I was right—Laine is amazing. In the few minutes I’ve beenhere, she’s made all my nerves dissipate. Social anxiety who? Between Hunter's hospitality and Laine's genuine care to get to know me, I know tonight will be a blast. I told Laine I was an author, and, it turns out, she’s a huge reader. That alone let me know we would be good friends.
“Alright, so I got all the essentials. Face masks, nail polish...” She looks down at our glasses. “Booze! Chick flick options are already cued up. Oh, and we can’t forget the snacks!” She jumps over the back of the couch, grabbing a handful of bowls and throwing them on the coffee table.
I grab a facemask for each of us, handing them out like it’s Christmas morning. They have cute little animals on them, and I smile. I never got this with my mom or friends growing up. Bouncing around foster homes made it hard to have any stability, friends included. Hunter will never know this, but this night means more to me than she’ll ever know. It healed a little piece of my inner child.
I’m just getting my facemask on when Hunter growls at me. I squeal like a little girl. She points to her face, a glint in her eyes. “I’m a Bear.” She sees mine and fake pouts. “Now I’m regretting my choice, because your Capybara mask is definitely cuter. Let me see yours, Laine.” She motions for Laine to show hers off. “Oh, fuck you guys. Why do you both have to look so cute?”
I spin a finger at Hunter’s face. “I don’t know, this bear is totally doing things to me,” I tease.
Hunter’s eyes perk up behind her mask. “Really?”
I don’t have the heart to tell her the bear mask looks more like the poop emoji, so I just nod along and take a large gulp of my drink to hide my smile.
“Three hot ass bitches!” Hunter chants before downing half her drink. She doesn’t even flinch; meanwhile, my eyes are watering from the half sip I took. I know she makes drinks for a living, but Hunter can handle her shit.
Hunter flips through her TV, pulling up movie options for us. “So we have the classic,The Notebook…but I feel like tonight is more of aMean Girlskind of night.” When Hunter notices the confusion on my face, she jumps off the couch and shakes my shoulders. “Please have mercy on my poor soul and tell me you have seen those?”
I hide behind my margarita so she doesn’t tackle me to the ground. “That would be a big, fat no. It was a little hard getting time to watch those types of movies while jumping around foster homes.”
Hunter doesn’t even flinch at my words or demand a sob story. I silently thank her. I’m not in the mood to throw a pity party for myself. I just want to pretend tonight is a rehash of my childhood.
“Oh, babe, we are fixing that immediately. Get comfy, because I’m about to blow your mind.” She hops over the back of the couch once again, like she’s in some action movie, dimming the lights before launching herself over to land half in my lap.
Mean Girlslights up the screen, and I feel little butterflies in my stomach at getting to experience this with these two girls.
“I forgot how much I love this movie,” Laine chirps, settling in on the other side of me. She looks exhausted. I’m sure being a single mom and working is a job and a half. She deserves this night just as much as I do.
I know she’s related to Grayson and he’scomplicated, but I would love to get to know her better. She seems like the type of friend I would seek for myself if I could hand pick one. I’m not sure she could hurt a fly if she tried.
I may be leaving here in a couple months, but there are phones, planes. My family is here, so I could visit. I imagine a life in which I had friends I could text for advice on an outfit to wear on a date, or to share my gossip with. I think these two girls could maybe be that for me.
If they want me, that is.
We get lost in the movie, and I find myself laughing along. It’s silly, sure, but it’s also fun to relax for once.
The girls in the movie start dancing wearing sexy little Santa outfits, and Laine blurts out, “God, I wish my boobs still looked like that. Nova completely wrecked mine. Now all they do is hang like deflated air balloons.”
“At least you have something to work with.” I point down at my nonexistent chest. “I used to be told I had mosquito bites for boobs.”
Hunter’s mouthful of margarita ends up in my lap, but I don’t care. The smiles on both their faces are worth it. “At least they're more like spider bites now,” she adds, a cheeky smile on her face.
I shrug, shooting her a smirk. “Hey, what I lack up front I make up for in the trunk.”
“I’ll be the first to admit your ass was the only thing I looked at when you walked into the bar in that tight little jean number. Your cheeks were barkin’ in them things.”
Now I’m spitting my drink in her lap. “Jesus. Is that your way of hitting on me?” I tease.
Hunter leans in, gripping my cheeks, and waggles her eyebrows at me. “Maisie, if I was a man in that bar that night, I wouldn’t have gone home until I had your number in my phone or my cum dripping down your thighs. Woman to woman, you’re a smoke show. And I know I wasn’t the only one thinking it.” She looks over at Laine, and I pray she doesn’t mention Grayson.
My cheeks are on fire. How do I even respond to that? I know Hunter is just playing around with me, and she can be very forward, or so I’ve learned in the short time I've known her. But as someone who may seem confident on the outside, my inner thoughts are riddled with insecurities. Seeing someone who’s so self-assured call me a smoke show makes my heart flutter.
“It’s true,” Laine pipes up. “I would definitely set you up with my brother if you were staying in town, just so I could get to tell people you were my future sister-in-law.”
I point a finger at both of them. “First of all,” I look at Hunter, “I can’t take anything you say seriously with that damn bear mask on.”
“Hey, I thought you said it was cute,” she pouts.
I ignore her. “And second,” my eyes travel over to Laine, “hell to the no. Grayson is a hard pass. Harder than a brick wall, pass. Never going to happen. He’s Chesney’s best friend and basically my…coworker?”
