Chapter Text
7:35 pm
Brettany rings the Chen household's door, only to be greeted by her friend's sister.
"Hi, you're Brettany right?" She opens the door, fully dolled up with necklace and makeup applied. Looks like it's girl's night out.
"Um, yeah, is she there?"
"She's still asleep, maybe she'll wake up if you knock on her room." She hurriedly grabs her bag and looks at herself in the mirror before leaving Brettany alone with her little sister. "Don't hesitate to give me a call when something happens okay?"
"Okay, thanks a lot Belle."
"No worries, don't burn the house down while I'm out!"
Yeah, she's staying for a sleepover all alone with Edwina. She grasps on her notes one last time before going upstairs, every step to her room felt so little. Almost there, Brettany knocks carefully.
No response.
She knocks again, "Edwina? You awake?"
Still no response. Her hand twisted the doorknob, revealing the blondie with her hair disheveled and in tangles.
"Good morning," she says sleepily, yawning and stretching her arms out to the air.
"It's evening Edwina," she settled her messenger bag in her friend's vanity, careful not to tamper on the precious array of beauty care products and accessories. "Anyway, should we study or make some snacks first?"
"Fuck it. I'm feeling s'mores and dan bing." Her friend stands up to get her phone, checking her hair and then looking back at Brettany.
And that's another thing Brettany noticed. Lace. Black lacy lingerie on top of ivory tan skin, her natural leg hair seems to stand out from the black materials covering her thighs and accentuating her chest.
That the lighting from their kitchen makes her seem ethereal, or her eyes looked prettier even if she was jokingly weeping from cutting scallions, or even the way she would lick her lips every time the marshmallow would gusher out unexpectedly. It was all too much for Brettany's mind to handle.
She can only think of so much, and by so much, she means: linguistics, cooking, and music.
But not: Edwina, Edwina and Edwina.
She munches bitterly on her burnt scallion pancake, well burning the vegetable did produce unique flavors but whatever.
They got back in Edwina's room with full pjs. The pair settled on the huge queen bed with a fluffy duvet that Brettany knows and loves.
As she lays her notes down since that was the main purpose of their sleepover Edwina suddenly says,
"I heard that Georgi likes you." Brettany rolls her eyes in response.
"Georgi is way out of my league. Plus we never, like talked to each other. Not even once."
"That's why he's crushing on you, he told me you're mysterious and also-really smart during English classes."
"Alright alright Regina George, but you know I don't like dating guys. I don't really like Georgi either. It's not my thing . . . It's . . . ugh, dating guys are so stressful."
"Yeah take it from me. Dating guys is so not fetch."
A fit of giggles erupted from the two of them.
"Well, I thought you and Brad were a thing? Weren't you guys making out or something outside the counselor's office?" She playfully teases her, Edwina nudges her with a hey! and they were back to laughing again.
"Thought so too, but you know me. I fuck him, he fucks me. But it's nothing really. Boys are scared to commit and commitment is scary as hell."
Well, what would you know about commitment? What would you know about settling with someone? You're a hurricane that can't be tamed, you don't settle for one person because that's not your gig. You're never gonna settle for a person because you like danger, and danger is so much far from what I can offer.
So why do you make me want you so much?
Brettany may or may not have been staring too closely at her best friend's eyes, trying to search for any hint that hey, maybe she's just saying this because she hasn't found the one yet.
None of these thoughts seemed to be verbalized by her, instead, she focused on the main agenda of their sleepover. To study. "Well, now that's uh-out of the way . . . you don't wanna fail this semester right?"
"Yeah, Mr. Lee's a bitch." Edwina sighs, "Don't you think he's grumpy because he doesn't get cheeky bum sex?"
A flying hard bounded pink fluorescent notebook lands on the blondie's face.
Oh boy, it's gonna be a long night.
-
10:42 pm
Well, they got half of the lesson through, but here's Brettany blasting Rachmaninoff in her headset while her mess of a friend sleeps peacefully.
