Switch It Up // Katya Zamolodchikova

switch it up

Inspired by this fucking photo:

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Being in a relationship with a drag queen was always something I'd anticipate would be anything but "normal". Especially with one who couldn't decided if he was even relationship material.

I first met Brian when I was 18, back in 2010, when I was working at the drag bar he performed at in Boston. I was always such a huge fan of the drag scene, despite how petty and catty a lot of the girls could actually be. I enjoyed the art of it; the ounces of makeup one would have to go through in a week just to put food on the table. I had been witness to many queens investing more than profiting, which often times lead them to earn money in other ways which were more dangerous and harmful.  Other girls splashed their cash when they could, leaving them in debt or broke within a fortnight. Brian, however, was smart.

He always knew how to manage his money and noticed when he messed up. When we first actually talked to each other, I was behind the bar, wiping down the sticky surface with a grimace on my face, when the blonde who was just onstage clacked over for a red bull.

"No vodka tonight?"

"Not for me." She looked at me. "I'm an alcoholic, Maureen."

It was the weird dialect and her rejection of alcohol that brought us together instantly. She never went backstage afterwards, apart from when she left for the night. She stayed at the bar, and spoke with me for hours as I served more and more alcohol to the drunken messes that swarmed around. I left work with a new phone number that night, and one that was soon saved in my phone as "Katya".

Katya quickly became my favourite performer, and soon enough, Brian became my best friend.

I was one of the handful of people who fully understood Brian - quirks and all. Countless nights of sleepovers, nights she would dress me up in drag and we would crash the clubs together. We'd seen each other at our highest and our lowest points and no matter what the situation, we never left each other.

The first time we were in a sexual situation together was unconventional. It was a year before Brian managed to get onto Drag Race and he'd successfully been sober for 2 months. To celebrate, we had dolled ourselves up and gone out to the loudest and craziest club we could find in Boston. The aim of the night was to find a guy for Brian to have fun with, but we both ended up picking up a guy each. One thing lead to another and the four of us ended up rolling around on a hotel bed. That was the night I first kissed him.

After that night, nothing was the same again. We quickly figured out that we had a sexual attraction to each other, but we never did anything about it, as around the time we came to that conclusion, Brian left for LA to be on Drag Race.

The entire time he was gone, I sat back at our apartment, overthinking and underworking. It was a confusing time for me; I never expected to feel anything more for my best friend, but I did. And the feeling was so strong, that I didn't figure it out fully for another few years.