"So, if I rearranged the fruit, would that ruin your whole piece?" Cady peered over Janis's shoulder at the bowl of fruit in front of her. It was sitting on top of an over-turned wooden crate, catching the sunlight through the sliding glass door. Janis was standing in front of her easel, painting it.
"Assignment. Don't dignify this thing by calling it a piece of art. Still life's are not art. They're musty museum exhibits," Janis scoffed. She was painting the fruit for her art class—an old holdover of an assignment that her teacher still claimed could help her portfolio, somehow.
"Forreal though, you look like that one painter—what's his name again?" Cady paced around the bowl of fruit, examining it from every angle as though she were going to paint it herself.
"My little pimping Picasso!" Damian chirped, coming up behind Janis and looking at what she was painting. Even as she tried to conform to an older style, her own artistic touch crept in—the shadows were slashed with her favorite charcoal, the colors gently pushed towards jewel tones and away from the primary palette.
"Ok. That's it. I give up. You two are impossible." Janis dropped her paint brush on the palette she was using to blend colors and stepped away, wiping her brow and accidentally smearing purple over her skin.
Cady's face reddened with embarrassment. "Janis, no! I'm sorry, you keep painting."
"It's fine," Janis reassured her, carrying the painting supplies to the sink in the bathroom. "The sun is too low now anyways, the light changed too much. I'll work on it more tomorrow."
"Baby doll, you've got some paint on you," Damian pointed to the spot on his own brow where Janis needed to wipe hers. Janis kept on walking out from the bathroom though, away from the mirror where she could have checked for herself.
"Here, just help me," she walked up to Damian and proffered her head for him to assist her in wiping the paint. He shied away, fanning at his nails.
"Did you not just see me put on my nourishing top-coat? My cuticles are getting destroyed by this weather."
"Why don't you just use the mirror?" Cady asked.
"Mirrors lie," Janis replied simply. Cady's brow twitched in response to that, but Damian gave her a look that warned her not to ask. Janis pretended not to notice.
"Ok, come here," Cady beckoned to Janis instead. Janis paused for a millisecond, absorbing the idea of them being close again—it had been nearly two weeks since that night, but they hadn't touched since.
She walked over and leaned in towards Cady, who used her thumb to rub the paint out.
"Wait just one sec," Cady breathed quietly. "I have to get your eyebrow re-arranged too. I don't want to mess it up."
"Thanks," Janis rolled her eyes.
Their faces were just inches apart, and Janis could feel that same magnetism she had felt that night, when they kissed. Could Cady feel it too?
The suspension held for just one moment more.
"There!" Cady announced triumphantly, leaning back with satisfaction. "Your brow game is on point once more."
She didn't bring up Janis's refusal to use the mirror—something Janis was immensely grateful for. She had been having a series of bad days lately, and she had no desire to see what she looked like. Neither Damian nor Cady had mentioned the lack of make-up, or hair combing, or outfit coordination. They just rolled with it, and Janis had to bask in gratefulness for her friends.
Just when she was having doubts about Cady, she showed that underneath the judgmental plastic veneer, she was still kind-hearted and wonky. Janis ignored her pounding heart, which was urging her to find other positive traits in the girl as well. She didn't need that right now.
"So, Hocus Pocus, or Friday the 13th, or Scream? Nightmare on Elm Street? What are we feeling this year?" Damian sat on Janis's desk chair and spun around a few times as he named movies.
"Hocus Pocus? What is that?" Cady asked.
"Oh. My. God." Damian threw his legs out to stop his spin, looking at Janis with astonishment. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Dam, she's from Africa! You can't blame her for not having seen it!"
"Seen what?" Cady asked petulantly, unhappy with being left out.
"It's a movie," Janis replied, still giggling at Damian, who was holding his mouth open in continual shock. "A Halloween movie."
"Oh," Cady replied.
"We'll do that first, then we can do something scary, a la tradition," Damian finally broke his silence. "I will provide the boxed wine. No, no, don't thank me," he pretended to thank an adoring crowd.
"Oh, you mean like, on Halloween?" Cady hedged. The hesitation in her voice was obvious.
"Yes, sweetheart," Damian replied sarcastically. "We tend to watch the traditional Halloween movies on Halloween—call it our nod to corporate America."
"I might be busy that night," Cady replied, glancing at her phone screen.
