"Isn't this illegal?"
I roll my eyes at her. Of course it is. I keep walking and hum the chorus to a song the nightclub was playing on repeat last night.
I pass by the No Trespassing sign a good ten seconds before her. If she doesn't hurry up we'll get caught.
"Wait up!"
"Dani I swear if you don't hurry up and get over here we actually will get arrested."
Her eyes widen and her pace quickens by over half. That's more like it.
Danielle and I have been best friends since the womb. Our moms would sit so close to each other during the parenting classes that their stomachs would touch. They were closer to each other than they were to our dads. That's why me and Dani are so close.
But we're not. Not really. Not anymore.
Ever since she started getting boring, I mean.
We carefully scale the fence, avoiding the barbed wire and the signs that read "Danger Keep Out" and "Danger: High Voltage". She stops halfway up.
Typical.
I keep climbing and hit the ground expertly after jumping off. I start to walk off like I always do. She never gets past the fence.
I tug my old baseball cap down over my face and stick my hands in my pockets and walk. Not once do I turn around to make sure Dani's ok. I know where she is; she's on the other side of the fence.
The cold plastic of the forged ID card digs into my skin on the long journey around security cameras and armed guards. I've been here way too many times for my conscience to get in the way.
As I round the final bend, a familiar presence comes up behind me. Jason. I know without turning around.
"You're late."
I nod and continue moving forward, each step dragging on.
"You're late."
"Yes Jason, I'm late. Thank you."
I can tell he's not in a good mood. He never is. The anxious watching and the tipping of his head and the way he never really focuses on any one thing is what makes me love him.
"Darren will be mad."
"Darren." It's always about Darren, isn't it?
His eyes dart along the tops of the towering brick buildings that hold innumerable secrets. Always watching. Always waiting for something nobody else can see.
We both set off walking without a word being spoken. This is how we like it. This is how we survive.
The stuffy little meetinghouse is in the center of the complex, under a large weeping willow. There are six of us crammed in there: Darren, Raven, Nikki, Mark, Jason, and me. We all gather around a small wooden board propped up unevenly with textbooks and sheets of various notes that ranged from Math to English.
Nobody cares.
We take attendance even though nobody pays attention anymore. There are only six of us left. There were ten.
Maeve left when Jonny died. He didn't die, not really, but that's what everyone says for closure, if anything. I don't know where she went after she left, nobody does. She just left.
Alec and Lucy graduated. They became blind. That's what happens when you turn 21. You can't fight anymore. We're supposed to forget them. Everyone seems to be able to but me.
There's six of us left.
They always leave in pairs.
