Bros

NOTE: This story is inspired by the song Bros by Wolf Alice. I'm not trying to copy it in any way, it's just me and the person I'm writing abouts theme song and I used it as inspiration for my story. Hope you enjoy!

Shake your hair, have some fun

Forget our mothers and past lovers, forget everyone

Oh, I’m so lucky, you are my best friend

A breeze brushes my face, a welcome balm to the heat of the dance floor. My back drips with sweat, my vanilla and coconut perfume holding on for dear life. But no one pays attention to these things at homecoming.

The room is sparkling with neon lights and teen laughter, hot and muggy like summertime in Florida. Glowsticks and popped balloons litter the linoleum floor, trampled over by my gold heels and your pristine sneakers.

You spot me from across the room, the pink glitter on your cheeks a beacon in the crowd. Your smile is wide as I dance towards you and your strapless dress and strong arms, a blur of kick-ball-change-ing white sequins and wavy hair.

You shout something into my ear over the din of music and voices, and I laugh, meeting your green eyes, the eyes of a girl I have liked and loathed and now have loved and been loved by in return. You grab my free hand and we jump to the beat of the song whose last beats echo through the hall, the only future evidence of our being there scuff marks on the multicolored tiles.

You gasp, hands in the air with excitement as a sweet guitar riff echoes through the room.

And then all I can think about, as you’re singing every lyric of Bennie and the Jets and I’m swaying my hips and forging the words, is how far we’ve both come.

Oh, there’s no one, there's no one that knows me like you do

We were acquaintances with butterflies in our stomachs, knowing we knew the same friend and that our sisters hated each other, though nothing of what would come. We planned out karaoke songs that got skipped over, took pictures, exchanged phone numbers.

Then we were wandering in awkward silence through the hallways after the same friend spilled how I thought you were pretty. I was nervous, stumbling over my feet and my words, finding it endearing how you said the ¾ inches added on to your height was important. You wrote a note to me later and I cried, hands stained in your favorite color from your favorite pen.

I cried earlier today because I’m proud of you.

Are your lights on?

Are your lights still on?

The neon lights are blinding as we shimmy back and forth to some country man belting “shake it for me, girl!” We point at each other as we dance, singing the lyrics at each other, or the few lines we know, with confidence. Your friends surround us in the sea of swaying, jumping bodies, an oasis of exhilaration and laughter.

The purse at your hips is the purse that made us a whole again. You told me you got it at “that Bee Store” on Market after my dance showcase. We talked like real people do for the first time in a year.

Talking turned to texting for hours on end, spilling secrets like we had trusted each other forever, playlists made of songs to show the other. We went to see Wicked at the movie theatre downtown on New Year's Eve, where I put my head on your shoulder despite a fear that that action could ruin whatever tentative friendship was blooming in those few days.

You put your head on top of mine.

A month later, you became my fish.

I’ll keep you safe

If you keep me strong

Since then, it’s been sharing headphones and hugs, telling stories, performances together and cheering each other on, horrible karaoke and holding hands, smiling in the hallways and support. Photographs litter my camera roll with memories like the light freckles the floor of the commons, our feet flying to the rhythm as we swirl around the room.

You’ve empowered me. Empowered me to sing loud though my voice cracks and dance like no one's watching, yes, but also to reach out and be kind to myself. You’ve dried my tears and mended my scars. You’ve made me want to give you the entire world even though I know in my heart that the sky and the stars combined will never be enough to repay you for the love and the safety that you seem to give so easily to someone who doesn’t deserve it.

So the next time you’re in a baby blue dress with a girl in a white frock, or twirling a baton beside a girl with pom-poms, remember how she would stop dancing or never see the stars again if it meant good things for you. Whenever you hear our song blasting on the radio, or hear about a meteor shower soon to appear, or look into anyone’s blue-grey eyes, remember how you’re everything to somebody.

Me and you, me and you, me and you

We could do better, I’m quite sure

Me, me, me, me, me and you

You pick me up in your arms, a loud laugh flying from my lips as you spin me around. I trust your arms as much as I trust your heart, and I hold myself to you as you sing over the music, breathing in the love that exudes from your strong frame.

You walk outside with your friends. The night is cold and refreshing; I’m trailing close behind you as the chill of the air bites at my hot skin. My high heels click over your laughter. You look over your shoulder as you veer off towards the road.

“Love you fish!” you shout back at me. I smile, and I shout back, with every ounce of honesty in my body:

“I love you more.”

Me, me, me, me, me and you.