“You have a girlfriend?” I asked the clerk. Despite my objections, today felt like a lemonade day. Sometimes you needed a little too sweet. “Wife? Boyfriend?”
“A wife,” he said. “She’s going to Winniesota State for business.” He looked at me across the counter. After I hit the fifth Slushie for the day, lurking in my little corner and not bothering anybody, we’d reached a sort of detente. Not friendly, but not irritating each other. “You think your girl’s going to show up?”
“Obviously,” I said. “I’d guess by third period. She went to school today thinking she’d never skip, but now she’s sitting bored in trig, running circles around everyone else, and just wishing she could be here, doing something interesting with someone interesting. So she’ll bail, come here, and we’ll go for a ride somewhere. Do something she’s never done before.”
“You’re pretty confident about that.” He looked out the window as a car filled up. “But I don’t see any other teenage girls here, do you?”
“Give it time.” I shrugged it off. At noon, I might get a little worried, not until then. “I don’t want to brag, but I have a knack for reading people. She’ll come because she wants something different in her life, and I’m the solution.” She’d probably be on the outs with her friends by the weekend.
“Well, someone knows everything, don’t they?” he said. “Have you been wrong about anything?”
I gave the matter a cursory thought. “Nothing’s jumping out, but if I thought about it hard, I might find something.”
“God, was I as obnoxious as you when I was a teenager?” He checked out the window again for any customers. I rolled my eyes before checking for any Starlights. As if on signal, a blue car pulled into the lot with a driver I recognized instantly. 10:47. Three minutes until the end of third period.
“I don’t know, but you sure as well weren’t as right as me as a teenager, or as an adult.” Starlight got out of her car, heading to the door and walking past my bike. The door chimed and the clerk stopped being relevant. “Wasn’t sure you were going to make it,” I said, punctuating the sentence with a long slurp of slush.
“Oh?” she asked, walking towards me. “And what would you have done if I didn’t?”
I shrugged. “Driven to Canterlot without you,” I said. I held up my drink. “You’re lucky the Snack Shack has the best slushies in town. If I hadn’t stopped for a refill when I did, you would’ve skipped school for nothing.”
She took the drink from my hands, index finger pushing the straw around in circles. “You would do that to me? Even after I warned you not to?”
“Hey, you might be the coolest girl in Westercolt High, but I’m not about to waste an entire day hanging around the convenience store, no matter how much I like it. Or you.” She took a sip of my drink, raising an eyebrow.
“So, we’re going to Canterlot?” she asked before tossing the rest of my drink into the trash. “Let’s go. If I’m cutting class, I’m not going to spend the whole day waiting around a convenience store. I don’t like it that much.” She looked at me and smiled, trying to make it harsh, but she didn’t have it in her. “Or you.”
She walked to the door, I followed, pulling out my keys. “Of course.”
***
Several hours later, we reached the entrance to Canterhorn National Park, me sitting under a picnic pavillion, waiting for Starlight while she used the restroom. I twirled a pocket knife over and under my fingers, keeping careful of the edge. We did a little sightseeing, she took a photo of the view from the Canterhorn, and now? I waited.
The sound of footsteps falling through the underbrush, twigs snapping and leaves crunching. I looked up to see something purple and blue and not Starlight sprinting towards me.
“Sunset!” the mare I’d never seen before said, moving to the concrete platform of the pavillion. She dropped a box on the table. “Good, I found. Take this, get it back to school, and whatever you do, don’t open it, like, no matter how badly you want to. Nothing good will come out of it. I’m going to double back to keep him busy, alright?” Looking at her this close, I could see her hair was dark purple, almost indigo with lighter streaks of lavender running throughout, with a nice little blue blouse now scratched up from running through the woods.
