Toadette's Story

Chapter 59 - Spilling Emotions

Sniffing DT’s shoe gave me the strongest sense of déjà vu. It was like smelling the sneaker of an identical twin. It was intense but strangely satisfying. Hiding the thrill I felt huffing that odour took a concerted effort. But I kept the shoe pressed tightly to my nose as the boy prepared the gas blast.

“This is disgusting,” he groaned, taking a breath before putting the shoe on.

“Could be a lot worse. At least you wear socks.”

Our talk was cut short by the rapid banging on the door. Every three seconds, the door came within an inch of flying off its hinges. The bed frame still gave us some protection, but it wouldn’t be hard for them to push it out the way once they broke the door.

“Here goes nothing.” DT shoved all five cans of gas into the vent. We could hear them fall down the long shaft, clattering against the narrow walls. And immediately we looked at each other.

The boy quickly grabbed the bag and slung it over his shoulder, the flamethrower being our unused item for tonight.

A loud smash took all the fight out the door. At least nine Scapellis were huddled around it, and in the midst of them was Penelope. Aside from the injury she gave herself, she seemed okay, albeit trembling. But with our 30 seconds being far exceeded, these men were ready to do us some serious damage.

“Two of them?”

“Our boy.” One kicked the bed forward and marched into the room. “What? You want back in?”

“Money.”

“That time’s up. I recognise the rosy one over there. Seriously, you two lovers or something?”

I stepped forward and blocked DT with my free arm. “I’d back off if I were you.”

“What’s with the shoes on their faces?” someone in the hall asked.

“Must’ve thought it’d hide their identities, stupid bastards.”

There was no telling how quickly the gas would knock them out, so our best move was to stall them for now. I made sure no matter how much DT wanted to lash at these guys, he stayed behind me. But damn it, it took a light knock to his chest to get him to get the hint.

The Scapelli in the room widened his eyes. As his neck stretched to the side, I nodded. He then grabbed my shirt.

“Son of a bitch!” He looked to his men. “Get out the building, you morons! You don’t smell that!?”

“So much for stalling,” I growled. “Now let go!”

With a slice to his arm, he lost his grip on me. Yet I felt my face pushed in before even hitting the floor. After smack after smack, I was against the wall. These slides made keeping my balance impossible. When the Scapelli finally backhanded me against the room’s sole window, I screamed.

Now we had broken glass and being four stories in the air to deal with.

Escaping was gonna be a mess without being able to drop this shoe from my face. And with it obscuring my vision, fighting back would be harder than swimming up a waterfall.

“How many times we gotta bury you before you stay down!?”

“Well,” I chuckled, “that’s just it, isn’t it? Gotta take me out before you can bury me.”

The man cracked his knuckles. “With pleasure.”

He sprinted to ram me out the broken window.

“Miss Toadette!” Before he could send me flying, a yellow and white blur landed on his head. He fell onto his stomach, coughing. Only then did I notice the air of the building noticeably change colour. It was a faint greenish mist, almost like if somebody sprayed a mint scent everywhere. But it rose like smoke, and therefore, somebody probably saw it from the other buildings. Penelope, grunting, pressed her foot onto the back of the Scapelli’s head.

The Scapelli let out a few weak coughs before finally ceasing to make any notable noises. In two seconds, my face went from nervousness to surprise.

Penelope dusted her hands off, smiling. “I’m stealthy.”

“Stealthy, my ass. Those other guys just decided to… Where’s DT?”

We then felt vibration under our feet, followed by more exploding glass. And I could tell upon the second wave of destruction that this came from downstairs.

“For Toads, your family is scarily aggressive,” she laughed, tagging behind me while we flew down the stairs.

“It unfortunately runs in our blood.”

“Along with your feet smelling absolutely awful, huh?”

“What!?”

As we got on the second floor, she spoke faster. “I had that zipper open when we were in the car, and oh my gosh, that trunk was killing me. I think your mom had some nasty shoes back there. Reminded me exactly of you.”

My mother’s genes really did curse both of her offspring.

“Penelope!” I froze. “You can’t be breathing in here!”

“I feel fine, Miss—”

“Here!” My brother’s rancid shoe went from my face to hers, causing her to try to fight me. The whole time, I held my breath. My lung capacity may not have been superhuman level, but if we just left in a single sprint, I’d be able to avoid this gas’ noxious effects. Meanwhile…

“It really does run in the family,” Penelope sobbed. “Do poor people feet just smell bad or something?”

