonish vampire bat, which belonged to Mae. The second was a beautiful unicorn ripped straight from the pages of a fantasy book, which belonged to Trisha. The third was a retro spaceship that belonged to Chaz and finally, the fourth was a pseudo realistic T-Rex which belonged to Allie. They'd gotten them one Saturday night while renting movies for a sleepover at Mae's, but now, now they each sat a distinct and specific location, each one marked by their time spent apart...and their time spent together. If there's one thing nobody should ever underestimate... ...it's a young girls love for stickers. It was finally here, the one thing every kid looked forward to in the school throughout the year...the book fair! Even the kids who didn't like to read still came away with enjoyment from it, because they weren't in class and because the book fair offered things not pertaining to books to buy. There were fun erasers, stickers, cool binders, unique school supplies all around, but mostly it was books. Lots and lots of books. And every year, the girls could barely sleep the night before knowing it was coming. This particular morning, walking down the halls towards the library where it was held, Mae, Trisha and Allie (they knew they'd see Chaz with her class at the fair) couldn't stop yammering about all the things they looked forward to buying.
"My dad says they sell all these books at a markup, and you could just as easily get them for half the price at a regular bookstore," Trisha said. "Your dad is smart, so I don't doubt it," Mae replied, "but I also don't care. It's not like it's my money, it's my parents money." "Also regular bookstores aren't gonna have cool popup books that you could only find at the fair," Allie chimed in, "Remember last year? When I found that popup book of Rudolph in which he becomes a vampire?" "I think that was a misprinting," Trisha said, "I think someone accidentally put two books together on one press." "It's still the coolest thing no bookstore's ever gonna have," Allie said. "I can't really argue that," Trisha said, shrugging. As they got closer to the book fair, the girls could hear the laughter and yelling of other kids. Only two classes were allowed to be at the fair at a time to prevent overcrowding, and it was just sheer luck that their class and Chaz's class got to show up together, but apparently Chaz's had gotten here earlier than theirs had. They could see her mop of blonde hair over the top of a cardboard standee, in fact. As they got up to it, Mae looked over the standee and Chaz looked up at her, and the two laughed as the girls came around the side. "Find anything good?" Mae asked. "I've only been here for like two minutes," Chaz remarked. "I wish I liked reading more," Allie said, "I wanna buy stuff here, but I just don't enjoy reading all that much." Trisha and Mae, however, had already left them in the proverbial dust to check out the chapter books. They had always loved reading, and often they would read books from the same series - sometimes the same book at the same time - just so they could later discuss it together. It was one of the cornerstones of their entire friendship. They dawdled off to a nearby shelving unit containing popular chapter series, and started looking through them, seeing what sounded best, leaving Allie and Chaz to their own devices. As Trisha picked up a book and turned it over, she groaned. "There's so many things I wanna read but I know my mom would never let me," she said, "which is ridiculous, it's not like they're adult books! They're kids books! I'm a kid, they're books for me!" "Why not buy them and read them in secret?" Mae asked. "Because she checks my backpack every day when I come home," Trisha said. "Geez, I'm so sorry," Mae mumbled, "that sounds terrible. My parents don't ever look in my backpack. Remember last year when I left that sandwich in there so long it grew its own society?" They both started laughing at the memory, and this made Trisha feel better about her own home life. It wasn't that she hated her mother, because she didn't, but she was so very overbearing at times that it was starting to become an issue. All Trisha wanted was to do the same thing the other kids her age were doing. She didn't mind going to church, in fact she admittedly enjoyed having faith in her life, but she didn't like the restrictions said faith placed on her adolescence, and often felt like she was missing out on integral parts of being a kid. Mae, on the other hand, often felt neglected. She knew her parents loved her, sure, but she also felt like they were often too busy with themselves and eachother to focus on her the way she wanted them to, and she felt weird asking for their attention. Sometimes she was jealous of Trisha's mom. Not necessarily the overbearingness persay, but the amount of attention in general she received as a result. Sure, Trisha's home life sounded awful, helicopter parenting was often awful, but she couldn't deny the fact that she often wished she could have that much attention lavished onto her, even if for the wrong reasons. "I love going to the library," Mae said suddenly, "And I can remember when I was really little, my mom would take me to the bookmobile and we would get out books she would read to me. The bookmobile is such a cool idea." "The library is a nice place," Trisha agreed, "but sometimes it's almost too quiet, and it's creepy." "We should go to a library together sometime!" Mae said excitedly, making Trisha laugh and nod. Meanwhile, Chaz and Allie were busy looking at all the non book related products the fair offered, ranging from magazines to school supplies and so on. Chaz picked up a bookmark and showed it to Allie, who scoffed. "What?" Chaz asked, "It's a race car, you don't like race cars?" "Just because I live in a trailer park I automatically like race cars?" Allie asked, "...I mean, sure they're cool, but still, don't just assume that!" "Sorry!" Chaz said, laughing and putting it back in the plastic bin, "what do you wanna get? Did your dad give you some money?" "Yeah, he gave me about twenty dollars," Allie said, "but I can't really think of anything. Didn't they used to sell posters? I could get a book poster. Or maybe get something for my dad. He likes to read more than I do. Maybe I could get him a book about cars or something." "Get your dad a magazine subscription." "That's...actually not a bad idea, let's see what they have." As Chaz and Allie flipped through the magazines, Trisha and Mae had each found something they were interested in, and were now comparing notes between the two, seeing which series they should pick to read together. As they stood there, coming away with pros and cons for each book series, Mae couldn't help but remember a time when she couldn't read, and not just when she was a baby, but when she was in 1st grade. All the other kids weren't having trouble, but she was, and it took giving her a private tutor during school hours to help her. They'd meet once a day throughout the week, and after a while, Mae was reading books well above her classmates levels. A small piece of pride found within a shameful secret. "Guys guys, look," Chaz said, approaching from behind and holding something out in front of Trisha and Mae and adding, "puppy calendar. The puppies are dressed up as characters from kid books." "Adorable," Trisha said, giggling, "I want one. Where's Allie?" The girls all looked around but they didn't see her. Suddenly they heard some noise from beside them and turned to see Rachel standing there, who was looking through a book about medieval fashion, specifically princesses. She waved daintily at the girls, who waved back. "Have you seen Allie?" Mae asked. "No," Rachel said. "What is that?" Trisha asked. "It's a book about princess fashion," Rachel said, "I love princesses, and I love the dresses." Mae, concerned about Allie's whereabouts now, began to walk away from the group in search of their missing friend. She looked around but she couldn't seem to find them no matter where she looked. After a while, she decided to give up, gave the things she wanted to purchase to Trisha to pay for for her - with the money her mom gave her so Trisha didn't spend her own - and then asked Mrs. Spinner if she could go to the bathroom. She said yes, handed Mae a hall pass and then watched her leave. When she got into the bathroom in the hall near the library, she shut the stall door behind her and locked it before hearing crying in the stall beside her. "Al...Allie?" Mae asked, getting on the floor and looking under the stall wall. "Mae?" Allie asked, doing the same. "What're you doing in here?" Mae asked. "I don't know..." Allie said, rubbing her nose on her long sweatshirt sleeve as she added, "I guess I just feel embarrassed cause I don't feel smart cause I don't read really. I was gonna get stuff for my dad, but I don't think he'd like that. I think he'd want me to get stuff for me, but I just...I don't like reading." "What if you joined me and Trisha and we all picked the same thing and read it together? That's what Trisha and I do. We pick the same book, then we read it and discuss it and that makes it more fun because