Chapter Text
Graduation is in a week.
Miriam is in a constant state of overflowing excitement and feeling like she’s going to shit herself at any given moment.
The five of them are as close as ever, though, and have all expressed similar feelings about graduating. It’s comforting to know that she’s not the only one who’s picked her nails all the way down, or chewed the inside of her cheek raw, or bitten off the skin on her lips (she tries to do that one the least).
She and Mei have been dating for exactly one year, two months, and thirteen days, and Miriam can easily say that she’s never been happier. Being with Mei is as normal as breathing, though her stomach still fills with butterflies when Mei gets dressed up, and she still turns bright red when Mei says something cute.
She’s totally, irrevocably, in love with Mei. The very thought makes her feel like her blood is carbonated.
In any case, they’re graduating. Appropriately, they decide to have a Group Grad Party (Mei had titled it, and insisted that the capital letters are important. Miriam is not one to deny her girlfriend anything).
The party will be at Tyler’s house, since it’s the biggest. His parents have long since forgiven Mei for the birthday incident, and it’s the only house that can comfortably accommodate all of their friends.
Abby invites drama cast and crew kids; Priya invites her goth friends; Tyler invites his basketball teammates; Mei invites friends from her art classes; Miriam invites a couple of kids from the skate park. All of those people, plus all of their mutual friends and classmates from over the years, make for a completely full house.
Still, at their own party, yard packed full of their friends and families, the five of them find themselves on Tyler’s roof.
Miriam feels thirteen again, like they’re gushing about the upcoming 4*Town concert and dreaming of meeting their idols.
This time, though, Mei has her pink backpack next to her. The thing is stuffed full, and probably weighs more than its carrier, but Mei refuses to tell Miriam what’s in the bag.
They lay on the roof for a long time. Mei cuddles up to Miriam, the former cushioning her cheek on her chest. Priya lays on Mei’s other side, Abby next to her, while Tyler sprawls on Miriam’s left.
They’re quiet, listening to the sounds of the party happening beneath them.
Mei starts to fidget, and Miriam taps her twice on her back: their silent code for OK? . Mei nods and sits up with a nervous huff.
“I have, uh, gifts for you guys,” She says, reaching for her backpack above her. The other four sit up in response, eying her bag.
“We said no gifts,” Priya argues, though Miriam knows that the girl had bought and annotated books for all of them to bring to school with them.
“Yeah!” Abby agrees, despite the fact that she had made and gifted all of them a pair of earrings to wear at graduation.
“Seriously,” Tyler adds, though he was the only person who had taken the no gifts rule seriously. Boys.
Mei shakes her head, “I’ve been working on these for years. I got the idea in grade nine, started them in grade ten. Don’t take this from me,” she gripes.
She digs into her backpack and pulls out a book. It’s blue with a white spine, and a picture of the five of them at their second 4*Town concert earlier that year is in a photo sleeve on the front. Mei hands it to Tyler.
“Don’t open it ‘til I say to,” Mei warns.
The second book is Yellow with black accents, and the same photo on the front. It gets passed to Priya.
The third is purple and covered in hearts and stars and other shapes; it reminds Miriam of the overalls from middle school that Abby had been so fond of.
The last book is green with a white and pink striped spine. Mei blushes a little and hesitates before handing the book over.
“Uh, Ty, yours has fewer photos because we haven’t been friends as long, but they’re all handmade and stuff,” Mei tugs on her skirt in a familiar anxious habit, “Uh, I guess you can open them now.”
The four of them have never opened a book so quickly. Well, except maybe Priya.
Miriam looks down at her book and sees her entire life with her friends depicted. Photos of her by herself, with her friends, with Mei. It’s the best gift she’s ever received.
She’s already tearing up, but she flips through the pages.
Grade six: her and Mei cuddled up on a couch, both of them asleep.
Miriam is sleeping over at Priya’s house. The very idea fills her with so much anxiety she nearly pukes. She’s never been to a sleepover before, and she really likes her new friends. What if she does something wrong? What if they decide they don’t like her? What if—
“Hey, Miriam, we’re gonna grab some snacks and watch something up in the media room. Do you wanna go up ahead of us and grab some blankets from Priya’s room?” Mei says, and the question knocks Miriam out of her spiral.
