Aveline took a sip from the glass in her hand. She was sitting with Samantha in the bay window that looked out over the street. Music was blaring from every building, people dancing in the streets on top of each other and stepping on red plastic cups, girls leading their drunken partners back into alleyways, balloons and bubbles drifting up from below, and the air was filled with the immense buzzing noise that resulted from hundreds of people talking and laughing. It was a typical Friday night party in the downtown area, known as the Rave District and looked down upon by the upptowners.
The girls were finishing off a bottle of red wine and eating Aveline’s brownies out of the pan with forks. This is what had become of their Girls Night. The scene was filled with miserable and heavy with tension. Both girls were afraid to speak and ruin the fragile bridge that had been built between them. Finally, Samantha spoke.
“You know what I like?” she asked, and waited for Aveline to answer. When she didn’t, Samantha continued. “Being numb. Numb is good.”
Aveline’s eyes flashed. “No. Numb is bad. Numb is very bad.”
Samantha let out a bitter laugh.
“I did Numb for about three months,” Aveline said. “I’m through. It’s not worth the results. Numb only ever leads to pain. It’s like a little Band-Aid. The scrape isn’t fixed, but you think everything is alright. It’s an easy way out, a weak excuse.”
“Well we can’t all be as strong as you!” Samantha stood up, dropping her brownie fork.
“It’s not strength, it’s desire! You have to want to feel something, then you can hold on to yourself!” Aveline stood up as well. The two girls were face to face, noses touching. One grabbed the other, and they soon became a hitting, kicking, pinching, squeezing, pulling mass on the floor.
“I’m sorry I can’t feel anything, then! I’m sorry I’m too weak for you! I’m sorry I’m not good enough for you!”
“I like girl on girl, but this is too much for me.” It was Nathaniel, who had walked in unnoticed. He attempted to separate the girls, and managed to get them sitting on the floor about two feet from each other.
Samantha then broke down and began to sob. Nathaniel turned to her, and she collapsed against him. He lifted her and brought her to the couch, where she continued to lay against him. Aveline stood up and moved to his other side. Soon, Nathaniel had two crying girls on him, clinging to his torso. He wrapped one arm around each, and just let them weep.