One way of putting it. I grabbed her little arm and ran down the final flight of stairs.

Yet we immediately had to grind to a halt once surveying the scene. On the final step, six limp Scapellis lay on top of each other. I did a double take, squinting to make sure I wasn’t making things up.

…Phew. They were just unconscious.

But we’d have to step over their bodies to get to the final home stretch. And at this rate, I’d moved so much that…air…was…starting to…slip!

I exhaled hard enough to blow down a house.

That the gas took out these grown men so fast meant I’d get dizzy fast. And unfortunately for us, just past the pile of bodies was a more severe blockage.

Huge shelves had crashed down in front of the door. And on top of that, another body was between the two shelves. Looked like the bastard passed out while trying to escape. But… If there were nine that we saw above, that meant one more had to still be around.

Penelope looked around a corner. She immediately gripped onto me, and both of us fell as a projectile flew past our faces.

“Relax, Miss Toadette,” Penelope panted, placing a hand on my heart. “Won’t breathing that hard make it even worse?”

In an effort to not take in more unnecessary gas, I didn’t bother responding to her. Yet I still got off my butt and pushed forward into the next room.

DT and the final Scapelli were going at it. The boy used the bag as a makeshift whip, swinging it until it could hit the gang member. But this didn’t get him far, as all he achieved was destroying the property more and more.

The Scapelli fought back as best as a man in desperate need of oxygen could, throwing heavy kitchenware while trying to bust a window open. Definitely wasn’t the strongest member of the team.

“Penelope?” I asked, my voice noticeably raspier yet softer.

“Take this!” Heaving a glass plate from the floor, she chucked it at the Scapelli like a disc. The loud and sharp impact made us both wince.

To my shock, while the Scapelli was stunned with a plate to the head, DT put the flamethrower on his back. I waved at him frantically, shaking my head. He looked at me, then at the Scapelli. This boy… He was gesturing squeezing the trigger while we were in a gas my mom called super flammable. The window was right there. We could get out without any major casualties and be fine.

The Scapelli rubbed his head. He was barely holding onto consciousness.

“Move it or lose it!” DT pointed to the window, then rammed the handle of the device through it.

“Whoo-hoo!” Penelope was the first to climb out.

Then DT hopped onto the counter, waiting for me to get close. I felt like I was limping at this stage, my vision softening the entire trek through this destroyed kitchen. As soon as I could lift myself onto the counter, DT stuck out his hand.

Huh? Did the gas get to him? He was still holding the flame—

“KYAAA!”

In the split second that my nose went hot red, I scampered to the other end of the kitchen until hitting my head.

…How long was I out this time? It couldn’t have been more than a minute. How did I know? Because any longer and those flames would’ve roasted me like a chestnut.

But my brain was throbbing. My already deteriorating vision had become so blurred that the glasses didn’t make one difference. As if that weren’t bad enough, I was pinned against the stairs because the entire first floor of the building seemed to be one big stove. And with this gas contaminating the entire building, my time was beyond limited. How I managed to stay conscious was a true miracle, one I needed to take advantage of.

Had my thinking been at max capacity, I’d have chucked off my slides, knowing that running with them would’ve slowed me down. But in this inferno of a building, they clung to my feet. Wait, clung? No, I busted my cap just trying to get up the stairs. And right at the back of my heels, the flames continued to nip and rise.

Damn it… Wait! That broken window on the fourth floor, of course!

As I dragged my body up, I thought of simple ways to escape the building from that high up. I couldn’t tie sheets together like in a cartoon… If there were items in the closet, like a Cape Feather, DT would have grabbed them and told me.

Think, Toadette. Ooh!

Lugging that damn mattress while feeling like I could choke on my own barf made my body radiate in pain. My lungs were so exhausted. But at the same time, this window was big enough to squeeze a mattress out of—barely big enough, with the sides of the mattress fiercely rubbing against the drywall.

Coughing, I checked the door. Yellow, orange and red glowed in the room.

Crossing my fingers, I pushed enough of the mattress through the window and quickly collapsed onto it. It felt like real flying, going from a suffocating environment to having fresh air in my lungs. But the joy faded as soon as the mattress fell. It came down hard, the force nearly tearing my braids from my cap. With that impact, I hit my face through the springy material then bounced onto the hard concrete. Felt a little road rash on my left leg, ow…

My fear of watching a burning building with smoke entering the sky was nothing compared to my panic when I heard the wailing of sirens.