“Oh, uh, sure!” She practically yelps and trips over herself in her haste to be helpful.
Miriam doesn’t get it. Mei and Abby are perfectly comfortable; they got their own drinks without asking and they actually told Priya when they were ready for dinner.
Miriam’s stomach churns at the thought.
She opens Priya’s bedroom door and grabs a basket of blankets from the corner. Thank god for Priya’s ever-present organization.
She brings them to the media room, grabs the thinnest blanket that is the least soft, and perches herself on the very far end of the couch. She’s pressed so close to the armrest that, any closer, and she’ll meld with it.
She sits by herself in silence for several minutes before Mei rushes in, carrying two massive bowls of popcorn.
The smaller girl sets the bowls precariously on the ottoman before throwing herself down next to Miriam.
“Relax, girl,” Mei says and grabs Miriam’s arms to pull her back to actually sit on the couch. Miriam yelps at the sudden movement and tenses further, if you can believe it.
Mei’s brow furrows and Miriam bites her cheek.
“Sorry,” Miriam squeaks.
“Don’t be,” Mei immediately responds, “You have nothing to be sorry for.” She pauses for a moment, listening; Priya and Abby are still downstairs.
“Do you…do you want to go home?” Mei asks, though she can’t help the disappointment that colors her voice and makes her shoulders drop.
“No,” Miriam shakes her head in a near immediate response, “I’m just, uh. I’ve never done this before?” She trails off at the end, making it a question.
Mei perks up instantly, eyes widening with understanding.
“Why didn’t you just say so? Look, I’ll show you,” Mei gets up and grabs a blanket from the basket (it’s got Princess Ariel on it) and when she sits back down, she shoves Miriam around, too.
Once they’re settled, Miriam is propped in the corner of the arm and back rest, one leg stretched out over the front of the couch and the other squished up against the back. Mei curls between Miriam’s legs, her back against the taller girl’s chest, her head tucked under Miriam’s chin.
The position makes Miriam stiffen at first, though Mei elbows her gently, “It’s okay. The best way to get better is cuddles!”
“I’m not sick,” Miriam grumbles, but she starts to relax anyway.
The other two show up a few minutes later, and they don’t even blink an eye at the two situated on the couch. They set a tray of drinks down on the ottoman, as well as a box full of pizza leftover from dinner, and they start the movie.
Mei falls asleep first, only about thirty minutes in. Miriam follows soon after, the stress of the day finally getting to her.
Priya goes to her room to grab the camera she had received from her parents as a birthday gift.
When she returns, she lifts the camera up to her eye.
Click.
Grade seven: Miriam and Mei wrestling in the snow.
The morning after Mei finds out about Miriam’s…deal…, the four of them go out to play in the snow. It’s not new or exciting for Abby, Priya, or Mei, who have all lived in Canada for as long as they can remember, if not longer.
For Miriam, though, who came from a place where they maybe got hail or ice once a year, it was heaven.
So the four of them pull on their layers of snow clothes and race outside. Abby snatches Priya’s camera on the way out the door, shoving it into her pocket and zipping it closed.
Snowball fights, snow angels, sledding; it’s the perfect snow day.
At some point, someone suggests snowmen, but none of them want to make their own. They pair off; Priya and Mei versus Miriam and Abby.
Everything is going well, for a while; both groups make the bases of their snowmen with relative ease, then struggle a little to stack their bodies and heads, but they get there.
Then it’s time to decorate.
Priya and Miriam go inside to get carrots for their noses while Mei and Abby scramble to dig through snow for the best rocks to make eyes and mouths.
Mei is just waiting on the nose for their snowman when Priya emerges from the house, looking defeated. Or, well, as defeated as Priya has ever looked.
“What happened?”
“We only have one carrot left,” Priya explains, “We played rock, paper, scissors, but Miriam won,”
Mei whips around to glare at the afformented girl, who sticks her tongue out at Mei.
“Oh, we’ll see about that,” Mei grumbles.