Clearly, this was just a case of mistaken identities. She knew someone else who looked just like me… and had the same name as me, and now she wanted me to help her out of whatever situation she got herself into. The nice thing to do was tell her she had me confused with someone else, and blah, blah, blah. Who cared about that? Whatever was in the box was probably cool as shit. “You got it,” I said, standing up and taking the box from her, and it was a nice box. Dark, black wood engraved with what looked like a bunch of dudes in togas on the edge of the lid with the weirdest creature ever standing in the middle. I stared at it. The thing looked like an assembly of left-over animal parts, with a goat's head sprouting a pair of mismatched horns, a snake-like body, and one arm looked like a bear paw, with the other being more like an eagle's talon. The eagle's claw reached out, offering an apple in it's grip. It had to have a couple of good stories inside it. “I’ll see you back at school.”
She wrapped her arms around me, before pressing her lips against my cheek. “Thank you so much, Sunset,” she said, breaking the bond and backpedalling towards the woods. I stared at her, watching her go, and then everything was quiet. I traced my finger over the lid, imagining just what could be inside. Drugs would be the obvious guess, but the box had a weight to it. Just holding it, I seemed to thrum with energy, imagining what I would do with... whatever was in the mystery box.
"Sunset!" Starlight said right as I gripped the box, ready to open it. I shoved the box in my bag. We could open it together. A minute later, a pair of arms were wrapped around me.
“I was wondering when you’d get back,” I said, turning to Starlight and smiling, shoving the box out of my mind. Canterlot dazzled behind her in shades of gold and amber. How did you tell someone that a crazy lady visited you while they were in the bathroom? Later, probably. Or even better, never. “I was starting to get bored.”
“You’d manage,” she said, turning to lean against me, joining me in the view of Canterlot. “I preferred your version of the view better.” She waved her hand, gesturing at the skyscrapers down below and suburbs as far as the eyes could see with great asphalt ribbons binding the city together, little, stupid gnats crawling along them, more joining with every minute. “Can you imagine how it’s supposed to look, without everything we put in the way? Just alpine glades, pristine meadows.”
“I didn’t know you were such a hippy.” I smirked. Well, maybe her weird, little beanie hat should have clued me in, but it looked more like the thing you’d find in some smoky Prench cafe than at a wilderness retreat.
“Because I’m not.” She tensed up, standing straight instead of leaning against me. “I’m a genius, you know. MENSA level, if you put any stock in that.” She looked over at me as I raised an eyebrow. “I’m not bragging about it, I have the tests to prove it. When I was little, me and my friend both took exams to get into this big, prestigious accelerated-learning school in Canterlot.” She pointed off to a dark purple dot. “We both got accepted, but my parents thought it would be better if I stayed at home with people in my own age group.” She made a fake, grimacing smile. “‘Oh, Starlight, we know it’s a big opportunity, but we don’t want you to forget how to socialize.’ I could be in college now, Sunset, doing something that mattered with my mind. Instead, I’m using it to make sure I use the right shade of lip gloss to accent my outfit.” She went back to looking at the city. “So I appreciate things that are real, that have weight and sincerity, and Canterlot? There’s not a drop of sincerity in it.”
I nodded. “Ok, then let’s go somewhere else.” What was sincere around here? More importantly, what did Starlight consider sincere?
“Actually,” Starlight said, frowning, “Score’s throwing a party tonight, Rose is forcing me to go, and I just decided if I’m going, you’re going.”
Yeah, right. “Or, you could skip it and keep hanging out with me, because if you want sincerity, it’s not there.”
“Sunset, they’re my…” She frowned. “Not friends. More like coworkers. Still, do you know what would happen if I pissed off the boss? My life would be hell. Your life would be hell.”
“And? Let them try to drive us underground, we’d be together, and if we’re together? Westercolt doesn’t stand a chance.” And I’d rather fight the entire school until graduation than fake hobnob with the jocks and the… “What’s the name of your little clique?” I asked.
“The Flowers,” she said. “From back when it was just Rose, Daisy, and Lily.” She walked around to stand in front of me. “And you’d really go to war against an entire school for someone you just met yesterday?”
I shook my head. “Don’t be stupid. I’d go to war with the entire school for you. No one else.”
