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“Harry, will you please come sit down?” Louis asked, trying but failing to keep the exasperation from her voice.
Harry had been bouncing around like a ping pong ball all day, much to Louis’s chagrin. It was her graduation weekend, after all, not Harry’s. She was graduating in the morning, then driving home for the night before flying to London for a three-week trip before she started her job with a publishing company in July. As luck would have it, Harry would be in London not even a week later–they would just miss one another, as Harry traveled for an intensive six-week writing course before returning to campus for the fall semester. Which meant today was the last chance for the friends to spend time together until sometime in the autumn. And even that depended on Louis’s work schedule and Harry’s course load.
Louis could hear the clanging of pans and dishes in the kitchen of her house on the edge of campus, which she had shared this year with three other seniors. The other girls were all off with their families who were in town for the graduation, so Louis had the place to herself for the night. Her family would arrive in the morning. So of course she had invited her best friend over for the day.
What Louis hadn’t expected was for Harry to be in such a tizzy the entire day. When she had shown up on Louis’s porch at ten that morning, she’d had at least six bags hanging from her arms. Harry had brought what appeared to be the entire contents of her baking cupboard with her, adamant that she would make Louis a friendship cake for their last night together both as college students. She’d been in the kitchen pretty much since. Louis had perched on one of the kitchen chairs throughout most of the day, hugging her knees as she chattered away with Harry, until after dinner when Harry had kicked her out.
“I have to put the finishing touches on the cake, Lou, and you can’t see it because it’s a surprise!” Harry said as she ushered Louis out the door toward the porch. As if a surprise friendship cake were a completely normal thing.
And that’s where Louis had been for the past hour, swinging gently on the old wooden porch swing she’d come to love during her time living in the house.
She heard a muffled string of swear words and more clanging.
“For real, Harry, give it a rest!” Louis said, turning her head to shout in the window. “The cake will be lovely, because whatever you bake always is, but you need to chill. Come swing with me, please?”
“I’m almost done, Lou, promise. Finishing touches!” There was another giant clang! and then quiet.
Louis’s feet kept her anchored to the porch as she used her legs to gently move the swing back and forth. It was a nice evening–a bit of a breeze to temper the warmer temperatures earlier in the day, the sounds of crickets in the air, and a faint twinkling of fireflies as dusk started to set in. It’ll be even nicer when Haz is finally done, thought Louis.
Louis had barely finished her thought when she heard the front door swing open and saw Harry start to walk onto the porch. She was carrying a two-tiered cake on a tray, and what looked like a sparkler was stuck in the top next to some flowers. It wasn’t lit yet–something Louis was grateful for, considering how clumsy Harry was at the best of times. Harry set the tray in the middle of the table in front of the swing.
“Wow, Harry, that’s gorgeous! It looks so delicious!” Louis said.
“Just wait another minute, Lou!” Harry replied. “I need to grab the lighter for the sparkler, and I need the knife and our plates and forks.” She hurried back in the door and returned moments later with the plates and utensils, which she sat beside the cake. It took her a few tries to catch the flame on the lighter, but once she did, she lit the sparkler.
Both Harry and Louis looked at the cake, mesmerized by the sparkles. Harry reached into her back pocket for her phone. “Let me get your picture, Lou! I can’t believe you’re about to graduate and leave me!”
Louis rolled her eyes at the request, but it was mostly in jest–she truly loved how sentimental Harry could be.
Once Harry had gotten her photo, she put her phone down and sat next to Louis on the swing, both of them facing the cake. It was another few moments before the sparkler burned out.
“So, a friendship cake, huh?” Louis said, a teasing lilt in her voice. “What is proper friendship cake etiquette at this point?”
Louis had thought her teasing would make Harry give an eye roll of her own. She was surprised to see Harry’s shoulders tense a bit.
“Well, this friendship cake is about both of us,” Harry said. “That’s why there are two layers–you’re the bigger first layer, since you’re older, and I’m the smaller layer. Although I suppose you could’ve been the smaller layer since you’re so small.”
“Oi, I’m not small!” retorted Louis in their familiar patter. “I’m compact!”
Harry laughed and seemed to lose some of the tension in her body, but not all of it. What is that about? Louis wondered.
