The drive between my place and Anderly's only took about six minutes. I lived on a more quiet residential street, while she was closer to the commercial area downtown.
Anderly's apartment was on the second floor of a beige brick building on South Avenue, which was one block down from Old Main Street in an area that was being revitalized and becoming more trendy all the time. The buildings on South Ave. were tightly packed side by side: restaurants, small shops, bars, and residential buildings, all in different colors of brick and stucco. There was a median down the middle of the street with huge trees that made a shady canopy over the street and sidewalks. It looked beautiful with the leaves changing into vibrant fall colors and the street lights blinking on as the sun went down.
I liked that the whole area was more focused on pedestrian traffic, and there was no parking allowed on the street at all. It was quiet, except for the chatter of the emerging nightlife. We had to park Anderly's SUV in a large parking lot behind the row of buildings, and Hex, Anderly and I walked side by side to her complex, through the code-locked double doors, and up one flight of stairs.
The apartment unit itself was narrow but spacious, and laid out in an open way that flowed smoothly from one room to the next. It had two floors connected by a staircase. The living room, kitchen, bathroom, and laundry closet were on the first floor, and my old room, Anderly's room, and her private bathroom were on the second. The whole place was bright and decorated in shades of cream and pale gray, with small lights set into the ceiling and hickory wood floors throughout.
"This place always looks so nice, Andy." I said, setting my bag down in a corner by the door and hanging my ratty denim jacket on the hook there. "It's like the opposite of my cave." Her and I took our shoes and boots off and put them by the tv stand.
"You just need to open the curtains and turn the lights on once in a while!" Laughed Anderly. "But thank you." She flicked all the lights on as she walked through to the kitchen.
Hex groaned dramatically and yanked his stilettos off by the heels and handed them to Anderly, heading straight back to the bathroom, huge makeup case in hand. "I'm going to need a minute, my dears." The bathroom door closed behind him.
I sat down at the counter on the cushy barstool and sighed. I missed living here, at least when it was just Anderly and I, and not packed full of party-goers and anxiety.
"So, what did you end up doing with my old room?" I asked.
She sighed at the pair of shoes in her hands, putting them away next to ours. "It's crammed full of homework, textbooks, petitions, picket signs, and my hopes and dreams."
"You're so diligent."
"Nah, I'm just trying to make it through the day. I'm always one extra assignment away from a mental breakdown." She laughed.
Anderly attended a private university a few miles from her apartment; you could see it over the rooftops if you went out on her balcony. She was studying for her master's degree in public health, and a certificate in LGBTQ health. She also somehow found the time for a part time job; working for a grassroots organization that focused on fighting for better access to food assistance, shelter, and health care for vulnerable LGBTQ people, especially impoverished and homeless youth. That's actually how we met, through her work. Anderly is only four years older than me, but she's honestly my hero.
Anderly set a bottle of Merlot and three empty glasses in front of me, raising her eyebrows.
"I can't drink, sorry. Meds." I said.
"Oh shit, I totally forgot!" Said Anderly, flustered. "I have juice, too, if you'd rather have that? It's mango, It's really good!"
I laughed, "It's okay. I don't really liked booze anyway, it's pretty gross. Juice sounds great."
"That's true, you hardly ever drank even back in the day, huh?" She filled a wine glass with mango juice and slid it over to me. "Here, now it's fancy."
"Thanks." I said, chuckling. I was already feeling happier just from being around my friends instead of stuck inside my own head.
She poured two glasses of wine, and ordered two pepperoni pizzas before Hex finally exited the bathroom. The wig was gone, and the heavy makeup was removed. He was wearing a short, silky kimono-style robe, pale gray with a random pattern of tiny pink cherry blossoms. He slunk over to the counter and sat on the stool next to mine.
"Ugh, yes!" Exclaimed Hex, taking the glass offered to him by the stem. "I needed this. I don't want to be a responsible adult for the next 48 hours, at least." He sipped it like it was the nectar of the gods, moaning.
Anderly laughed at him. "I wholeheartedly agree." They clinked glasses.
"You get in on this too." Said Hex, holding his glass up to me. Anderly did the same. I sighed and clinked my glass to theirs.
"Am I gonna have to see you guys get sloppy drunk for two days or what?" I said, smiling, but totally serious. "It wouldn't be the first time."
"Hey!" Said Anderly, pointing her finger at me. "We swore a vow of secrecy last time, remember?"
We spent the next few minutes laughing and bantering about happy times we'd shared in the past. For a moment it felt like we had gone back in time, back before that party, when things were more simple.
My hand was bothering me a bit, a pins-and-needles sensation in my fingers. It wasn't too bad, so I rubbed my fingers with my good hand under the counter where my friends couldn't see. After our little interaction at my place earlier, I was going to try and be more open with them about my mental stuff, but they couldn't help me with physical pain. I couldn't just share it with them to make it better. I wanted to allow myself to enjoy this moment, to pretend for just a little while that there wasn't anything wrong with me.
Anderly finished her second glass of wine and Hex was halfway through his third when the doorbell rang. He downed his drink in one gulp and went to answer the door, with Anderly and I giggling like idiots from the sofa. Hex opened the door and leaned in the door frame, his pose loose and flagrantly sensual. The poor pizza guy was probably 20 years old, and he stuttered and stammered and turned bright red as he handed the pizzas to Hex and took his cash.
Anderly was losing her shit, trying to muffle her laughter with a throw pillow. I just hid my face with my hands. When the door closed, and Hex's very flustered victim ran for his life, Anderly couldn't hold it back any longer. She was laughing so hard she couldn't catch her breath, and I groaned with second-hand embarrassment.
"That was painful." I said, chuckling. "I think you traumatized that poor guy."
Hex strode over to the counter and set down the pizza boxes. "He'll be fine, I tipped him $20." He grinned evilly. "But really, he should have paid me. Poor kid was definitely a virgin."
"He'll never be the same, that's for sure." I said.
Anderly calmed down enough to speak. "Oh my god, that was hysterical. You are a fucking villain, you know that?"
"You should try it sometime." He said, heading up the stairs and looking over his shoulder seductively. "It's much more fun than being good all the time."
"I'm plenty fun!" Yelled Anderly, flinging the pillow at his retreating figure, barely missing his legs. "You're just a slut!" We could hear him cackling like a demon upstairs.
Anderly looked at me and smirked.
"Cosmo, you've been smiling." She said, raising her eyebrows. "It's really nice."
I touched my face, and my cheeks actually hurt from smiling and laughing . I hadn't even noticed.
~
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