we're experiencing it at the same time, and it gives us something to talk about," Mae said, "...also can we get off the floor, this floor is cold." Allie laughed and nodded. The two girls got up and exited their respective stalls. Standing now in the bathroom proper, after a moment, Mae surprised Allie by hugging her. Allie, taken aback, hugged Mae in response, and once the hug broke they both giggled. "I'm sorry you feel stupid, but you're not stupid, you should know that," Mae said. "I know, my dad always tells me I'm smarter than he is, but it just bothers me that everyone else looks forward to this day and I don't as much because I just don't like to read really." "We all have hobbies. Chaz doesn't read much either. She usually buys knick knacks or comic book collections," Mae said, "and there's nothing wrong with that. Would you help you to know that I had trouble learning how to read?" "Really?" Allie asked. "Mhm," Mae said, "I just couldn't figure out how to do it, and it was making me feel really dumb because all the other kids weren't having trouble. So my parents found a tutor and I went to her everyday during the week, and she helped me learn how to read and now I can read books like nobodies business. But for a long time it was embarrassing. I'd get picked to read a paragraph of something and I would stutter and stammer and have a lot of problems and all the other kids would laugh." "Jerks." "Total jerks. But eventually I outread them all," Mae said, "We all have hobbies and we all have problems, but we're your friends and we're not gonna judge you for that, Al. You can join Trisha and I if you want. We'll all read something together. Or you don't have to read at all. The world's your oyster!" "What's an Oyster?" "I don't know, some kind of fish," Mae said, shrugging. Together the girls headed back out of the bathroom and back to the book fair. Once there, Allie purchased an airplane calendar for her father and a book for herself, the very same book Mae and Trisha had picked to read together, and she felt a little bit better about reading. Chaz bought the puppy calendar, along with a sticker book and a few bookmarks. As they headed back to their respective classes, the girls couldn't help but feel like another book fair had successfully come and gone, but that they'd each walked away with a better understanding of themselves, their hobbies and eachother. That night, when Allie gave her father the calendar, he hugged her tightly and thanked her repeatedly. He said that she didn't have to buy him anything, but that he appreciated the gesture anyway. And then, for the first time in her life, Allie went to her bedroom, sat on her bed and read a book, and enjoyed it. Knowing she would have friends to discuss it with in the morning made the experience all the greater, it turned out. She didn't really appreciate the art of literature, in the end, but she appreciated the other things it brought her, such as a better friendship with the girls. And that alone was worth the 7.50 she paid. "I'm telling you, if you say her name three times in the mirror, she comes back and haunts you!" Allie said, "My cousin's oldest cousin tried it and ever since then she's been seeing things! She keeps having these really vivid nightmares about Bloody Mary."
"We're taking your cousin's oldest cousin as proof? I don't even know your cousins name, let alone their cousins name," Mae replied as the four girls headed home from school, walking. The girls usually didn't walk, but once a week they made an effort to walk home together, or as close to home as they each realistically could. Truth be told, Trisha was the one who lived closest to school, so she was usually the first to drop off. Chaz was a bit of a ways after that, and then Allie went home with Mae until her dad come come get her, seeing as they realistically walk all the way to a trailer park. As they passed the nearby wooded area beside the school, they suddenly heard laughing and shouting, and they stopped, backed up and peered past the trees to see a group of girls - all varying ages from 3rd grade up to 6th grade - riding bikes together. "What do you think they're doing?" Mae asked. "I think...and I might be wrong about this," Allie said, "but I think they're riding bikes." "Shut up," Trisha said, making them laugh. "It's like a club or something," Chaz said, before calling out to them, "Hey! Are you guys a club or something?" A 6th grade girl zoomed up to them and skidded to a stop in front of them, looking at the girls suspiciously. After a moment, she pulled her helmet off and nodded. "Yeah, we're a club, why?" she asked. "We've just never seen you here before is all," Trisha said, "You guys just come here to ride bikes? Is that the whole club?" "Yeah," the girl said, "We just come here to hang out after school and ride bikes and do bike tricks. Why? You wanna join us?" The girls all exchanged a glance. They'd never really been part of a club before, but they did like riding bikes. Or, at least, most of them did. Mae still had training wheels on her, while Allie had a different reason entirely for not wanting to ride a bike, despite doing it with her friends when the moment called for it. After leaving the club to their activities, and Trisha and Chaz wound up at home, Allie and Mae continued walking towards Mae's, but neither one said a thing for a while. After a bit, Allie finally sighed. "You don't wanna join that bike club, do you?" Allie asked. "I don't know," Mae said, "Kinda? But I'm embarrassed. I still have training wheels.I feel like they'd make fun of me. I can barely ride, let alone do tricks. But it would be kinda cool to hang out with other kids I guess. What about you?" Allie didn't reply. She just looked away, and mumbled something, which Mae didn't even bother trying to understand. After another moment, a few cars passing them on the road, Allie finally spoke again. "I had to buy a training bra the other day," she said softly. "What? Wait, you're a 4th grader!" "I know, but my dad says that sometimes girls develop early," Allie replied, "So he had his sister take me to get one. It was awkward, but less awkward than having him take me to get one. I'm wearing it right now. It's really uncomfortable." "Jeez," Mae said, "Wait, so that's why you don't wanna ride a bike?" "It hurts!" Allie said, "It cuts into me, it has wires in it!" "Being a grown woman's gonna suck," Mae muttered, making Allie laugh. *** "Can you take my training wheels off?" Mae asked, standing in her stepfathers office as he worked. He stopped and looked at her, a smile playing on his lips, one brow raised. "Why do you want your training wheels off?" he asked, and Mae shrugged. "I just do," she said. "You know you're not good at balancing," he said, "I mean, I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude or insult you, but you know that. You're not good at balancing. That's why you have training wheels. What makes you suddenly want them gone? You think you're good enough now?" "There's this group of girls at school and they meet after school and they ride bikes together. They asked me and the girls if we wanna join them, but I'm embarrassed cause I still need training wheels. Nobody else needs training wheels. None of the girls in the club had training wheels." "Come here," her stepfather, Scott, said as he patted a seat beside his desk. Mae obliged, entered the home office further and sat down. He turned his chair to face her and looked at her, smiling as he continued, "don't judge yourself by the merits of others. Just because you need training wheels it doesn't make you any worse than them. There's nothing really wrong with it, Mae. Honestly, you should try and stay a kid as long as possible." Mae nodded, looking down at her feet. "...but they'll make fun of me if I go with training wheels," she said, her voice cracking, like she was going to cry. He rubbed her back and sighed. "If they do, then they're not people you should wanna hang out with," he said, "but, if you feel that strongly about it, I'll take them off, at least for a few days and see how you do. Would that make you happy?" Mae smiled, now looking back up at him, nodding. He smiled back, kissed her forehead and nodded. "Alright, I'll do it tonight," he said. *** Trisha was riding her bike to school the following morning, thinking about joining the club after school. On one hand, it'd be freedom from the suffocating home life, but on the other hand, she felt wary about hiding anything from her mother. Suddenly she heard the sound of wheels coming up behind her, struggling to stay on the ground, and turned to see Mae come rolling up beside her, panting a lot. "Are you okay?" Trisha asked before looking down at her bike and asking, "...where are your training wheels?" "I don't need 'em!" Mae said, "I can do it all on my own!" "Move it slowpokes!" Chaz said, zooming past them on her own bike, skidding in front of them and coming to a stop, making Trisha wobble a bit and making Mae flat out stumble altogether and almost fall over, catching herself only with her foot. "Be careful!" Trisha said as she stopped and helped Mae back