Moonlit Waters

"By the way," Mika says in a hushed voice, her attentive gaze making sure the teacher doesn't see.

"We're meeting at Claire's later, to hang out, maybe watch a movie. It'll probably end in a sleepover. Wanna come?" Her smile is inviting and somehow hopeful, like she actually wants me there.

My mouth opens but my brain freezes. This is exactly the moment I've been waiting for. It's been several days since I called Isa and I've warmed up to the idea more and more. So much so, that I've actually been eagerly anticipating it.

"Yes!" I say then, trying hard not to sound too excited. "I'd love to."

Mika's eyes light up and her smile broadens. "Great!"

"I don't have any clothes with me, though," I realise then and stop smiling. I'll have to go home and then somehow get to wherever Claire lives. That could take hours, in these parts of the country.

Mika doesn't waiver. "Don't worry. Claire will be more than happy to lend you some."
Somehow, I can't help but get the impression that she meant it literally.

-

The sky is overhung with a thick, dark layer of clouds when I leave the school through the main entrance. The air is warm and humid in spite of the light breeze that is only foreboding the storm that's to come.

"Looks like rain," Alex says, falling in line next to me. He must've hurried to catch up with me, he had PE just now.

I snort. "You don't say."

He turns his head to flash me a cheeky grin. "To me that spells spending all night on the Rift or in front of the TV with Pearl. She hasn't been over in far too long, you know. I'm starting to miss her."

He's seen her the day before yesterday when he came over for dinner. But it has been some time since we last went to his place together. Strange how it doesn't feel like it's been that long and at the same time like that was a different life altogether. So much has happened. My body, Alex, Reyna... The first week of school is already over and against all expectations, I'm doing great.

"Sorry, I'm going to Claire's now." I scrunch up my face to show that I mean it. "We're having a sleepover with Emma and Mika."

He seems surprised. "You are?"

I nod. "Yeah. Mika invited me earlier. Rather spontaneous, I suppose."

"Well, I guess I'm glad your friendship's progressing so quickly." He takes my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. "Then... maybe tomorrow evening?"

"Sure!" I say with a smile and hug him goodbye before making my way to the car park while he heads for the bus.

They're already there, standing around a surprisingly expensive-looking SUV.

All the doors are open, Mika and Emma sitting in the trunk, Claire standing next to them, now waving at me.

"Ladies and ladies, today's VIP has arrived," she declares with a grand gesture in my direction.
Emma grins, gets up and makes way for me to put my bag in the trunk.

"This is gonna be so much fun," Emma giggles, then dashes past Mika to secure the passenger seat.

Mika rolls her eyes but smiles. "Which side do you wanna sit on?" she asks then.
I shrug. "You choose."

"Okay, I'm going left, then."

"Where do you live anyway," I ask Claire as I get in and secure the seat belt.

She grins. "Two towns over. Nothing spectacular, really."

She starts the car and pulls out of the parking space in a single controlled motion. She must have her driver's license for some time now. Crazy to think that most of us are already legal adults, myself included. I don't have a license, though and I doubt I'll be getting one soon. It's not like Mum and Dad haven't told me to get one, I just don't see the necessity.

"Are you excited?" Emma asks as we leave town and drive along one of the many narrow roads.

She twists in her seat as she says the words and shows me an almost comically devilish grin.

"Stop it, Emma! You're scaring her!" Mika complains with a worried glance in my direction. I'm really not sure whether she's being serious.

Only Emma's eyes move to look at Mika, the rest of her face doesn't so much as budge. "That's the point." Her eyes move back to me. "Are you scared?"

"God you're creepy. Claire, can we maybe set up a DIY stake in your backyard and burn the bitch?"

"Witch, you mean," Emma corrects her.

"No, I meant bitch." Mika sticks her tongue out.

Claire giggles and I can't help but join in. "Kids, either you stop fighting, or you can walk on foot!"

Momentary silence ensues. Emma pulls a face at Mika who, once again, sticks out her tongue.

"Do you guys have anything planned for today?" I ask then, admittedly a little intimidated.

"It's a surprise!" Mika says quickly before Emma can even turn around and start over with her creepy demeanour.

I raise an eyebrow at her.

"A surprise?"

Mika shrugs. "It wouldn't be such a big deal if Emma hadn't made it one." She shakes her head. "It's really nothing."

"You'll love it, though!" Claire pipes from the front.

"Or will you?" Emma again.

"I swear to God!" Mika has had enough. "If you don't stop right now, I'm going to stick Claire's stilettos up your nose and stir some sense into that nasty brain of yours!"