She makes her way to Miriam as quickly as she can through all of the snow, and, just as the taller girl is about to poke the carrot into her snowman’s face, Mei tackles her to the ground.
Miriam huffs in surprise as she lands in the snow, though Mei is grinning from where she’s pinned her. Miriam glares playfully, and soon the two of them are rolling around and wrestling, playfully pulling hair and swatting each other. The carrot gets dropped and forgotten almost immediately and Priya and Abby both snort.
(Abby breaks the carrot in half and hands one of the parts to Priya.)
Mei and Miriam are laughing so hard they’re nearly crying; their faces and fingers are pink with the cold, and their hair is wet where snow is melting in it.
Abby unzips her pocket and grabs Priya’s camera.
Click.
Grade eight: Mei and Miriam singing together at karaoke.
The five of them set off for the arcade, the promise of Mr. Lee’s cooking puts a little more pep in their step. The five of them travel slowly, though none of them care. They laugh and talk and shove each other down the sidewalk.
They pay for a karaoke room for two hours, the girl working the desk taking Mei’s bus card in exchange for the microphones.
What? It’s not like any of them have a driver’s license to offer.
They go through their usual routines, singing in several variations of pairs and trios and throwing in the occasional passionate solo.
Their time is almost up; their cheeks are pink and their throats are sore, and all of them are sweaty and tired. They always end all together, though, singing their favorite song: “Nobody Like U”.
However, this time, when it pops up in the queue, Priya and Tyler both claim that they’re too tired, and Abby cites a need for the bathroom.
Miriam and Mei look at each other and shrug.
“Suit yourselves,” Mei says.
The track starts up, the words lighting up in bright orange on the screen. Mei and Miriam have always gone a little too hard for things like this; it’s in their nature.
So as the song goes on, they add more energy, bigger dramatics, harder dance moves.
It’d be kind of impressive if it weren’t so silly looking.
As they end the song, the two are face to face, only inches apart, voices cracking over the final notes.
Before they can even move, Tyler snatches Priya’s camera from her hands.
Click.
Grade nine: Miriam and Mei at the skatepark.
For Mei’s birthday, she’d asked for a skateboard lesson from Miriam. The latter had tried to deny it at first; Mrs. Lee might be more relaxed now, but if Mei got hurt, Miriam knew that all bets were off.
But Miriam has always been a little weak when it comes to Mei.
So, Saturday morning finds the five of them at the skatepark. It’s too early for most of the guys that hang around at the park, and too late for parents bringing their children to the neighboring playground.
It’s nearly deserted, which is what Miriam had been banking on.
She shows Mei how to stand on the board, and then how to push herself along.
Mei won’t let go of Miriam’s hands.
Most of the lesson is just Miriam pulling Mei along while the shorter girl stands shakily on the board, but it’s fun. The other three shout and jokingly jeer and tease, laughter filling the air.
There’s one point where Mei says, “Don’t let go,” and Miriam is bizarrely reminded of kids learning to ride a bike with their parents who always inevitably let go.
Miriam holds Mei’s hands tighter and slows them to a stop.
“You okay?” She asks, bringing their joined hands up between them. Even while standing on the board, Mei is shorter than Miriam.
“Yeah,” Mei breathes shakily, “I don’t know how you taught yourself how to do this,”
Miriam smiles and shrugs with one shoulder, careful to not let it jostle Mei’s precarious balance.
“I guess I’m just better than you,” she teases.
Mei laughs, bright and free, her ears standing up and tail fluffing out in joy.
Too far to be able to hear them, the other three roll their eyes from their seats on the bench.
“Ugh,” Priya grumbles, but she raises her camera.
Click.
Grade ten: the two of them slumped over a desk in the library.
The night before had been rough. Miriam had had a very bad day, and had called Mei in her distress. The two had stayed on the phone talking for hours, falling asleep, still on the line, around 5:00am.
So inevitably, they both fall asleep in their english class.
The teacher assigns them an essay about whatever scene of Caesar that they were supposed to be reading in class and sends them on their way.
Mei > TOWNIES !
Red: Mir and I fell asleep in class
Red: we’re spending lunch in the library to write an essay:(
Yellow: Need any help?
