“Once you get surgery,” I said, keeping my voice even, “you’ll be able to wear your hair in a ponytail like that more often.”

“Excuse me?” she said.

“The brow ridge, you know,” I said casually, tossing my cigarette butt into the sidewalk. “You won’t have to worry about it.”

“Alright. I’m going inside,” Arabelle said.

“Cool, I’ll see you in there,” I said.

She wasn’t going to give me the satisfaction of untying her hair in front of me, but I was sure she’d do it once she was inside. I wondered if she was gonna run into those Discord transbians. I asked Dustin for another cigarette.

Before he could acknowledge anything about that exchange, I asked him about his novel. It sounded completely conventional and sort of dull. I moved closer to him, and we were both leaning on the railing, side by side, our arms touching.

Eventually, Ambrose opened the door. I had sort of expected to see him.

“Hey V, how’s it going?” he said.

“Pretty good,” I said. “This is Dustin.”

“I know Dustin,” he said.

Of course he did.

“Are you trying to leave soon?” Ambrose said.

Dustin placed his hand on my lower back, underneath the scaly top. I didn’t disallow the gesture.

“Not really,” I said. I leaned into Dustin in a totally unsubtle way. “I’m having a good time catching up with people. Aren’t you?”

“I don’t know,” Ambrose said, looking at the front door with what could have been mild panic. “I guess I’ll stay here for longer. I just wanted to check in with you.”

“You do that,” I said.

“This party sucks,” I said, when Ambrose was gone.

“Yeah,” Dustin said. “Do you wanna, uh, walk with me a bit? I live just near here.”

“Me too,” I lied, even though at that point I was pretty certain I didn’t need any pretense. “I’ll walk with you.”

We walked back to his place on the straightest path. The rain got more insistent and then turned into sleet. At one point, I put my arm around his waist, like I would for a woman, and felt him shrink into me. For the first time in weeks, I got a little turned on.

Gap Year

Gap Year

September 10

Genevieve,

Yesterday I went to Elena’s house again. She asked me if I knew how you were doing, and I said no. Have you thought about calling her? Ever since she broke her leg, all she has is free time.

September 14

That probably wasn’t such a good way to start. You’re busy; it’s natural. And you live in, like — where do you live now? Far away from here. I see pictures on Instagram, and I get confused. There’s somehow both mountains and an ocean nearby. Or are you traveling a lot?