"Did you hear that?" Emma asks Claire, feigning excitement. "She finally admitted that I have a brain! Progress!"

Claire nods, then flashes me a reassuring smile in the mirror. "It's nothing to be afraid of. It even used to be a tradition of ours for a while..."

"We haven't done that in some time, though..."

"... And thanks to you we had the idea to revive the tradition." This time, Emma's voice isn't creepy at all.

-

Claire really lives quite remotely. The drive takes about forty minutes. At some point, Claire turns on the radio and all three of them begin singing along to the music. The atmosphere is so good and frisky that even I eventually join in. I doubt I'm a very good singer, even when I used to be a boy, I preferred having headphones in and not being heard or seen if possible. And now that my voice is a completely new one...

The girls around me don't seem to care, though. All of them are goofing around, pulling faces and dancing in their seats.

Claire's house is situated at the rim of one of the bigger towns. It has a small but beautifully kept garden with flowerbeds at the front and a paved driveway. It is clean and modern-looking and... large. Like, not large per se, but too large for three people. My home is smaller by a fair chunk and we live comfortably with four.

Claire parks the car in the driveway and we get out. Once we have our bags, she leads us along the paved path past the flowers and to the front door.

"Welcome to the Kinzie Crib," Emma giggles and Claire rolls her eyes but unlocks the door anyway.

There's a short corridor with stairs leading both up and down, a large mirror, a coat hanger overflowing with coats and jackets, a shoe rack and everything you'd expect from a corridor behind an expensive-looking door. The floor is tiled with white marble.

Opposite from us, there's an open door allowing the view onto the living space behind.

"Aight," Claire says, kicking off her shoes. "Let the tour commence."

My first impression was correct, it turns out. The living area is a large, single room with a group of couches in front of a large TV, a table easily large enough to fit ten people and an open kitchen twice the size of mine.

There are several closed doors leading away from the room but all Claire tells me about them is that one of them leads to her father's office, whom we really shouldn't disturb.

With that in mind, the tour quickly continues. She shows us the backyard, even more beautifully decorated with an artificial spring quietly gurgling, a terrace and a large gas barbecue.

The basement is full of storage space but also has a sauna and even a small gym.

"I don't really use either. But Mum and Dad love to spend hours here on the weekends. Some sweaty quality time that is." She doesn't say it reproachfully, just like she simply doesn't care.

On the way upstairs, I ask whether her Mum is home and Claire replies, "No, if she were she'd have long offered us self-made smoothies."

"Don't worry," Emma says with a grin, "we'll get some soon as she's home. And they're good."

Claire's room is behind the last of several doors in the corridor at the top of the stairs on the first floor. It is larger than mine but not absurdly large. The queen-sized bed has a heap load of cushions on it, there are a few pictures in frames on the shelves or simply stuck to the wood of the door.

What really makes my eyes jump out of their sockets is the room connected to Claire's by a door.

It's maybe four metres across from each side and filled with clothes. A shelf with easily a dozen boxes, a closet, several racks with dozens of dresses, coats and skirts and all sorts of things that I can't even identify at first glance, hanging from hangers.

"Tadaa," Claire says with a grin. "The dragon's hoard."

I stand in the doorway, Emma and Mika at my sides.

"Do you wear all these?"

Emma stifles a giggle with her hand and Claire's grin broadens as well.

"Not usually. But that's the point, I think."

"What do you mean you think?"

"Most of the stuff I have Mum bought for me." She shrugs. "She loves doing it, so I let her. And anyway, she's got good taste most of the time and anything she doesn't get me, I can still get myself."

She falls silent and it takes me a few seconds to realise that they're all looking at me expectantly.
I look back, confused. "What?"

"You wanna try something on?" Mika asks with an almost hopeful tone.

The confusion in my head gets only worse. Why would they... "Why?"

Emma pokes me in the side, making me squeak and jump away from her. "Because it's fun. Aight, I'll go first and show you."

She shoos us out of the room and closes the door, saying that the surprise is half of the fun.

"Is that the surprise you were talking about?" I ask Mika as we sit down on Claire's bed.

She nods. "We used to do that all the time, come up with new creative outfits and fuck around with make-up and stuff. Once, we even did a Halloween special." She turns towards Claire. "Where did you put the picture?"

Claire leans back against the pillows and points at the shelf by the door.

Mika gets it for me. The three of them are barely recognisable. Mika's hair is a mess, her face is dirty with what looks like charcoal, she's wearing white contacts and a dirty white dress, torn in several places. Claire's complexion is even lighter than usual, made up to be of a sickly white and she's wearing vampire fangs and an expensive-looking Victorian-style dress. Emma, of course, has an almost gothic make-up and is waving a Harry Potter wand at the camera.