Lips parted, eyes shut, blonde strands of hair seem to fall in the right places. She looks like a princess, so out of this world.
But her behavior in school is such a big contrast to-this. She's a rebel, a punk, a heartbreaker, a daredevil. Every girl in school secretly wants to be like her, wanting to be her friend.
But the two of them have established a close-knit relationship since they were little kiddies.
She's the kind of girl your parents warn you not to be with, the one who drinks, the one who hangs out with different guys, she'll wear leather jackets and mini skirts, and that classic red lipstick that suits her too well.
So she appreciates this, that at the end of the day, no matter how many guys try to shoot their shot on her, or how many fake girls talk shit behind her back, she always comes back to Brettany. And in return, she crawls back to her.
Your lips, like velvet.
Out of impulse, she sneaks in a chaste kiss. Then smiles to herself, she'll never know, but maybe it's better that way.
She proceeds to read her books, never noticing that Edwina's awake all this time.
-
11:31 pm
Edwina stirred in her sleep, latching on to Brettany's upper body. Trying her best attempt in cuddling her.
"What are you doing?" She asks carefully.
"Cuff-ling." Cuddling, was what she meant.
Brettany only nodded, highlighting important parts of the textbook.
"You sch-mell good-sh."
"I take showers unlike you."
"Speaking of hygiene!" She jumps onto her feet to get a box of cheap makeup Belle got for free. "My sister got them for free, it's like a complete set of lipstick to foundation."
They both opened the cheap box of plastic and cardboard. "Oh it's not too bad, label looks suspicious though." She eyed on the expiry date, far from today that's good.
Edwina opened the mascara, "Oh that's wonky as fuck, imagine putting that on your eyelashes!"
"Wanna give it a try?" Brettany grabs the mascara and playfully applies some on her best friend's short eyelashes, "Why are you resisting? Come on don't you wanna be pretty?"
"Nah! Brettany get that shit away from me!" She immediately grabs a horrible shade of pink lipstick and slathers it on Brettany's forehead.
"Is that goo? That felt awful." She touched her forehead just to be sure, "Is that supposed to be lip gloss?"
"I think so, what did it felt like?"
"Like-like it's textured with sand? Wait let me try it on my lips." As soon as she placed the lip gloss on her lips, Edwina followed a heaping amount of foundation in her nose.
"Oh, you bitch!" Edwina giggles mischievously, she retaliates back by applying mascara on her eyebrows.
After a back and forth quarrel and a couple more wasted cheap makeup, they took a selfie and pretended they're hot models ready for the runway.
"Look how cute we are!"
Brettany smiles, hiding the tinge of pain from that statement alone. How cute we are, just friends. Ow.
-
12:07 am
They look ridiculous with all the makeup scattered all over their faces. After rinsing lipstick on her forehead and foundation on her lips she sees her friend eating mindlessly.
"Snacking on more s'mores I see . . ."
Edwina tries to imitate her asian aunties, "That's why you no skinny, look at your sister oh."
"Wanna talk about it? We can paint nails while we talk."
"You're a genius." The two of them slid from the bed and into the floor, grabbing Edwina's set of nail polish.
She ponders what color would best suit Edwina, well from her lipstick that she always wears, guess it'll have to be red right?
"Does red sound good?"
"Yup, ooh, this pastel yellow will look good on you."
"Alright I'll paint yours first."
She applied the first coat of enamel, letting the transparent layer dry before "It sucks being compared to my sister. Belle set the bar high for my parents' and relative's expectations. Here I am, barely getting by in school. Smooching dudes."
"But high school is just high school right?"
"Hm?"
"I mean, it's just messed up how other students pressure themselves to do better. That even parents have to do the same thing too."
"I guess so, that's the Asian family trademark for you no?"
"Yeah . . . Don't pressure yourself into thinking that high grades measure your intellect, Edwina. We get high grades because we memorize faster, not because we mastered the subject."
"That makes sense . . . hey, tell me, is there any smart kid in class you hated the most?"
The red nail polish accidentally smeared on the floor, well that's uncalled for.
