36. Michaela
MICHAELA
Spring break seemed to have snuck up on Michaela.
After Jay’s “birthday week,” during which everyone barely survived the sheer amount of celebrating she insisted on–very Jay–time seemed to fly by, and it was break time.
And then, just like it had arrived, it was almost over.
They were at Callie’s family home–more like, estate.
When Callie had remarked that she was rich, she hadn’t minced words.
Callie lived in a white mansion, one of those that sat behind a gate you drove up to, with a driveway that looped around the front.
It made Michaela think of Cher Horowitz’s house in Clueless, white columns and everything.
With her parents out of town, Callie, Bjorn, Kevin, Jay and Michaela had the sprawling estate to themselves. Michaela had been bummed Iris and Davis didn’t come, but they had something to attend to for work.
“We promise to go on the next trip,” Iris had said when Michaela and Jay hugged her goodbye.
“Report back how fucking massive that house has to be,” Davis had joked.
The house had provided everything they could ever want on vacation: food, booze, two different pools, a hot tub, a game room, home theatre, and more.
They’d spent the whole break barely leaving the property.
They had access to both Bjorn’s and Callie’s cars, but they simply hadn’t needed to use them.
Michaela was happy to have their little bubble away from campus.
“I don’t want this trip to end,” Callie whined from where she was lying on a pool float.
“I know, this trip has been so perfect. If we do this again, we are forcing Davis and Iris to come with us no matter what,” Kevin said.
“Yeah, although, I think Davis stayed behind to hang with Alex, and Iris, well, you know they’re a package deal,” Jay said.
“I wish that hottie redhead Alex would hang with us,” Callie mock whined.
“One day. Or maybe we all just stay here forever, and then eventually they come to us,” Jay said jokingly.
“We must go back. Good thing you don’t live too far away,” Bjorn responded.
The Californian sun was still high in the sky, and everyone was freshly showered and trying to soak up the last day of their spring break.
Bjorn waded in the pool next to Callie while Kevin sat on the side; Jay and Michaela were taking time to dry off and warm back up on the lounge chairs they’d pulled up.
Michaela’s twists were swept up, but there was no way she’d managed to keep them dry the whole trip.
She thought she looked crazy, as she really needed a wash day to redo them, but Jay and Callie said they thought she looked very “Bohemian chic meets rockstar”--whatever the fuck that was.
Jay assured her that when they got back home, she’d help do her hair.
It was something they did together now, like the pedicures.
They’d shaved each others’ legs and painted each others’ toes before coming on this trip.
Michaela had hoped to have pierced her ears before the trip, but she hadn’t found the time between work and school.
She had even brought the earrings Jay had bought her for Valentine’s Day on the trip in case they got around to it, but somehow time had slipped by.
“It's so weird to think how you and I didn’t live that far from each other Callie, but worlds apart,” Michaela said, coming back from being lost in thought.
“But now, you’re stuck with me. Seriously Kayla, you're welcome here anytime.”
“And what would your parents say about that?”
“They’re never here, and even when they are, I don’t always see them,” Callie said matter of factly, but Michaela thought there was a hint of longing in her voice. She could recognize the feeling of being lonely and isolated even when you were in the same space as your family.
“Am I allowed to come too?” Jay teased, standing up and walking to the edge of the pool.
She was in a leopard print one-piece that only made her red-painted lips pop even more.
Like the rest of them, she’d gotten a dark tan while they were in southern California, her already brown skin deepening and the whole look made her look even more radiant than she already was.
“I don’t know, Jay, maybe I want Kayla all to myself.”
“Watch it, missy, just because I like you, doesn't mean I won’t cut you if you try to lay a finger on my Mickey,” Jay said teasingly. “Besides, you have your own double dose of fun.”
“Damn right,” Kevin quipped, lightly kicking a leg to splash Callie, who squealed.
“Children,” Bjorn muttered, but Michaela thought he looked amused.
“Did you know vacationing with the Collective,” Michaela said the name as she always did, mockingly, even though it had obviously stuck, “would be this silly?”
“Silly is one word for it,” Bjorn said slyly.
