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I’M ON THE TOILET AT the 9:30 Club, and I’ how mermaids pee

This isn’t random There’s a mermaid Barbie attached to the door of the bathroom here Which is a pretty odd choice for a bathroo Bathroom mascots

But the door opens, letting in a burst of music from the club This is not a bathroom you can enter discreetly A stall door clicks shut just as I’ mine I step out

There are mirrors above all the sinks I suck in my cheeks so it looks like I have cheekbones And it’s quite a transformation Sometimes I have the idea that I couldthe insides of my cheeks Except for the fact that ityour cheeks definitely gets in the way of talking, and that’s a little hardcore, even for me Even for cheekbones

“Shit” There’s a voice from the stall, low and sort of husky “Hey, can you hand me some toilet paper?”

She’s talking to me It takes me a moment to realize that “Oh! Sure”

I grab a wad of it to pass under the girl’s door, and her hand brushes mine as she takes it “Okay, you just saved my life”

I saved a life Right here in the bathroom of the 9:30 Club

She flushes, and steps out of the stall, and the first thing I notice is her shirt: red cotton, with an aweso of the letters G and J I actually don’t think nize them as letters

But I do “That’s a Georgie James shirt”

The girl raises her eyebrows, sie James?”

“Yeah” I smile back

Georgie Jao You never really expect to e who’s heard of them, but my sister used to be obsessed

The girl shakes her head “That is awesome”

“It is the awesohs that bubbles up from your throat Then I really look at her And oh

She’s beautiful

This girl

She’s short and slender and East Asian, and her hair is such a dark shade of purple, it’s al about the shape of her lips She has very well-defined lips

Cassie would definitely be into her The glasses, especially And the Georgie James shirt

“Anyway, thanks for saving my butt Literally” She shakes her head “Okay, not my butt”

I giggle “It’s okay”

“Thanks for saving my labia”

I shrug and s about this kind of er It’s the kind of thing that makes the universe feel smaller I really love that