"I can think of one, yeah."
"Come on, spill it. It's just the two of us here."
"Uh-do you remember Lory from the debate club?"
"It's that girl that pushed you because you got a higher score than her?"
Brettany sighs, "Yeah, she's a bitch."
"I'll look for her in school. I'll push her when I can, karma's a bitch and that bitch is me."
A giggle escapes her lips, she can imagine Edwina pushing this scrawny kid for no reason. "There's no need for that you know."
"Why did she push you in the first place anyway?"
"She got bitter by our scores, she told me that I didn't deserve any of it. I think she also hated me because I beat her ass in debating."
"Oh, I was absent that time. But I got rumors that she kept on dragging the topic? Like, she's not being straight to the point?"
"Yeah, our teacher got mad. She bombed that debate big time. Mr. Lee was thinking of giving her zero but chose not to."
"And she's part of the debate club? Girl, that's embarrassing."
"You wanna know what the debate topic is?"
"What is it?"
"Same-sex marriages. She decided to be against it."
"Hold on- isn't Lory," Edwina paused, she can hardly contain her laughter, "Lory's mom used to be a nun."
"Right."
"But I saw her making out with another girl."
Holy fuck.
"You did not-"
"I swear I did!" She lightly blows the freshly painted nails, resting them so the paint will settle down.
"Now that I think about it, that's kinda sad no?"
"Yeah, she's the living proof that the most homophobic people are secretly the gayest."
"Well, given the fact that her mom is still a Jesus stan while she hides in the closet, that's all too much for her."
Edwina's mind seemed to piece back fractions of information together, "Maybe that's why she hates you . . . Because she secretly likes you?"
Brettany rolls her eyes, moving on to Edwina's right hand to paint.
"Oh fuck off, first Georgi and now her?"
"I'm just saying, lots of people like you, y'know?"
"Hm . . . yeah, lots of people but never you."
Did she just say that?
She stopped for a second, questioned why she exists, wishing for Earth to swallow her whole body until she sprouts like a little carrot. What the fuck did she just say?
Her hands started to shake, barely painting Edwina's nails at this point. She can only look at the floor and think to herself, I fucked up big time.
"Honey, is that you Freudian slipping or do you genuinely like me?" Gaze so alluring, of short eyelashes, batting so gracefully as she stares directly into her eyes as if the answer has been there all along.
"The . . . the latter . . ."
Edwina chuckles, pleasantly surprised with the outcome of events, "Oh, you flirty little minx." She placed a soft kiss on Brettany's cheek, the smell of Victoria's secret perfume lingers for a bit. "And you're here telling me you don't like dating guys? Because maybe you're into-"
"Into you."
Oh.
That caught Edwina by surprise.
"Fuck."
And they sat there for a while, not knowing what to do, for now, they let Edwina's nails dry. As they wait, they try not to make things anymore awkward.
(And as they wait, Edwina is struggling not to kiss her best friend.)
-
2:36 am
Edwina accidentally clicked on a lesbian coming-of-age film.
And as she would justify, it's totally not intentional.
The two forgot the movie playing in the background. They forgot about Brettany's notes falling on the floor. They forgot about Mr. Lee's dreaded test tomorrow morning.
In one swift motion, Edwina's on top of her best friend.
Fuck it all.---- her mind is racing, there's absolutely no distance between her best friend's pretty lips and hers. Hovering over her, grabbing both of her arms so she can't let go inside the blonde's lore. (brettany has no intention of escaping anyway)
So maybe that's why Edwina wore her black lingerie. So maybe that's why she turned off the lights so they can't distinguish day and night. So maybe that's why she invited her for a sleepover in the first place.
So maybe that's why she got her fucking lips on mine.
And for a moment, Brettany pulls away, a look of worry reflects on the blonde's face she apologizes instantly, "I'm sorry-I just, you-"
"Kiss me harder please?"
Immediately, a forceful tug of her bottom lip causes her to buckle her hips. Brettany trailed her hands from her best friend's love handles and to her blonde hair. Teasingly tracing over her scalp.