“I know, Lou, I know.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, so this cake is special. You’ll see why when you cut into it. Here’s the knife.”
Louis wasn’t sure what Harry meant by that, but she took the knife from Harry and moved to cut the top layer.
“Wait!” Harry shouted. Louis startled, her eyes immediately on Harry to see what was wrong.
“Cut your layer first, okay?”
Louis nodded as she moved the knife to the bottom tier. She made the first cut and the second, then used the side of the knife to pull out the first piece, just like Harry had taught her after they binge-watched The Great British Bake-Off after mid-terms that spring.
As Louis pulled the piece of cake toward her plate, she saw the surprise: a cascade of M&Ms in shades of pink, orange, and white. She immediately laughed.
“Oh my gosh, Haz. You made me a lesbian cake!” Louis was surprised and touched. She had felt nervous to come out to Harry last summer, but Harry had spent the entire past year reassuring her that she’d had nothing to be nervous about. She’d even gone with Louis to a few meetings of the LGBTQ+ club on campus.
Harry smiled widely to see how much Louis liked the cake, but her eyes still betrayed a touch of hesitation. “Yeah, I made you a lesbian layer for our friendship cake. I thought you’d enjoy the surprise.” She cleared her throat. “Okay, you’ve got your slice of cake–can you please cut one for me from my layer?”
Louis noticed Harry’s hands clenched tightly in her lap, but she decided not to comment on it.
“Sure thing, Haz. One slice of the Harry layer, coming right up.”
She cut the slice just as she had her own, carefully pulling the piece away from the tier in case there was a surprise inside this layer as well.
Louis had been right to be careful in cutting this smaller cake; a mixture of bright pink, yellow, and blue M&Ms tumbled out onto the tray. It took Louis a moment to connect the dots in her mind.
“Surprise?” Harry said quietly.
“Hazza, are you pansexual? That’s what these colors mean, right?” Louis asked, being careful not to show anything but neutrality on her face until Harry had had a chance to say her piece.
“Yeah.” She mumbled, then cleared her throat before speaking at regular volume. “Yes. I identify as pansexual. I’ve been figuring it out this year, and I wanted to tell you before you left.” She looked up at Louis to gauge her reaction.
“Oh, Harry, thank you for telling me!” Louis couldn’t stop her smile even if she’d wanted to. “And congratulations! I know it can be a lot to figure this stuff out about yourself, and it’s nerve-wracking to tell other people. I’m so proud of you!”
Harry smiled and the last bits of tension dropped from her shoulders. Relief.
“Thanks, Lou. I knew you’d be supportive and everything, but I was still nervous. Can I have a hug?”
“Oh, Harry, you can always have a hug. Come here,” she pulled Harry into her as the two tangled up in a tight, comforting embrace. I’m going to miss her, Louis thought.
When they separated, Harry’s eyes were a bit watery. She smiled with her front teeth caught on her bottom lip–Louis’s favorite of Harry’s smiles, if she had to pick one.
“I’m going to miss you, Hazza,” Louis said. She figured if ever there was a time to say it out loud, it was now.
“I’ll miss you too, Lou,” Harry said. “But that’s for tomorrow, and it’s really not that long before fall semester anyways. Besides, we have cake! What better time to live in the moment than when there’s cake?” Harry put a fork on each plate of cake, then handed Louis’s plate to her.
“You’re completely right, Hazza,” Louis said as she settled back into the porch swing, her plate of cake on her lap. “And it’s not just any cake–it’s a friendship secret surprise pride cake! You really are the best.” She took a big bite and moaned at the taste.
“So good, Harry!” she said through a mouthful of cake.
Harry giggled. “I’m glad you like it, Lou. Only the best for my best friend, the graduate.” She took a bite of her own piece, gently rocking the swing with her legs. The streetlights flickered on.
The pair ate their cake without talking, swinging gently in the night air. It would be mayhem in the morning when Louis’s family came for the graduation ceremony–her sisters would absolutely decimate the rest of the cake when they arrived, no matter that it would be barely past breakfast time.
Louis looked at the mix of M&Ms on the tray, then at Harry. She smiled. As far as last nights together went, this one felt pretty perfect.