Through the Lens | Dodie Clark

18

/300 days/

I thought Tom's second party would be more nostalgic for me, despite it having taken place only half a year prior. But I guess I was too busy making new memories.

Dodie thought she was being sly when she wore the same shirt she had been wearing the night we met. If you looked closely enough, you could still make out the faint discoloration.

Dodie maintained her clueless innocence in response to my quizzical gaze. "The lipstick is too much, isn't it?" A smile crept onto her carefully drawn on black lips.

I crossed my arms, rubbing my chin with one hand and squinting my eyes in feigned scrutiny. "No, no. I just feel like your outfit is missing something."

"Beer, perhaps?"

I snapped my fingers. "Ah! Yes. That can be fixed once we get to the party."

We made the admittedly unwise decision to walk to the party without our coats. It was a short walk, we rationalized, and a coat would throw off the aesthetic of our outfits.

Margo and her boyfriend Xander trailed behind us, whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. They had been more wise and bundled up, but they still huddled together by choice. They had exceeded the amount of time their relationship could've been considered a fling, something Margo hadn't done for as long as I'd known her. I reminded myself to ask her about later.

I was still confused as to how Tom knew so many people, and how they were all willing to come to his party. It wasn't a shot at his personality, as opposed to a comment I might've made when I knew him as he was at his first party. I was astonished by the diverse crowd he drew in.

"Evie!" Hasan attacked me as we entered, enveloping me in a bear hug, despite only meeting me once before, when Tom and I weren't on speaking terms. He was friendly even then, but something told me alcohol had aided in his looseness this time around. He greeted Dodie with an enthusiastic wave before moving onto another victim.

We spent most of the night talking to Tom. If he still disapproved of our relationship, he didn't say so. Though he did make less-than-subtle gagging noises as we slow danced to club songs.

"Oh, god, I have to pee," Dodie whined. She unraveled herself from my arms and left me to search for a bathroom before I could point her in the right direction.

A few minutes passed without Dodie reappearing. I excused myself from the engaging conversation about manatees and their importance to make sure she hadn't lost her way.

Dodie was reapplying her lipstick in the bathroom mirror when I peeked my head in the doorway. "Do you remember the night we first met?"

We made eye contact through the mirror. She scoffed. "Do you remember? You were piss drunk."

I entered the bathroom, closing the door behind me. "I don't think I'll ever forget." This made her smile. I sat on the toilet lid. I must've distracted her, for she smudged her lipstick and had to start over.

"Do you still have the video?" She scrunched her eyebrows in concentration.

"Yes." It had been awhile since I had watched it. I guess I didn't feel the need when I had the real thing right in front of me.

I laughed as the series of events unfolded in my mind. "I cried when I lost your number."

"Really? Did you like me even then?"

"It was pretty pathetic. I thought you could see right through me."

Dodie put her lipstick away and looked at me directly. "Maybe a little."

She leaned down to peck my lips, but I wrapped my arms around her neck and deepened the kiss. I found satisfaction in knowing I was ruining her lipstick again.

Soon she was straddling me as she played with the hem of my shirt. She paused. "What if someone walks in on us?"

I smirked. "I locked the door on my way in."

——

Tom was picking up used plastic cups when we reentered the living room. It only took him one glance at our disheveled hair and devious grins to know we had been up to something. "Oh god, please tell me you guys didn't fuck in my bedroom."

"The thought crossed my mind, Tommy. But no, we spared you the extra clean up effort. So we did it in the bathroom."

All the color drained from his face. I punched his arm playfully before he had a stroke. "I'm kidding. We just made out." I shrugged. "She might've touched my boobs." Tom let out a sigh of relief. "I'd be more concerned about Margo and Xander, though," I continued. "They have a history of not being able to keep it in their pants."

"Goddammit. If I find anything in my bed, this'll be the last party I throw. Someone pissed on my carpet last time."

"Good luck, Tomm-O. I think we're gonna split." The crowd was still dense at we weaves out way through to leave since it was still pretty early, but my energy was approaching empty.

——

"Woah, what happened?" She pointed a finger at my forearm, where a fresh bruise was beginning to bloom. We were laying on our sides in my bed, propped on our elbows and facing each other. She still had remnants of black on her lips where the makeup wipes didn't do their job.

I had to think for a moment. It took me a moment to stop laughing after I had remembered. "When you went to the bathroom someone. . . found a potato? And they were throwing it around. I thought I could catch it."

She pressed a thumb into it and looked up with concern and curiosity. "Does it hurt?"

"Yeah, a bit," I winced. "But I don't really mind all that much. They're like little memories." I grinned, pulling my hair off my shoulders to expose my neck. "You may recall this one, which you gave to me after I joined you in the bathroom."

She cocked her head to the side to match her lopsided smile, poking at the hicky. "They're not bruises, they're party tattoos."

I couldn't help but smile. Oh, how I'd love to take a look into that mind of hers. I leaned into her, scattering sweet kisses across her neck. "Wanna get matching tattoos?"

——

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