Five Ways by Lauren Becker
“We share our hangovers like lipstick”
Fiction by Lauren Becker
We get stinking drunk and look good when we do it. We do it and look amazing. You remember our names. We remember things, too.
We love sandals and wear them all year. Toenails purple, pink, or red. You notice. Especially red. We wear red most often.
Are we cold? Yes. Do we want your jacket? Yes. Won't you be cold? We don't think that last one. We think how nice it is to have jackets offered. They are very big on us and we look adorable. It is one of five ways we know how to look. Pretty, of course. And sexy. We like angry ‘cause it’s sexy. Adorable, like in your jacket or waking up and yawning like kittens. And pensive. We look up, like at clouds, even when we are inside. Are you looking?
We share our hangovers like lipstick. You did... Then you said. I did not! You totally did.
We share our lipstick. What color is that lipstick? It is so cute. We borrow it. We take it. Who took it? We don’t care. It will come out again.
You take us to late-night diners where we eat hash browns to soak up the booze that made us stinking drunk. We push them around our plates. We are not ready to not be stinking drunk. We pair off with you in parking lots. We go to your apartments that always look the same, sort of like you. We text each other from bathrooms after you pass out. We decide where to go the next night. We will have the best time ever. We always do.
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Lauren Becker is editor of Corium Magazine. Her collection of short fiction is forthcoming from Curbside Splendor in Spring of 2014. She still lives in Oakland, California.
If you liked this essay by Lauren Becker, you might also enjoy her piece of flash fiction on Nailed Magazine entitled "Five Ways," which can be read here.