BooksBarbecue
Back When We Were Friends
Chapters (52)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. About the Author
  5. 31
  6. 14
  7. 31
  8. 14
  9. 31
  10. 14
  11. 31
  12. 14
  13. 31
  14. 15
  15. 31
  16. 16
  17. 32
  18. 16
  19. 32
  20. 17
  21. 32
  22. 17
  23. 32
  24. 17
  25. 32
  26. 17
  27. 32
  28. 18
  29. 32
  30. 18
  31. 32
  32. 18
  33. 32
  34. 18
  35. 32
  36. 18
  37. 32
  38. 18
  39. 32
  40. 18
  41. 32
  42. 18
  43. 32
  44. 18
  45. 32
  46. 32
  47. 33
  48. 33
  49. 33
  50. Acknowledgments
  51. Discussion Questions
  52. Booklist

“WHERE DID THE NIPPLES GO?” Jade asked, grasping my hand and tugging at it like a scared child.

“Why didn’t he use up at least one genie wish on getting nipples?” Jessica asked, through a mouthful of cereal she’d stolen from the kitchen, spraying some over her lap with laughter. “Surely that’s the obvious first wish?”

Aladdin came onto the screen again and we all screamed. Mike’s blue spikes appeared around the door, and he grinned. “I keep thinking you’re watching a horror movie and then, every time I check in on you, it’s still just Disney.”

Jessica reached up and took his hand, pulling him down onto the duvet. “Don’t pretend Disney films didn’t scare the shit out of you when you were young,” she said. In the blurred edges of my consciousness, I noticed a knowing smile on both their lips, and knew, with certainty, that they’d done more than roll a joint in that bathroom. Jade didn’t seem to pick up on it though. “I’ve got a bong going next door if you’re interested?” he asked, just Jessica.

She tilted her chin down as she smiled. “We’re all good with our movie night. Thanks.”

“Are you sure?”

“Will you turn the music down?” she asked, flirt lacing every syllable. “I don’t want Pantera drowning out ‘A Whole New World.’” Her megawatt charm meant she could say anything and it was cool and sexy, and Jade and I hid in it, knowing we were protected from their judgment. When Mike closed the door, Jade asked, “What the hell is a bong?”

“I have no idea,” Jessica replied, and we all burst out laughing again, before screaming once more at Aladdin’s no-nipples.

This time, Sally’s head peered around the door.

“What the hell is going on in here?”

We pointed at the screen. “Aladdin. He. Has. No. Nipples.”

She smiled in her smudged lipstick. “No way! You guys notice it too? It really freaked me out when I was a kid.” She clambered onto the bed with us, as Jade put a pillow on her shoulder and let Sally rest her head there.

“The boys are all being really boring,” Sally informed us. “They’re taking it in turns to do bongs. And now most of them are just basically lying against a wall, half dead.”

“Drugs are bad,” Jade said, then laughed again.

“We definitely haven’t had any,” I added.