Robin talks but I don’t listen.
She’s upset about me leaving.
I am too.
I’ll miss my friends.
I’m not like leaving the state or anything.
Just going to a different school.
In our world that’s a big deal though.
I waste about thirty minutes before getting a drink and sneaking my way out of the barn.
I walk to the tree by myself, my heart racing.
I’m so nervous.
It’s so hard to calm down.
I’ve had a thing for Liam since…
You already know that.
I have to tell him everything I’m thinking and feeling tonight.
There’s no way I can just slip away without saying anything.
It might mess up my entire life.
At the very least…
I just want him to kiss me.
(Liam)
“This guy is just breaking our balls,” I whisper to Steve.
“Cut it, Liam,” Steve growls. “He knows my father.”
“Everyone knows everyone around here,” I say. “We just have to run. Fuck it.”
“Don’t you dare run,” Steve says.
“I’m running, man,” I say. “If you pussy out, you’re going home in the back of a police car.”
“Please, don’t run,” Steve says.
“I have to get to Zen’s,” I say. “I have a thing.”
“What kind of thing?”
I look at Steve and shrug my shoulders.
“You have a date?” Steve asks.
“Yeah.”
“With who?”
Officer Prickfuck comes strutting back, still wearing his sunglasses even though it’s dark out.
This guy is William Prinfin.
I call him Prickfuck and he hates it.
He’s been chasing me all over town since I was ten years old.
Always breaking my balls over the dumbest stuff. And the serious stuff.
Tonight he didn’t like that Steve and I were walking side by side in the dark.
My car is in the shop getting fixed.
If I had the damn car, I would have picked up Emily from the party and we would have gone somewhere much more secluded.
“You two are mine,” Prickfuck says and clicks his tongue.
“What did we do?” I ask.
“Everything,” he says.
“You can’t touch us without cause,” I say. “We were walking on the sidewalk. No drugs or alcohol. We passed your tests. You’re out of line right now.”
“Liam, shut up,” Steve growls.
“I’m out of line?” Prickfuck asks.
“That’s right,” I say. “Do you know what you’re up against if I file a complaint with the department? My lawyer will have access to all your reports and logs. I’ll dig through every arrest and ticket personally and find something on you.”
“You’re threatening me?” Prickfuck replies. He laughs. He points to Steve. “You believe this guy?”
“Please just let us go,” Steve says. “We’re going to Zeke’s for a party.”
“Don’t tell him shit,” I say. “He’s just getting hard thinking he has something.”
“You’re done, Liam,” Prickfuck says.
“Try me,” I say.
Steve elbows me.
Prickfuck walks back to his cruiser.
I look at Steve.
“He’s going to arrest us,” Steve says.
“No, he’s not. He’s not going to do shit.”
“How do you know?”
I smile.
Then I say one word.
“Run.”
I see Emily standing against the tree and I smile.
This girl is pretty.
No, not pretty.
She’s beautiful.
No, not beautiful.
I don’t know what comes after beautiful but she’s it.
She’s innocent.
She’s so nice.
I sometimes feel bad for her because everyone overlooks her.
She’s invisible in the hallways, but not to me.
She doesn’t play sports. She doesn’t do cheerleading. She doesn’t date. There’s no rumors about her. Nothing.
The closest was when that asshole Tommy tried telling everyone he slept with her at a party once.
I jacked Tommy against his locker and told him if he said anything about Emily again I was going to break his jaw.
And I meant it.
The thing is… Emily and I were always good friends.
She was the only person I could be smart around.
And I was the person she could be with to test the edge of the waters.
We’re good friends. And crossing lines isn’t smart.
But time is running out.
I can’t graduate and not know what this could have been.
So I walk toward her, marveling at her beauty.
She’s looking up at the stars and has this little smile on her face.
She’s killing me. In a good way.
“It’s perfect out here,” she says to me.
“Yeah, it is,” I say. “The stars. The music in the background. Sorry about being late. I had to run from the cops.”
Emily jumps at me and grabs my hand. “What?”
I laughed. “It’s nothing. I’m here though. I’m glad you met me.”
“Me too.”
“I have to tell you something.”
“Me too,” she says again.
“What do you have to tell me?”
“I’m moving away,” she says.
“What?” I ask.
“I know,” she says. “It sucks. It’s only like an hour from here. I have to go… this weekend.”
“This weekend?” I ask.
She nods.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t want… I don’t know. I only told Robin. I just didn’t want it to be sad. Nothing is going to change.”
Everything is going to change.
“Oh, Em…”
She blushes when I call her Em.
“We can still hang out, right?” she asks.
An hour drive just to see her. It was more than worth it.
But there’s no way it would work.
I’m two months from graduating and then I’m off to college. I’ve got my sights set on law school and then moving right into the city to get a job, make money, and live free.
Emily… she’s… she’s into artsy stuff but hides it. She’s good at drawing. She writes poetry. She plays guitar. And she sings.
I can see her going to some art or music school and thriving.
And if I kiss her right now, it could fuck that all up.
She can’t throw her dreams away for me.
We can’t have a long-distance thing.
Fuck. This sucks.
“Em…”
Fuck it, Liam. Just do it.
I reach up and touch her face.
She puts her hand to my hand and starts to nod.
“It’s been so long… I mean, between us… and… I just…”
I hear an echoed yell of the word COPS and I look back.
Sure enough, there’s Prickfuck charging from the back of the barn, looking for me.
I tell Emily to go somewhere safe.
I don’t want her to get into trouble.
I can smell the booze on her breath.
So I walk toward Prickfuck with a grin on my face.
But my heart hurts a little.
I missed my chance with Emily once
