Happy Hour

by Marlowe Granados

Gala called me a Real Piece of Work. I hope she meant artistically.

There is comfort in getting ready to go out. I relish it. Gala will put on music that gives us a sense of excitement—not excitement directed at anything in particular, but about the unknown. What may or may not happen. One must always leave ample time to get ready, so there is a slow, incremental rise in joy. These are our rituals. We dance around our room. I cut a lime into wedges and keep it on a small plate on the bedside table.

There is only one rule when we get dressed: if it makes you feel good and there’s a pinch of fear that while in public someone may throw a comment your way or think it’s too much, wear it. You never know if someone else may be emboldened to do the same! If you’re going to put something on your body, why not make it look good? People think clothing is frivolous, but it can really instill courage, and that’s a good thing.

Enfin is our favourite place in New York so far because they are always playing the right song. It’s important to know whom the music is for, and it was the girls and gays who invented parties. That’s who keeps the best clubs open,

Her art is in understanding the fine line between an outfit and a costume. An outfit is what you wear, but a costume is something to really believe in.

Just from reading, I can tell people are obsessed with themselves, even when they loathe themselves, because they’re charmed with how they do it.

but mostly I am proud I refused to be punished for my femininity.

I have never been the right type of thin. I’ve been told that an extra five pounds really shows, especially in the summer when I am known to wear shorts. My thighs have always been ample. I’m not particularly bothered by this, but I am always being reminded.

My language was always overflowing, my conversation frenetic, and I came to my conclusions only incidentally.

Sometimes Gala is totally inappropriate.

when she was a child, she received many accolades. She’s been recovering from it ever since.

at home with a friend, when all you want to do is dance and dress up in the clothes you bought on the condition of needing them One Day.

Boys are always hanging around in groups, making girls uncomfortable.

In New York, value comes with what makes you unique, and I guess I am special.

“I am the most petulant! Forgive me for my personality!

“You especially should know men only punctuate a story.”

You could be the perfect girl for Anybody. We are conditioned to be obsessed with people falling in love with us. Reaching that

point is seen as a success.

Do those few lonely moments when I return inward, away from noise and glamour, really count?

There is true pleasure in fabrics, shapes, pleats, and folds. People think it is frivolous, but feminine things are often thought of that way; it is an important kind of knowledge that is overlooked.

I am not strong! I want to tell them. I am simply enduring. Mothers hug me with an intuition of what I lack, and I am thankful for that. I love them for it.

but really, what is the difference between a cult and a boyfriend?

I want money so I can have beautiful things—surround myself with them. Knowing beauty is a natural intuition.