up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Chaz said, "but I do think I've got a pretty good shot at getting into the club! I can do all sorts of tricks and I am really steady on my bike. I can even go off a ramp." "I didn't realize you were so athletic," Trisha said as Mae got back onto her bike. "Well, when I wanna be," Chaz replied. "Did you...did you put flame decals on your bike?" Mae asked, struggling to sit on her bike without tipping over, as Chaz looked down, grinning, at what Mae was referencing. "I sure did, now they know I'm wicked cool," she said. "Flame decals make you wicked cool?" Trisha asked. "Everyone knows that, Trish, duh," Chaz replied, turning around and speeding off towards the school, leaving Trisha and Mae alone on the sidewalk. They waited a few moments before glancing at one another, before heading towards the school as well. Mae was having trouble balancing, so Trisha sighed and took her hand, placing it on her own bikes handlebar grip. "Just hold onto this and I'll keep you steady, we'll ride at the same pace, that way you won't break any teeth before class," she said. "I appreciate it," Mae said, "I don't understand why this is so difficult for me, it's not like I have trouble walking on two feet!" "Your feet aren't circular. Also, you fall over all the time." "Okay no more talking." *** The school day passed by rather uneventfully. Come the end of the day, each girls thoughts were consumed by bike club, though all for differing reasons. Trisha, on one hand, wanted to be involved, but on the other hand was scared of going against her mothers wishes of further socialization with her peers. Chaz wanted to be involved but was afraid if she got too invested in it, she'd run the risk of losing her friends to competititveness. Mae wanted to be involved, but Trisha was right, she tripped constantly throughout the day as it was so odds on her riding a bike well weren't looking great, and Allie...well, Allie wanted to be involved but was afraid the other girls would judge her if they knew she was already wearing a training bra. As school let out and the girls headed to the bike rack out front, the only one they didn't see there yet was Allie. Trisha, Chaz and Mae all climbed aboard their bikes, best they could, and headed toward the clearing the club had been spotted in. Mae held onto Trisha's handlebars the whole time, which, yes, gave her steadiness but also made her feel weak. Eventually they reached the club, and lo and behold, Allie was already there. Turns out she'd parked her bike on the opposite side of the school so she could get there sooner than them. "So," the 6th grade girl from the other day, Lauren, said as she rode up to them, "You guys think you can be in our club? How well can each one of you ride?" "I'm a great rider," Chaz said, speeding off towards the club, popping a wheelie, impressing them. Even Lauren looked happy about her skills before turning back to the others and noticed Mae's hand on Trisha's handlebar. "You can't balance, can you?" she asked, and Mae started sweating. "I...I can, yes I can," she said. "Then let go of the handlebar." "I'd rather not." "We don't need little kids who can't ride without training wheels," she said, before looking at Trisha and adding, "and we don't need other kids who protect them like little sisters. This club is for cool kids. Kids who can ride their bikes without crashing and crying." "It's a club where you ride bikes," Trisha said sternly, her voice growing angry, "who cares how each one does it?" "Because your lack of skill makes us look lame," Lauren replied, now glancing at Allie, "...and what's with the sweatshirt? Why are you wearing so many layers?" "...no reason," Allie mumbled. "Sorry, your friend here is pretty good, but she's the only one we really want to include," Lauren said, before turning and riding away slowly, until she heard Allie's voice calling out to her. She came to a quick halt, and turned back towards her, glaring. "You know, you think just cause you're in 6th grade that that makes you more mature, but you're not! Biologically I'm already more mature than you! And maturity is knowing that you don't put someone down or exclude them simply because they don't live up to your weird standards of inane hobbies!" Allie yelled, surprising even Trisha with her vocabulary; she continued, "I'm already wearing a training bra, and I was afraid that that would make you make fun of me for developing early, but you know what? Mae can't even ride without training wheels, and she took them off and came here and that makes her WAY braver than me! I'd rather be part of her club!" Lauren stayed there, parked on her bike, before looking back at Chaz, who was sitting on her bike with Lauren's friends. Lauren smirked. "And what about you?" she asked, nodding at Chaz, "you wanna be part of the baby club over here?" Chaz looked at the girls, then looked back at Lauren, and sighed as she started to roll back towards her friends. As she passed Lauren, she stopped and looked at her, glaring. "I don't wanna ride bikes with someone who can't even treat others nicely," Chaz said, "Yeah, you're good at riding a bike, but you're not good at being a friend." With that, the girls each headed on their way to Mae's house, with her holding Trisha's handlebar the entire way. The way they saw it, they already had a bike club. A better club. A club where they accepted one another for who they were, instead of ostracizing them for their lack of skill in a normal activity. Besides, in their bike club, they didn't have to deal with Lauren, and that was reason enough to be excluded. *** Sitting in her room that night, waiting for Allie's dad to come get her, Mae looked up from the board game they were playing on the floor and bit her lip. "Thanks for standing up for me," she said. "Thanks for not telling anyone I was wearing a training bra or being weird about it," Allie said. "...will you teach me how to balance on a bike?" Mae asked, and Allie smiled, nodding, making her move on the board. "Yeah! We can go to the park near my house, there's never anybody there, and we can ride together! I'll teach you how to balance!" Allie said, "...We should start our own bike club, with a cool name, and maybe leather jackets. All the cool bike clubs have leather jackets." "We could call ourselves the Glittering Blisters," Mae said. "That's...pretty cool, actually," Allie replied, the both of them laughing. The school year was passing them by quickly, but the girls didn't seem to notice. They just noticed the small incidents, the ones that seemed mundane at the time but would, in the future, be the best memories. Whether it was helping a homeschooled girl socialize or forming their own rebellious bike club out of spite, these were the sorts of things childhood memories were formed by. Allie's dad got off late that night, so she let Allie sleep over at Mae's. The following morning, the four of them rode to school together, Mae's training wheels back on her bike, where they belonged. "I'm telling you, we tried it last night and nothing happened," Mae said, "We stood in the bathroom and we said 'Bloody Mary' three times and no blood nor any Mary's ever showed up to haunt us. It's not real. Your cousin's cousin is trying to scare you." "Well I'm gonna punch my cousin's cousin in the face next time I see them," Allie said, making the girls chuckle. "Hey!" Lauren shouted at them from behind, with some of her 6th grade friends riding alongside her. The girls all stopped and turned to look at her as she grinned and pointed at Allie, "Get out of my way New Boobs." The girls stepped aside and let Lauren and her friends ride past. Lauren smirked as her eyes connected to Allie's as they passed by. "Good choice," Lauren said. "You know, you're kinda mean, and I don't know how you have friends unless they're as bad as you are," Allie said. "Yeah, well, you have boobs, so," Lauren replied. "Yeah well in a few years when all the boys start to like me, you'll wish you had them," Allie replied, making Lauren blush as she sped up on her bike and raced off towards the school, her friends in tow, and the girls laughing with Allie at her remark. "That'll teach her to mess with the Glittering Blisters," Mae said. "The WHAT?" Trisha asked. "Don't ask," Allie said. "That's our bike club name! We're gonna get leather jackets!" Mae said, as they continued along the sidewalk to the school. "That's a disgusting name, I'm not gonna be part of a club called that," Trisha said, half laughing. "It's not that gross, that's why I added glittering to it! Makes it prettier!" Mae replied in defense. None of the girls liked physical education, but every year, when the training for the Presidential Fitness Test came around, they liked it even less. Chaz especially, being heavier than the others, really disliked PE, despite generally enjoying doing more physical activities than the others, but she hated being graded for her shortcomings. Sitting on the bleachers in the auditorium, Chaz and Mae were simply watching the others do their training. Chaz had long been excused for PE via doctors note, while Mae had asthma, and so she was fairly excused from it as well.