"A very plastic Halloween?" Janis asked sarcastically, trying to mask the betrayal she was feeling—they hadn't even made the plans yet, so she had no right to be upset that Cady wasn't committing. But maybe she should feel hurt, since Cady was turning down hanging out with them in favor of plans she hadn't even made yet.
"I mean, it's Aaron's party, not Karen's or Regina's or anything, but, uhh, Regina hasn't invited me yet. I'm sure she just like, forgot or something," Cady laughed nervously, glancing at her phone again. "But uhh, yeah, I'd love to like, watch movies with you guys before that though! If I go," she faded out miserably. Did she realize how shitty that sounded? Damian looked at Janis and she knew he was thinking the same thing. Cady was the only one who didn't seem to realize how mean her words were.
"Oh shit!" Cady broke the awkward silence she didn't even realize she'd formed. "I have to go, I totally forgot I had a study session with Aaron! Shit shit shit—how do I look? Is my hair ok?"
"You look fine, Caddy," Janis rolled her eyes.
"I'm so sorry guys—just ugh. This is so my bad. Whatever ends up happening on Saturday, want to go and get cheap Chipotle first? I heard it's only $3 if you wear your costume." She buzzed around Janis's studio, gathering her purse—since when did she start wearing a purse?—and other stuff.
"Yeah. We can get booritos. Sounds tasty." Janis tried to hide the resentment and hurt in her voice. Cady was trying to make time for them. And maybe, if she went to that party, it would be the one where Regina showed her true colors. Finally.
"So, how'd you do on the last test?" Aaron asked, flipping his bangs as he sat down in the cheap, wooden Starbucks seat. Despite the fact that Cady had been almost fifteen minutes late to their study date—she had started jogging to get downtown, but stopped when she realized it would mean showing up sweaty—Aaron was only just now arriving, twenty-five minutes late. He didn't even bother to offer an apology. Cady hid the tiny glow of resentment that bloomed in her stomach and smiled at him.
"Oh you know, I did," she rolled her eyes. If she didn't specifically state that she got a bad score, it wasn't lying, right? Damian would never know.
"Yeah, I feel that. Ms. Norbury is not going easy on us. If she keeps going like this I'm not gonna be academically eligible for soccer come spring."
"Oh no!" Cady exclaimed, eyes widening. She didn't know much, but she did know that sports were very important to boys—for a moment, she flirted with the possibility of revealing that she was actually good at math to Aaron and offering to help him, but the thought of explaining it would probably make him hate her. Plus, it wasn't very romantic for her to be the smart one and him the dumb one. It just went against the whole dynamic she was going for.
"It's fine, I'm sure once we're past this limits stuff and into actual calculus it will be fine," Aaron shrugged. Cady's stomach sank—he had no idea what he was saying. Limits were just the foundation—it only got harder from there.
Aaron settled his homework on the table while Cady went to retrieve their drinks—she got a vanilla frappucino, Aaron got a vanilla latte. Karen had told Cady that the frappucinos were amazing, but when Cady took a sip of hers, she made a face.
Aaron chuckled. "Not a fan of the vanilla?" he asked.
"I had no idea it would taste like this. This is. . . awful," Cady wrinkled her nose at the aftertaste as well.
"Used to better quality vanilla products in Africa?" Aaron asked.
"Yes. Oh my god yes. This is awful. It's like vanilla from a can. And the chemically after taste… what even is this stuff?" Cady looked at the icy white drink, stirring it around with her green straw to examine the little blue-black flecks of vanilla beans in it.
"It's just vanilla flavoring. If you want good vanilla flavor, you've gotta try those blue tootsie-roll things. Have you had them?"
"Huh? Tootsie rolls?" Cady asked, cocking her head.
"Oh yeah! So regular tootsie rolls are this chocolate flavored taffy that gets rolled into like a tiny little log and then you chew it and it softens in your mouth as it warms up. The company also makes a bunch of fruit flavors like strawberry and lemon and lime and stuff, but the best is totally the vanilla one. It's amazing. I'll have some at the party Saturday night, you can try one then."
"The party?" Cady asked, her heart suddenly pounding. Had he just assumed she'd come? Was that how these things worked now?
"Oh yeah, my Halloween party. I throw one every year—I just assumed you were coming 'cause, you know, Regina." Aaron smiled guiltily—the smile that Cady loved on him, glancing at her through his floppy bangs.
