EUPHORIA ✓

His Muse

Yaqui couldn't believe that he'd let Nicanor talk him into this.

It was a quarter to three in the morning, and they were in the backseat of some lame-o's car with the strong stench of cigarettes burning Yaqui's nose. Nicanor, on the other hand, had a determined look on her face as she stuck her head out of the window, her arms flailing as she struggled to stick half her body out, as well. Yaqui grabbed her arm, pulling her inside before her whole body flew out of the window.

"What?" Nicanor snapped, as Yaqui leaned over to her side and pulled up the window. "Do you want to end up on the concrete? Is that enough adventure for you?" He was surprised that she was the angry one when he was the one who was being pulled along at nearly four in the morning. He had certainly not forgotten that he had been shoved to the ground by a girl he had never met for sleeping.

Yaqui felt Nicanor stiffening beside him, and even though he had just met her that day, he felt like he had known her for a long time. "Look, I just don't want you to end up dead on the street."

Nicanor glanced at him. "Why? So you don't get blamed for my death?" Yaqui couldn't help but release a small smile. "I need a clean record to survive here, don't I? Can't have any girl's deaths on there."

Nicanor seemed like she had smiled for the first time that whole night. "Of course. No regards for my family or the fact that Amapola is actually getting away with something, right?"

Yaqui raised his eyebrows. "Who are you?" That question had been on the tip of Yaqui's tongue from the moment he had found Nicanor on his rock. As he asked her then, he felt like he was overstepping his boundaries, while a different part of him felt content that his questions were finally getting answered.

"Una chica. Isn't that what you called me?" She had a slight sparkle in her eyes that glinted through the darkness, and Yaqui felt a sudden heat in his cheeks. "I meant-" he began, only to be cut off by a smiling Nicanor. "I know what you meant."

Yaqui looked at her expectantly, though she seemed to be wallowing in the hollow of mystery. "When I catch Amapola, Yaqui, I will answer your question."

Yaqui groaned softly, leaning carefully against the backseat. "And where is Señora Amapola?" Nicanor suddenly stiffened. "Señora? Tia Amapola is married?" Nicanor asked incredulously, her voice laced with genuine surprise.

"Tia? You're Luis' sister?" Yaqui asked, completely stupefied. This girl was related to his best friend? How?

Nicanor snorted. "Of course not." She seemed rather amused by Yaqui's idea, but suddenly the amusement changed into awareness. "She got off the motorcycle." Nicanor turned to the driver. "¡Para!"

The driver huffed in discontent, but pulled over. "Where's the money?" The driver turned to Yaqui. "You said thirty."

Yaqui faced the driver with whatever dignity remained in him and emptied his pockets, nodding at the man in thanks before following Nicanor out of the car. "Yaqui, she's over there! Look, she's turning." Nicanor began running after Amapola's figure in the distance, her long dark hair flying from side to side in the early morning wind.

"Nicanor! Wait!" Yaqui called, chasing after her as the driver turned around and left in the direction which they had come from.

Nicanor ran fairly quickly for a girl with shorter legs than him, and Yaqui finally caught up with her at the corner of the street where she claimed Amapola had turned. "She's with a man." Nicanor's voice morphed into surprise.

"Why is that so surprising?" Yaqui asked, turning to Nicanor. She