“What’s up with you?” he asks.
“Nothing.” I try to smile.
“Sidney.” He eyes me as we turn into the library hallway. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a bad liar?”
“You do, all the time.” I stick my tongue out at him.
“OK, well. I say that because it’s true. So what’s up? Was Forrest a dumbass during setup this morning?”
“No! No. He was fine. I’m just...”
“Anxious?”
“Yeah. As usual.” I laugh, but it’s half-hearted.
“Hey.” He curls a hand around my upper arm and squeezes gently, stopping me just outside the library. “I know you think you’re responsible for the success or failure of Queer Alliance, but you’re not.” I blink, looking down. I don’t know how he does it, but Jayden always seems to know what’s going on with me. “Plus, if this fails, you can just blame it on Forrest,” he adds. “And then you’ll be a shoo-in when it’s time to revote.”
I laugh, meeting his eyes again. “You’re right.” As much as I want to win the presidency, though, I don’t actually want this event to fail. Even if it means getting an edge on Forrest. The club’s well-being is more important than that.
“You know it!” He points at me. “OK, let’s get in there.”
I take a deep breath and follow him through the open double doors, the bead curtain tickling my face. Inside, people are crowded around the tables—way more than we usually have at Queer Alliance meetings. Music is blasting through a portable speaker on one of the tables, and at the front desk, Mx. Prager bobs their head as they study their computer screen.
I follow Jayden to the first table, where we find Makayla and Anna stuffing their faces with cupcakes. The whole table is covered in rows of them, each one labeled with theappropriate dietary restriction: vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, ones that are all three, and ones that are none of those things. I pick one of the latter, a chocolate cupcake with tiny sour gummy worms resting in its pink frosting. The first bite makes my eyes widen. It’s moist and rich, the icing flavored like actual strawberries, not just generic sweetness. The gummy worms add a perfect tartness.
Stef appears beside me, her long beaded braids swinging forward as she leans over the table to grab a vegan one from the other end. “Hey Sidney,” she says, smiling at me.
“These areincredible!” I say, taking another bite. “Your aunt is a genius.”
She laughs. “Thanks.”
“How long has she been doing this? Where’s her bakery? Do you get to just eat these whenever you want?” The questions spill out of my mouth, Stef’s eyes twinkling as my words trip over each other in excitement.
“She opened it a few years ago down in Rainier Beach. It’s become a real community spot. It’s called Sweet Tooth, if you ever wanna go.”
“That’s really cool that she donated.”
Stef shrugs. “She’s always been super supportive of me. She’s gay too, she lives with her wife.”
“Was the rest of your family not supportive?” I watch her face, the small glitter hearts pasted at the corners of her eyes moving with her expressions. I don’t think I’ve ever had this long of a conversation with Stef before. Not that I don’t like her. But she’s just always been Forrest’s friend, and I guess I kind of wrote her off by proxy.
“Eh, my parents were fine, so were my sisters; some of my extended family was weird, and my grandma...” She grimaces. “I’m not out to her yet. She’s old and super Christian, like she’s still convinced I’m gonna marry my dad’s best friend’s son.”
“Oh my god.” I face-palm and she laughs. “Why are boomers like that?”
“I don’t know, but I’mnotinto it,” she says.
“What’s up, nerds?!” a familiar voice bellows. Forrest pushes between us, snagging a cupcake. “This party is pretty great, huh?” He grins at me, face inches from mine as he licks the frosting off. “I told you.”
I roll my eyes and step back. “Yeah, OK, I’ll give it you.” I glance around at people chattering to each other over the music as they dig into the chips, fruit, and drinks we brought. “This ...was a pretty good idea.”
“Wow.” Forrest shakes his head.“Youapprove of somethingI’mdoing. I never thought I’d see the day. Now I can die happy.”
“You are so annoying,” I say, but I can’t help smiling.
“So I hear.” He smirks. “OK, I gotta get back to Skittles pong.”
“Skittles pong?”
