“It’d last forever. He’s the kind of lover that takes all damn day. And I'd bet your left breast that he can find a clitoris with his eyes closed. Or a penis. He just knows like everything. I die.” Peaches made her hands do elaborate shadow puppets.

“Why do we have to bet my boob?” I turned to face her. She did the same. Our noses were almost touching.

“Because this is all you. Your middle school dreams. Now your full-sized lady parts reality.” She smacked my thigh.

“It’s going to hurt eventually.” I smacked her back.

“So much. I can’t even imagine how hard we’ll cry.” Peaches turned to the bathroom door as it opened.

“Why are we crying?” Teddi came out in her towel.

“Because periods give us feelings.” Peaches covered for me as she hop-wiggled to the end of my air bed.

“That’s the truth.” She scooted past Peaches as they switched places.

I was saved from having to talk about it more with Teddi because she went to her go-to—recording the party. Teddi was meticulous and always made sure to note what worked and what didn’t. She usually had a few pages of thank you notes to write as well. But tonight, thank you notes would come from Teddi’s dad, right after she forwarded the list to him.

When she climbed up to her bed, we were all more than ready to close our eyes.

* * *

TAYLOR

The next morning Teddi, Peaches, and I spent way too long in bed. We scrolled through our phones, showed each other videos, and all looked at the dick pic Brutus had sent to Peaches.

“He’s really branching out. I mean, would you lead with this?” Peaches zoomed in on the penis skin.

“He needs a better down there skincare routine, for sure. That’s a lot of clogged pores.” Teddi put her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head.

“That’s a great point. I’ll tell him to exfoliate.” Peaches started typing away.

“I can’t believe he went straight to texting you his man dangle. Sweet lort. Have some shame, you know?” I checked on Austin’s social media. He was already out and snapping pictures in the backyard. Everything he put in focus looked cooler through his lens. Pastel, watercolor, and ethereal.

“I can’t believe he threw you in last night. What a dick.” Teddi adjusted her fluffy socks.

“I didn’t see him coming.” I glanced at Peaches, who seemed like she was hiding a smile. She knew I was watching Austin take that dip in the cold pool. Hell, all the girls that weren’t related to him at the party were watching that routine.

Teddi continued her recounting, “I bet he was sad when he saw you and Austin were,” she put her fingers into curlies to indicate quotation marks, “dating.”