“What’s not to love?” Jay said. She sat next to Kevin, who playfully put an arm around her.
“The Collective, are you all really using that name?” Bjorn asked and Michaela laughed.
“I keep saying it's ridiculous but—”
“Oh Kayla, you love it. Deep down. Like way deep down,” Kevin said, and Jay laughed next to him.
“We are stuck with it,” Jay said from over her shoulder, shrugging at Michaela.
“Collective?” Bjorn said. “More like a gaggle of queers.”
“Oh my god, that actually might be better,” Callie said between fits of laughter.
“Okay, fine the Collective can stay,” Michaela mock-conceded, and the rest of the group laughed even more.
“Hey, I like it, we can be part of the reclaiming movement,” Callie said, looking over at Bjorn sweetly.
“Are you going to use that instead for our club jackets?” Jay teased.
“Jay, don't remind her!” Michaela said, and everyone laughed again. It was hard not to feel light and happy surrounded by friendship in the warm sun.
“I haven’t forgotten, you know. I was hoping to figure out something for Pride, but then I think it’d be cool to just have flags or hats or something,” Callie said.
Michaela stood and stretched. She was in a pair of green tennis shorts and a fuchsia sports bra.
She loathed tucking as much as Jay, and she knew this group was safe.
Besides, Bjorn and Kevin were both in the smallest Speedos Michaela had ever seen.
Michaela in general felt more comfortable in sportswear than a bathing suit, and it had felt good that she could just wear what she wanted without second-guessing.
Sitting next to Jay and then sliding into the pool to rest an arm against Jay’s thigh, Michaela said, “So are we all going, then?”
“Do you not want to?” Callie asked, without judgement.
“It's my birthday,” Michaela said quietly, and there was a wave of excited surprise around the pool.
“Yo, what?” Kevin said,.“That’s amazing! Well, of course, if you don’t want to go for your birthday–”
“Though a parade and a city-wide party for your birthday is pretty rad!” Callie said.
Michaela smiled to herself, because of course Callie would see it that way. And then she thought, maybe she should, too. The idea of being able to celebrate this birthday in the middle of it all felt right.
“We will do whatever you want for your first birthday, baby,” Jay said quietly, and Michaela knew she was thinking what Michaela was thinking: this would be her first birthday as herself.
“I think we should,” Kevin said.He carefully added, “We'll do whatever you want Kayla, but I think it will be good.”
“Will you be around?” Michaela asked, looking at her friend.
“Yeah, I all but begged one of my TA’s to let me shadow them this summer. I don’t have any housing, so good thing I have a super hot older boyfriend with his own off-campus apartment,” Kevin added, sending Bjorn a wicked grin.
“Are you staying too, Callie?” Michaela asked.
Callie nodded. Her pixie cut had grown out enough that her hair curled again, helped along by the pool water. “Yeah, I can’t let these two have all the fun without me. Wait, I thought you two would be staying?”
This hadn’t been something Michaela had discussed yet with Jay.
Her scholarship only covered housing during the fall and spring semesters, and it’s not like she had the money to rent anywhere over the summer.
She had been working on options with Ms. Cece, but until she had something concrete, she wasn’t really sure what she was going to do.
She couldn’t go back to Brian’s, obviously.
“Well,” Jay started, “I actually talked to Sasha about this. Turns out her rent is paid through August because she thought she would be interning this summer if she didn’t get into grad school in New York.
Now that she’s going, she apparently can’t get a refund, so she offered the space up to Michaela and I this summer. ”
Michaela whipped her head up to look at her girlfriend, who smiled down at her with a knowing and sly look. “You did? When?”
“Last time we were all at her place and she kept going on and on about not being able to get her money back.”
“And when were you going to tell me?” Michaela said, stunned.
“Whenever you let your pride go and told me you were trying to find a place to stay,” Jay replied, with a smug and mildly infuriating grin.
Michaela didn’t know if she wanted to kiss Jay or hold onto her pride, so she did the next best thing. She went in for a hug between Jay’s thighs, and then she clenched her arms around Jay and pulled her into the pool.
