One of the Girls or Something

Alix was actually Alice but she was an artist so that was that. Alix had a residency at the Locker Room when it was still in Brooklyn but says she'd never have a shot now that they're in Tribeca. I've seen her work. I even bought one of her paintings. She's right.

Elivra was born Elivra but she'd never heard of Elvira and neither had her parents. Yet her dad is this goth biker dude and her mom is a curator at some place in Soho who once sold vintage erotica to Paul Reubens. It doesn't add up. Elivra works at IFC, which I swear to God showed Elivra's first movie a couple years ago when she started there. I don't know why that bugs me so much.

Hannah was, as far as anyone could tell, a trust fund kid. She never brought it up, and we never asked. Everyone just knew if she was coming out, you could order whatever you wanted. Hannah's claim to fame was fucking Peter Vack and Harmony Korine in the same month. Nobody could prove the Vack fling but she was happy to show off a DM from Korine that was certainly suggestive, though not explicit. More often than any of us liked, Hannah could be seen wearing a Dimes Square t-shirt from H&M. We weren't sure if it was sarcastic anymore, or if it ever was.

Shashi got her name from a cult leader in LA and never stopped using it even though she swore she wasn’t brainwashed anymore. Alix saw her ID from afar once and thought her birth name was June, but wasn't sure. Shashi said she once got kicked out of the Chateau Marmont after throwing up on a Bonsai tree in the lobby. The parties she said weren't worth our time were always more fun than the ones she said couldn't be missed, but the latter looked better on Instagram.

We all started hanging out after Elivra and Hannah saw me read at KGB with Cassandra, who had written yet another piece of thinly-veiled autofiction about suicidal ideation. That night we all went to the Chelsea Diner and Wallace Shawn was eating a fruit salad by the window. None of them knew who he was and I wanted to say this was inconceivable but that wasn't going to make them get it so I just shut up and finished my carrot cake. I never understood why they took me in. I can see a world where Alix created visuals to be projected on one of the smaller screens at IFC for a midweek reading of mine and Cassandra’s work to be followed by an after-party that Shashi would host, featuring guests invited by Hannah. But we didn't do anything like that, especially after Cassandra killed herself. We just sat around and talked shit, mostly about each other and mostly in Clinton Hill, which Alix said was the coolest undiscovered spot in Brooklyn, precisely because it kinda sucked. We drank a lot of cheap beer, or expensive cocktails if Hannah was joining. I usually order a New York Sour, but not to be ironic. I just like them.