Roxy was ecstatic. And a little nervous. But mostly ecstatic. Her leg is hopping under her and she fiddles with her hands . She’s getting pierced! She doesn’t have any body modifications, besides the two standard earlobe piercings.

“Sooooo..?” Bella asks, lowering her voice and leaning over to her.

“So?” Roxy looks up at her, eyebrows knotted in confusion.

“Have you and Diane,” she gestures vaguely in the air between them, trying and failing to be delicate, “smashed?” She tacks on a “yet” hastily.

Roxy’s brain: a desperate rush of question marks and exclamation points. Roxy’s face: redder than a fucking tomato, probably. Roxy’s tongue: uncooperative.

“Well, uh,” she stutters, “we’re not really,” Oh fuck. “uhm,” Shit shit shit. “like that?” She stops herself from saying yet, because God knows that would spiral this into an entirely different beast. Her friend doesn’t need the encouragement.

Bella scoffs, offering a light-hearted roll of her eyes. “You guys are, like, made for each other. Like soulmate level shit. Your zodiacs line up, even!” Her voice raises a little bit in her excitement.

She isn’t wrong! An unwelcome voice inside Roxy’s head says.

“Okay, well.” Roxy puffs her cheeks. “Diane’s straight.”

She guffaws. “Suuuuuuuuuuure. Here, guess who I am. Hurr durr, I’m a dumb gay bitch, I’m in love with my best friend.” Bell moves around like a fucking e-girl/caveman hybrid. It’s hilarious and Roxy can’t help but laugh. Bella thinks it’s so hilarious, in fact, that she decides to start tickling Roxy because fuck it.

“It’s me! I’m the dumb gay bitch!” She says between breaths.

Diane walks back into the kitchen, weed pen in hand. “Come on, losers. Let’s roll.” Roxy is gasping for air with puffy red cheeks and Bell is trying her hardest to keep a straight face. Diane’s smiling, so that’s good. Maybe they’ve duped her. Sick.

“Yeehaw.”

“Yo, shut up, Rox.” Bella says as she slides off the counter. She follows Roxy to the door and waits for her to put on her coat, a big bomber jacket that makes her torso look twice as large.

“Oh shit, I want boba.” Diane says.

“There’s boba around here?” Roxy asks, zipping up her jacket.

“There’s boba, like, everywhere.” Bella says as she stuffs her hands into her pockets. “I really like the chocolate flavor, but Diane says it tastes like knock off SwissMiss packets.” Diane flips Bell off, the latter sticking out her tongue. It’s endearing, Roxy thinks.

“Mango is my absolute favorite.” Roxy says.

“Oh my God, I love mango!” Diane says excitedly, reaching her arm around her and opening the door.

Bella just shakes her head and smiles, following the two of them.

“So, tell me about this place.” Roxy says.

They’re walking on the the sidewalk in the Lower East. The sun hangs low in the sky, the afternoon rays warm and welcoming despite the cold air.

“The place you’re gettin’ pierced?” Diane asks. She nods. “Well, it’s where Bells n’ I got tattooed. He’s a cool guy, doesn’t card, so.” Bella makes a whooping sound.

“He did a good job too, love the lil’ heart I got.” Bella says, swinging an arm around Roxy’s shoulders. Roxy was shorter than the two of them by a bit, so being like this, with two of her friends practically draped over her, was normal. More or less.

Bella and Diane lead Roxy into the boba shop. Roxy orders mango, Diane orders a mango pineapple mix, and Bell orders chocolate. Well, Diane orders for Roxy. The group sinks into a booth.

Diane pulls out her weed pen and wraps her arms around Roxy’s torso. Roxy raises an eyebrow at Diane, but the latter just moves the pen closer to her lips.

“Won’t people care that we’re tokin’ up in here?” Roxy asks, looking in shock at the both of them. Her head is spinning. Bella shrugs non-commitally.

“Oh, lighten up, suburban princess. No one cares ‘bout a lil’ weed in a boba shop.” Diane says, offering Roxy a teasing grin.

Roxy laughs and takes a long drag of the pen. She blows the smoke out in gentle puffs, and looks up at Diane.

Diane, she realizes, is warm. Really warm. She moves her head to look her in the eyes. They’re centimeters apart, the only thing separating them is Diane’s weed pen. Their closeness isn’t helping the spinning in her head. Holy fuck holy fuck fuck shit fuc-

Bell starts hitting the table, chanting “Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!” Diane laughs, rubbing Roxy’s shoulder with the hand not holding the pen and taking a sip of her drink. Roxy flips Bella off, embarrassed, but leans into Diane’s loose embrace.

Bella fucking winks. Of course she does.

Kill me, please, she thinks.

“Shit, I think I have a test tomorrow.” Diane says abruptly, sinking into the booth seat with a sigh.

“Relaaax, it can’t be too bad.” Bella says, gesticulating, boba in-hand, “Plus like, if it is, we can, mm. Run away? Kill your teacher? Roxy, help me out here.”

“Tests don’t even matter, b. All ya gotta do is wear a skirt tomorrow and write some notes on your thigh, works every time.” Bell gestures exaggeratedly to Roxy in a see-she-knows-what-she’s-talking-about-and-I-do-too-and-you’re-an-idiot way.

Diane throws her hands up dramatically and sighs. “I’ll try it, but if I get caught tomorrow, I’m blaming you.”

“I would gladly take the blame, babe.” Roxy grins a Cheshire smile and sucks about a fifth of her boba.

Bell gags at Roxy and crushes her empty plastic cup in her hand. Diane, who had asked for less jellies in hers (they get stuck in my teeth) was almost finished as well. Roxy shifts a little closer to Diane and drops her voice to little more than a whisper. Diane, ever vigilant of Roxy’s PTSD-related needs, leans closer to her.

“I’m gonna get my tiddy impaled.”

Bella snorts.

“Speaking of,” Diane starts, “we should head out.” She looks at Roxy and slides out from her loose hold. The three of them make their way out of the bubble tea place, throwing their cups out in the trash by the door.