They seem to have a lot of fun. And I mean, I totally get it, how this can be fun. I've done something quite similar with Isa, haven't I? But isn't this... their thing? Why would they invite me?

Mika seems to be reading my thoughts because, at exactly that moment, she says, "Not to be too personal or anything, but you're still kinda new at all this, right?"

I nod my understanding, but she goes on anyway.

"So we thought you'd like the opportunity to experiment a little. We could teach you make-up, Claire's got everything you could need, you've got a similar skin tone. I mean, if you wanna..." She goes bright red. "I mean, you've never worn make-up to school so I assumed-"

I giggle. "Thank you. Don't worry, yeah, I'm sure there's plenty y'all can show me." And I'd love that, too, wouldn't I? Okay, I've never seen the necessity for make-up thus far, but how can I know whether I like it, if I never try?

Mika nods, grateful that I stopped her from digging the hole any deeper, but doesn't say anything more.

For maybe five minutes, we hear Emma rummage inside, before her muffled voice calls, "Claire? I need the anklet!"

Claire jumps to her feet and hurries to the small dresser, opens a small, handcrafted, wooden chest and takes a delicate chain with tiny, colourful stones attached to the links. She walks up to the door, knocks and passes it through the crack, dutifully looking away.

Seconds later, Emma calls again.

"Ready?"

And before I know I've called back, "Yes!"

The door opens and Emma steps out and for a second my breath hitches.

She looks so utterly different to the girl in the school uniform. She's wearing wide, wine-coloured trousers made of a really thin and light fabric and a black tank top. Her feet are bare and because the trousers only reach about halfway down her calves, the anklet is on perfect display. Her hair is still loosely framing her face but on top of it, she's wearing a large straw hat.

She stops in the door frame, adopting a classical modelling pose and suggestively wiggling her eyebrow at me.

"Hey," she says in a breathy, dark voice. "Is it hot in here or is it just you?"

I meant to laugh, but instead, I somehow manage to choke on my own saliva and end up coughing for easily half a minute and several light slaps on the back from Mika before getting a hold of myself.

"So, whaddaya think?" Emma asks, expectantly looking at me of all people.

I stare at her for a second, then pull myself together and say, "You look great!"

"Where did you find those?" Claire asks then. "I've been wondering where they disappeared to."
"Bottom shelf on the left, far corner," is the simple reply, then Emma's attention returns to me.
"Wanna have a go now?" She nods towards the room.

A little helplessly, I stammer, "But I have no clue where to find something in there and generally-"

"Oh don't you worry," Claire interrupts me. "We're not getting impatient any time soon. Take your time and experiment and ask us if you want help."

"... Help." I echo, feeling a little silly. "Why don't you guys help me pick out something first and maybe then, when I'm a little more familiar with the options..." I let my voice fade and look at Claire for approval.

Claire nods. "Alright, sure. Do you want all of us to come or just take one?"

Mika jumps to her feet. "I'll go with her," she proclaims excitedly and holds out her hand. I take it and let her pull me up and into the smaller room.

"So, what are we going for?" Mika asks soon as the door is closed behind us.

I shrug. "Something simple, maybe? Summerly?"

Mika furrows her brow. "That's really not much to go on..."

"Sorry?"

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out." She opens the closet and points at the compartments.

"T-shirts on the left, tops on the right. Why don't you have a look and find something you like? Or would you like a dress better?"

I shake my head. "No, I-" I stop when my eyes catch a flash of blue in the left compartment.

Tentatively, I step forward, lift the stack of fabric and pull out a plain T-shirt in a light blue shade. It's the kind of colour you'd associate with beaches and fields of corn, maybe a sky with just a thin layer of clouds. It's made to look imperfect in a pretty way, white strings mixed in with the blue.

I unfold it and hold it up.

"I like the colour but wouldn't this be a little too tame?"

Mika waves it off. "It's simple, really. If you like it, you wear it. We're not here to make you uncomfortable."

"Okay. Then I think I like this one."

"Right." She nods. "I think I've just the thing to go with this one." She crouches and rummages through one of the lower compartments, then stands back up and hands me an off-white linen skirt.

"What do you think?"

I unfold it and hold it against myself. It seems to be cut rather loosely and reaches a little past my knees.

"Real tame but I think the two go together really well."

"I like it." I stop and look at her.

She pauses for just a moment, then realises. "Alright. You change then, while I go and pick some jewellery for you."

She cracks the door open and disappears.

She returns a few minutes later when I've just managed to change. The T-shirt sits snugly against my skin and with the skirt's low seam, there's a narrow line of skin showing.

