Step Into the Sun

2

"Come on, you need a break from studying," Jared complained, leaning back in the familiar Denny's booth. He and Evan had eaten there nearly every Friday night since they started college.

"You can't drag me into this again," Evan protested, taking a sip of his water. "Last time we went out, I failed my vocab test the next day."

"Okay, well you have two whole days to study before you have class again," Jared argued. "I'll even help you if you want."

"What I want is to sit at home with a cup of tea and a good book. Or I could even stand it if you invited Zoe and Alana over and we played some games or something."

"That's a good idea for tomorrow afternoon," Jared declined Evan's plan. "Nighttime is for letting loose, bucko. You deserve to have some fun, maybe get lucky."

Evan weighed the options in his head. If he went with Jared, he'd probably get too wasted to walk back to the dorm without assistance. But, he didn't have a sliver of desire to study.

Sighing, he nodded his head slowly.

"I guess. Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there." Jared smirked, pulling out his wallet to leave enough cash to cover their meal so they could leave right away.

Evan's stomach twisted at his friend's words. They left the restaurant side by side and started walking along the streets of the city.

"Where is it?" Evan asked as they crossed the street that mostly separated the middle-class area and the poorer side of town. "Actually- what is it? A club? Or a bar?"

"Neither," Jared answered with a sneaky smile.

"Jared, you're scaring me," Evan told him, trying to keep his breathing steady. The sun was almost done setting and Evan felt unsafe. There was a concerning lack of cars passing them, unlike a few minutes ago. He could hear people shouting somewhere in the distance and braced himself every time they passed a dark alley, in case anything wanted to jump out at him.

"We're almost there," Jared assured him, patting his shoulder, which only made Evan jump.

He didn't respond as they approached a crappy motel with a flickering "no vacancy" sign.

"Jare, i-is there like a party in here or something?" Evan asked, confused as to why they would be going to a motel to forget about school for the night. He ran through every possibility in his head. What if it is a party? What if the hotel is haunted and that's what Jared meant? What if Jared is going to rape him? What if he's kicking him out of their dorm?

"Nah, there's a male hooker inside for you," he replied casually. Evan couldn't tell whether he was joking or being serious.

"I-I... What?"

"Hey, man," Jared called out to a mysterious figure who stood outside the hotel.

"Jared, buddy!" The man stepped into the light and Evan got a glimpse of his face. Was this the hooker?

"This is my friend, Evan," Jared introduced him, throwing his arm around him loosely, which made him flinch again. "Evan, this is James. We met a couple days ago when I went out with Pat."

"Hey, kid," James held out a hand for him to shake. "Nice to meet you. Are you ready for a good time?"

"Uh..." Evan couldn't answer. He didn't know if he was ready for whatever was about to happen.

Jared pulled a bunch of money out of his pocket and handed it to James, who counted it, then looked up and nodded at him.

"I'm going back to the dorm. I'll leave the door unlocked for ya," Jared announced, backing away to leave Evan alone with this stranger, whose hand was still in his. He let go and brushed his hand on his pants, trying to make it less clammy.