Green: nah we got it
Blue: dumbasses
Purple: SHUT UP TY
Purple: mei and mir we’ll come get you at the end of lunch and we can walk to science together!!!!!!!
Red: sounds good:) ttyl
The two of them mumble and moan as they fumble their way through the reading.
“God, I hate Shakespeare,” Mei whines, flopping down on the desk.
Miriam yawns and nods in agreement, slumping forward and using the open book in front of her as a pillow.
“We should keep working,” Mei says, but neither of them move. In fact, they relax further, making themselves more comfortable, and fall asleep.
Ten minutes later finds their three friends staring at their sleeping forms with unimpressed glares. The two have their heads cushioned on their arms, facing each other. The others sigh in annoyance, not really wanting to wake them.
Except for Abby, who carefully moves behind Mei and opens the girl’s backpack, digging around for the camcorder. She finds it and holds it up triumphantly before tossing it to Tyler and moving around the desk to get out of the frame.
The boy rolls his eyes but obediently lifts the camera to his face.
Click.
Grade eleven: Mei holding Miriam bridal style at the spring fling.
The week of the spring fling is busy. If Miriam thought that Mei was high strung before, the smaller girl is— well, higher strung, Miriam supposes.
They’d ultimately decided to coordinate their dresses rather than outright match.
Miriam would’ve worn a suit, but she knew her parents would never buy her one, and she likes dresses well enough.
She buys a simple silky green one with spaghetti straps that is belted around the waist with white fabric. She pairs it with a silver necklace that Mrs. Lee had gifted her for her 16th birthday. She leaves her hair down, and actually puts some product in it, so her curls bounce down her back.
She nods at herself in the mirror before going to wait in her living room; Mrs. Diwan is going to pick her and the others up and they’ll all meet at Mei’s for dinner and pictures.
Priya > Miriam
Priestess: We’re here.
Majesty: comin
Miriam hops into the back seat. Priya is already sitting back there, the front being relented to Abby, whose dress is twice the small girl’s size.
They pick up Tyler, who lives closest to Mei, and are soon at the temple.
Miriam has yet to see her girlfriend’s dress; everyone else has, and they’ve assured her that they coordinate, but she can’t keep down the excitement.
Mrs. Lee opens the temple doors with a smile, greeting everyone. When her eyes fall to Miriam, her eyes glint with— with something, and she winks.
Miriam feels like she’s fallen into an alternate universe.
They walk up to the house together, “Mei-Mei! Your friends are here!” Mrs. Lee calls, and Mei’s bedroom door opens.
Now, admittedly, they’ve only been dating for a month. But Miriam can genuinely say that she’s never been more in love with Mei than she is right now.
Her hair, which has gotten long in the last several years, tumbles in red waves down her back, and two braids pulled from the front have white flowers stuck in them. She’s wearing a choker, of course, but it’s white with a silver charm dangling from it.
Her dress, however, is the real kicker.
It’s white, set off easily by Mei’s pink cheeks and shoulders and bright orange hair. It’s sleeveless with a sweetheart neckline and is belted with a green sash that matches Miriam’s dress almost exactly, though Mei’s sash has white faux flowers stitched on it. The skirt flares out in waves, making the girl look like she might be floating.
She’s beautiful.
Mei flushes a little pinker, “Thank you,”
“Oh, I said that out loud?”
Priya snorts next to her, “Yes.”
“Oh. Um, anyway! Pictures?” Her voice rises several octaves in embarrassment, and she turns on her heel to go outside, where they would take the pictures.
Mei catches up with her easily, though, and shoves her way under Miriam’s arm, wrapping her own around Miriam’s waist. She pulls Miriam down a little to kiss her cheek and doesn’t pull away.
“You’re beautiful, too, love,” she whispers against Miriam’s cheek, smiling cheekily when Miriam turns bright red.
The taller girl freezes, staring with wide eyes at Mei. The shorter girl looks unsure of herself for a moment, but figures out quickly that Miriam is just embarrassed and a little shocked.
With a giggle, Mei comes back to her side.
“C’mon, love. Picture time,” she says, but Miriam still doesn’t move.
Mei rolls her eyes, “You asked for this,” she says, and bends down.
