Everything Is Just Fine

Chapter 21

On the Monday Night before Thanksgiving, the crew gathers at the P.W. apartment--well, everyone except Mahara and Sebastian who had flown to Chicago to visit her parents.

"Welcome to Friendsgiving!" Shelby exclaims as she opens the door in a flapper dress.

Shelby had requested we dress in ridiculous costumes for the event, so we're all wearing something we found at the thrift stores in town. Amy is wearing one of those dinosaur balloon suits, Toby is dressed in a cat costume he had found for seventy-five percent off after Halloween, and I'm dressed as a giant pink bunny, very much giving off The Christmas Story vibes.

The apartment is decorated in a mix of Halloween, Harvest, and Christmas decorations. Abel (Wolverine) and Adrian (I have no idea who he's supposed to be) are playfully arguing over the stove.

I beeline for Abel, sneaking a peek at the food on the table; there's everything from eloté, to steamed dumplings, to chili.

Abel wraps an arm around my neck as I approach, pulling me close to kiss the top of my head, even as he continues to argue with Adrian.

"Michael Keaton is the Batman!" Adrian argues.

Abel lets out this frustrated sound that makes me chuckle. "Are you serious? We've been friends for so long, how could I not know you were so blind? Val Kilmer!"

"You're both idiots," I interject.

Adrian opens his mouth to argue, but Shelby stomps over in her heels. Even though Sebastian is the face of Poisonous Winter and the oldest in the band, I'm pretty sure Shelby is the actual leader. She gives them this look that has Adrian and Abel shutting their mouths very quickly.

"Come help me set the table, Jess." She pulls me out of Abel's arms to the small round table they have set up in their living room, which only fits because their chair is out on the balcony, and the couch is pushed as far into the opposite side of the room as it can go.

Shelby hands me a stack of paper 'Happy Birthday' plates and begins setting out plastic cups with a popular cartoon character on them.

"No turkey?" I ask, setting the plates out.

"Nah. None of us actually celebrate Thanksgiving. We just use Friendsgiving as an excuse to dress up--"

"As I suspected."

"--and get shit faced. On the actual day, we just sleep in and watch movies."

Soon, everything's ready and we all gather around the table, with me squished between Toby and Abel. We're so packed around the table that there's no way to keep from accidentally hitting one another with an elbow. Every time I move, some part of me touches one of them, and I swear I'm going to combust.

What did I get myself into?

I should have sat next to Amy.

"The chili's vegetarian," Abel tells me, unaware of my internal struggle. "Tell me what you think."

Toby's knee bumps mine. He smiles at me, sheepishly. "Sorry, Jay."

I'm going to die. I feel too warm. I curse this damn bunny suit. I'm gonna burn it when I get back to the dorm.

I eat in silence, mumbling my confirmation that the chili is, in fact, really good. As I'm spooning some sort of cabbage salad into my mouth, Abel accidentally bumps my elbow, and the salad falls back onto my plate.

"Oops, sorry, babe."

His words gut me. They shouldn't, but they do. I really don't want to think about why they make my stomach clench uncomfortably, because I do really like Abel, and Toby just got out of a six-year relationship, so it's not like my feelings for him really matter.

But I know, even if I don't want to dwell on it, that I am really, very, royally, severely fucked. I may like Abel, but I've already completely fallen for Toby.

Amy suddenly stands, and thank God, she does because my brain is about to spiral into the clusterfuck that is my love life, and I could really use the distraction.

She wrings her hands nervously. "So, um...I want to thank you all for being my friends. I know we haven't been friends for that long, but you all have become like my family in the past few months." She pauses. Her eyes are welling with tears. "I can't tell my own family this yet, but if I don't get this out I think I'm going to explode." Tears slip down her cheeks, and she dashes them away so roughly, like she's angry that she's crying, she nearly stumbles backward. "I'm-I'm agender, and I would really appreciate it if you all could start using they/them for my pronouns."

There's no hesitation from us. We all stand, giving Amy the biggest, warmest group hug they have ever received. We're all a crying mess.

Amy's right. We're a big ass, weird, messy family.