She smiled, a thin line bending upwards. A second later, the heat of her lips was pressed against mine. I leaned in as the seconds stretched on, more and more of the outside world crumbling away until it was just the two of us and an endless void. I broke the connection and the world came pouring back in. Starlight’s cheeks were flushed, and my own felt way warmer than the late autumn sun could account for. “Careful, Sunset. Keep talking like that, and I’ll never let you leave. Now come on, if we leave now, we’ll only be fashionably late.”
***
Indistinct people leaned against the front porch, drinks in hand as music pumped through the air. I didn’t want to be here, the other students didn’t want me to be here, but Starlight did. Plus, Hoops and Score were apparently hosting, which meant I could piss them off all over again.
“You won’t cause a scene, right?” Starlight said as I put my keys in my bag, catching sight of the mystery box as I did. Soon enough I’d see what the hell the weird purple girl thought was so important. But first…
“Of course not,” I said, following her as we walked to the front door. A few students not in the middle of a makeout session looked at me, but even more looked at Starlight.
“Thank god you made it,” one of the girls said. Pinkish with light green hair and a yellow blazer, a daisy pinned on the lapel. “Rose is getting pissed at you and–” She saw me. “What is she doing here?”
Starlight didn’t break her stride. “I’m allowed to bring a friend to a party, aren’t I?”
“Maybe if she didn’t get suspended for beating up the hosts yesterday.”
“Hey, I’m not going to start anything tonight, I’m just supporting a friend.” I draped my arm over Starlight’s shoulder and Daisy frowned, catching the weight I’d attached to the word friend.
Starlight held up a hand for Daisy and whispered in my ear. “We’re just friends in public, Westercolt’s not as progressive as wherever you came from.”
“I came from a lot of places.” Still, I took my arm off her.
“Yeah. Westercolt’s still not as progressive as them.” We turned back to Daisy.
“And if you think they’re not going to start something, you don’t know Hoops and Score..” She turned to the door. On the contrary, I knew them just fine. Assholes who looked decent enough and thought they were entitled to the world. Me being here would set them to fuming, and unless they wanted to punch a girl, they’d just sit and spin. Not that they could beat me up, but if anything happened, they’d be starting it.
And if I happened to say something that got under their skin? Well, violence was hardly an acceptable reaction, was it? “I’m sure we just got off on the wrong foot,” I said. Starlight laughed under her breath, remembering just what foot we got off on.
The three of us went through the front door, led by Daisy, and the inside was the outside but more. Students sprawled out on the furniture, either passed out or making out, red cups littering the ground.
“Welcome to the party,” some skinny dude with oversized glasses said, passing us two drinks. Was he watching us approach? “Oh, hey, you’re that beat up Hoops and Score, right? Punch it in!” He held out a fist, waiting to be bumped. In the interest of not being rude, I obliged with my non-drink holding hand, earning a look from Daisy.
“Going to try to bury the hatchet, huh?” she said as we continued our trek to the back, walking past stairs littered with garbage. Next to me, Starlight gulped down her drink. I took a sip of my own.
“What, you want me to be rude to someone I just met?” I asked, making the faintest attempt to feign innocence. “I would never dream of it.”
“Starlight, I have to say, I’m really starting to doubt your taste in friends,” Daisy said.
“Me too.” I said, taking a sip of my drink and getting hit with a wave of hops.
Starlight looked between the two of us, and I could see something flash in her head. She drained her cup. “Hey, Sunset, do you want another drink?” She crumpled up her cup and tossed it out the window. “I’m going to get another drink.” And before I could say anything, she’d run back to the drink table, pouring herself from punch sometimes.
“You think your clever, don’t you?” Daisy said. She crossed her arms, any pretense o civility she might have been making for Starlight’s sake dropped.
I shrugged. “I’m not dumb.”
“Then you’ll stay away from Starlight.” We watched her pour a drink, spiked punch. “She’s one of the most popular girls in school, but that only lasts as long as Rose likes her. And she’s kind of… selective about who our friends are.”