“Damn it.” Wincing, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the number my mom gave me. I dialled it in a heartbeat, eyes alert for any flashing lights. “Hello? I… I don’t know what the hell to ask for, but I was told to call you.”

A firm voice came through. “Just a minute away. Black car with the Lakitu logo on the side.”

At least the fire meant I’d be able to spot a black car in this darkness. But…

That boy! There he was! And…

“How can you leave Miss Toadette in there!?”

He was fighting Penelope! Or rather, was she fighting him? DT looked like he’d been knocked to the ground, with Penelope rushing in to stomp on him. And then a flash came, with Penelope’s stumbling across the street. As she held her nose, DT raised the flamethrower again.

“Enough! Do you realise what you’ve done!?” I ran up to him. “Do you!?”

He slowly removed the flamethrower and threw it into the fire that he’d begun. The crazy thing was that he was smiling. No regret, no apparent knowledge of what the hell he just put me through (and let’s not forget Penelope considering what must’ve been flying through her head). Just an expression as if he’d been praised for his actions.

“Killed two birds with one stone.”

“What?”

“I got my revenge on those dickheads, and now I can be content knowing the rest of your stay in Mushroom City is gonna be hell.” His smile widened. “Isn’t it great, TT?”

Unbelievable.

He almost killed me, and now he was celebrating that the Scapellis would label me a murderer? They’d know it was me because who else had been causing them mayhem this past week? Captain Toad and Minh T. might’ve been there, but who was the self-appointed leader? This girl. This girl who was ready to send her brother to the hospital.

Penelope tugged at my hand. “Miss Toadette, what’s that car doing?”

“If you miss your chance with me, I ain’t coming back!”

The ride to the apartment was uncomfortable enough with the silence. I looked out my window, DT looked out his, and Penelope looked like the girl randomly caught in the crossfire.

I thanked the driver before exiting the car, but even saying simple words around DT felt wrong. I wasn’t just some random friend of Minh T.’s who happened to share his sister’s name. No, now he knew that I was indeed his sister. Someone who, for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t have even been alive.

Minh T. opened the door to the apartment.

“You’re back!” As soon as she went to hug me, I pushed her against the wall, my fist stinging from being curled for so long. “What happened?”

“You don’t wanna know,” Penelope said.

“There you are! What happened to your forehead!? You gave me a heart attack running away like that! Never… Dane T.?”

“They always considered you one of the best actors for plays at your school, remember?” He shut the door. “For you to play a role for six years straight, yeah, they had you pinned correctly.”

Minh T. looked at all three of us in confusion. Then she looked only between me and DT, her pupils shrinking.

I made my way to the dining area, where, as I expected, my mom was seated. I’d already anticipated everything that was about to play out. We were gonna sit at that table, someone was gonna start something, cue a little good ol’ family abuse, then off to bed with everyone frustrated. But I’d at least make an attempt to keep things calm.

My best friend already laid our plates out, and so I began to dig in. Didn’t eat like I normally did, though. It was like a bit of Minh T. entered me, as I ate like, for lack of a better word, a pig.

“Are they done?” My mom took a sip. “Everyone in that place?”

I nodded.

“Good girl… That move’s gonna get them to finally leave this boy alone.”

Idiot. Did she really believe things would be that simple? Even in some fantasy where they did leave him alone, I was now Enemy No. 1 to those people. And I didn’t even live in this stupid place.

The table quickly filled up. However, a certain flower girl reserved herself to just eating in the kitchen, overlooking us over the counter’s window. Penelope was right at my side, stuffing her cheeks with as much pasta as she could. Incredible how the two of us from the castle made more noise than the two from the noisiest city in the Mushroom Kingdom.

DT barely even touched his food, though. Instead, he glared at me and Penelope.

Every time I set a hand on Penelope’s leg, she was shaking. “Excuse me,” she blurted out, breaking the silence, “do you guys mind if I ask you something?”

“Probably not the best time to ask—”

“It’s fine.” Under the table, DT kicked my shin. “Ask it, human.”

“Why do you two look so much different from Miss Toadette? She has a pink cap, and you guys just have red spots like normal Toads.”