"What even is the point of this class?" Chaz asked, "I mean, all the other things we learn in school are used in life, like english or math, but what is the point of making us exercise? Is it just to make sure we get exercise? That's dumb, cause we already have recess." "I don't know," Mae said, "All I know is I'm glad I don't have to do it." Trisha came jogging up to the bleachers, kneeling and exhaling, trying to catch her breath. She looked at the girls and tossed her braids back behind her. "How bad is it?" Chaz asked. "It's stupid," Trisha said, "This whole thing is stupid. I already get plenty of exercise, cause my dad takes me on walks regularly!" "He takes you on walks? Like a dog?" Mae asked, making them laugh. "I hate the presidential fitness test," Chaz said softly. "Yeah, well, you're lucky you're able to sit out the training at least," Trisha said. "I would agree except it makes others make fun of me," Chaz said, "They think I'm special cause I don't have to do it, and they make fun of Mae cause she can't breath well. Not being involved isn't as good as it sounds, actually." Suddenly the girls heard a commotion across the auditorium and they all looked at toward the sound, noticing one girl had been shoved to the ground by another. The girl on the ground was screaming, crying, while the other just stood there, looking annoyed. "That's Eliza," said Trisha. "Who?" Chaz and Mae asked in unison. "Eliza Heckle, she sits in the back of the class, she's kind of...uh...not smart?" "Retarded?" Chaz asked. "That's a mean word, that's why I didn't say it," Trisha said, "I prefer the term special." "Why do you prefer it, you're not special," Mae asked, making Trisha smirk. "Why are we doing this inside anyway?" Chaz asked as Allie seated herself on the bleachers behind them and sighed. "Because it's raining outside," she said. "Barely!" Mae replied, "It's barely raining!" They heard more screaming and they all looked towards Eliza, who was now waving her arms at the teachers trying to help her up. They saw their PE teacher, Mrs. Devorka, stand up and look around the auditorium, hands on her hips, until her eyes landed on Mae and Chaz. "Uh oh," Mae said, "We've been spotted." "Girls, come here please," Mrs. Devorka called, and Mae and Chaz groaned, standing up and walking over there, leaving Allie and Trisha alone. Trisha seated herself and waited, still trying to catch her breath. After a minute she looked up at Allie, who smiled at her. "Why were you late?" Trisha asked. "My dad's car had trouble," she said, "I didn't know we were having the training this early in the day." As Mae and Chaz walked up to Mrs. Devorka, her male assistant had finally managed to help Eliza up, who was looking at her shoes and sniffling. "Girls, can you walk with Eliza to the nurses office?" Mrs. Devorka asked, I normally wouldn't ask you to do something like this, but consider it your PE credit. Just take her there and then come back, okay?" "Okay," Chaz said, the three of them heading towards the large double doors that led from the auditorium into the hallway, leaving Allie and Trisha alone in the auditorium. Eliza had short brown curly hair and big braces. To be honest, Mae couldn't remember the last time she'd even heard Eliza speak, and they'd certainly never hung out with her. Walking down the hall, Eliza still wouldn't talk, so Chaz pulled out some candy from her pocket and offered some to Mae and Eliza, which they both graciously accepted. "How do you have pockets in your gym shorts?" Mae asked. "I made pockets in 'em!" Chaz said, "Actually my sister did the sewing, but yeah." "That's so cool." "I like candy, thank you," Eliza said, finally speaking and thus surprising both Chaz and Mae. "You're welcome," Chaz replied, smiling. *** "I have to do a lot of stuff around the trailer, so I get plenty of exercise," Allie said, she and Trisha now standing near a rope to climb as Trisha prepared to climb up; Allie followed up with, "but you say you go for walks?" "Yeah, daily, I pull my little sister in a wagon," she said, "Sometimes dad takes us to a park and we play on the playground there. We get a lot of exercise, that's why this isn't that bad for me. What kinda stuff do you have to do around the trailer?" "Mostly cleaning, but hey, it keeps me active," Allie said, shrugging as Trisha grabbed the rope and started climbing. Allie stayed at the bottom, counting on the stopwatch how long it'd take, and occasionally glancing up, spotting her to make sure she wasn't falling. After a few minutes, Trisha came back down, holding the flag she'd gotten at the top in her teeth. She then handed it to Allie, who then prepared to climb. "My dad tells me that exercise is important, but I also just like being outside and doing things," Trisha said, "One of my favorite things about my church is how often we do outdoor activities. I just like being outside. I don't mind exercise either, but I genuinely like being outside." "Being outside's alright," Allie said, grabbing the rope and putting the flag in her teeth as she started to climb, adding, "but we're not outside right now, so I think it's fair to be mad about it." Trisha found it hard to argue with that. Sure, it was raining, but there was just something wrong about doing PE indoors. *** "Why did that girl push you?" Chaz asked, chewing on the candy she'd eaten. "I don't know, she doesn't like being paired with me," Eliza said, "She just hates me. Everyone hates me." "That's not true, we don't hate you," Mae said, "and I'm sure your mom doesn't hate you." Eliza didn't respond, she just kept chewing her candy as the girls continued down the hall to the nurses office. After a minute or so of silence, Eliza sighed. "I just wish I could do what the other kids do," Eliza said, "It isn't fair. I can't do things they can do. I'm not able to do things like PE and even maths and even fail each spelling test." "You're able to talk fine," Mae said, "and math is stupid anyway." "Yeah, you don't seem like you have trouble," Chaz said. "That's because I have a good speech therapist," Eliza said, "but when it comes to thinking, I'm not able to think very well. So when I'm faced with a test or something, or even physical stuff, I do really badly. Everyone always makes fun of me for it." "Well, we won't," Chaz said. Eliza didn't respond to this, but she let this acceptance warm her insides. As they reached the nurses office, they entered, told the nurse why they were there, and left Eliza with another piece of candy, telling her she could talk to them anytime. Chaz and Mae exited the nurses office and each exhaled deeply before looking at one another. "...wow..." Chaz said, "and to think we don't fit in." "She has it so much worse," Mae said. They started to head back to the auditorium, but Mae couldn't help but think about Eliza. She herself had had trouble in school, especially early on when learning how to read. She'd never told any of the other girls this, but she'd needed a private tutor to help her learn how to read. Now, of course, she was the best reader amongst them, but it was still a secret shame to her. She could relate to Eliza in a way, because she felt like they were perhaps opposite sides of the same coin, and if things were just slightly different, she'd be the one everyone made fun of instead of ignoring outright. That, coupled with her complete and utter inability to be remotely successful in math made her feel very close to Eliza. "...I'm glad we don't have to do PE," Mae said quietly. "Yeah, it'd be really awful to suck at something else," Chaz said, making Mae laugh. At least she had her friends, she thought. *** "Cheerleading?!" Allie said, almost sounding indignant. "Yeah, what about it?" Trisha asked, "It's good exercise! I always thought that, when we got to high school, I might join the cheerleading squad because it makes others happy and it keeps you in good shape. What's so wrong with cheerleading?" "Only everything," Allie said coldly, making Trisha laugh. Just then she noticed Mae and Chaz had sidled up beside her, and they all nodded at one another, while they sat back down on the bleachers. While Allie, Trisha and Chaz continued to talk about Trisha's surprising interest in cheerleading, Mae couldn't help but think back to Eliza. She knew she wasn't "special" in the same sense, but she couldn't help but feel like she could relate on some level. When her mother picked her up after school that day, Mae was sitting in the passenger seat of the car and thought long and hard as they headed home, before finally looking at her mother and asking "Am I mentally challenged?" This surprised Juliet, who laughed almost nervously before pulling the car over to the side of the road and parked. She sighed and looked at Mae, then pushed her hair back and slumped forward. "Um, no, not challenged, not in the traditional sense anyway. What...what brought this up?" Juliet asked. "Today at school this mentally challenged girl had to go to the nurse, and she just seemed...so much like...me," Mae said, "I had trouble learning how to read and I can't do math and-" "Lots of kids have those problems, Mae," Juliet said, "but we...when you were born we were afraid because your umbilical cord was wrapped around your neck and you weren't breathing, and at first we thought maybe you'd choked to death but once you were fine we forgot about it until you started having problems. It's entirely possible that that lack of oxygen to your brain, even if only briefly, was damaging. We had some tests run, and the only thing we learned was that you were on the autistic spectrum." "...what's that?" Mae asked. "It's like, it's why you can't have tags in your shirt or can't have your food touch on your plate or why you do the same things over and over again. Repetition is calming to you. You like organization. So no, you're not challenged, not in the same way other kids might be, but you're not like everyone else either, but you know what? That's fine. That's what makes you you, and your father and I wouldn't want it any other way. We love you because you're how you are." Mae blushed and looked at her hands, trying not to cry. "Thanks mom," she whispered. "Of course," she said, leaning over and kissing her on the head. Mae was special, just not in the way she thought. Not in the way people used the word negatively, and that made her feel good. *** The next day, during PE for more Presidential Fitness Test training, Mae took Trisha's attitude and decided to, even in spite of her asthma, try to do some of the training. She wasn't going to let herself become a target by sitting around and doing nothing, and, unlike Eliza, at least she wasn't paired with people who didn't like her. She had friends, best friends, and she was grateful for that. So Mae climbed the ropes, Mae did the stretches, Mae did the jogging, and then, at the end of the class, Mae found Eliza and told her that, if she ever wanted to, she could hang out with her and her friends. Because Mae knew what it was like, to feel that alone, to feel that different. She didn't want anyone else to feel that way. Eliza did, in fact, eat lunch with them that day and played with them at recess, and she had to best time of her life, and when she got picked up after school that day - despite hating PE - and her mom asked how her day was, Eliza just smiled and said it was good. "I made friends!" she said brightly. "I don't even celebrate Christmas," Mae whined, "I should be exempt from this."
