we were talking about numbers
1 would always be boyish, full of fun, and had a cute smile
stuff like that

five girls talking about numbers over whiskey

maybe we all wanted to talk about something else
but five was a safe number, secure

we were all in different phases in a relationship

yet,
aren't we all?

she had just started to get serious, with a junior
she was like 7
straightforward and popular but awkward at the same time
she still didn't know how to live with being a lesbian sometimes

she wanted to marry her boyfriend
the 21
we all thought twos were charismatic
yet 21 had something else, she knew how to think for herself

she was the third in a love triangle
she was the invisible one
the 76
sevens were strange
she had yellow highlights in her hair and wore a splattered tye-die jacket
she was the only person we knew that could hold it together
she didn't care what others thought

she liked him
he liked her
yet he wouldn't say anything
they all pondered on what number she was
she was hard to pinpoint
they all concluded that she was sensibility wrapped with sense
wrapped with layers and layers of sense wrapping paper

and i am, or they say i am 43
they spent the longest time explaining
how fours were a bit taboo
and how three made it stand out
people noticed 43

strange