“Know what? That’s something you’ll have to ask that moron, ‘cause I have no—”

My mom groaned. “It’s our first dinner in a long time. Let’s try to act civil—”

“Civilised? Big thing to ask for. You should be ready to rip her head off her body!” He pointed to me. “Go ahead, explain the cap, TT.”

I just rolled my eyes. At this rate, I was too exhausted to waste energy slapping him.

“It was a painful change.”

“But worth it just so you didn’t have to deal with me?”

“That is not why I—”

“Was it just to get away from Mom? ‘Cause if that’s the case, newsflash, that little plan didn’t just hit her.”

“Eh, that’s life. Don’t always get what you want.” Upon receiving a second kick to the leg, I returned the favour.

It was like we were children all over again, seeing which one of us could deal more damage to the other. Yet he couldn’t leave well enough alone. He had to bring his foot down on my toes.

I slammed the table. “Kick me one more time—”

My leg felt a sharp jab from his nail.

Minh T. shrieked. I’d tackled the boy to the ground, holding my hand over his neck. I couldn’t have cared less how hurt he felt at this point. Clearly he didn’t value me if he left me to potentially burn no less than an hour ago. But keeping him pinned wasn’t all that easy, especially since he was pushing me back. And in a split second, I felt my shirt tear.

“I had to look out for myself!” I screamed, panting as Minh T. held me back. I yelled at her to let me go, yet that only tightened her grip.

“Don’t say ‘had to’.” DT was restrained by our mom. “It was entirely your choice.”

“Because I knew you’d be fine!”

“In what world do I look fine, TT?”

“Let’s think.” I elbowed Minh T. off of me. “You got most of Mommy’s attention when it was both of us, so removing me meant you got all of her attention. Considering you were never the punching bag, I’d say you had it real good. Prove me wrong, dumbass.”

Nobody moved. But if he took a single step toward me, I was ready to go toe-to-toe with him. Had nothing else to lose, and I’d win this fight, believe me.

“I never thought you were so stupid,” he said.

I grabbed a fork, and threw it at him. “I should’ve known you’d grow up to be a little idiot with this bitch raising you! I did nothing but try to keep you safe when I got entangled in your situation, and now… Now… You burnt nearly ten of our enemies to a crisp, knowing I’d get a target put on my head! And by the way, moron, same blood runs through our veins. Once I’m gone, you’re next, then Mommy, then anyone else in our extended family!”

“Like you even cared about our family!”

“Both of you calm the fuck down!” My mom clapped her hands and pointed to the couch. DT and I sat there like we were about to get a stern lecture. While I looked down at my feet, he looked up at the ceiling. However, this time I didn’t have a mark on my body from the one scolding me. Minh T. stayed at Penelope’s side while our mom stood in front of the two of us. “The only way we get past this is if we talk. No hitting each other, no babyish insults, definitely no pretending that everything is okay now.”

“Sure.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Because you’re the therapist we need.”

“TT, I spilled my guts out to you on that balcony.”

“Yeah, great, you only regretted your decisions after you thought I was dead. Fantastic mother.”

“Enough with your smart mouth!” She finally caught my eye, her face beginning to flare. “What I want you to do, for both of us, is tell us what the hell happened back then. That’s all. After that, I couldn’t care less what you do.”

And all I wanted to do was disappear into that couch, away from all this stress.

“Right now DT is losing any love he has for you. If you cared about him at all, you’d be honest with him.”

Ugh. The end justified the means. Neither of them could see it yet, but once I sent them a bunch of money, they’d understand. And who gave me the coins? The princess. As frustrating as it was to be on her side, at least it gave me the financial security my mother could only dream of.

“Couldn’t have chosen a worse time for me to have to recount things.” I clasped my hands and took a deep breath. “But if it shuts you both up, I’ll make it short.”

Everyone waited with open…well, Penelope was the only one with literal ears, but you know the expression.

“You know, for a while I thought my life was going up. Grades saw a little bump, got some sweet revenge on that nerdy chick, and I even took less beatings from you, my mother.

“Then that day happened. That winter day when you told me we were leaving Toad Town. ‘Oh, TT, I’m tryin’ to get my life back to together.’ Kept trying to use that excuse on me, completely oblivious to my struggle of being a school punching bag. Already had trouble making friends, and you were ready to take away my one and only friend?

“Hell, Minh T.’s family put more food on our plates than you ever did, woman.