“So you let her do all your thinking for you?” I asked. I swished my drink around in my cup, not taking another sip. “And why can’t I be friends with Starlight?” Not that I was going to stop being friends with her, but hearing the rationale could be good for a laugh at least.
“Rose says we need to project solidarity and exclusivity, and having friends outside the group jeopardizes that.” She glanced over at me. “And if you’re the type of friends I think you are? Colt Lake is pretty old-fashioned, and if Rose finds out, she’ll crucify the both of you.”
“Wow, really convincing me to not hang out with Starlight and that you’re not just using Starlight because she lets you cheat off her,” I said. Speaking of Starlight, she finished her drink, poured one more, and then headed back to us.
“No, if we were using Starlight for anything, we’d be using her to fake hallpasses,” Daisy said before Starlight rejoined us. “If we wanted to cheat off someone, we have, uhmm, let’s see, every guy in the school.” Yeah, the Flowers were just the best.
“Okay, I’m good,” Starlight said, smiling at me, looking at Daisy. “Who knew you’d get so thirsty riding on a bike.” She shot me a look apologizing for what we both knew was coming. So, without further ado, let’s go see Rose, right?” She tried to smile, act like she didn’t know how bad things were headed, but she was too smart for that. “So, what were you all talking about?”
“I was just welcoming her to Westercolt,” Daisy said, smiling. “And it’s so great you’re taking the time to make her feel welcome. You even brought her to this party she wasn’t invited to.” So, she was smart enough to now this would end poorly, but she still thought I should cme? What reward outweighed the risk for her? Did she want me to blow up her friendship with the Flowers? Because if so, done.
We exited the house into the backyard, skinny dippers splashing around the pool while more students orbited around the gazebo. In the center of it, I caught a flash of red. “Yeah, she’s been really good about making me feel welcome,” I said. Almost enough to make me say the world wouldn’t be better off if we burned Westercolt to the ground.
“It’s what I do,” Starlight said, bumping against me, pretending to sway or just being the lightest lightweight in the world. “And I’ve got to say, Sunset’s pretty cool. We actually just got back from a trip from Canterlot.”
“So that’s where you went when you skipped lunch today.” The voice cut through all other conversation and Daisy and Starlight stuttered in their walk as the Queen Bee of Westercolt turned her attention to us. “I had hoped you were dying, but instead you were hanging out with this discount James Dean? And now, you’re bringing her to my party.”
“Hosted at Score’s house,” I muttered under my breath, just loud enough for the approaching Rose to approach. Or maybe it was Hoops. Fucked if I could keep them apart.
“Excuse me,” she said, focusing her attention at me as she descended down to the concrete. “Did I give you permission to talk? But then, how could I expect you to know the rules of Westercolt.” She circled around me, cutting me off from the rest of the party and trying to intimidate me. “So here’s a bit of free advice, I run Westercolt. I show up to a party, and it’s my party. You got it?”
“Whatever you say.” I smirked, and we stared each other down in the battle for Starlight’s soul. “You know, I didn’t want to come because I didn’t really know anyone besides Starlight and those two jocks I beat up, but Starlight insisted. I guess that must mean she really likes me.
Rose looked from me to Starlight. “I guess it does. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Starlight finished her drink, giving her the most convenient excuse to bail ever. “I think we should both get a drink,” Starlight said to Rose. “Come on.”
“You know what I like.” Rose reached out and traced a finger down from my shoulder along my neck. “I’m going to get to know your new friend here. After all, if you like her, I’m sure there’s more to Sunset than meets the eye.”
Starlight lingered for a second, looking back at me. I gave her a nod, and she was gone. Rose rolled her eyes, walking over to Daisy and whispering something in her ear, dismissing her and leaving the two of us. The little court attending her earlier now vanished. “Christ, I knew Starlight was a lesbo, but I didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to date a girl until she got to college.” Rose stopped. “Or at the very least, she’d have a little more taste.”
“That’s a bit of an assumption to make,” I said, walking to lean against a gazebo post. “The two of us are just friends.”