"But it brings in money for the school," Trisha said, "Isn't that a good cause?" "Why's that our responsibility? We're kids!" Allie replied, making Chaz and Mae laugh in agreement. The annual wrapping sale was once again upon them. Every year, the school sent each kid home with an armful of catalogues and a small book of samples of wrapping paper to show to potential buyers. The children were expected to go around their neighborhoods and try and sell as much wrapping paper as possible, in order to pay for certain school activities, equipment and to fund the usual holiday field trip, and every year the girls had participated, but as they got older, Mae had become irritated at how little her own religion was seemingly ignored. Not that she was a particularly religious person by any means, but she'd begun to feel like the token minority. Then again, Trisha's family was Mormon, so maybe she wasn't the only one who felt this way. Even still, however, Trisha's family celebrated the holiday, while Mae's family only celebrated Hanukkah. "I don't even get to go on the field trip, so I know what you mean about not feeling motivated," Trisha said, "My mom never lets me go, and it's always upsetting." "I bet I know how we could make it more entertaining," Allie said, "Let's make it a contest." "What do we get if we win?" Chaz asked. "We'll split into teams, and whichever team sells the most gift wrap gets the present they want the most, money permitting," Allie said, "Obviously you can't ask for something like a boat." "That sounds fair," Mae said, "Who's on whose team?" "Well, since you and Trisha celebrate different religions, you two team up, and Charlize and I will team up against you," Allie said, "And we can only go within a five block radius, so that limits our sales to be equal. Does that sound fair?" The girls all nodded in agreement. Trisha and Mae gathered their things - their backpacks and materials - and headed out in one direction from Mae's garage while Allie and Chaz headed out the other. As Trisha and Mae walked down the street, carting along with them their required equipment, they couldn't help but feel a certain companionship in one another, thanks to, as Allie had put it so gracefully, being of different religions. "Why won't your mom let you go on the field trip?" Mae asked. "I don't know," Trisha replied, shrugging, "I think she thinks that if I spend too much time with kids my own age, without her around, that I'll start to act like them, but that's ridiculous. I only wanna act like me. She's so untrustworthy of everyone." "That stinks," Mae said, "But at least at school you get to hang out with whoever you want." "Yeah, that does make life kind of better." The first house the girls stopped at was Mrs. Kwans, only a few houses down the street from where they'd started. Trisha and Mae sighed, prepared and headed up the front porch steps and knocked on the door. As it swing upon, Trisha smiled brightly and held up the catalogue, her voice chipper. "Hello Mrs. Kwan, we're looking to sell some wrapping paper for a school trip for the holidays, would you be interested?" she asked. As Mrs. Kwan let them inside, Trisha couldn't help but feel like she was always a salesgirl, always pretending to sell others things they needed when they didn't. Like her own mother, for example. She wanted to give her the perfect Mormon daughter, but in actuality, she was beginning to feel further and further from such a thing. She didn't mind being Mormon, that wasn't the problem. The problem was being perfect. *** "This one's got dogs," Chaz said, pointing at a piece in the sample book as she sat on the couch beside Allie and an elderly couple, the Krantz's. They had been given candy upon entrance, and the couple seemed genuinely happy to have kids around, which the girls felt gave them an edge over the competition. "Do you have anything that's more holiday themed? The dogs are cute and all, but I like to keep my wrapping in line with the theme of the month," Mrs. Krantz said. "Yeah, maybe something with Santa on it," Mr. Krantz added. "We sure do!" Allie said, turning a few pages and pointing, "See? Here's Santa all over this bad boy, and we also have this one with little bells all over it, or this one with candy canes." "Oh, I like the bells," Mrs. Krantz said, pulling the booklet closer and admiring the paper, "That one's extremely pretty. I think I'd like that one." The first house they'd been to and they'd already made a sale! After they took down the information and left, Allie and Chaz continued down the sidewalk, but something made Chaz feel uncomfortable. Allie, still sucking on the candy they'd been given, glanced over at her friend. "What's going on?" "I don't know...seeing old people at the holidays makes me miss my grandparents," Chaz said, "They're not dead or anything, but I don't get to see them very often, except at the holidays. I wonder how weird it must be to live that old and have your kids leave the house, and then I think about my own mom and how my sister and I are totally gonna do that to her and it makes me feel bad." "You can't just live at home your whole life," Allie said, "I mean, you can, but it makes you a weirdo to everyone. Your mom will be fine. It's not like you're gonna move far away or anything, you know? You'll still see her. Besides, that's, like, years and years away!" "I know but when I think about it, about my dad and...it scares me," Chaz said. "I'm sorry," Allie said, "I guess I don't get scared by it cause I wanna get out. I can't wait to be old enough to move out and have my own place and my own life. I hate living in a trailer. I know it's as good as my dad can give me, and I should be thankful and I am, but...then I go to Mae's house or something and it feels so unfair. Not that that's her fault her parents are richer, but...it's hard to explain." "Forget it," Chaz said, stopping at another house, "Come on, let's sell another roll." *** Trisha and Mae sat on the curb outside the 4th house, having only sold one roll and even then not to someone who needed it but to someone who clearly felt bad for them. Mae offered Trisha some gum, but she politely declined and continued flipping through the pages of the sample book, looking at the papers. "All I wanted to do was go on the field trip," Trisha said, "I thought that, maybe, if I sold enough, proved to my mom that I cared enough to win this, that that might prove to her how important it was to me but I don't think