“When we moved, I was trying to give Mushroom City a chance. I mean, the smoggy climate, the smell of burning rubber, the blaring cars all over the place? How could I not love this city? I went back to curling up in a ball just to block out all the noise, something I hadn’t done since I was four, and you laughed at me. You fucking laughed.”

I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth.

“Same night we got to this very apartment, I went right the hell back home. To my real home. And I cried, yeah. Not for you though, Mommy, but because I knew DT was gonna be sad when he woke up the next day. Best thing I could’ve done was leave that old note behind to say we’d meet again, but…

“If I spent the rest of my life in Mushroom City, I’d be miserable. I kept telling myself to turn around though, just to stay with him. But I wanted to be with the girl who could make me happier. And besides, we both know you’d have slammed me into an early grave anyway if I came back.

“The bridge explosion then happened, which you clearly know about. I was there.”

My mom covered her mouth. “You really were there then!”

“Heh, Bowser and his schemes. Messed up my body, but I survived. Hitched a ride back to Toad Town. That nerd, Russ T., agreed to help me reintegrate without you ever finding out. I mean, he was proud to show off his intelligence. Minh T., on the other hand…”

“I broke my hand,” she bluntly said..

“Then after some ice on my black eye, we hugged, she promised to help me, and you can fast-forward six years.. Except I didn’t know she’d ever re-established contact with you guys.”

If this was a lot for these two to take in, they had no idea how deep this rabbit hole went. Unfortunately for them, I’d worn out my vocal cords recounting these events. Not to mention the hidden pain of reliving the memories. The hitting, the crying, the burning from the blast… My mom was fidgeting, struggling to express the clear confusion she felt that I left her in the dark for so long. DT, on the other hand, had a face of pure anger, softened only by the few tears dripping down.

“That’s that,” I said, leaning back.

“They found your clothes in the water,” my mom said, her voice coming to a whisper. “All your stuff was mangled and mixed in with hundreds of other people’s.”

“And you really don’t remember what was on that note, do you? ‘Cause you should’ve known I’d be thinking I was the reason you left the entire time,” DT added, panting. “You didn’t just leave me with abandonment problems—ugh, I hate even saying that, I sound like a drama queen. But I have two lives: one before that day, one after that day. As you see, the one after that day isn’t all peaches.”

“All I did—”

“TT, shut up! Please just shut up. Minh T. was a better sister. Maybe she went along with your lie, but knowing you once threatened to game over all ‘cause you heard her getting porked by some guy, I don’t blame her.”

My eyes widened. “How would you even know about that? No, how’d you even remember?”

“Because I clearly cared more about you than you cared about me.”

Jeez, I was rubbing myself more now. And I wasn’t even cold, quite the opposite. Then suddenly the couch shook, and Minh T. acted as a barrier between us.

“We all agree that Toadette royally screwed up, okay?”

I shook my head. “Are you still on their—”

“Stop talking.” She put her finger to my lips. “Good news is that we live in the present, and it’s never too late for anyone to make things right. So…”

“Minh T., cut the dramatics and get to the point,” my mom said.

“Me and Toadette ain’t gonna be here long after the Star Festival. And therefore I think that in these last few days, she and DT should work on fixing their beyond-broken bond.”

“Pass.” “Double pass.”

“I’m not taking ‘pass’ for an answer. Especially from you, Toadette. All this stress I’ve carried on my back, I get to make one demand from you concerning this crazy mess.”

“Won’t be the same bond, so what’s the point?” I groaned.

“Mushroom Bridge was never going to be the same, so what was the point of repairing it?”

DT stood and wiped his face. “On second thought…”

He blocked my vision before I could get off the couch. There was still no smile on his face, but what was there was a look of intensity. It was like he thought he was the bigger sibling.

“However long you’re gonna be here for, you’re going to be my little toy.”

“You’re gonna play nice, DT,” my mom said, grabbing his arm. “I’m not letting either of you go back to acting like toddlers.”

He looked down, smiling. “With all due respect, I can’t promise to play nice.”

There were only four days before the Star Festival. How much could possibly go down in three days?

***

“It’s too late… Who is this?”

“The girl whose melons you wanna suckle so badly.”

“Toadette?” Captain Toad’s connection was fuzzy. “How did you get my—”

“Not answering something you can easily deduce. We have a problem.”

I told the sleepy captain about the new situation with DT and the Scapellis, especially with how I’d be labelled as a murderer. The investigators would find Toad DNA somewhere in the building, and the only two recent Toads shared the exact same blood.

