and i remember the first time we heard that song. Well, i heard that song, chris too. We had just swam in the lake earlier, and watched the sunset as we waded the water. and then we decided to go for a night swim in the complex pool, but the water was too cold, even our huddles and hops couldn't stop the shaking. so just as we exited and began picking up our items, the rain started pouring. and then it was a race between us and the rain, but the rain always wins. and our never dried bodies hopped back into christine's truck, that old toyota tacoma which has been written about endlessly. and then we set our sights onto mcdonalds for coffee. but, when we got there, it started pouring, like...torrentially. and we laughed as we pulled up to the drive thru. sarah in the passenger seat, me in the back behind christine straining her voice to be heard over the rain. the muffled voice said something along the lines of, "the power went out", and we all sat there confused. the lights were on...she was talking to us...and the power...was.........out. so we rounded the corner and sarah told christine to slowly drive by and look inside the windows to see if they were bullshitting us. so she did, and i told her to go because we looked creepy, and we laughed as she pulled into a parking space in front of the mcdonalds. the same mcdonalds, that, years earlier we visited Brandon at. many times. and then we decided to wait until the rain calmed down a bit to go anywhere else. we searched for coffee shops still open, as it was around 9 in the afternoon. and we couldn't find one, but we found another mcdonalds, just down the road. my mom was texting me, worried because we were out driving in the rain. i sorta lied to her and told her we were waiting in the parking lot until it died down, but we didn't. but before we deserted the space, sarah played us a song. one, she said, reminded her of us. the song started, and at the moment i can't remember if it was the original or the acoustic. I think it was the original, but since then we've all grown fonder of the acoustic. "went outside and saw the moon, and it made me think of you." we were looking at the moon, well, trying to as the rain came pouring. and that moment i'll cherish. i sat with my two best friends, unbeknownst to me if they felt i deserved the same title, but to me it was special. and we sat there in the dark while the rain poured down, listening to a band that had connected all of us. a band we all loved dearly, one that had quickly became my favorite. to a song that reminded each other of the trio. we were out being young and dumb, driving through torrential rain JUST to get decent iced coffee because yes, we are that addicted. a summer night spent with them in a newish town that i still haven't made my mind up about yet. in a world full of expectations: be this, be that, we were able to not be anything. we stepped outside the boundaries of this so called "life" and made the societal construct our own. we weren't concerned with the future, we weren't concerned with the past. we just wanted our goddamn coffee. and by god, we got it.
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KH
August 26th, 2018
about 10:50 p.m.