“Please, I admit you’ve got a certain… ugh, charm. At the very least, you’d make for decent shower-nozzle masturbation material, and if she was the same lame nobody she was back when I first found her, fine. But now? She’s a Flower. Every guy in school has at least thought about her, and now, to throw that all away because she likes a bad girl?” She rolled her eyes. “It’s pathetic.”
“Glad you think so highly of your friend’s choices,” I said. “So, is this where you tell me to stay away from Starlight for her own good?”
She rolled her eyes, still sharking around me. “Like I care about what you do. My only concern is making sure Starlight doesn’t undo everything I spent twelve years working on.”
“So, it’s just about your legacy? About status?” I took a sip of my beer.
Rose laughed. “And she’s not to you? The only reason you made googly eyes with her at the caf, was because of my work turning her from a greasy nobody into one of the hottest girls in school. You want one of the most popular girls in school hanging off your arm because it gives a little tiny taste of power. Of being somebody. Back before I found her? You wouldn’t have looked at her twice.”
I shrugged. “If saying that helps you sleep at night.” I tossed the beer cup aside, beer splashing on the lawn.
“Here you go, Rose,” Starlight said, running up to us, wobbling, and holding two drinks, one close to the chest, the other extended. Rose took her cup, taking a drink without even giving it a second glance. I craned my neck to see Starlight’s cup already half-empty. “So, what were you all talking about?” I looked at her. Again, what the hell was her goal with this? If she wanted this to blow up, why act nice? And why go through, what, four cups of booze? Or did she load the gun but get cold feet after she had it pointed at her target.
“Just talking about how I was liking Westercolt,” I lied. Starlight nodded.
“Actually, I was just saying how cute the two of you were together.” Rose smiled, and I think I knew how soldiers felt when the realized they’d stepped on a landmine, but hadn’t taken their foot off it yet.
“You were?” Starlight asked, clearly not believing Rose’s lie, but not wanting to cause a scene in public.
“Of course, Starlight, I just want all my friends to be happy.” She looked at me, daring me to say something. Better to wait if Starlight didn’t want me making a scene“But, you never know who’s listening, and some people can be so intolerant. Maybe we should talk about this somewhere more private? You know, in case somebody overhears.” Yeah, this was 100% a trap. And based on the weight she put on ‘so,’ probably something that ended with us getting outed to the whole school.
“Are you sure we’ll find somewhere?” Starlight asked. She looked around at the crowd. “We could just talk about this tomorrow.”
“Nonsense,” Rosa said, wearing the coldest smile as she walked back to the house. “If there’s not a private space, I’ll make one.” We followed her into the house and towards the stairs, Starlight doing her best to walk in a straight line.
“We should get out of here,” Starlight whispered in my ear. “This is... she’s being too nice.”
I nodded, barely perceptible, just in case Rose had any agents listening. Daisy was absolutely up to something, and I kept my eye peeled for yellow in the crowd. Our hands found each other side by side, and for a second, we twined our fingers together, before pulling away. We reached a fork with the door straight ahead and the stairs on the right, I marched ahead before a tug pulled me right. Starlight stood, looking at me. “Not that obvious,” she mouthed. Because apparently walking into Rose’s trap was so much better.
We ascended, letting go of each other as we pushed past people just loitering on the stairs like complete monsters. At the top, Hoops and Score leaned against the wall, glaring at me, a great, purple, book-shaped bruise covering his left eye. “That looks like a nasty shiner,” I said, smiling.
“Whatever, you’re just lucky I don’t hit girls,” the grey one said said. Weird, because I remembered his fist definitely trying to hit me.
“Yeah, come at us again without any cheap tricks, and we’ll see how it is, dyke bitch,” the brown one, probably Hoops based on the basketball stitched to his jacket, said.
“You got it,” I said, snapping my fingers and pointing at each of them as I passed by. I dared a look backwards. “See you Monday.”