I can sell that much and I don't think she'd ever even understand." Mae felt bad. She got to go on trips all the time, and not just field trips but trips across country and to other states even. She often forgot that other kids, like Trisha, led such sheltered lives, all thanks to the bizarre fears of their parents. She sighed and looked at her shoes as she stretched her legs out into the street. "You know," Mae said, "I could maybe get my mom to chaperone, and then maybe you could go, because your mom likes my mom, and maybe if my mom was with us, your mom wouldn't feel as worried." Trisha looked at Mae, her eyebrows raising. "You'd do that? Wouldn't that be awkward, to have your mom around?" she asked. "I mean, whatever," Mae said, "It'd be worth it to have you with us." Trisha wanted to cry. She was so lucky to have such good friends, and she wanted to hug Mae. After a moment of composing herself, she smiled and nodded, agreeing to the idea. The girls stood up and looked at a house across the street. "Let's try them," Mae said, pointing at the house as Trisha picked up their things; she added, "They're pretty rich, they have a pool and jacuzzi so I think they'll be more willing to waste money on something dumb and unnecessary like wrapping paper." She took Trisha's hand and, together, they crossed the street. *** "We sold 17 rolls," Chaz said, "Can you believe that? 17 rolls! That's nuts!" "We did SO well!" Allie said, the two high fiving as they waited inside Mae's garage for Mae and Trisha to return. Turned out Allie and Chaz wound up being a particularly solid teamup, and in the end, they'd not only managed to sell to almost every house in their radius but in some cases multiple rolls to the same household. They were going to win this things hands down, that much they were certain of, but it wasn't until Trisha and Mae came walking up the driveway that it dawned on them just how much a shutout this actually was. "What do you mean you sold nothing?" Allie asked, "You sold nothing nothing? Like, absolutely nothing at all? That's...how did you manage to do that?" "That's actually almost more impressive somehow," Chaz said, making Allie snicker. Trisha didn't respond. She just walked past them and into Mae's house to get a juice box from the fridge as Mae sat down on the garage floor, Allie sitting across from her. After the door closed behind Trisha, Allie finally looked at Mae and sighed. "She really wanted to win, huh?" Allie asked. "Actually she just wanted to go on the field trip," Mae said, "I think maybe if she won, she could prove to her mom that it mattered to her, and that might convince her, but we didn't manage to sell a single roll and now she's really sad. I feel awful." "...well, why don't we tell her mom that we all sold these together, and that we did it for Trisha?" Chaz asked. "What?" Allie and Mae responded in unison. "Yeah, I mean, if she wanted to go that badly, maybe we should do this for her, like a...a holiday gift or whatever," Chaz said, "I mean, let's face it. none of us have to convince our parents. Trisha's the only one who has trouble getting her mom to agree to things that the rest of us just get to do and that sucks. Maybe if when her mom comes to get her, we show her the papers and tell her how we did our best so Trisha could convince her the trip mattered that much to her, it would be enough." Mae and Allie exchanged a glance and nodded. This might just work, they thought. So, sure enough, when Trisha's mom, Alice, finally came to pick her up, the girls stopped her in the garage and showed her the papers and the proof of rolls sold. They even got Juliet, Mae's mother, to participate, and explain that she'd agreed to be a chaperone on the trip. Alice was, as expected, hesitant as hell, but in the end, she appreciated the effort the girls had gone through for her daughter, and reluctantly agreed to let her go on the trip. To say that Trisha was happy was an understatement, she was beyond ecstatic, though she tried hard to hide it. When the time for the trip came, the girls each packed their bags and, after piling into the car with Juliet, drove up to the area the school bus was headed. It was just a little hotel near the mountains, where it was holiday themed and they had activities the kids could participate in throughout the weekend, and it was everything Trisha could've hoped it would be. Yes, this was going to be the best Christmas ever. *** One morning, on one of the last days, Mae and Trisha got cocoa in the morning with breakfast and sat outside, watching their classmates have snowball fights and such. Allie and Chaz were still asleep, and Juliet was chaperoning the other kids, so Trisha and Mae had a moment of peace. After sipping her cocoa for a bit, Trisha wiped her mouth on her sleeve and looked at Mae. "Thanks," she said quietly, "...thanks a lot, this means so much that you guys did this for me." "Well," Mae said, "I get to go on all sorts of trips, and the other girls don't have to convince their parents to do things, so we figured we should do something nice for you. You guys have celebrated Hanukkah with me sometimes, so it made sense to do this for you." "Do you feel weird, you know, being a different religion?" Trisha asked, and Mae shrugged. "Not really," she responded, "I like being Jewish, and I like that I'm not the only one who's different, cause you're Mormon. It makes me feel like we understand eachother better than the others understand us, you know? But this trip isn't about religion, it's about the holidays in general, and we should all get to celebrate that with our friends." Trisha nodded, smiling and going back to her cocoa. The girls each came from a different household with differing religious beliefs, but in the end, they put those aside because friendship mattered more. Friendship was the real religion, and it was one they al loved to participate in. On the last day of the trip, Trisha bought Mae a Dreidel from the gift shop - small and wooden with blue carvings - and Mae appreciated that small token of kindness so much that she taught all the girls how to play. After all, the holidays weren't about religion, were they? They were about being together, and that's all the girls really cared about. Mae pulled the front door open just to see Allie standing there. Allie was dressed as a Ninja, and Mae was dressed as a Witch. The two girls stared at one another momentarily, before Mae stepped aside and let Allie enter the house.
