13
Me: Andy and I are going to white horse tonight if you want to come! Like 9ish?
Lia: YES BITCH. im gonna bring rayna, she lives like a block away
Nolan: Can I bring Jaiden
Lia: are you dating jaiden? if so then yes
Nolan: So you automatically get to bring Rayna just because you’re dating but I don’t get to bring anhond
Nolan: anyone*
Lia: no nolan, you dont get to bring anhond
Me: I’ve never met Anhond, are they nice?
Andy: Oh, Anhond is coming? That’s awesome.
Nolan: I hate you guys
Me: Tell Anhond I’m excited to meet them and tell Rayna she has to do my eyeliner <3
Nolan: I’m bringing Jaiden
The White Horse bar bathroom is a 5 out of 10 on the dinginess scale.
Two small stalls, two small sinks, and a moderate amount of graffiti, plus a vaguely bathroom smell about it, like it’s perpetually a little wet.
Lia leads the way in, staking out one of the sinks for our makeover station.
Rayna spreads a paper towel on the counter and starts unpacking her lavender makeup bag while Lia drags me under the overhead light.
“You’re in grad school right?” Rayna asks, sifting through her products.
“Not yet,” I reply. “I’m hoping to start my PhD next year though.”
“What’s your field?” She pulls out a black eyeliner from the bunch.
“Science education.”
“Use the brown on her,” Lia interjects. “She’s such a soft autumn.”
“Can I ask,” Rayna continues, shuffling through her bag once more, “I hope this doesn’t sound bad, but do you need a PhD for that?”
“No,” I laugh. “You don’t need one to teach, but I actually want to do research.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I’m really interested in experiential learning. I grew up on a farm and that’s what really got me interested in science in the first place. The plant cycles and the ecosystems, you know. And now I work at a museum that’s all about hands-on—ooh, is that liquid?”
“Yeah, it goes on so smooth.” She pulls off the lid. “Just stay still for a moment.”
“Sorry.” I tilt my chin up toward the light and close my eyes.
“But you were saying?”
“Yeah, so my research will focus on kids who don’t thrive in traditional classroom experiences, and seeing what kinds of experiential or project-based learning models help grow their interest in science.”
“Sophie, Rayna’s too nice to tell you to stop moving so much, but I’m not.”
“Sorry!”
“You should’ve brought a stamp for her. She’s a fidgeter.”
“You’re good,” Rayna assures me. “But okay, how do you even research that? Like how do you get kids to test on?”
I let out another laugh, then realize I’m not supposed to be moving and snap my posture back to attention.
“Well, we don’t really get kids to test on. And it depends on the project. Sometimes you can partner with schools or other educational institutions like museums or park districts to evaluate programs they’re running. Other times it’s more like conducting surveys,
like some researchers at Ashmore partner with College Board to survey kids right after the SAT. There’s lots of options. And then once we have the data we can do whatever analysis we want.”
“Turn to the right a little,” Rayna says as two more women enter the bathroom.
“I’ve only had two drinks but they’re hitting me so hard,” said the first new girl, her voice low and smooth as she closes a stall door behind her.
“I love a heavy pour,” says the other girl, voice high and bright. “Save me money and fuck me up.”
“Do you do content creation full time?” I ask Rayna, eyes closed again.
“I’m also an entrepreneur, actually. I have my own makeup line.”
“No way!”
“Yeah. Mostly foundation but I’ve started branching into some other products too.”
“Can I get at the sink for a second?” Lia scoots behind me and turns on the faucet, then starts wetting the ends of her hair to coax the curls into shape.
“Is that a hard market to break into?” I ask.
One of the new girls flushes her toilet.
“Well, the market for foundation has big gaps,” Rayna says. “Most major brands are not shade inclusive at all, and even when dark shades are available they don’t have nearly as many undertones as the light shades.”
The low-voiced bathroom girl shouts “So true!” from her stall, making all of us laugh.
“So anyway, it’s a specific hole in the market that I’m trying to fill.”
“That’s amazing. Do you do your own marketing and everything?”
She lifts her fingers from where they were anchored on my cheeks. “That’s how I got into content creation, yeah. You’re done by the way.”
I open my eyes and turn towards the mirror. “Oh my god, I love it! Thank you.” I move my head from side to side to see all of the angles as Rayna and Lia start clearing the sink.
“So Soph,” Lia adds, “see how it’s basically straight? You do yours too curved up, but you can just go straight out with it.”
“I see that. It looks so good. Thank you, Rayna.”
“No worries,” she smiles. “Happy to help.”
“You have to send me a link to your brand. I don’t use foundation that much but I’ll share it everywhere.”
“That would be amazing,” Rayna says before pulling out her own dark red lipstick and applying it liberally.
“I can’t believe you run a business and make content and have time to date.”
“Lucky me.” Lia grabs her around the waist and kisses her cheek.
“Well,” Rayna laughs, “Lia’s as busy as I am so it kind of works out. Are you seeing anyone?”
“Recent breakup actually.”
“Oh, sorry.” Rayna cringes like she’s not sure if the topic is forbidden
“Don’t be. He was an asshole.”
“Lia!” Rayna scolds.
“She’s kind of right,” I admit.
“Well, then I’m sorry about that too,” Rayna says.
Then the high-voiced girl in the second stall yells “Fuck him!” and we’re all laughing again.
“You know,” Rayna starts again, “I don’t want to ask a question that I’m not supposed to ask, but… has Andy ever made a move on you?”
I let out a staccato laugh that’s way too loud. “No, definitely not.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!” I feel myself start to sweat. “He’s not into me like that.”
“Come on,” Lia says, but when I snap my head in her direction I see she’s talking to her wayward curls.
“Well, are you getting back out there with anyone yet?” Rayna asks.
“I don’t know. I haven’t been feeling super confident lately. I tried going on a date last weekend but it was horrible. At least one of us was extremely boring and I couldn’t tell if it was me or him. I might just try celibacy. Or get back with my ex. Who knows.”
“Fuck that,” Lia spits, still wrapping her damp strands into finger curls. “Your confidence is just low right now because Elliot sucked it out of you and you haven’t rebounded yet. I think you should go out there tonight, pick a hot guy, and just dance with him. Don’t overthink it.”
“I agree!” chimes the high-voiced girl again before flushing her toilet. “Get back out there!”
Then the low-voiced girl, now washing her hands at the other sink, adds, “Yeah, you look hot. You should do it.”
Their encouragement is sweet but I can feel myself blushing already at just the thought. “Oh my god, I am not going to walk up to a stranger and ask him to dance.”
“Well no, don’t ask him to dance. This isn’t the eighth-grade formal,” Lia gibes. “Just make eye contact, vibe check, and then grab on for the ride.”
“Lia, my love, that only works for people who look like you. And honestly I’m kind of tired of always being the person taking initiative and trying so hard.”
“She doesn’t have to do anything she’s not ready for,” Rayna tells her girlfriend.
“Yes, she does,” Lia insists, then turns to me. “Yes, you do. Trust me.”
Both bathroom ladies agree with a hearty “Yes, you do!” Then the low-voiced one leans towards Rayna, asking, “Did you say you have a foundation line?”