“And Minh T. says I’m the one who trouble follows like a dog. One sec…” Captain Toad had me pacing barefoot around the cold balcony for minutes before returning. “Kill count of nine, damn, lil’ bro gets shit done. Now, since we heard it was a Scapelli incident, we had some of our castle guys blend in with the cops to investigate. Things are still getting started, but it’s midnight and no one’s mentioned putting a hit out on you two. That’s slow by Scapelli standards.”

“Phew.”

“Hey! You’re not in the clear yet, so keep on the low. How am I supposed to jack off thinking of you if you’re busy getting me back in trouble with this family?”

My eyes widened. “Why would you tell me something that gross!?”

“It was a mega load, for the record.” He let out a high-pitched yawn. “Before you go, send me a cute pic of you. Whatever you think would make a very cute image. I don’t like just having a blank image as a contact photo; it’s depressing.”

“As you wish.” As soon as I ended the call, I snapped a quick pic of my dusty foot and sent it to him.

I had to cross the living room, where Penelope was on the couch. The crust in her eyes showed she’d tried to get some sleep, but she was staring at me like a cat.

“Feeling better?” I asked, rubbing the lump on her forehead caused by the pole. Also rubbing her now-bandaged nose from DT’s attack.

“And this is why I wanna wear that helmet everywhere, Miss Toadette.”

I chuckled. “Firstly, I don’t think a visor protects your nose. Secondly, no one’s gonna take you seriously with it on. They’ll all think you’re harmless.”

“Every hero needs the elementals of surprise, right?”

“Element of surprise.” I kissed her forehead, then pulled the blanket further over her shoulders and feet. “Wear it in Toad Town, but be smart over here. Night.”

“Night…” she let out a soft moan before turning her face into the pillow.

On the path to my old room, I didn’t encounter my mom or DT. That left Minh T. for me to deal with, who was already in bed, eyes dilated.

“Thanks so much for all of this, Minh T.,” I sighed, climbing over her legs.

“Doing my best for you. Cut me a little slack.”

“I…” I rolled onto my side, facing her feet. “You’re right.”

“Look on the bright side. DT may have not forgiven you outright, but wanting to spend time with you is a sign that he’s totally open to it.”

“The hell’s he got in store for me?”

She got on her stomach, her soles now facing the ceiling. “Best to not anticipate anything. Just handle the situations as they come.”

Her feet were so close to my head that I could smell them now. Just like soap bars, meaning she scrubbed extra hard in the shower. With no dirt whatsoever on them, I couldn’t help but want to get a little closer…

“Y’know, thought you were gonna turn the light off.” She got out the bed and went to the switch. In that short time, I scooched myself closer to the middle of the bed. It already wasn’t wide like the hotel one, but being a full-sized mattress, there was still some extra space. Once the lights went dark, I felt the rustling under the sheets.

And her toes ran across my lips.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry,” she said, trying to move away.

I giggled. “You want me to suck on them?”

“Nah, go to sleep.”

“Considering what I put you through, I feel like I should give you a bit of a stress-reliever, though.”

“Seriously?” She began to lower her voice. “You keep throwing me off, Toadette.”

I lay in silence, not knowing how to take that. Just as I went to flip on my other side, I let out a whimper. Her meaty big toe had forced its way into my mouth, and my lips instantly sealed around it. I was just like a baby sucking on its pacifier, though Minh T. seemed utterly clueless to my enjoyment. How could she still not catch on, especially as I was moaning?

“Yeah, I needed this bad,” she moaned, curling the rest of her toes against my face. “T-Thank you.”

“I did say I’d suck your toes if it made you happy.” I slowly licked her toe, and no matter how plain it tasted at this hour, touching the tops of her feet made me feel something fierce.

Minh T.’s last words that night were, “Everything’ll be fine tomorrow, Toadette,” as I started to slurp on her soles.

For my sake, I hoped she was correct. And as soon as I heard her snoring, I smothered her feet in soft kisses. After everything that had happened this night, I was also in some need of relief. And delivering kiss after kiss to my best friend’s feet, gay as it might’ve been, had me blushing so deep that I began to touch myself lightly. I was ready to fall asleep with her big feet weighing down on my face.

“I… I…” It didn’t matter what I said given her knocked-out state, but I gulped before continuing. “You’re a really super friend, Minh T.”

With a final kiss to her sole, I zoned out. Saturday morning was just hours away.