"Weren't you a witch last year?" Allie asked. "I'm a witch every year," Mae said, "I find it easier to just pick one costume and stick with it. Saves on stress." "That...makes sense, actually," Allie replied, as Mae's mother, Juliet, walked into the area holding a camera in one hand and a bowl of candy in another. She smiled and waved at Allie, who happily greeted her back. Juliet set the bowl on the kitchen table and then turned to face the girls. "So," she said, "Where's Trisha and Chaz?" "They'll be here soon hopefully," Allie said, "I really wanna get going." "Do you know what their costumes are?" Mae asked, and Allie shook her head. "Nope," she said, "Trisha is probably something safe that her mother allowed, and Chaz is probably something ridiculous, as always." Just as Allie said this, another knock came to the door. Mae went back and pulled it open, and there stood Chaz, dressed as a hockey player. Mae once more stepped aside and let Chaz enter, just as a car pulled up alongside the curb and Mae saw Trisha and her mother get out and head up the walk towards the door. Juliet came to the door to greet Alice, as Trisha - dressed as a Ballerina - made her way inside the house. "They'll be fine, yeah?" Alice asked, chewing her lip nervously. "They'll be perfectly fine, they're just going down the street and around the block. Especially in a group, they'll be okay. Are you going to be fine?" Juliet asked, making Alice smirk. "That's a big question," she replied, sighing as she folded her arms, "I just...I worry about her, you know. The world is a sick place and they're young girls, they could easily...I don't know. I just worry. I know I shouldn't, I know I drive myself crazy worrying, but I worry nonetheless." "You're a mom, it's normal to worry," Juliet said, "The girls will be back here no later than 9pm, and you can come pick Trisha up then, okay? Or, Alice, if you want...you could just stick around the house and help me hand out candy. Lord knows I could use the company considering my husband is working tonight." "He's working on Halloween?" "Shooting a party," Juliet said, "A birthday party, specifically." Alice hesitated, then nodded and smiled. "Oh what the heck, sure, I'll hang out here," she said, "Better than going home and worrying." As the girls gathered their bags for candy and headed to the front door, Juliet knelt in front of Mae, grabbing her gently by the shoulder and turning her to face her. She then signaled for the other girls to look at her as well, which they did. Juliet cleared her throat and spoke. "Okay girls, here's the deal. Be back here by 9pm, more or less, and be careful. Aside from the houses you knock at, don't talk to anyone, and look out for one another, okay? Halloween can be...weird, sometimes, so just try and stick together as a group, alright?" "Okay," the girls all said in unison before turning and heading out across the lawn and onto the sidewalk. Juliet and Alice stood at the doorway, watching as the girls headed down the street and disappeared past the bushes. Juliet sighed. She was nervous too, though she'd never admit it, but she had enough confidence in her daughter and her friends to stay safe. After all, it was only Halloween. *** "What do you mean we're not going trick or treating?" Chaz asked, and Allie smirked. "April told me about her older sisters Halloween party. We're gonna do that instead," Allie said, with Mae nodding in agreement. Trisha shook her head. "No, no way, I told my mom I'd be trick or treating and that's what I intend to do," she said. "We're gonna go together, and we can trick or treat on the way there and back. It's only another block away," Mae said, "Think about it you guys, older kids, with probably better candy, and we can just go because we know April. I mean, we're not really friends with her, but we could just show up anyway." "I don't even like April, she's mean and snobby," Trisha replied. "Well this is what we're doing. We planned this out a week ago," Allie said. "Then why didn't you tell us then?" Chaz asked. "Because if we had, you might not have come over tonight," Allie said, "That's why it was a surprise." Trisha and Chaz exchanged a nervous glance, but they knew Allie and Mae wouldn't take them somewhere dangerous. They had faith in their friends. After a brief moment, Chaz finally relented and agreed to go, but as they started to walk off, Mae noticed Trisha was not following them. She turned back and walked to her, lowering her voice. "It'll be okay, it'll be fun," Mae said, "I won't leave your side the entire time, okay?" Trisha smiled weakly at this attempt at comfort, and then exhaled, nodding. Taking her by the hand, Trisha walked with Mae back to the other girls, and all together they began heading the opposite direction, towards a block they rarely went on. They were heading to April Palmer's house for her older sisters Halloween party, and it was a night they wouldn't soon forget. *** "Everything is so sexualized now," Alice said, sitting at the kitchen table and unwrapping then eating half of an Almond Joy; after she finished chewing, she spoke again, saying, "And I know I go to church and all that but I don't think any mother would argue with me that this holiday has been turned into something completely grotesque for young women." "No, I certainly won't argue with you," Juliet said, standing at the kitchen counter, pouring them both glasses of wine; she continued, "I remember when I was 14, I wanted to be a genie for Halloween, and my mom said that the costume was too revealing. But the thing was, I didn't argue with her because I wanted to look attractive, I argued with her because it was Halloween and I wanted to be a genie. The sexualization of it never even remotely crossed my mind." "When we went to get Trisha's costume, I saw a girl maybe a year or two older than her who was begging her mother - who eventually relented to the pressure, might I add - to let her be a cat. Not just like a cute cat or anything, but a skintight leotard, leaving nothing to the imagination, form fitting. Clearly something a young girl should not be wearing." "It's the culture, Alice, all we can do is fight it but we'll never win, even if we're right," Juliet said, bringing the glasses of wine to the table and sitting down, handing one to Alice as she lifted her own to her lips and added, "So you do what you can, you try and teach them right from wrong and you just have faith in them. You got faith in God, put some of that faith in your daughter." Alice smiled a little. Juliet was one of the only parents at the school who would talk to her, and she appreciated it. At times, she even felt bad for thinking Mae was a bad influence on Trisha, because clearly she came from a good home with a good mom. How bad an influence could she be, really? *** April Palmer's family lived in almost the same neighborhood as Mae's, though April's was slightly more upperclass, despite being just a few blocks away. The lawns were perfectly kept, the shrubs were always trimmed, and the houses were far more decadent. As the girls walked down the sidewalk, passing by nice cars and little rich kids in their expensive costumes, they couldn't help but feel somewhat out of place, especially Allie, who lived in a trailer park. "What house is Aprils?" Chaz asked. "It's the third to last on the right side of the street," Mae said, "Last year when we had to sell magazine subscriptions I wound up selling something to her older sister, so that's why I even know." As they got to the house, it was apparent that the party was bigger than any of them had anticipated. April lived in a two story house, with a two car garage, a pool in the backyard and a trellis with ivy growing up the side of the house. Your stereotypical rich house, for better or worse, and it was a sight to behold. Some of the kids were out on the front patio, playing music and eating candy. April's sister was in 7th grade, so these were fairly older kids than the girls were normally around, and that made them all admittedly somewhat uncomfortable, but they decided to continue up the walkway and up the stairs. As they reached the front door, each girl pushed their way past some kids coming out, until all of then except Allie was indoors. Allie only stopped because she heard someone call to her, and she spun around to face a 7th grade boy sitting on the porch rail, waving at her to come over. She cautiously approached, not telling the girls she wasn't with them, and walked up to him. "What are you doing here?" he asked, "You don't look like a 7th grader." "I'm not," she said, "I'm in 4th grade." "You know Laura's little sister, right?" "Kind of," Allie said, "Um, we're in the same class, but we're not exactly friends." "So, what, you guys are crashing this party? That's pretty cool for grade school kids," the boy said, "I'm Trevor." "Allie," Allie said. