And No One Understands

Three white lanterns lit the Plantars’ basement; Anne and Marcy shed three flickering shadows each, overlapping for how close they sat together. Anne watched them dance as Marcy scribbled away something or another in her notebook. Probably something about flora. Marcy loved flora.

“Hey,” Anne said at last. “Is it…weird that Sasha and I are kismesises now?”

Marcy looked up from her notebook. “Why would it be weird? Do you feel weird? Is everything okay?” she said quickly.

“No, I mean—is it awkward for you?”

Marcy and her shadows cocked their heads.

“You know, because of the dinner. Back when we were all together again. And you tried to…” Anne made a vague gesture with her hand.

A blush spread across Marcy’s face, and she looked back down at her notebook. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”

“You got it,” Anne said with a chuckle. She scooted closer to Marcy on the bedroll, and she almost thanked Frog for the win-win—awkward conversation avoided, but she still got points for trying to be open and communicative about her feelings and stuff—until Marcy kept talking.

“I mean, like, did I want to auspisticise for my two best friends? Sure, but who hasn’t? Was I dreaming about it from the moment you told me about your fight with Sasha? Absolutely.” Marcy’s eyes were still on her lap, where she fiddled her with pencil, threatening to pull the eraser off. “But when I actually went for it, did it feel right like nothing ever had? Like the three of us were destined to be ashen?”

Anne’s heart skipped a beat.

“Like I suddenly had a—a place in the universe,” Marcy went on, “like I wasn’t broken, like this was the one quadrant I could actually find happiness in? Well…okay, also yes. But I was obviously just mixed up about my feelings!” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself. “Because I am really flush for you, Anne! I mean gosh. You’re just…” She finally looked up, smiling softly as she rested her hand on Anne’s arm. “You make me so happy.”

Anne’s body reacted before her brain did. She leaned forward, kissed her matesprit soft and slow. One hand cupped Marcy’s cheek; another rested on her hip. Marcy closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss, her whole body melting at Anne’s touch.

“This is good,” Anne whispered.

Let’s keep it this way, she thought. Please.

Marcy’s response was a happy hum.