Page 23 of Scars Like Wings
“Oh, we are going to be some dangerous friends,” I winked at Thompson.
“You two will be the death of me, actually,” Everett groaned. “Byrdie, didn’t you say your friends were on the way? Shouldn’t you get ready?”
“Nooo, what about dinner? I can’t go to a party starving! I’m wasting away!” I placed a hand on my forehead dramatically.
“No worries, doll,” Thompson waved his hand. In a swirl of green magic, a cabinet opened and pulled out five plates. Each pasta—which were still magically steaming hot—started to pile on them, along with various meats and breads. Once a nice sampling of everything was on each plate, foil wrapped itself over each and found a space on the counter to sit in front of five barstools. Then the magic enveloped Thompson like an intense fog. When it lifted, the apron was gone, and he was now in a t-shirt and joggers.
“Now, that’s a power I desperately need.”
“Girlie, with your fashion sense already givingandserving? You would become unstoppable if you were a magical entity, too.”
“The last thing this menace needs is magic. You’ll see.”
“Hey—!” I was about to quip when my phone vibrated in my back pocket. It was a “Here” text from Maisie. I smiled.
This was going to make the whole day worth it, and I couldn’t wait.
Now, for the party to really begin.
Honeysuckle
Anything I may have rehearsed to say after so much time apart escaped me as soon as I saw them. Being my best friends, I could tell the same thing happened to them as we all shouted upon seeing each other.
“OH MY GODS!”
There stood Simone and Marceline, my best friends since I was fifteen. In the over twelve years since, our friendship had been forged in the fires of drama and trauma between high school, undergrad, most of grad school, jobs, partners, family, and more together. We had supported each other through every tear, laugh, late night poor decision, and success. Time, distance, significant others, nothing would ever truly separate us.
Before me on my left, Simone Everly Thalassa stood with her ever-present smile that always glowed warmly with or without makeup. She had dark sepia skin with black freckles making constellations all over. She was thicker and fatter than me, as well as taller than me at five-foot-three. Her usually evergreen kinky curls were straightened and curled in large beach waves tonight. Her lips weren’t yet glossy, her stormy blue-gray eyes not yet shaded in vibrant color, and her cheeks not glittering and blushing, but I was sure she was going to do a similar lookfor tonight. Peeking under her Janet Jackson t-shirt and short shorts, royal purple and sunshine yellow scales shimmered in patches like tattoos on her large, dimpled thighs, with other patches on her knees, ankles, and feet. They were the only hint of her true nature when she was on land, as if her mermaidness was like sand after a long beach day that refused to wash away.
On my right, there was Marceline Repond. Maisie was at least six feet tall, and she constantly and hilariously reminded me that I was the shortest one in our friend group at a little under five-foot-one. She was Japanese-American, with her mom being white and her dad being a third-generation Japanese-American. Maisie was slim-thick, like an Insta-model, with a slim waist, wide hips, thick thighs, and a nice ass and boobs. And she never shied away from showing her body off and how much more tatted she was than me from neck to toe. Her dark brown shoulder-length hair was full of feathered layers and bleached silver ends. Her eyes were a shade of brown so dark they were almost black. She had a singular Marilyn Monroe piercing on her face, but her ears were pierced to high heaven with every piercing possible. Her long coffin-shaped nails were a shiny chrome silver tonight with a raised chain link pattern going across them, but she could snap her fingers at any moment and change the colors and designs. Perks of being a witch.
Simone, Maisie, and I embraced tightly. I could feel the love that I had missed from them from over a month apart. It felt like it lasted forever in a good way until Simone made all of us pull back, bouncing gleefully on the balls of her feet.
“Ohmigods, ohmigods, ohmigods! I missed you both so much! Let’s promise to never be apart for that long ever again!” Simone exclaimed. Maisie often joked that Simone talked in exclamation points. Twinged with a slight Southern accent, Simone’s voice was welcoming and warm like the ocean waves on a beach when you first arrive on vacation.
“And it wasn’t even worth it. I don’t even know why I went.” Maisie rolled her eyes, her voice deep and husky as always.
“Trust me, things haven’t been much better back here.” I shook my head.
“Well, well, well, hi, strangers,” Everett greeted as he leaned away from the counter and embraced both Simone and Maisie. He hugged them tight like a dad being reunited with his kids. My smile grew at the sight. Their bags floated in on a misty, sparkling purple cloud behind them before the door closed.
“The house was so quiet without y’all! How have you been? How were the trips?” Everett asked.
“Uh, are we just going to skip over how you can’t respond to texts all day?” Simone asked.
Everett looked at me above their heads. “What’d you do? Put out an APB on me?”
I laughed. Then Simone’s eyes widened as she noticed Thompson standing at the counter.
“Oh, I see what you wereupto.”
Maisie looked around Everett, and I could feel her smirk without seeing her face. ”Climbing a tree, huh?”
“You two are as bad as Byrd.” Everett pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, this is my boyfriend, Thompson. Yes, we did what boyfriends do today. Yes, I lost my phone in the process. Now, he was kind enough to make y’all pasta before your little party, so can wepleasestop talking about me and start gushing about your trips instead?”
“We’ll let you off the hook only because I know Byrdie is going to joke about this for the rest of your life,” Simone said.
“Oh, at least into his afterlife. You don’t evenknowhow I found out?—”