The Cascading Waves of Caden Lee

27

SCARLETT PARKER

"I dont know, Scarlett. Drowning seems like a pretty bad way to go."

We have somehow come to the conversation of how our ideal death would go. Morbid, but aren't those the best conversations?

"Fine, then, how would you die since you seem to know so much about dying?"

Noah hums, shifting in the cushioned cafe chair.

"Well, it depends. A gunshot would be good, but it would have to hit an artery for it to go by quickly. Otherwise you'd just be left groveling on the floor, bleeding the fuck out."

"Theres always that," I take a sip of my smoothie. Hints of mango and pineapple coat my tongue, but the smoothie feels like chalk as it slides down my throat. It leaves a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

"Or a plane crash. Typically you pass out before the crash even happens, and even if you don't it happens so fast you die instantly."

"For real?" That lessens my fear of planes ever-so-slightly.

"Yeah. Though the anticipation of it all before you faint has gotta be scary."

"I'd probably shit my pants."

He laughs, "Oh, I'd do more than just 'shit my pants.'"

I cringe, "Okay, gross, Noah."

All he does is continue to laugh.

_._._._._._._._

Leah's wearing a black skin-tight dress to school today. I could never, not because i'm all about the 'not like other girls' thing, but because im barely functioning enough to throw on a random wrinkled outfit from my laundry bin every morning.

But what I do know, is that Leah somehow wakes up at 5:00 AM every single school morning to get ready. The mere thought of doing that is enough to make me want to stab my eye out with a fork.

But she looks good. And Katie practically has hearts in her eyes at every glance she gives her, so it works out for her in the end.

They're cute. But i'm always third wheeling when i'm with them. So I always feel this wave of jealousy wash over me when I see them being all sickeningly lovey-dovey.

"You know," Leah starts, "Basketball seasons over." Katie glances at her, then continues to type the keys on her keyboard methodically.

"Look's like it's conditioning for the rest of the year." I murmur. We only cheer for the football and basketball teams, besides that we practice routines and jumps until we collapse. Leah bangs her forehead onto the wooden library table; I laugh, Katie slides a hand under her forehead and pushes her head upwards.

"How's your essay going, Katie?" About 95% of the time, when the three of us all hang out, Katie's the only one being productive. Sometimes I get jealous of her. How she can stay on top of things no matter the situation, but she wouldn't be Katie without that unique quirk of hers.

"Shitty."

"Aww, bored of writing about racist old white men from our history?" Leah laughs.

"Extremely."

"Just plagiarize it! That's what I do for all of my essays." Leah isn't the expert of advice typically; which is why everyone goes to Katie if they need a secondary opinion, me as a backup plan if necessary.