She was the most frightening person I had ever seen

The evening had begun on a sour note. In retrospect, Jordan supposed that she and Erik both ought to have known well enough by that point that when the universe gives you such a clear signal to stay in, it's wise to take heed. Being themselves, however, and possessing an innate fondness for (and superiority over) large parties, they neatly made their own beds with a bit of soda water and a hair dryer.

"There," Jordan said, dryer in hand as she stepped back across the bathroom tile to give Erik's suit jacket a discerning once-over. "I can't even tell." The wet spot on her own jacket was lower, and as she turned the heat on herself, she watched in the mirror, the slender boy holding the dryer as familiar now as the body she had been born with.

"I don't know how in the hell we both managed to be so damned clumsy, honestly," she said.