She closes the door behind her and when she sees me, a wide grin spreads over her face.

"Girl, you were made to wear these colours."

She holds out her hand and shows me what she brought.

"So, I thought we should keep it simple. A bracelet and a pair of sunglasses."

The bracelet is a plain, delicate silver chain with no further decorations. The sunglasses are gold-rimmed and large but as far as I can tell, they should fit the outfit nicely.

I try to put on the bracelet but struggle to close it with just one hand. After a few seconds, Mika steps in and does it for me, then tells me to hold still and hooks the arms behind my ears, only to push the glasses up and into my hair.

She giggles at my confused expression and says, "You can also wear them down, of course, but with how dark it is right now, I think this looks better."

She fusses with my hair for a moment, reorganising strands in a way she deems fitting, then gives me a pat on the back.

"Ready when you are."

I nod, then step forward and open the door.

Two voices fall silent when they hear the sound of the handle moving and when I step into the light, Emma whistles.

"Nice!" she calls. "If summer were an outfit, it'd be this."

-

After that, the show really starts. For some time, I just watch as the three of them coordinate outfit after outfit. At some point, when I don't pay attention, Claire gets out a bottle of wine and four plastic cups because "Wineglasses are for pretentious wankers!" and the mood gets even better.

At some point, Claire's Mum brings up the smoothies Emma promised and Claire barely manages to hide the wine in time. But as soon as her Mum is gone again, she rummages in one of the drawers on her dresser, only to produce a bottle of cheap vodka she then proceeds to mix in with the smoothies. It's not like any of us get full-on drunk, but after an hour we're certainly tipsy and together with the music that makes for a lot of laughing.

Claire begins teaching me how to apply eyeliner and lipstick and though I'm really, really bad at applying the eyeliner I try again and again, cleaning it off until the skin around my eyes is a little red.

It goes dark outside and she proposes to turn me into an "absolute heartstealer." I change into a black cocktail dress and she sits me down at her dresser and works away with sponges and brushes and so many different things that I simply can't keep track.

A new song comes on and Emma steps out of the closet wearing sunglasses and a grey coat with a white shirt underneath and grey trousers and black shoes. She looks like a secret agent of sorts, which only makes it all the funnier when she begins to dance to the music.

That she actually knows what she's doing, that her movements aren't just random flailing but a set choreography she simply can't be bothered to follow gracefully, I only realise after several seconds.

Mika joins in a similarly goofy manner and soon enough Claire is telling me to hold still because their laughter is absolutely contagious.

"Where did you learn that choreo?" I ask when the song has ended.

"We take dancing classes," Claire replies in their stead. "Don't worry, they're usually better."

"That's cool. What kind of dancing is it?" It really shouldn't come as a surprise to me. It just fits too well with all of them.

"Hip-hop-ish," Mika says, vaguely waving her hand.

"You should come along sometime," Claire says, then halts and her gaze fixates me with a suddenly curious intensity. "By the way. What are your hobbies anyway?"

I feel my face go hot. She isn't the first to ask me this question and this isn't the first time I'm uncomfortable to reply. "There isn't much, really. I like playing League with Alex." Pause. "Do you know what League is?"

Claire nods and I leave it at that.

"And I like swimming in the lake I live next to when the weather allows for it. But that's about it, really. The rest is pretty normal, like watching Netflix or spending time with my little sister but those can hardly be considered hobbies, right?"

"That's nothing to be ashamed of," Mika hurries to reassure me, just as Claire says,
"Come along then."

For a moment, neither of them says anything and Mika shoots a worried glance at Claire, who doesn't look at her, keeping her expression firmly confident.

"I mean, dancing is perfect if you want an impressive hobby, right? And anyway, there are so many reasons to do it, even if you leave out just how fun it is," she says, her eyes glowing with honest passion.

"Damn right," Emma chimes. "You get real flexible." And she gives me a nod with a seductive smirk. Together with the sunglasses and just her general get-up, the image is too funny for me not to crack up.

"It's great exercise," Mika adds helpfully.

They really want me to be part of their group, huh? It's so obvious and somehow so weird that I still can't quite wrap my head around it. They work so perfectly together, they're so well-acclimated to one another. What would they need me for?

And then I realise that I'm being stupid again. I can almost hear Isa scolding me.

Dummy!

Who am I to question my luck?

"So. What do you say?" Claire asks, dropping her hands into her lap.

With a shrug, I look past her and at the dark window where rain is hammering against the glass. I don't know when it began raining, but I like the atmosphere it adds to the room. That air of cosiness.

"Sure. I'd love to give it a try."