Everything else, forgotten. The sounds they make were accompanied by the rolling credits of the film, hungry, that's what Edwina is. Hungry for more, hungry for Brettany.
A girl's lips are delicate compared to Brad, or Georgi, or any other douchebag in school. Dare she say it, Brettany's a better kisser than all of them. Following her lead, sneaking her warm hand underneath her gingham top, dangerously sliding down onto her bottom.
"Shit."
Your touch is like velvet.
-
3:21 am
So maybe that's why she turned off the lights so they can't distinguish day and night.
Here she lies on her best friend's bed, her voice hoarse from moaning a bit too loudly. "You'll scare the neighbors away, Bretty."
"I'll be gone tomorrow, let them be scared." Panting she grabs her face in an attempt to never part away from their shared space.
A playful grin appears on Edwina's face, that's my girl. "Feisty as always."
Kissing, kissing, and never getting enough of it. Kissing until it shifts from their lips to their necks. Kissing until there's an ache between her legs, of wetness and in dire need of friction of her best friend's hands or if she's lucky-her tongue.
And there's also pauses, of prepping, of fingers going in and out, and taking sharp breaths and inhales, as well as looking at the beauty encased within their bodies. Or how Brettany's lips agape the first time she saw Edwina in her black lacy undergarment.
All she sees is her best friend, the curve of her breast, the slope of her hips, her strawberry blonde hair felt like golden rivers within her fingertips, and she'll tug it gently whenever she hits the right spot.
My body is like velvet.
Rich, patched with red, melting. Discarded clothes all over the mattress. There in all its beauty, unclothed, both of them. She can't simply swallow eternal beauty in front of her.
So she dives in like it's the first time they kissed. This time, with no drawbacks, no hesitancy, never reluctant.
Everything we touch is like velvet.
I like that.
-
5:39 am
Edwina lies awake, she can't ignore a night like this.
She can't help but blush when she recalled the way Brettany called out her name. "Ed, Edwina . . . Fuck . . ."
She covers her face with a pillow out of embarrassment.
Here's another thing Edwina's thinking of.
Best friends don't kiss each other until the sun rises. Best friends don't pleasure each other until they've hit climax. They simply don't.
She waits. Waits until Brettany stirs in her sleep. She waits in anticipation of her best friend's response to their rendezvous. That all of this isn't a fever dream.
-
6:34 am
"Good luck on the test yeah?"
"Yeah. Do you remember anything from the lesson?"
"Yeah all I remember is this," she leans towards and kisses Brettany on the lips. Soft, airy pecks of kisses, hugging her tightly before pulling away. "I'm just kidding, of course, I do. Can't let your sensei skills go to waste right?"
That afternoon, the unexpected happened. It's the first time Edwina got the same score as her smart best friend.
"Guess sleepovers work really well." Brettany says, cheekily.
-bonus-
"Care to tell me why you're bleeding?"
"No."
Brettany pressed the alcohol pad on Edwina's bruised left cheek, "Ow, ow, okay okay-"
"It's because of your stubbornness isn't it?"
She nods shamefully, scared to make eye contact with her best friend.
"What is it this time? Georgi making comments about me? Some random nerd bitching about my grades?"
"None of those things . . ."
"Tell me then."
"I beat up my mates. They knew I have a huge crush on you. Told me that if it's real I'll drag you to our table and make out in front of them. Fucking bunch of pigs." She spat out blood and saliva. "So I'm sorry, for worrying you."
"I just can't stand the fact that loving you is a fetish to them-fucking disgusting."
"Forget about them. You don't deserve friends like that." She carefully placed her cotton cardigan on top of Edwina, immediately she clings on to the apparel and smells her best friend's distinct perfume on it. "Let's go home yeah?"
"Yeah."
"I'll ride your motorcycle."
"Oh honey, no."
"Oh honey," she weaves her hands onto Edwina's, pressing a delicate kiss on the back of her hand before leading her to the parking lot. "Yes."