Right Where You Left Me

vodka and slushies

My phone beeps with a notification. Picking it up, my face quickly lights into a smile.

"What?" Nate murmurs, looking up from his book and noticing my expression.

I flop down on the bed next to him and stare up at the ceiling. "You remember that singer? Chase Ashford?"

Nate frowns. "Yeah, sometimes I listen to his music. Why?"

"He just announced he's going on tour," I say excitedly. "We should get tickets."

Nate raises a brow. "Do you have $200 to drop on tickets?"

"No," I say, and realize he's right. Neither of us can afford tickets.

"Hey, it's okay," he says. "We'll just see if we can sneak in or something."

I grin. "You're just full of great, smart ideas, Nate." I pull up a photo of Chase on my phone and sigh. "He's so hot."

Nate frowns and peers over my shoulder at the photo. "He's okay," he says.

I turn to him and widen my eyes. "Okay?" I echo. "He's fine as hell."

Nate shrugs. "I'm hotter."

"Men and their egos," I mutter, rolling my eyes.

***

The next day at school, I'm sitting bored in history class when a tap on the window beside my desk startles me.

Nate is right outside my classroom, in the hallway, grinning wickedly. He beckons me with a hand.

The teacher notices him and frowns, marching towards the door. But when he flings it open, Nate is gone.

I catch onto what Nate is asking me to do. Quickly gathering my things, I stuff them into my backpack and sling it over one shoulder.

"Young lady," says the teacher, "Where do you think you're going?"

I don't answer as I step out of the classroom fast. When the teacher follows me out into the hallway, I book it down the corridor.

"Excuse me!" she says sharply.

"Uh, feminine emergency?" I call before turning the corner and racing down the stairs.

When I get outside, Nate is leaning against the wall smoking. He grins when he sees my disheveled state.

"A little warning would've been nice," I huff, setting my backpack on the floor and stealing his cigarette.

Nate shrugs. "You said you wanted to skip class with me. Now you're skipping class with me."

"I said that in, like, October," I say. "It's almost May now."

"Better late then never, yeah?" he grins.

I adjust my necklace. "What's the plan?"

Nate tosses his lighter in the air and catches it, giving me a sideways glance. "How does a gas station slushie sound right now?"

When we get to the gas station, I get a cola slushie and twinkies. Nate mixes sprite and fanta, and buys a bottle of cheap vodka. We make our way outside and sit against the wall of the station as the sun sits high in the sky.

We mix vodka into our slushies and take sips. It's a little revolting, but also a little delicious. I take little sips and the alcohol goes straight to my head, sending a buzzing feeling through my veins.

Eventually we finish the slushies and take turns drinking straight out of the vodka bottle, which is a dumb idea that my stomach does not agree with. For a while we sit in silence. It's nice to slow down and let the world fall silent behind you. Nate pulls out a cigarette and lights it. Then he looks over at me and stands up. I offer him my hand and he pulls me to my feet.