This isn't weird.

Summer

First, Millie bought a ginger ale. Because she was thirsty, and hot, and her blood sugar was low. And because Ben liked ginger ale, and it hurt to think about him, and she was mad at herself. A bit of needless hurting was simply in order.

Then she sat down on the curb and sulked so hard she nearly forgot to drink it. By the time it occurred to her to take a sip, it was already nearing lukewarm.

She'd never properly appreciated ginger ale before him. To her uncultured palate, it wasn't a soft drink so much as impotently grumpy water, under sweetened, more fizz than flavor. Fine, but forgettable (and in that, perhaps, a little too relatable). But Ben loved it, so she'd stocked a cooler with it for the long drive to the hike that never was, and...

Well, then he got her high as fuck.

Her first sip of ginger ale following that joint had been a goddamn revelation, a whole new universe of flavors bursting to life on her tongue, spicy and aromatic, sugary and tangy, cold and crisp and utterly transcendent. It changed her, on a fundamental, molecular level. She saw stars.

God, that was good weed.

But as mind-blowing as the ginger ale had been under the influence, it couldn't compare to the first time she'd tasted it on his lips. What a surreal and beautiful day that had been, holed up together in his room for nearly twenty-four hours, giggling and playing video games and fucking each other's brains out under some absurd guise of it being a one time thing. She hadn't really taken notice of the fact that he'd been sipping on a can of ginger ale through their fourth round of Mario Kart, until he'd interrupted her theatrical sore loser spiel by tackling her against the bed and pinning her down for a forceful, gloating victory kiss. The zesty sweetness lingering in his mouth had taken her by surprise, an extra layer of sensual delight atop a moment that was already rippling with pleasure. She saw stars.

God, that was good sex.

Today's ginger ale was only okay.

Weed was still illegal in Utah, right? Right. Oh well.

Although, getting arrested might net her a free bed for a night or two—

Millie caught herself in the thought with a dark laugh. My, it had been a long time since she'd had to think like that. How the hell had she gotten herself back into this situation? No car, no phone, her remaining cash rapidly dwindling—she really couldn't afford to burn any more money staying in motels. She wondered what the going rates were on bus tickets these days. No one would bother her if she slept on a Greyhound, and it could get her the hell out of this place. If the universe thought it could bully her into starting a new life in Utah, of all places, well, the universe had another thing coming.

Sitting alone just outside of the Wal-Mart, Millie put the half-empty soda bottle down on the ground and buried her face in her hands. This didn't feel at all like it had when she had run away from home the first time, bubbling with excitement, ready for adventure. The world wasn't wide open for her the way it had been when she was eighteen, with a baby face that reminded people of their daughters, or their grand-daughters, that made strangers want to help her wherever she went. She couldn't randomly crash in the dorm rooms of college kids she met at coffee houses and hipster rock shows, who thought her transient life was romantic and exciting, and were all too eager to let her hang around for a day or two so that she could make them, too, feel wild and free by association. She was tired. She was too old for this. And even back then, did she honestly want to be living that life?

It hadn't taken more than three or four flirtatious emails for Noah to convince her to join him in Corvallis for a few days. And at the end of each night, when he begged her to stay just one more day, she never needed much persuading—a game that went on for weeks until one day, without any real discussion on the matter, it was simply an accepted fact that she lived there. He got a bigger mattress, and she got a job selling tickets at the indie movie theater, and that was her life.