Constellations

aries

Being a key carrier does have its perks. That shiny gold key unlocks almost every door in the school. Hall closets, classrooms, the gym.

The football field.

I quietly laugh to myself as I make the twenty minute walk to my school. Why the fuck would any coach trust a dumb seventeen-year-old girl with such a privilege. The power to unlock a whole fucking field? God, Coach Devon is an eminent idiot.

I made an effort to conceal the rest of the wine I have yet to tend to in a metal water flask. It's a half-assed attempt at best. If an officer pulled up right now and asked me to walk in a straight line, I'd fail miserably. I can't even see a few feet ahead of me let alone safely plant one foot in front of the other. Then I'd go to jail for underage drinking, then my parents would be contacted, and I'm not sure what they'll be most angry about. The fact that I was drunk or the fact that I snuck out in the middle of the night. It might just well be my mum's be-all-end-all to find out that the twin she pegged as the 'good one' snuck out of the house to break into the school with a girl she might like.

Woah, I feel my head spin. That is wayyy too much to unpack right now. I drank the wine to suppress this shit, dammit.

My phone pings in my hand. Rue made me swear that I'd keep her updated while we walked to school, which happened to be the midpoint between our houses. My walk is a little further than hers though, so she said she'd only go if we turned on our locations. That way if anything bad happened, we'd know.

I swear that girl watches too many serial killer documentaries.

I'm here. Are you close?

I can see the school parking lot at the end of this block. It's well-lit by bright white lights while the neighborhood surrounding the school is nearly pitch black. Everyone's tucked away in their beds. Not suspecting a single thing.

That's something I've come to love about the night. It hides things you wouldn't want to be seen in broad daylight.

This is one of those things.

Almost there.

Within the next five minutes, I'm in the middle of an empty parking lot. Searching for Rue in the dark shadows the buildings of our school pretentiously cast over one another. I text her when I've gotten there and I see a figure move out from the darkness. Into the range of a beam of light.

She's so pretty. I think the thoughts I would never even allow to cross my mind. In fact, I'd be scolding myself right this second for looking at her in another other way than platonic if it weren't for the alcohol in my bloodstream. The source of all my stresses: the constant nagging in my mind, is buried deep underneath all the 'unwanted' thoughts I'd unleashed the moment I felt myself sinking into the oblivion of drunkenness. Succumbing to my body rather than my mind makes things feel a whole lot better.

"Rue!" I throw my arms around her upon instinct. She tenses a bit under my touch, but I can 't help but hear a faint sigh escape her lips.

Still squeezed in my arms, Rue barely manages to speak from a mix of shock and suffocation, "You're drunk?"

I release her slowly, maybe even a little reluctantly. I missed hugging her. I show her the water bottle in my hand with a weak gesture. "I brought the party along."

She shakes her head, fighting the urge to smile. "Christ, Lara." My heart swells at the nickname. It sounds different coming from her. A thousand times more endearing. "I knew something was up when you texted first."

I shrug and start to guide her to the gate that takes us through the 'home' side of the football field. From there, there's only a small fence separating the crowd from the game. Easy to hop over, even for a drunk person. I swear this school's lack of security makes things way too easy.