A Half-Hour Later
"I'm sorry for making things awkward."
I'm wondering if Em's okay. That's the fourth time she's apologized since she came out of the bathroom.
"It's fine," Kenzie says. "We're used to it. Right, Stephen?"
Say yes.
"Uh, yeah."
We're...back in the GoSpresso parking lot, full circle from where this off night started. Em offers fist-bumps. Kenzie and I oblige.
"You guys want a ride home?" Em asks.
Kenzie looks at me. I...I don't know. We—
"Nah," she says. "We like walking."
Em shrugs. "Alright. Suit yourself. ...Bye, Stephen," she says to me, then she turns to Kenzie and smirks. "Nice meeting you. I promise, I'm better than this. It's just...sometimes I don't think before I speak."
Is she sick?
How about being smart and realizing she was in the wrong?
Kenzie laughs it off like always. "It's fine. Nice meeting you."
Em and Becka head for a car across the ways. I can't tell which one. The cars. Out here. On the street. They're white-and-red blurs to me. The coffee shop sign is one, too. The library's the only readable one. If I keep staring at it, maybe this headache won't hit me, because now that tonight's over, I'm starting to feel it.
Breathe. Why don't we go home?
Kenzie...
Aw.
"Ready?" she asks, latching onto my hand again.
How is she so...calm? After what I just did?
"Hm? You going to be okay?"
Honestly?
This early birthday double-date should've never happened. I don't like making a big deal out of my birthday. I want to grab my board and keep riding. Until there's no GoSpresso. Until there's no street corner. Until the world's a blur. And I don't want to stop until I'm somewhere where not even my thoughts can overwhelm me.
Okay. We're done.
"I'm okay," I say.
YOU ARE READING
Earhart & Noonan: An "Us Club" Novel (#1)(NaNoWriMo15)
Teen FictionFor the first twelve years of Stephen Vaughn's life, just trying to get others around him to pronounce his first name the right way ("Stee-vehn Vawn") has felt like the hardest task he's had to try and cope with. That is, until his perfect life with...
