Later that night Avery leaned against a post of Mel’s white canopy bed and watched as she drunkenly reached for the chest of drawers and missed by several inches.
“You want somethin’ to sleep in?” Mel asked. “I got lots of pajamas.”
After several attempts she finally hooked her fingers onto a drawer handle and pulled out a handful of clothing. She then grandly waved Avery toward the remaining heap of cotton and fleece sleepwear. While hardly hefty, Avery didn’t have the pixie blood that seemed to run through Mel’s veins; fortunately, Mel liked oversized pajamas. Avery pawed through the offerings for something suitable while Mel got herself tangled in her own tank top. She’d only removed it halfway before attempting to pull on the T-shirt she planned on sleeping in.
“You need help with that, Mel?” Avery asked.
“No. I got it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
Mel’s confusion with her tank top was growing. She was utterly baffled, with two shirts around her neck and one arm in each one.
“Take them both off and start over, Mel.”
“Okay.”
Mel carefully freed herself from the tank top, got the T-shirt on (backward, but who cared?), and squirmed out of her denim skirt. Then she tried to put both legs into a single leg space of a pair of pajama pants. It took a few tries, but she eventually managed to get them on correctly and then fall face-first onto the bed.
“See this, Ave?” she said conspiratorially, holding up a patch-work stuffed flounder that she drew from the folds. “This is the sleepy rainbow fish. He swims you to sleepland.”
“Drink your water, Mel.”
“You sleep here,” Mel said, slapping at the empty spot next to her. “Okay?”
“I’m serious. Drink that water.”
“Know what I really want right now?” Mel asked.
“What?”
“Fritos.”
“Uh-huh.” Looking back into the drawer, Avery decided against the pajama bottoms with the smiling M&M’s and opted instead for a more subdued plain violet pair. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now.”
“We don’t have to get a big bag,” Mel said, pulling her hair into a lopsided orange geyser smack on the top of her head. “We could get one of those medium bags—the big single bags. Or two of those. One or two, whatever you want. Or Doritos.”
“The water, Mel.”
“Oh my God—or Krispy Kremes!”
Having pulled on the pajama bottoms, Avery now found that the only shirt that looked like it would really fit was a white tank top with the word Princess written in gold sparkles across the chest. If her own shirt (a very fine T-shirt from Fat Ernie’s Laundromat in Ann Arbor, Michigan) hadn’t reeked so badly of smoke, she would have kept it on. Alas, the very fibers were carcinogenic now. Off it went and on went the embarrassing replacement.
“Wanna go to the grocery store and get a seedless watermelon?” Mel said, with wide, bloodshot eyes.
“No.”
“Come on. It has water in it!”
Avery walked over and handed Mel the large red plastic cup and stood there until Mel took several large swigs. The hydration seemed to tap out Mel’s energy completely, and she rested her head down against the pillow. Avery walked over to switch off the light. In the ambient light from the streetlamps and a few illegal firecrackers, Mel’s white furniture took on an ethereal glow. The canopy over the bed seemed buoyant, as if it were floating on a gentle, steady current of air.
To make space for herself on the bed, Avery was forced to jettison an entire squad of stuffed animals that were hidden under the sheets. Along with some normal stuffed animals (bears, kit-tens, and a monkey) Mel had the rest of the ark in there. There were a lobster, an owl, an anteater, an elephant, a cobra (where do you even get a stuffed cobra?), a beanie stingray, and a bat. There were also nonanimals, like the stuffed happy face and the pink fur ball with eyes.
As Avery sank down under the fluff of the comforter, Mel flipped over, threw an arm over Avery’s waist, and pressed her face into her friend’s shoulder.
“Ave?” she mumbled. “The room is moving.”
“That’s normal.”
“It is?”
“Yep.”
“It’s going in circles.”
“I know.”
“Ave? Why is it doing that?”
“It’ll pass.”
“You sure?”
“Yep,” Avery said, patting Mel’s head gently, “I’m sure.”
A Roman candle whizzed and popped nearby.
“Ave?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for staying.”
“No problem.”
