Risky Decisions

Chapter 75: "Nicolina Vaughan Does Not Get Eighth Place in Mario Kart"

"Even in your absence,
The world knows I am yours.
They see you in my smile And watch as I look for you In empty spaces"
(dd).

|◁ II ▷|

The car becomes silent as Valen's motorcycle pulls up behind Jenny's grandmother's house. We all watch as he shuts his bike off and props it up. We watch as he pulls his helmet off. We watch as he walks up to the car and opens the middle door.

"Uh, hi," He greets shortly.

I try to introduce everyone as he gets in and we drive off.

A few of the girls giggle as he leans closer to me. "Why did y'all park at this random house?"

Jenny speaks up from the front seat beside her boyfriend, who's driving. "Because the seniors know my house, but they don't know where my grandmother lives. They can't get to our cars like we got y'all's. And hand over your phone."

Valen looks at me in mild panic. "What?"

"Valen," I sigh. "You're a senior. They don't trust you."

He grumbles and hands over his phone, and I kiss his cheek in thanks. I smile at him when his cheeks turn red.

The girls in the SUV awe at us, but the two guys in the very back kick the back of our seats and yell, "No PDA!"

One of the guy's girlfriend's sitting beside him hushes him, and the other boy "oo"s at him. The car becomes lively again, and Valen's hand finds mine as the music gets turned up in the car.

As we near the first house, one of the senior girls' houses, the music goes off and the car goes silent. The four people piled in the back of the SUV reach in the trunk and pull out the rolls of toilet paper to pass up. After the toilet paper is the bags of confetti crinkle paper. Then the water bottles for the shreds of toilet paper. A quick, quiet discussion decides that we'll save the bag of flour for Jenny's ex-boyfriend, who's in the senior class.

Valen looks alarmed at the amount of effort we're putting in, but once we get out of the car and start walking to the house, he starts walking with a little more enthusiasm. He even accepts the bag of already shredded toilet paper.

He follows me to the lawn, and we start spilling the shreds everywhere. One of the boys follows us with the water. After a moment, Valen leaves to throw the rolls in the trees with Ellie, our school's best javelin thrower. He acts confused when two of our crew start quieting cheering him on, forgetting he's the tallest and most athletic boy here.

The house is finally completed, and we all run back to the car. Once we're ready to go, Jenny's boyfriend turns the music up and honks before speeding away.

|◁ II ▷|

"It's almost eleven," Valen tells me when he gets my helmet off. "And it's Tuesday night. We have school tomorrow."

"Valen, I'm sure," I poke his side, grinning like a madwoman when he flinches over. "I just have to be home by midnight."

Mom never lets me stay out this late, but since West is also out and it's Junior Senior Wars, we talked her down from our school night ten p.m. curfew. I was still surprised she was allowing us midnight, but she's been having me text her when I can to give her updates.