Ripped [TO BE PUBLISHED 2016]

11

"This town is so goddamn boring," Cassie says. She inhales a plume of smoke, lets it out. "Let's get out of here. Just you and me."

"Yeah? Where would we go?"

"Details," she says, waving her hands in the air. "Let's just go."

The sun is shining, unusually bright and warm for the time of year. The few leaves that still cling to the trees seem to perk up, leaning towards the sun.

"What would we do?" I ask, taking a sip of the sour whisky on my vanity. "How would we survive?"

"I think we could make some pretty great prostitutes," she says, laughing. Her laugh is like wind chimes, like bells. Loud and musical. "But really let's leave. Just for a little bit."

I wish I could. I want nothing more than to get out of this small town, to get out of this house. But I can't. And even if I could, I don't know if I ever would. This place is all I've ever known. It's all I have.

"I can't," I say softly. She stops smiling, her lips suddenly downturned, her cheeks sharp and angular on her flat face.

"This town will kill you," she says. "But I don't care. Let it." She flips off of my bed and walks out of the door. I can hear her high heels scraping on the linoleum before the whoosh of the front door opening and the slam when it shuts.

She's wrong. This town is already killing me. But I won't do anything to stop it.