i woke up at midnight to the sound of a knock on my window. maya was crouched down, the light of her phone illuminating her face, which looked completely maniacal. i tiptoed over and opened my window, stepping over nemo, who refuses to sleep in the same bed as me.
"what are you doing here?"
"june, you have to come with me. devon invited me to his house and his parents aren't home."
"i don't want to go to that."
"junie, he invited me-- me. since when does he even look twice at me? i can't go alone. please."
"maya--"
"pleeeeaaaase, june! please!"
"fine! fine, just shut up. climb in, i need to get ready."
she pulled herself through my tiny window and laid out on my bed, distracting herself on her phone. nemo hopped onto the bed and curled up in her lap. i glared at her as i crawled like a poisoned sewer rat into my bathroom.
my world was hazy and blurred as i quickly and messily applied whatever makeup i could find in my trainwreck of a bathroom, which i share with all three of my siblings. i poked a moldy, wet rag that michael left out of the dried-toothpaste-covered sink to brush my teeth.
maya squealed when i came out and we climbed back out of my window. i propped a twig between my window panes to keep it ajar and we left for devon's house.
the walk was short, maybe 10 minutes, to a neighborhood with rows and rows of almost-exactly-the-same houses. gray rooves, red doors, yellowish siding, and bare yards. maya used her girl magic to miraculously pick his house out from the others and crept up the driveway, into his backyard. some guys sat out on lawn chairs smoking, there was a couple making out in the corner, and an out-of-place-looking guy sitting uncomfortably with his bare feet dipped in the pool. maya strayed away from me to devon, who drowsily welcomed her. i stood in the middle of it all, taking in the fumes and the smell of jack daniel's, before deciding i was best fit to sit by pool guy.
"hi." i slipped my slides off and sunk my feet into the cool water.
"hey."
"why aren't you smoking with them?"
"i'm staying sober in case someone needs a ride or something bad happens."
"that's very responsible."
"i try."
"...and how exactly did you get suckered into this responsibility?"
"truth be told, i'm kind of devon's bitch. didn't think i'd be sitting by myself drinking a cup of flat sprite while everyone else got high, though."
"well then. why do you let devon bitch you around?"
"long story. you want a beer or something?"
"no thanks. i don't drink."
"really?"
"really."
"so i'm guessing it was your friend's idea to come then?" he looked over at maya, who was just about in devon's lap by now.
"definitely," i said, sighing. "i'm june."
"marco."
