Quiet bookworm April had gotten her hands on a BMW convertible and drove it like a madwoman down the narrow streets of Frendwich, slamming to a stop every time Grace braced herself to run the next stop sign or red light. She pulled into a parking spot by the bar with all the finesse of a ballerina juggling crystal wine glasses, climbing out with Sofia while Grace waited for her heart attack to calm down. Some of her must have been shaking from nerves, too, since she’d never been to a bar with friends before.
The girls waited for her at the front door, which was a level of friendliness Grace could never have imagined getting from girls when she was first figuring herself out in high school. But also, it kind of felt a little like they were mocking her. Grace’s knees were weak as they stepped inside, her ears flattening at the sheer noise of blue collar workers trying to unwind after a long week. Sofia took her by the hand and pulled Grace to the back where the boys were sitting.
Maddox was going to see Grace wearing girl clothes! Every human and other morf in the bar could see her in girl clothes. Why was the room spinning?
April and Sofia scooted into the booth before pulling Grace in. She was sitting right across from Maddox, but unlike him, her fur hadn’t come in enough to hide the intense blush that she was feeling. He said hello to her, and she managed to sputter a few sounds that might have been words. Maddox chuckled, at least, which was most likely a good sign.
“I’m the designated driver for the evening,” Sofia said, “so go ahead and drink your fill.”
“I’ll probably just have a beer.”
Louis smacked his hands on the table, declaring, “A round of beer for everyone!”
The group quickly broke into several different discussions happening at once. Grace stayed silent, pretending to be a fly on the wall and only answering direct questions with one- or two-word responses. It took some time for the watery beer to dissolve her nerves and relax her muscles.
Sofia could not stop talking. Occasionally, Louis would interject with a snappy joke that made everyone laugh. Griff silently offered to share his buffalo wings with April, who accepted while nodding along to Sofia’s ramble. Maddox was on his third beer but chuckling occasionally.
He suddenly asked Grace, “What have you been up to since leaving school?”
“Oh… Uh… I got my computer science degree, and I managed to get a decent job working on computer systems.”
“Oh, another college girl,” Louis said, glancing at April. “She’s coming for your spot in the friend group.”
April just snorted.
Grace asked, “Where did you end up going? I always figured you for, like, Yale or Harvard.”
She burst out laughing. “Oh, God, no. I got my electrician’s license. I don’t have time for people with their heads that far up their butt.”
“Really? But you were almost the valedictorian in our senior year. I just assumed you’d become a doctor or a lawyer or something.”
“I’d rather have a union job, to be honest. And it’s not like any idiot can work electricity.”
Grace asked Maddox, “What do you do for work?”
“Garbage truck. Uh… Sanitation Engineer, according to my contract.”
“Why?”
“It’s honest work for a good pay.”
Louis slammed the table loudly enough to make Grace jump as he cried, “Waiter! Another round!”
Grace whined and slid down in her seat. They were getting so rowdy. It would be super embarrassing to be kicked out. It would be even worse if someone called the police.
“You don’t come to bars often, I take it?” Griff asked. She shook her head. “It’s alright. Just close your eyes and focus on your breathing.”
“She should try the karaoke machine,” Sofia said. “Get in front of people and loosen up.”
“Loosen up her bowels, probably,” Louis said, smirking as she crinkled her nose.
“I’d really rather not.”
Sofia insisted, “You need to relax.”
“There’s no danger in it,” Maddox added. “And there’s nothing braver than trying something scary.”
Griff told her, “You don’t have to commit if it’s too much.”
Grace took another drink, her face burning.
“You can’t be any worse than Louis,” April said.
“Hey!”
“Alright, I’ll try.”
She stood up, legs a little wobbly, and kept her head down as she approached the machine. One look told her that she didn’t understand how it worked at all. Grace sent a helpless glance back at the table, prompting April to come over and start fiddling with it.
“I’ll pick a song for you. This one’s pretty easy.”
Face bruning, swaying a little, and holding the microphone way too tight, Grace opened her mouth and began croaking out the lyrics to “Man! I Feel Like a Woman.” It was not as easy as April had promised, but it was pretty fun.
Ten minutes later, Sofia was holding Grace’s hair as she threw up into a trash can outside. Everyone else climbed into the car, but Grace took a moment to shake off the lightheadedness and get her bearings. Slowly, she climbed over Louis to squeeze into the middle seat of the convertible with April. Griff needed the whole front passenger seat to himself because of his size, so the rest of them were squished together tight.
They tore out of the parking lot with the squeal of burning rubber. Without a seatbelt, Grace clutched the fabric of the seats and held on for dear life. Sofia somehow only hit green lights until they were on longer, winding roads through the local hills where there was little except the occasional dilapidated farmhouse.
Louis whooped and hollered, all but standing up in his seat, and April laughed along with him. Griff leaned out over the door to feel the wind on his face. Only Maddox seemed pleasantly indifferent to the chaos around him.
“Loosen up, Grace!” he called out over the madness.
Grace didn’t trust herself to speak without throwing up again.