It’s a little awkward, but the panda gives Mei more strength than she ever had before. The smaller girl scoops Miriam up, bridal style, and carries her over to where everyone else is standing and waiting.
On instinct, the taller girl reaches up and wraps her arms around Mei’s neck, and the shorter girl looks down to smile gently at her.
Mrs. Lee grins and lifts her camera.
Click.
Grade twelve: Miriam and Mei kissing.
The day Miriam receives the letter from the University of Toronto, she may as well be made of anxiety.
This stupid envelope determines the rest of her life! What will she do if she doesn’t get in? Where will she go? Will her parents disown her? Wh—
Her phone starts to ring.
She answers, “Mei,”
“I’ve got mine. I haven’t opened it yet. Come home?” the girl asks.
Miriam can’t help the smile on her face. Home. Not here, not her house: Mei’s.
“I’m already on my way,” Miriam agrees before ending the call. She grabs her board and she’s pretty sure she’s never skated faster in her life.
Mei is waiting for her at the doors of the temple.
“C’mon!” Mei says, grabbing Miriam’s hand as soon as the girl is off of her board, tugging her along.
They’re halfway to the door when Mei stops dead in her tracks, Miriam almost falling in her attempt to keep from running into her girlfriend.
Mei turns and kisses her, “Love you,” she says against Miriam’s lips.
The taller girl smiles, “Love you, too, Red.”
Mei smiles, satisfied, and they continue their march into the Lee home.
“Mom, Mir’s here!” Mei calls.
“Coming, coming! I can’t get this stupid— ah! There,” Mrs. Lee joins them in the kitchen, holding up her camera with a smile.
“Hi, Mrs. Lee,” Miriam says, though her nerves continue to bubble in her stomach as she looks at the two envelopes on the counter.
Mrs. Lee sees where her eyes dart and frowns before pulling Miriam into a hug. Miriam is still taller than Mei’s mom, but the hug is not unwelcome.
“I’m proud of you, no matter what,” Mrs. Lee whispers to Miriam, and the girl feels like crying all over again. The woman pulls Miriam down and kisses her forehead.
“Now!” She says, turning to Mei and gently pushing Miriam to stand beside her. “Hold up the envelopes!”
Mei rolls her eyes but does as her mom instructs. She presses herself supportively against Miriam’s side, so the taller girl grabs her own and lifts it for the camera.
Click.
“Go on, then,” Mrs. Lee encourages, “Open them!”
Miriam and Mei look at each other, having a silent conversation.
“One,” Mei starts, pulling at the seal of the envelope.
“Two,” Miriam continues, beginning to tear the top of her own.
“Three!” They say together, ripping open their letters. They read them together, neither of them getting farther than the “Congratulations!” at the top.
Mei shrieks and Miriam shouts and they turn towards each other again.
Click.
Both of them reach out at the same time, Miriam pulling Mei’s face up and Mei pulling Miriam’s face down, and their lips meet.
It’s not really much of a kiss; they’re smiling and laughing way too much for that, but it’s perfect.
Click.
Miriam is fully crying now, and so are all of her other friends. Mei is watching nervously, worried that she maybe did too much, or that they didn’t like it.
Don’t ask how Miriam knows that. She just does.
She reaches for her girlfriend and pulls her into a quick kiss, overly cautious of PDA and of the fact that their friends are all crying.
“It’s perfect,” Miriam murmurs to Mei, and the smaller girl smiles up at her. “ You’re perfect,” she adds, if only to watch Mei’s smile grow.
“There’s a note in the back of yours,” She whispers back.
There are several empty pages to be filled with photos from this party and graduation and summer, but Miriam flips to the end of the book.
On the inside of the back cover, Mei’s loopy cursive stands out in a bright pink against the white plastic.
Our love lasts so long.
She looks back up at her girlfriend, “It does. It will. I love you.”
“Love you, too,” Mei says, and a second later they’re all wrapped up in a group hug, the other three muttering fondly about how mushy they are.
Mei finds Miriam’s hand among the pile of limbs and squeezes it.
Mrs. Lee calls up to them and asks if any of them want any sweet tea.