Riding The Flames

02 | Party

two • party

Daria

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop taking every word of mine seriously?" Tina growls while dabbing a cotton ball on Simon's wound.

She has her angry face on—the one that does not do justice to her big eyes or pretty square-shaped face. She has gotten even prettier recently and always has a glow on her. None of that matters though now because Simon is sulking even when Tina is literally sitting on his lap to treat him. Other times, that sends him to heaven.

"I didn't know Dax would show up at college. He wasn't supposed to be there..." Simon says to Tina and then looks at me.

I'm sitting on the couch of our shared apartment in my pajamas, sipping a cup of dark coffee because I need to stay awake for the party Simon had offered to take us to yesterday. It's later at night but I wonder if Tina will let him go now, considering his condition.

"You should be smarter. We promised to stay out of gang shit," I comment disinterestedly, taking another sip while continuing the romance book I am reading on my Kindle.

"I didn't borrow it from him." Simon's comment makes both Tina and me look at him in puzzlement. He glances at the floor, squeezing Tina's hip in a moment of distraction. "I borrowed it from Damien Spencer, his brother. I had no idea he would send Dax to collect it this soon."

"Why did you ask for ten days then?" I interrupt. "You know how they are. You're lucky you even got a month."

"I was running short on money. Rick gave me the idea."

"Rick's an asshole," Tina grunted, pressing harshly on one of Simon's wounds. "And you're an idiot for listening to him."

I chuckle at their bickering. "She's right. Rick is stoned half the time and besides, the gangs are ruthless when it comes to money. You should have had that common sense."

"And the Spencer brothers are the Kings of ruthlessness," Tina says through clenched teeth, her voice filling with so much bitterness all of a sudden that I feel like it is the end of our discussion.

Simon huffs, jerking his head to a side, feigning annoyance with both of us. Tina gets up from Simon's lap and strolls towards me. She drops the first aid kit on the center table before resting her butt on the couch beside me.

"What're you reading?" she asks, taking a peek at the screen.

"Brother's Girl..." I reply, my cheeks heating up. "It's the next one in the series after Pirate's Girl."

"Oh wow!" she exclaims, pulling my Kindle from me and tapping to find the book's description.

"You won't like it...The heroine's one of those 'I'm not like other girls' type."

Tina quickly shuts the Kindle when she hears that and gives me a look of utter disgust.

"Why would you read such an anti-feminist thing?" She pushes the Kindle back to me while her boyfriend comes to sit between us. "It's offensive literature!"

"It's free on Kindle!" I defend my choice, placing the Kindle and my coffee mug on the table. I put my arms behind my head. "You know how much I like free stuff."

"You girls are ridiculous," Simon chuckles. "It's just a book." That earns him a glare from both of us and he looks down at our feet, placing a hand over Tina's bare leg. "Anyways...you wanna come to the party tonight?"

"No, we aren't because you won't be there to keep an eye on us when we get drunk," Tina tells Simon, pinching his chin between her fingers to shake his head.