No Time Like Now (Lesbian)

Chapter Ten

The drive from the bar is not at all calm; I might as well be driving with possums high on sugar in the back of the car. I don't know how it makes sense, but it does. 

I finally pull over when Ikra looks through the rear window and whispers to Jeremiah, "Do you see them?" for the tenth fucking time.

"Niamh, what are you doing? We can't be stopping here!" Jeremiah commands. His pitch hasn't lowered since the start of the drive. "You're going to get us killed!"

Killing the engine, I then turn around and look at my friends. "First of all, take a deep breath," I instruct. After glaring at me, they do. "Great. Listen to me carefully. We're not being chased by Jeremiah's parents. We haven't been chased by Jeremiah's parents. Everything's all in your head."

"Except for them being there," Jeremiah mutters.

"Yeah, sure. Did they recognize you in your steampunk glory? Or Ikra in her costume?"

"Oh, so his outfit's described as glory, and mine as just costume," Ikra grumbles, slightly slurring her words.

I point my finger at her. "You, shush." Moving my finger to Jeremiah, I repeat, "Did they know it was you?"

He slides down in his seat. "They knew what I was going as, but they didn't actually see what it looks like." Jeremiah takes off the hat and holds it in his lap like a precious metal. 

Exhaling slowly, I collect my thoughts. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do," I start off. "We'll go to my house and get some mouthwash for Ikra -- you reek of booze, deal with it -- and some relaxants for Jeremiah. We'll stay there for about an hour, and then I'll drive you guys to your houses."

I show a thumbs-up. "We good?"

Ikra nods solemnly; Jeremiah nods with apparent resignation. 

Facing front again, I turn on the car and drive us out of here.

__________

The rest of the night was how I planned it. Ikra used half the bottle of mouthwash but her breath didn't smell like daiquiris anymore. Jeremiah drank several cups of the sleepy-time tea I have on hand for the night before finals, which resulted in him going to the bathroom and poking fun of my toothbrush holder, which was the only Hello Kitty thing I had. And we watched a couple Halloween movies and ate candy instead of popcorn. 

Jeremiah got a couple texts from his dad asking where he was, which he answered honestly. So from what I understood, he escaped from Grounded Land for another day.

All in all, it was a good way to end the night.

Still, I haven't stopped thinking about the conversation between me and Aspen. If Jeremiah hadn't seen his parents and completely freaked out, how would it have ended? What would we have talked about? Was Aspen just as curious with something about me, like I am with her business?

I wonder if she'd be cool if maybe I stop by and ask more about it. There's no way to contact her beforehand; I don't have her number so I can't text.

In the present, Mr. Timmons stops by the library. Pausing my thoughts, I stop as well. 

"You're familiar with this center, right?" he asks me, opening the door.

"If by familiar, you mean I've heard about it, yeah." I don't mention the complaints I heard from a lot of students. Apparently, Ms. Gumin makes a horrible college adviser. If so, she's gonna need some luck to keep up with Mr. Timmons and his excitement over this 'potential study-abroad student'.

His words, not mine.

We enter a smaller room that used to be the library computer lab. It was converted into the college center about two years ago, I think so the school can improve their graduation rate. Posters that shout encouragements to join the college life decorate the room now, which I'm okay with. The computers are now grouped into fours and all facing each other, which I'm not okay with. I don't want to turn my head and see someone else staring back at me from their computer.