it's nice to have a friend | cth

three: graceland too

graceland too- phoebe bridgers

so we spent what was left

of our serotonin

to chew on our cheeks

and stare at the moon

***

"I know you basically just landed, but how are you liking Sydney so far?" We walk along the dark roads lit up by building lights and street lamps.

"I haven't really seen much, but so far Sydney hasn't treated me too well." I reply thinking of the texts I had received back at the hotel.
"Do you like music?" The boy questions. I look at him and scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. All I see is the side of his face as he continues forward.

"Yeah..?" "You don't sound too sure of yourself," He points out. "I mean, I fucken love music, I adore it, it's practically my lifeline. You just caught me off guard by asking." I explain looking at the pavement in front of us now.

He takes his right hand out of his pocket and looks at his wrist then up at a street sign near us before speaking.

"Well, we're not too far from... actually you know what, I'm not gonna tell you just follow me." He says grabbing my hand and pulling me along, his pace speeding up like his idea just excited him.

I pull my wrist out of his grasp and stop dead in my tracks. "Uh, no. What if this is some sort of ruse and you fucken kill me, or kidnap me, or sell me to some fucken gang, I don't know. I'm not falling for this, I know how t-" ''No no no, I'm not a serial killer or a part of a gang." He cuts me off.

"I'm just a teenage boy trying to show some random girl I just met around the city I grew up in if it's ok with her?" He defends himself, holding out his hand as waiting for an answer.

"Fine but no holding my hand," I say defensively, crossing my arms as if to show I mean business about not holding hands. "Okay, okay. Just follow me." He says holding his hands up in surrender.

We walk the city more, I can't help but stare at the tall buildings and all the lights. "You'd never see anything like this back in Laughlin," I say after a few minutes, looking up at the passing buildings.

"Laughlin?" The boy questions, I turn my head to him and nod. "My hometown, it's in Nevada, about 1 hour south of Las Vegas, you know what Las Vegas is right?" "No shit Sherlock, I'm not an idiot." He replies to my sarcastic comment. I laugh at his reaction.

We continue to walk down the same street for 5 more minutes before I see it. I stop in my tracks causing Calum to stop as well.
"Is that the opera house?!" I ask with excitement. I see the large unique structure of the building in the distance. "Yes, it is," Calum says with a smile on his face. "Sadly we can't go into the opera house but, there is something else I'd like to show you." He continues, and I smile at him starting to get excited.

Then my phone buzzes in my pocket. My eyes widen in fear that it's Cyrus again. I hope Calum didn't see my reaction "Hold that thought." I say, holding up a finger and pulling out my phone.

3 Missed Calls from Momma
2 Messages from Momma
From Mads: where the fuck are you?

I realize the time, 12:25 pm. "Fuck" I think out loud. "What, is something wrong?" Cal asks with a hint of worry. "Yeah, I said I was gonna get coffee real quick and I've been gone for almost an hour and a half now," I say before unlocking my phone and dialing Mom back. "Oh i-"