Room 186

Chapter 7

As Day's house came into view, Amari gasped. Lyric smiled at her. "Impressive, huh?"

The house was gigantic and sprawling. It was made of warped glass that effectively made it opaque. The roof tiles were white, with sparkles embedded in them that caught the light as the sun went down. Each circular room was clearly visible from the outside and connected to the others with a winding hallway. Some reached out, some twisted around, some went under or over others, and yet others spiraled upwards to connect to rooms that seemed to be held up by magic. The overall impression it gave was of a gigantic spider web.

"It's beautiful," Amari breathed.

"It's even more beautiful in broad daylight," Lyric replied. "You can see every sparkle in the roof as it catches the light. Simply breathtaking."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sage asked. "C'mon."

As they neared the entrance, they found Day waiting for them. She was wearing a long-sleeved pink body-con dress that nicely set off her porcelain complexion and curvy body. It had cutouts in the side that showed off her flawless skin. Her blond hair was pinned up in elaborate swirls.

Amari leaned over to Lyric and asked in a low voice, "Now why couldn't you do my hair like that?"

"I couldn't imagine you owning hairspray," he whispered back.

"You're right," she admitted. "I don't. Nasty, icky stuff."

"Hey, guys!" Day shouted as she made her way over to them. She swayed on her feet - she'd evidently had more than one beer. "Nice to - hic! - see you."

"Nice to see you too, Day," Allegra said. "I brought some friends. Hope you don't mind."

Day smiled at Allegra. "No problem at all," she said. "Come in. Have some beer, or soda, or orange juice. Whatever you like."

Lyric, Amari and Sage followed the two ladies into the house. Inside was even more spectacular. Silver streamers covered the walls, and the floor was marble.

Amari made her way over to the coolers by the side and grabbed a Pepsi. "You want anything, Sage?" she asked.

"That orange juice sounded pretty good," they said. Amari looked at them and raised an eyebrow. They smirked. "Okay, fine. Sprite."

Amari tossed them a Sprite. "Lyric?"

"Do they have root beer?"

She stood up and gave him an A&W. "Let's mingle."

Sage looked across the room and whistled. "Look at that chick," they said, nudging Lyric. He followed Sage's gaze to the corner of the room, where a dark-skinned person wearing a tight white lace dress with black hair shorn close to their head was standing with a can of Sprite. They were studying the room with their pale blue eyes and as Lyric watched, they shifted their weight in their white Doc Martens and tugged on a gigantic golden hoop earring in their right ear. Interestingly, their other ear was bare.

"You shouldn't assume that," Lyric said.

Sage looked at Lyric and raised one eyebrow. "I think I can." They pointed at the person's right wrist. As their hand moved back down to their side, Lyric could see the inside of their forearm, where the words SHE HER were tattooed.

"Oh." Lyric grinned embarrassedly. "Sorry."

Sage smiled. "That's okay. I'd much rather you correct me than try to assume."

"You should go over and talk to her." Lyric nudged Sage with his shoulder.

"Maybe I will," Sage said. They ran their hand through their hair, smiled and set off.

Lyric turned back to Amari, who had been watching with a small smile on her face, and offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Her smile widened into a grin and she linked her arm through his. "We shall."

As they made their way through the throngs of people, Lyric asked a question that had been bugging him ever since he'd seen Amari in that dress. "Do you wear colored contacts?"

"Yeah, actually, I do," Amari said. "My natural eyes are a sort of hazel color, but the contacts are cheap and they're prescripted. Plus I like the color."

They were interrupted by a tall, pale, willowy Asian person. "Have you seen my sister?" they asked wildly.

Lyric studied them for a moment before answering. Their hair was dyed white-blond (the roots had just begun to show) and had been put up into a high ponytail. Their dress was floor-length and tight until their waist, then flared out and swished around their legs as they walked. It was silver, floor-length and had one long sleeve that extended to their hand and had a loop that wrapped around their middle finger. They rubbed their bare shoulder. As Lyric studied them, he noticed that their dress matched their left forearm, which he thought was covered by an elbow-length glove but realized soon that it was a prosthetic. It also matched their silver eyeliner and lipstick.

"I haven't," Lyric said, and added, "What does she look like?"

"She's my identical twin," the person said. "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Iti Kawano, she/her. And you are?"

"Lyric Williams, he/him," Lyric said. "And - how do you spell Iti?"

"I-T-I, pronounced ee-tee."

Lyric nodded. Amari gently said, "I'm Amari Song, she/her. We haven't seen your sister. Are you also wearing the same things?"

"Yeah," Iti replied. She rubbed her shoulder again. "Right down to the prosthetic, which you're probably wondering about."

Lyric's face flamed red, and he was glad that with his skin and the dim lights the blush wouldn't show. Amari seemed as composed as ever. "I guess so," Lyric admitted.

"Esse - my twin - and I were born conjoined," Iti began as they started to weave through the crowds. "We were joined at the hip, but still with two sets of legs, and my left and her right arm were joined at the elbow. So basically, where my forearm was supposed to be was her upper arm - and vice versa, of course. Thankfully, that was all, and our parents were rich enough to give us surgery," she continued as she stepped over a puddle of dark, sticky liquid. She stopped and crouched down. "Not blood," she said eventually.

"Well, that's certainly good," Lyric commented. "And after the surgery . . . ?"

"Right, right." Iti stood back up and continued to look for her twin. "We obviously didn't have left or right forearms and hands, so they outfitted us with prosthetics." She stopped and stuck out her left leg. "It's also why I have a dip in this hip."

Lyric leaned in. "I can't see anything."

Iti grinned. "That's because I know what can conceal it. Dresses like this and A-line skirts usually work well. Bodycons are a no-no."

"Is that her?" Amari said suddenly, and pointed to a lanky figure clad in silver.

"Esse!" Iti cried and swept toward her.

They embraced, and when they broke apart, Esse asked. "Why did you wander off? You know Uncle Asa and Grandpa Otto put me in charge."

"I didn't wander off," Iti scoffed. "I told you I was going to get a drink and when I came back, you had left!"

"Well, excuse me for not hearing your mumble over a whole PARTY of people yelling and crying and vomiting and I don't know what else. Besides, I was busy here, you know I wouldn't have moved. Why didn't you know where to find me?"

Iti rolled her eyes. "I was tired."

"Tired my ass. You and your hyperthymesia don't need to be alert to function."

Iti sighed. "Neither do yours."

Esse raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay. Point taken." Iti looked over Esse's shoulder to Lyric and Amari, who were both trying to hide their smiles. "This is Lyric Williams, he/him - right?" Lyric nodded. "And this is Amari Song, she/her."

"Esse - pronounced ee-suh, spelled E-S-S-E - Kawano, she/her. Thanks for helping her find me." Esse offered her right hand, then looked down and switched to her non-prosthetic. Lyric and Amari shook it and smiled.