This would always feel right.
“Bee-sting, do you ever get fomo from not having a pair since you ate them in the womb?” Colette mocked, and as punishment, I snatched the bottle of wine from her hands.
“Do you ever get tired of being so unoriginal you had to dye your hair to stand apart from Nessie?”
“Now why am I catching a stray?” Celeste interrupted at the second mention of her hated nickname. Somewhere between my angry teenage phase and the C-Team’s obsession with mythical creatures, depending on who you asked, our nicknames either ranged from revealing to slightly belittling. Hence, mine being Bee-sting in reference to my, some would say, cutting remarks.
Amir waved his popcorn-filled hand around like a teacher getting the classroom’s attention. “Enough of this. Rapid fire, please, all questions must hold until everyone has gone.”
And this was why we were actually here. Yes, familial love was sweet and tender and all of that, but there’s only so many life updates we can account for in our group chats. There’s a girls-only chat, an older-sibling-only chat, and, my least favorite, a twins-only chat. Our in-person gossip sessions always went from oldest to youngest, using as few words as possible, and we weren’t allowed to ask follow up questions until Celeste had gone.
Amir started. “Single in the city.” The four of us gasped, because Amir’s most recent boyfriend, Moss, was hands-down our favorite. It’d be hard to top that one because how and why did they break up.
Next, Aaliyah said, “Freezing eggs,” which made my mouth drop. If I was the family outlier for not having an artistic hobby or career, Aaliyah was second-least imaginative. Her ability to get straight to the point was trulysoboring. But I also wanted to know what made her change her mind. Aaliyah always said we were her kids, but that mindset had obviously changed.
It was my turn now, but I didn’t know how to sum up how the last few months of my life have been. To start, I left Jersey finally kissing girls out in the open and not in the closet, yet I still had no desire to settle down. As if I thought being out meant I was fully ready to love.
I’d say I’m about halfway there.
Gossip roundups weren’t meant to have a winner, but, naturally, I made it a competition. I wanted to be the sibling with the most follow-up questions, for everyone to ask me why it took so long to be comfortable saying I was a lesbian, not bisexual, if a stranger asked. The idea of moving to Miami scratched an itch I hadn’t been able to reach in months, and I wanted my siblings to be excited for me.
“Miami spring break,” I declared, drawing blank looks on everyone’s face.Fuck, I think I went too vague.
“Big fight with Dad,” Colette blurted out before I could change my answer.
“Stupid fight with Mom.” Her twin countered, putting us back in silence.
“So, we’re gonna need more food.” Amir nodded, his square jaw bouncing between his four younger sisters.
“And more wine,” I mumbled, “we all have some explaining to do.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Celeste interrupted me again. “So you slept through like half of your friend’s gay bar—”
“—The only gay bar in the city, by the way.” Amir reminded the group.
“And now you want to leave? To what? Sow your seeds in another city?” Aaliyah asked.
“Torment another gay bar?” Colette assumed.
“More practice kissing your friends?” Celeste joked.
I had made the mistake in telling everyone the makeout spree I went on throughout my college team, and Black Student Union and the Filipino dance team. “Hey! Let the past stay in the past!” I whined.
“Listen, Bee, I think you’re just having a quarter-life crisis. We’ve all been there.”
“Ew, we’re not old freaks like you guys.” Someone from the C-Team sneered.
“We just…want you to think this through before we start making calls. Making announcements, ruining relationships, y’know, the big stuff.” Aaliyah listed off, tapping her fingertips with her index finger.
I was aware I was coming off as the flighty type. The one Lee who didn’t know where she was going to land her feet, because at any given point in time there’d always beone siblingwho felt like they needed to flip their life around. And while I hated coming off as indecisive, I’d like to think I was owed at leastonepersonal life crash out. I try to find the words I used with Danny and Perry.
“I just think it’s time to start over somewhere new. Plant new roots, make some new friends—”
“Kiss new people.”
“Oh! Just like you wanted to kiss that platinum-headed hottie.” Celeste snapped her fingers.
“Ha! No way,” Aaliyah shouted at the same time I screamed, “Ew, Nola?”