Everyone else was having fun. They’d dragged her out there to have fun with them. Grace’s heart told her to join in, but her arms were too heavy. This was the first time since starting MHRT that she had a chance to let go just a little. But it was a slippery slope, wasn’t it? All it would take was one unflattering video posted only for everyone to see her as just another animal.
She was way more afraid of that than the jerking of the car. She was afraid of it enough to avoid leaving the house most days. Afraid enough that she’d stopped showering because it was much safer to have groceries delivered than to step outside and be seen at all. And for what? The only time she hadn’t felt judged earlier was in the bar, surrounded by people who didn’t care how anyone saw them! Now that there wasn’t a human face around for miles, Grace was still afraid to be seen.
She stood, the wind nearly pushing her back down into her seat, and did her best attempt at a wolf howl. April burst out laughing. Louis joined in the call, followed by Griff. Soon, everyone was howling at the moon and doubling over with laughter.
Sofia brought the car off road to wind them through some trees and park at the side of a small stream. The boys pulled some firewood from the trunk of the car and got to work reviving an old fire pit while April grabbed a cooler full of beer. It wasn’t long before mostly everyone was playing in the creek, climbing over each other, and barking into the night, but Maddox leaned up against the car and stared at the fire while slowly sipping a beer.
Grace stood off to the side and stared at him. Sometimes, he’d glance at her and smile, but her nerves kept her rooted in place. Taking a deep breath, she chugged the rest of her beer and threw it aside before walking up and standing beside him.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
Crickets could be heard over the sound of splashing from the creek.
He asked, “You enjoying yourself?”
“Oh, yeah! It’s been really fun.”
“That’s good. I’m glad you came.”
“Maybe I did need to… cut loose a little. I haven’t been able to let my guard down in…”
“You were pretty tense even in school.”
“Fuck, I was.”
Maddox laughed. “You’re still pretty nervous, but I think I can at least tell what it is.” Grace said nothing, her face burning. “You can just make a move if you want.”
She shook her head. Grace had imagined kissing Maddox so many times in high school, but that was before MHRT. Things were different now, and they were different people, and giving in like that would mean something else now that he was a primal and she… cared about that. It mattered. It had to matter or the way the world treated people like them didn’t make sense.
He continued, “Or I can make the first move, if you’re the kind of princess who needs a Prince Charming.”
Grace snorted. “God, I don't know how I ever thought you were cool.”
“That’s not a no.”
Chuckling, Grace stepped over to stand in front of him and stood on her tiptoes. He leaned down until their lips had met and a tingle of lightning ran through Grace’s body. She pushed him back against the car and leaned in as far as she could. The rest of the group found her fifteen minutes later sitting in his lap on the hood of the car, still experimenting with all the ways she could kiss him.
Grace finished zipping up her suitcase, marveling at how it really was no wider than a pillow. She was back in jeans and a T-shirt, but her hoodie was wrapped around her waist; it was too hot even inside for that. Next to her suitcase was the much larger tote bag that April and Sofia had left from the day before. By that was the frumpy dress all folded up, ready to be donated to whatever thrift shop would be willing to take it.
It was time to go. The apartment had been fully fumigated, and Grace needed a vacation from her vacation. A few days on the couch playing video games would help her adjust back to a normal life after a night of chaos and a day of practicing her marksmanship with her father. She’d been somehow much more nervous about that than going to the bar, but it had turned out alright.
There was a knock at the front door. “Grace, it’s your friends!”
She grabbed the tote bag and hauled it into the front hallway where April and Sofia were waiting.
“Hey,” Sofia said. “We just came to see you off.”
“Aww, thank you. This is all the stuff you left. I put the things I wore in a plastic bag; there wasn’t time to wash anything.”
April shook her head. “You can keep all that. We didn’t pick anything we couldn’t live without, and you clearly need it more than us.”
Grace huffed but said, “I am kind of sad to be leaving. It would be nice to come back and visit soon, or maybe you guys can come visit me.”
“We can do that,” Sofia said with a toothy grin. “We’ll even bring Maddox for you to practice kissing with.”
“...Shut up.”
Her friends took off while Grace’s father helped lead her bags into the car. It was late enough that morning traffic had dwindled to nothing but also hopefully early enough that her father wouldn’t have to worry about rush hour while driving home. It was pretty quiet in the car, but it was tranquil.
“We should probably stop for lunch on the way,” her father said. “Any ideas? Is Burger King still your favorite?”
“I haven’t had Burger King in forever,” Grace realized. “That sounds amazing.”
She pulled out her phone and navigated to Discord.
Quick update, everybody. Apartment is done and I’m heading back there now. I think some fresh air was good for me. Met some really cool people, too. My high school crush is also a morf! Can you believe that? And we maaaaaaay have kissed once or twice.
She closed the app and turned off her phone before shoving it back into her pocket.
“I’m glad I got to see you,” she told her father. “There’s lots I want to talk about.”
Quiet bookwork April
shouldn't that be bookworm?
Gosh, you'd think I'd have caught that the second word of the chapter was wrong, but there we go, I guess.