"Oh!" Cady exclaimed. Her heart felt like it might burst with joy. She had levelled up past Regina—he had personally invited her. That had to count for something. What should she say now though? Had he really invited her? He assumed she'd be there, but he didn't actually ask her…
"You're coming, right?" Aaron prodded. Cady's cheeks glowed and her heart started beating even faster.
"Yes! Sure! Of course! I don't have a costume though—is it even a costume party? I've spent so much time helping Regina with hers, you'd think that I'd started considering my own," Cady giggled, then clasped her hand over her mouth—Regina probably didn't want people knowing she had spent a ton of time on her costume. She liked making things look effortless.
"Huh. I told Regina and Gretchen to invite you when I sent out the original invite. You'd think if you had been helping her with that stuff she would have thought to mention it. Weird. I'm sure she just forgot or something. But yeah! My place, Saturday night, 10pm, bring your own whatever, you know the vibe. I'll text you my address."
"Ok," Cady replied absently. Now she was thinking about Regina too—if Aaron had told her to invite Cady, and she hadn't, it had been on purpose. Regina had purposefully tried to exclude her. The revelation stung a little bit—Cady had watched Regina do stuff like this to other girls, girls she had considered lesser because they weren't in the inner circle, weren't her and Karen and Gretchen. She had never thought that Regina would do it to her. And why shouldn't she? They weren't even two months into the school year—Cady could still be a fad friend for Regina, temporary entertainment. Something to be thrown away.
A gnawing feeling of doubt took seed in Cady's stomach and began to grow, replacing the joy she had felt moments earlier when Aaron had invited her to his party. What was this? Insecurity? The same ugly thing that Cady saw marring Gretchen's face all too often—the ugly uncertainty that flickered across her features whenever Regina turned away, ignored her, demeaned her. Cady had always thought Gretchen was overreacting before, but now the nasty imbalance crept upwards inside her, heating her features and planting an uncomfortable weight in every part of her.
"Cady? Earth to Cady," Aaron waved a hand in front of Cady's face, smiling indulgently. Cady snapped back to her senses, there in the overly loud, overly priced Starbucks.
"What? Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Cady blushed.
"You totally spaced out on me there. Was it the Regina thing? I'm sorry I mentioned that, I didn't even think of it. I'm sure Regina just forgot or something. It's nothing, really."
The tone of Aaron's voice was meant to be reassuring, but Cady knew they could both hear the lie in it, the note of finality. Regina most definitely did not forget. And they both knew it.
"Yeah no, it's totally fine," Cady reassured Aaron. He didn't need to see that ugly side of her, not now. He'd want to see happy, smiling Cady, not mopy, awkward Cady. "Let's get to work on these—if I'm gonna be partying this weekend, I won't have time to catch up on math on Sunday, right?" Cady tittered as she spoke, trying to cover the awkward moment.
"True that, true that. Especially not if you're hoping to avoid a repeat of last party, right?" Aaron ribbed her. Cady felt her cheeks redden even further as she remembered falling in front of everybody at Karen's house.
"Yeah. Right," Cady hedged.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you—"
"No, no it's fine!" Cady cut in, reassuring him. "This is getting weird, right? It's not weird. Everything's fine." She could hear her heightened pitch, the lie riding over her words. "Let's just do math and leave this weirdness behind, alright? Deal?"
"Deal." Aaron reached out with his hand for a handshake and Cady couldn't help but smile as she put her hand in his own. Was it just her noticing how well her tiny hand fit in his callused palm? His hand was warm and dry and the way it enveloped hers gave her butterflies. Aaron smiled that winning smile of his across the handshake, not letting her go for a moment, holding them there.
Just like that, the awkward moment dissipated, left with tingling excitement. They would be ok. Cady would go party on Saturday and maybe kiss Aaron and everything would be fine, if this handshake was any indicator.
Hey guys! My apologies for the wait on this one; I moved back down to University and I've been involved in a really amazing theatre festival these past few weeks that has taken up quite literally all of my time (I mean in the 80-100 hours a week range). It's got me feeling immensely energized, however (both creatively and physically), so hopefully as that commitment wanes, this one will re-ignite a bit.
Thank you so much for those of you who favorited and reviewed in the mean time. Each email I get from this website telling me one of you has engaged with this story honestly brightens my day so much. I love hearing what you have to say about it, and I hope you keep on letting me know! You guys are the best.