'tis the damn season

Seventeen: invisible string

"Time, curious time, gave me no compasses gave me no signs. Were there clues I didn't see?" 

I hated the idea of sitting on a public bathroom floor, but I wasn't sure I was able to get up just yet. I did however feel much more normal now, which was good.

I'm honestly grateful for having been on those drugs. In a way they made me feel more at ease. I wasn't scared while we were escaping, whereas sober, I would have been shitting bricks.

I was pretty sure I wasn't going to throw up again. I don't think there was anything left in my stomach anyway, considering I hadn't eaten anything in twenty four hours aside from the popcorn only a few minutes ago. I lean my head against the concrete wall, shutting my eyes for a moment.

"Laur, did you OD over there?" Steve asks, from the stall next to mine.

I keep my eyes closed. "Not yet, you?"

"I feel better. Not so carefree anymore though. I kind of liked that part of it," he laughs.

I tuck my legs into my chest, wrapping my arms around myself. The weight of the situation was starting to affect me now. We seriously just escaped a secret Russian underground base, high out of our minds. If Robin, Dustin and Erica were here right now I'd applaud them. We definitely weren't the easiest people to deal with back there.

"Do you think that sobered us up?" He asks.

I didn't feel bubbly anymore, and there was no desire to blurt out every thought that came to mind, so that had to be a good sign.

"I don't really know, how are we supposed to tell?" I ask, noticing that I'm not slurring my words anymore either.

"Why don't we just ask each other a couple of questions to see how we answer?"

I nod even though he can't see me. "Okay, you ask first," I suggest since I had no questions in mind yet.

He's quiet for a moment while he thinks of something to ask me. "Okay, what's the best book you've ever read?"

It takes me no time to answer. "Pride and Prejudice."

"Why?"

Again, I didn't even have to think about it. "Because it's written in a way that I love and uses my favourite trope."

It was an easy question. Although I probably could have answered it the same way while high, so maybe it didn't exactly prove anything.

"I think I actually read that this past year for school," he says, surprising me.

"You mean you actually read it? You didn't have someone else do the work for you?" As soon as I say it, I want to take it back. It sounded like I thought he was dumb, which I didn't think at all.

Luckily he laughs at this. "Usually I would have had someone else write the essay for me, but I decided this year that I actually wanted to try in school, and so I did read the whole thing," he explains. "It was kind of confusing though, I didn't know what the heck was going on half the time."

I can't help but chuckle at this. "It's a classic; I can see how it may be confusing for someone to read," I agree.

It actually took me a few times to try it before I finally pushed through and read the whole thing. But once I finished it, I knew it had become my favourite. I've read it countless times since.

One of my favourite things was when people showed interest in something you enjoy. It didn't have to be something they really liked either, it just felt nice when you were asked about something you cared about. This was the second time Steve had done it within the hour.