That Obscure Moment

{3} Pre-approved

"I don't believe you."

"Oh, come on. Why would I lie to you?" Laura's light brown hair shone in the sunlight as she vigorously examined her cuticles.

"Maybe you just want me to feel better about it. I came out so fat in that photo!" I swiped through the various filters on Instagram, determined to find the perfect lighting. Since the photo was taken at night, the color balance was off, and you could barely see us since we were standing right in front of the vibrant fireworks. Not that I would have liked to be the brightest object in the picture, nonetheless. My theory has and will always remain the same: the worse the quality, the better you look. But that didn't mean Peter and I had to blend into the night completely!

A couple seconds had passed since I had spoken. I remained silent, waiting for the response both Laura and I knew was most appropriate.

"No way! You came out looking so thin!" Laura finally answered half-heartedly. I shot her a thankful grin that she didn't even catch, knowing she was stretching the truth. All girlfriends understood each other in moments like this. We, as people, need validation that we look good. Why are girls so obsessed with posting selfies and bikini shots? The answer is simple; they want compliments. They want the people (especially the boys) who are scrolling down their news feed to gawk at their photos. Without the confirmation that we are all pretty and skinny, it strips us of just that and we are left with nothing but our own opinions. And who wants that?

"When do you think we're gonna leave?" I asked, referring to Hawk Lake. One could never know for sure with Laura's family. I shifted my chair closer to the window, allowing more of my skin to bask in the sun. The warmth felt good, especially since it took an eternity to arrive after a blizzard-filled winter beyond imagination. But that's typical New York.

She shrugged casually, sipping on her iced latte. "My mom ends work around 5, so we'll pick you up somewhere around then." I narrowed my eyes on her and raised my eyebrows, indicating how improbable that sounded. Laura tilted her head up and saw my expression.

"Okay okay, realistically speaking - probably around 7 or 8. You know how my family is." I knew exactly how her family was, given that I'd known them for years at this point. I wouldn't say they treated me like I was Laura's sister. Distant cousin works. A distant cousin who was close with Laura. That sounds about right. They never hesitated to be blunt and give me advice on anything, which is very helpful; given the lack of advice my own parents gave me.

Laura did not have to follow up with further instructions. I already knew to be packed long before then and be ready at a moment's notice to leave abruptly. You never know how her family's plans will change. But I was used to it by now and had already adapted to their...ways, if you will.

Wouldn't that only be predictable since I spent more time in Laura's home than my own?

I watched Laura take a bite into her bagel and followed suit. At that point in our lives, we had yet to hit the mania that follows with dieting, starving, or any sort of dietary conformation. None of those concepts struck us until later that year. In that moment, we had given no thought to the delicious caloric bagels that we were currently swallowing whole.

Laura and I had ended up creating a few "spots" over the years. By that, I mean these spots were only reserved for our hang-out sessions and we visited them frequently. Sort of like how it was usually presented in all the movies or television shows, when any clique goes to THE coffee shop all the time.

Given that we both attended a rather large high school, we had no perceptions of stereotypical, cliché aspects that we were positive occurred in suburban schools. Our school contained 5,000 children. Walking through the hallways was worse than trying to get through Times Square on New Year's Eve. But that doesn't matter now. School was out for the summer, and all we wanted to think about were the two exciting months that should be deemed 'lit'. I don't even think people used that slang word back then. It didn't show up until around 2015; far ahead of our time.

The place in which we were currently sitting was one of our 'spots'. A popular chain scattered around the city, Bagel Boy was a haven for the best bagels around. They had more selections than any other place I knew, and the prices were phenomenally cheap. That is music to my ears as a Jew.

I was already beginning to feel full before I even finished my first half. It felt offensive that my stomach couldn't handle the entire sandwich. Granted, it was pretty heavy, but that didn't take anything away from how delicious it was. Laura and I had parallel tastes in many things, including our favorite double-decker.

The only difference was that her favorite sandwich was heavy lox cream cheese smeared on an egg bagel, while mine was lox with a thin layer of cream cheese on a cinnamon raisin bagel. Even with my sandwiches, I had to find a way to satisfy my sweet tooth.

It only took an extremely observant person to note my differences with Laura. To everyone else at school, we were the same person. Putting aside the fact that she was taller and had brown eyes, everyone always asked if we were sisters. We'd gotten twins a couple times as well. To this day, it baffles me how shallow the observations had to be to make those assumptions.

We both had brown hair, but hers was a tad lighter and frizzier, while mine was flatter and longer. We both liked makeup, and wore it every day to school. I suppose that could make us look more alike, but it's not like we were wearing the same thing! Particularly since we were fresh out of sophomore year, we still had no idea what we were doing. They say practice makes perfect, but makeup is such a complex trial and error thing that I'm not even sure I'll ever be able to master it.

Laura liked the idea of having smooth, doll-like skin. And that, my friends, is why she wore a truckload of foundation and concealer, which didn't exactly match her skin tone perfectly. Meanwhile, I liked the idea of having big, wide eyes, so I splattered them with as much eye shadow, eyeliner and mascara as humanly possible. In the end, neither of us looked model worthy, but at the time we thought we looked decent and just rolled with it.

One could never say Laura and I shared the same style in clothing. Laura was into the elegant, classy, professional look and often dressed like she was going to walk down a runway...in an office. And me? Well, I certainly didn't believe in 'bum days', but I wouldn't go as far as to say that I wore button down Blazers to school. But I did care about my appearance. I always looked business casual, usually with tight pants and a cute top.

The sound of her paper bag crinkling under her hot pink acrylic nails brought me back from my little zoned out excursion. I realized my index finger was hovering on the "share" button on my screen and took a deep breath before pressing it.

"I posted it." I stated, because that seemed to be the most important thing in that moment. The world had to know I was keeping up with my Instagram feed aesthetic and had some Tumblr-esque photos up my sleeve. Laura nodded, engrossed with her bagel. I tapped my foot against the ground impatiently, waiting for the likes to roll in. The only way I could truly enjoy that photo was if I saw that other people had approved of it. Ah, the things that used to matter.

I shook my head after a few seconds and put my phone into my handbag, not wanting to be troubled by such trivial things.

Laura raised her head and wiped her mouth generously, thus taking off half the lipstick she was wearing. "Nicole, I just remembered. Do you have you-know-what ready?" She peered at me expectantly.

I grinned deviously, shaking my head yes. She seemed infected by my jittery mood and became hyper herself. Leave it to Laura to feed off of other people's vibes.

"Great! Nicole, this is going to be so much fun! Wow...imagine if we had to spend this entire trip without it...it would be so tragic!" She started saying gleefully.

"You're right. God bless me, right?" I said, and stuck out my tongue.

"Hallelujah. How could I possibly survive without you?" She said sarcastically but I knew she meant every word.

Upon finishing our lunch, we headed home – determined to make sure we had everything we needed. Granted, this wasn't that serious for Laura since half her things were already there, but she did have some items she preferred to have on hand at all times.

The only thing dominating my mind was the obscure bottle of vodka I had smuggled from my parents, resting behind my clothes on the deepest shelf of my closet.