“Hey! That’s so rude! Is that anyway to treat someone you love who has taken care of your housing problem?” Jay said when she resurfaced, but she was smiling. Her black hair was now slicked back, and her striking red lips made for a sight that Michaela filed away for later.
“Yes, I am grateful, and yes, I love you, but you were too damn smug,” Michaela said as Jay bobbed up to her. Jay looped her arms around Michaela’s neck, and Michaela leaned in and kissed her.
“First step in a potential pool orgy,” Callie said, as Michaela broke apart and looked at her always jokingly inappropriate friend.
“No pool orgies for us,” Michaela chided.
“No pool orgies for us,” Bjorn was also quick to chime in.
Michaela turned to watch Jay look at Callie and then over her shoulder to where Kevin was sitting. Jay raised an eyebrow and shrugged, while Kevin said over Michaela’s shoulder, “Some people are no fun.”
Michaela looked at Bjorn. “Why are we with these fools?” she teased, and Bjorn just shook his head back at her.
The rest of the day had been like all the other days before them, perfect.
Michaela was once again struck by how lucky she felt to be wrapped in such warm love.
She was crazy about her friends, and even without Iris and Davis there, she found herself feeling grateful and warm towards them, as if she could still feel their presence from hours away.
She couldn’t wait to fill them in on everything.
They’d laughed and teased by the pool and then when it got time to figure out dinner, they moved into the main dining area.
Bjorn was an amazing cook, and he, Jay, and Michaela made fish tacos with a mango salsa, while Kevin and Callie made cocktails.
Working together, chatting, and eating around the dining room table that Callie mentioned nobody really used–a waste of a perfectly stunning table, in Michaela’s opinion–Michaela had held back a few tears at the overwhelming feeling of belonging and family.
Aside from the kinship she’d felt within the wider Alliance on campus, being part of this friend group was the first time she’d felt like she had a family.
One to which she belonged. Next time, she couldn’t wait for Iris and Davis—and likely Alex–to be crowding around the table.
But now, lying on her back on Callie’s bed, Michaela was not so sure she’d be able to hold back her tears. Beside her, a diligent Callie held her left ear lobe between two ice cubes while Bjorn held her right.
After dinner, Bjorn had insisted on going around the table for everyone to say one thing they loved about the trip and one thing they wanted to make space for next time.
On her turn, Michaela had mentioned that she loved the whole trip but had been hoping to finally get her ears pierced so she could wear the beautiful pair of studs Jay had gotten her for Valentine’s Day.
At this, Jay had revealed she’d pierced her own ears, and Callie shared that she’d done her second and third holes herself, too.
Kevin suggested that they pierce Michaela’s ears tonight with the little kit Callie still had in her room.
Bjorn had tried to talk them out of it, but it was little use trying to stop Jay and Callie. So, Bjorn had taken it upon himself to find cotton swabs, sterilize the needle, and bring an apple up from the kitchen. Kevin had brought up a bottle of wine.
“Sorry babe, but blood makes me squeamish, better for me to be on drink duty and moral support,” Kevin said.
“You sure about this?” Jay asked from the side of the bed beside Bjorn. She held the needle and apple half in her hand.
“Yeah Jay, if it’s you,” Michaela said, eyeing the needle and then her girlfriend. She didn’t feel any fear, though she knew she'd probably tear up at the pain. She always had when getting shots at the doctor as a child. She had when Iris had dragged them to get tested.
“So cute, this is kinda romantic,” Callie said from beside Michaela, and Michaela smiled.
Jay rolled her eyes and said, “It’s just a piercing.”
“Yeah, but you’re the one giving it to her, and then you’ll see her walking around with earrings knowing you put them there,” Kevin said from across the room where he sat on a dresser.
“You three,” Jay said, shaking her head slightly, but Michaela caught the look of pride there. “Okay baby, if you’re sure, I don’t want to hurt you, but I am going to have to give you a little pinch if you wanna have pierced ears.”
“It’s okay, Jay, I know you’d never really hurt me,” Michaela said, and she meant it.