Thirty seconds later Mel was snoring lightly in the crook of Avery’s arm. Avery stayed still, not wanting to disturb Mel. She liked this, just how things were at this exact moment. She caught a whiff of mingling odors of fabric softener, old smoke, and perfume. A cozy smell. She looked down at Mel’s sleeping face. Her hair spread over the pillow so perfectly, you would have thought a stylist had arranged it, like for a conditioner commercial. It would still look good in the morning, Avery could tell. In contrast, when Avery woke up, she would look like she’d been spinning plates on her head all night.
With Mel, everything was just kind of delicate and perfect all the time, in a goofy kind of way. An endearing way. It was no wonder that you had to get in line to have a crush on her. Who wouldn’t have a crush on Mel? She had universal appeal, like baby seals and koala bears. Avery should have gone ahead this afternoon and kissed her. It would probably have been great.
She’d kind of wanted to do it then. She kind of wanted to do it now.
What?
Avery took hold of herself. Never before had she even considered hooking up with another girl, except in the most purely theoretical sense. She wasn’t biased. She’d given the issue its due consideration, and up until this moment, in the sexual preference category, her vote had been squarely for guys.
Besides, this was not just some random person she would only see once—this was Mel. Anything she did with Mel went on the Permanent Record. If this was a bad idea, then the results would be horrific because for the rest of her life she’d have to look at Mel and know that this thing had passed between them. Yet this also meant Mel was the very best person to try this experiment with. Here was someone she knew she loved, really and truly and totally. No surprises. No hidden agenda. This was someone she could trust. It would be secret.
And was it so weird, really? Somewhere in Avery’s mind there was a thought that nothing truly awful could happen in a white canopy bed, one with a well-worn mattress that dipped in the middle and scooped the two of them together in a soft pocket of cotton sheets and comforter. This was womblike….
Bad, bad, bad comparison. A comparison to be immediately forgotten.
Maybe she should sleep on the floor.
No. The floor was hard and cold. The bed was broken-down soft and perfect. Too good to leave.
She could sleep on the stuffed animals.
Too lumpy. She’d have noses and eyes and ears and beaks in her back all night, which was not recommended by the American Sleep Federation or whoever it was that came up with those ideal mattress guidelines. Neither were extremely soft mattresses, for that matter, but Avery liked them anyway. Especially this one.
She put her face next to Mel’s on the pillow. Mel was gone, totally insensible. She could put her lips to Mel’s and try this theory out and Mel would never, ever know.
No. That would be very creepy. Besides, it probably wouldn’t even tell her much since Mel would respond with all the passion of a CPR dummy. There was no way Avery could get a true reading.
Avery forcefully shut her eyes, knowing that however awake she felt right now, the alcohol would put her under if she just stayed still. Eventually it worked, but not before Avery had opened her eyes a number of times, hoping to see Mel looking at her, suddenly awake and encouraging.
There was light now.
Mel opened her eyes and stared across the pillow at the tufts of brown-black hair that were inches from her face. She played with the tips of them. This gesture caused Avery to stir. She flipped over and faced Mel. Her mascara and eyeliner had smudged a bit, giving her vampy eyes.
“You’re alive,” Avery said, raising an eyebrow. “I’m shocked. How do you feel?”
“Fine. Why?”
“Fine?”
“Maybe a little thirsty.”
“I don’t believe it,” Avery said, rubbing her temples. “It’s actually kind of annoying.”
“Sorry.” Mel grinned. “Wanna get up?”
Avery groaned dramatically. “No. Need coffee. Will die. Please help.”
“I think we have some downstairs,” Mel said, thinking for a moment. “I’m not sure. I’ve never made it.”
“Be really quiet for a few minutes. I’m going to communicate with Starbucks by telepathy.”
“Ooh. Get me a chai.”
“Chai?” Avery said, looking over in horror.
“I like chai,” Mel said defensively.
“You also keep twelve hundred stuffed animals in your bed,” Avery said, nodding at the heaped menagerie. “What does that say?”
“Well, I have to have something to keep me company at night. I don’t like sleeping alone.”
Avery smirked at Mel’s explanation. “I guess you got lucky last night, then. A whole live person.”
“Right,” Mel said, tucking her head against Avery’s on the pillow. “You’re more interesting than they are. You talk and everything.”
“I never shut up.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Not much.”
“I could make you shut up.”
“Oh, yeah?” Avery said, turning her face to Mel’s. “How?”
In a way, Mel’s answer was a surprise to both of them. She simply sealed Avery’s lips with her own.
And she was right. That seemed to shut Avery up.