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad night after all. She'd already made a new friend. Inside, Mae, Trisha and Chaz wound up near the kitchen, where the kids were sitting around with a Ouija Board at the table, the lights dimmed. There were sets of paper cups on the counter next to countless bottles of varying sodas, and Mae got them all a cup of soda before they went to the table and watched as some girls attempted to communicate unsuccessfully with a spirit. "My mom says that the dead shouldn't be disturbed," Trisha said. "Your mom also says if you watch an R rated movie you'll go to hell, so," Chaz said, making Mae chuckle. "I don't like to question her, but I am starting to think that what she considers sins and what God considers sins don't exactly line up," Trisha said, making all three of them laugh more as they each sipped their soda from the cups. Trisha finished her soda and decided to go get herself some more. As she stood at the counter and poured some of the soda into her cup, she heard someone sidle up beside her and glanced to her right to see a boy standing beside her, grabbing a handful of candy from the bowl and shoving them into his sweatshirt pocket. "Hi," she said meekly. "Hello," he said. "You know, that much candy will probably make you sick later," Trisha said, before furrowing her brow and adding, "...you don't look like a 7th grader." "I'm not," he laughed, "I'm in 9th grade. I'm April and Laura's cousin from across town. I just decided to come here cause none of my friends were available tonight, so. You also don't look like you're in 7th grade." "I'm not," she replied, also laughing, "I'm in 4th grade. I kinda sorta know April." "Cool, cool," the boy said, leaning against the counter and unwrapping a candy, biting into it as he pushed his hair from his eyes and added, "does your mom know you're at a party like this?" "Nope," Trisha said, leaning against the counter too, sipping her soda; after finishing she added, "she'd probably lose her mind if she knew." "I like your costume. Ballerina? That's nice. Very classy," the boy said. Trisha blushed. She had to admit, she was coming around to this idea. *** "Happy Halloween!" Alice and Juliet shouted as they waved at the mom walking her little kids away from the house, smiling back at them. Alice sighed and shook her head as Juliet poured some more wine into their glasses. They had moved out onto the front porch to better hand out candy and take in the cute costumes from the neighborhood children. "I swear," Alice said as she picked up her glass, "It was so much easier when they were younger, and they're not even old yet. God. I can't even imagine what it'll be like when they're actual teenagers." "At least they have one another. I didn't have like as close a friend group growing up as they are with eachother," Juliet said, "That already makes things safer for them. But I agree, I miss when Mae was in, like, 1st grade." "At least your husband works from home most of the time," Alice said. "Pffft, like he's much help even when he's here," Juliet said, "He's always focused on work even when he's still here. It's exhausting feeling like a single parent when you're not." "I hear that," Alice said. Another group of kids, who all looked like they were in kindergarten, approached the porch and shouted trick or treat as they held their bags open. Alice and Juliet couldn't contain their joy at the cuteness, and dug into the candy bowl to give the kids handfuls of sweets. *** "You want one?" Trevor asked, holding open his cigarette box, but Allie shook her head. "No thanks," she said. "S'cool," Trevor said, shutting it and pushing it back into his shirt pocket, saying, "I stole 'em from my dad." "Aren't you a bit young to be smoking?" Allie asked, making him laugh. "I mean, probably," he said, "but who cares. Half the kids here are doing things they shouldn't be. Why do you think this party is even going on? Cause Laura's parents don't care what she and her friends do. That's why there's always something happening here, even if it seems low key." "Low key?" "You know, like, chill." "Oh." "There's always some kind of make out session happening somewhere or some weird pool party thing," Trevor said, "but I don't like Laura all that much, to be honest. I think she's stuck up and snobby. Her parents are so rich they never have to think about the people who are in worse situations. Like, I live in a trailer park across town-" "Me too!" "-right, so you know what it's like, to, like, know richer families who take everything for granted while people like us struggle to just have what we have. Sometimes I don't know if I'm gonna get dinner that night, meanwhile these kids are eating pork roast and fancy potatoes every single evening. They never give kids like us a second thought." "...I...I guess, but I have a friend who's kind of wealthy and she's not stuck up," Allie said, making Trevor shrug as he took a drag off his cigarette and then exhaled the smoke away from Allie. "I mean, it doesn't affect everyone," he said, "so consider yourself and your friend lucky. This is why, when I get older, I'm gonna go into politics and make sure that everyone gets represented. Help make sure nobody is poor anymore, and that everyone has equal options and chances." "That sounds cool," Allie said, "My dad works so hard and it's almost never enough." "And that's the problem," Trevor said, "it doesn't matter what someone does or how much they do, everyone deserves an equal share." Allie nodded. She hadn't expected a lesson in theoretical economics and classism when she agreed to come here, but it was something that would greatly affect her viewpoint of the world from there on out. Sadly, Trisha would have a similar, albeit less positive, experience that night. Trisha followed the high school boy, Evan, out to the pool area and immediately appreciated how it dulled the pounding rock music from inside. She could hear herself think again, and she was happy with that. Trisha sat down on a chaise lounge by the pool and kicked her ballet shoes off, stretching her feet. Evan sat down on the lounge beside her and popped another bite sized chocolate into his mouth, eating it as Trisha leaned back and exhaled. Maybe she'd been nervous for no reason, maybe everything wasn't as bad as her mom made it sound. Suddenly, and seemingly without any provocation, she felt Evan put his hand on her leg and push his face against her neck, making Trisha leap up, screaming. At first, she wasn't even sure what exactly had just happened, and she had to take a moment to regain her composure. "What...why did you-" "I don't know, you look cute," Evan said, shrugging. "I'm in 4th grade! Gross!" Trisha shouted, the sliding glass door to the house opening up and two girls coming out, one of which Trisha automatically recognized as Laura, April's older sister, because she'd met her before at the school. "What's going on? We heard someone scream," Laura asked. "This guy tried to kiss me!" Trisha said loudly, pointing at Evan. "Evan, again?!" Laura asked, sounding irate now, adding, "This is why we didn't invite you! You keep doing this and it's so not cool! Get out of our house or I'm calling your mom and telling her!" Evan groaned, stood up and briskly exited through the back gate. Trisha sat back down on the chaise lounge, feeling nervous as Laura and her friend sat beside her. Laura rubbed Trisha's back as her friend offered Trisha a piece of candy, which she took. "I am, like, so sorry," Laura said, "He's done this a number of times, and it's getting worrisome. You're okay, right? He didn't actually do anything did he?" "He put his face against my neck," Trisha mumbled. "Gross, dude," Laura's friend said under her breath. "You have to be careful," Laura said, "Guys can be weird and creepy. I'm so sorry, again. Do you want us to take you home or-" "No, it's...it's okay, thank you," Trisha said, slipping her ballet shoes back on and, somewhat dazed, stood up and thanked them again before heading indoors to find Mae and Chaz, who were now involved in the Ouija Board. After Trisha tapped Mae on the shoulder and Mae turned to see her almost in tears, she slapped Chaz on the arm and the three of them headed out of the house to the front lawn. As they passed by, they motioned for Allie to join them. Allie looked at Trevor and shrugged. "Guess I gotta go," she said, "Thanks for talking to me." "You bet, and hey, fight the man, alright," Trevor said, holding his fist out and Allie fist bumped it, laughing before running after her friends. As they got to the sidewalk, Allie stopped and caught her breath. "What's going on?" she asked. "Can we just go trick or treating now?" Trisha asked quietly, and none of the girls wanted to ask what was wrong, so they all just agreed unanimously to go trick or treating. It was only 7pm, they still had plenty of time to get candy, and make Trisha feel better. As the girls headed down the walk, Mae felt awful. All she'd wanted to do was try something different for Halloween, but all this experience had taught her was that change, change of any kind, was never good. *** "My dentist is gonna be SO MAD at me," Alice said, making Juliet laugh. Both women were somewhat wine drunk now, a surprising thing for Alice to partake in but it was a holiday of sorts, and sitting on the front porch, eating the remaining candy from the bowl. "God," Juliet said, "this is like the only acceptable night to eat nothing but chocolate, and I'm gonna feel so sick tomorrow but it's so worth it. Pairing it with wine was also probably a huge mistake, but a woman's gotta live a little now and then." Alice sighed and leaned against Juliet, shutting her eyes momentarily. Her voice lowered when she finally spoke again. "...thank you for making me see not everything has to be terrifying," she said. "Everyone needs a reminder now and then," Juliet replied. Just then, the girls came up the lawn, Trisha trailing in the back. Allie and Chaz were in the front, comparing their candy haul, as Mae slowed down her pace to keep back with Trisha and try and talk to her. "Are you okay?" Mae asked, and Trisha shrugged. "I just wanna go home," she said quietly. Alice stood up and hugged Trisha, then thanked Juliet and the girls again before leading Trisha to the car. They only lived a few blocks away, so it was safe to say they'd make it home just fine. Juliet picked up the candy bowl, the near empty bottle of wine and led Chaz inside. Allie approached Mae, who was watching as Trisha drove away, and she felt a great deal of sadness in her heart. For once since they'd been friends, something terrible had happened - something that had been partially her fault since she was the one who suggested they go to this party - and Trisha wouldn't talk to her about it. For some reason, Mae got the feeling their friendship was somewhat damaged now. "Do you wanna go in and trade candy and watch movies?" Allie asked. "...okay," Mae replied quietly. "Happy Halloween," Allie said, putting her arm around her friends shoulders, making her perk up a bit. "Happy Halloween," she said back, smiling weakly now. "Guys, guys! Get in here! I got a whole Crunch bar!" Chaz shouted from the door. Halloween was always the girls favorite holiday, but this one was one they wouldn't remember with much fondness, especially Mae and Trisha. Sometimes you got treats. And sometimes you got tricks. |
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FANNYPACK follows 4 girls - Chaz, Allie, Trisha and Mae - in the 90s as they deal with adolescence and friendship. Archives
December 2022
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