four hundred lux -- l.h. short story
“I’d like it if you stayed.”
“And I like you.”
/✕✕✕/
they’re just two teenagers trying to make the most of their crappy, obnoxiously average town.
_________
one || chocolate
The crisp autumn air fills my lungs as I sit on the front steps of my ancient house. The concrete is freezing, forcing me to pull my sweater down to keep my ass from freezing as I wait. He promised to be here at 8:30 on the dot. He has exactly two minutes to get here or I'm going to have to— well I honestly don't know. We were just going for a drive around our small, meaningless town, so I really couldn’t do much about it if he was late, but I didn’t have to be back home until tomorrow. Normally, my curfew would be at midnight, but since my dad is away on business, my mom doesn’t care as long as I’m home sometime tomorrow.
At 8:31, he finally pulls up in front of my house in his mom’s blue Ford Focus. I stand, brushing any leaves or dirt off my sweater before walking over to the car. I open the passenger side door and climb inside.
He greets me with a smile as I slam the door shut. “Hello,” I say with a smile, leaning over the console to kiss his lips.
“You taste like chocolate,” he mutters against my lips. “I like it,” he tells me when I pull away, licking my lips, blushing as he smirks.
“I had some Halloween candy from the other day before you got here,” I tell him. “I still have a fun size Snickers bar in my pocket if you want some.”
He shakes his head, but smiles. “No, thank you.” He mumbles as he leans into kiss me again. This time he drags the kiss out a little longer and runs his tongue over my bottom lip, teasingly before he pulls away. “Your lips are good enough for me,” he whispers.
I lick my lips and smile at him. “So, Luke, where are we going?” I ask as he sits back in his seat.
He shrugs. “Wherever you want. We have all night.”
“Let’s get outta here then,” I tell him.
He chuckles and drapes his wrist over the steering wheel, pressing down on the accelerator and pulling away from the curb, zooming down the street.
“So what did you bring?” I ask after a few moments of silence and me rubbing my hands together for warmth.
“Well, I have cigarettes, a bottle of some sort of flavored alcohol I took from my brother, bread and those chocolate mints they give you in fancy restaurants.”
I look over at him. “Why bread?”
“To eat before we drink.”
I laugh, shaking my head at him. “So, where are we going?” I ask, repeating my question from a few minutes ago.
“I figured we could go to the river front or to that party at Mikey’s house if you want.”
“He’s having a party?” I ask.
“His parents are outta town and they left his kid brother with their parents, so he’s got the house to himself. He said it was a post-Halloween slash fuck yeah three-day weekend party.”
I roll my eyes. Sounds just like something he would say, but it did sound like fun. “Can we go?”
He turns to me for a moment, then looks forward again. “I mean, if you want. We don’t have to. But if we go, we’re going to come out smelling like pot because you know how he loves to get high.” Luke rolls his crystal blue eyes. It kind of looks like a rolling wave when he rolls his eyes. “But I think I have some Axe or something in the back. I could spray you with it so your parents don’t flip a shit.”