Rose opened a door at the end of the hallway, revealing an empty bedroom. “What luck, we have an entire room for ourselves.” She held it open for us. We obliged her, and the door shut behind us. Rose rested her chin on her hand. “You know, Starlight, I think I see it. You know, if I was into that sort of thing.”
“Thanks, Rose” Starlight said. I took in the room: we had a closet, slatted doors; bathroom, door cracked and lights on; and a window leading to the street, my motorcycle, and freedom. Starlight saw the window, too. We both nodded. “You know, I didn’t expect you to be this nice.”
“Starlight, you’re my friend.” Rose laughed before resting her hands on Starlight’s shoulders. “And it hurts me that you’d even think I’d be rude about this. I only want what’s best for my friends.” She enunciated every word way too crisply for her to be telling the truth.
“You’re fucking beautiful,” Starlight said, tone agreeing with my assessment. I rolled my eyes. “So, what are we doing now?”
Rose stepped back and put her hand over her heart. “Why, I just thought we could talk somewhere quieter.” She looked at me. “I want to get to know you, Sunset Shimmer.”
“That’s so nice of you, Rose,” Starlight said, “But maybe we can talk about it Monday.” She put her hand to her head. “I think I had a little too much to drink, and I just want to lie down.” Rose shoved at our chests, sending us both backpedaling to the bed.
“There’s a bed right–” A knock came from the door.
“Rose,” a voice said from the other side of the door. It cracked open and I saw a hint of green. Lily, I guess. “You need to get out here right now, Hoops and Score are trying to–”
“Rude much,” Rose said, glaring at Lily. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you two, but I need to take care of this, I’ll be right back.” She smiled as she reached the threshold. “You two have fun.”
“What have I done?” Starlight said, staring ahead at the vanity mirror as I got up and moved to the bathroom. “Why did I bring you here? Did I just want you to piss off all my friends? Or get outed to the whole school?”
She curled up, wrapping her arms around her knees. I opened up the door to the bathroom and flipped the lights on, looking for someone. “There’s no way out, she’s planning something right now, and it’s only a matter of time until she barges back in here with the entire school to–”
I wrapped my arms around her before she could finish the thought. “We’re going to get out of here,” I said. “We’re going to get out of here, and I promise, after tonight, you’ll never have to deal with Rose or the other Flowers ever again.”
She made a muffled laugh into my duster. “You really don’t know Westercolt, do you?”
“Then let’s not stay here. We can sneak out the window, hop on my bike, and be halfway to Seaddle by breakfast. New names, no Flowers, what do you think?”
Starlight looked up at me, purple cheeks paler. “I like it.” She looked at the window. “Let’s go.” She kissed me, lips burning against mine. For only a second, I got swept away and leaned in. Then, I heard the click and a flash came from the closet.
“We got it,” Daisy shouted, pointing a camera at us as we pulled away. The door opened, and Rose walked in, Lily right behind her.
“Good job, Starlight, you managed to keep your hands off your little girlfriend for a whole minute,” Rose said. Daisy passed her the camera. “Now you need to decide are you going to keep wasting time with future Miss Burnout or are you going to stay with the Flowers, the people who made you and can unmake you just as easily. Because if you choose her, I can promise this photo will be all over the school Monday morning.” She popped open the back case and took the film roll, putting it in her purse. Apparently Colt Lake didn’t get anything made after 1989.
“Why are you doing this?” Starlight asked, stepping closer to Rose and putting herself squarely between the two of us. “I haven’t done anything to you. I’ve forged notes for every prank you came up with, gone along with everything you suggested. I came to this party, didn’t I?”
“Yes, and you brought her.” Rose pointed at me. “Being a Flower only means something if we don’t hang out with trash. People see you just acknowledging her, and you’re not ‘in’ anymore. You’re just another loser and the rest of the Flowers look bad by association. I’m not letting you drag us down with you.”
Starlight sighed. She brought her hand up to rest her forehead against, and I could imagine her closing her eyes to try. “You are a mythic bitch, Rose.”
Rose laughed. “I know. Now, what’ll it be? Stay on the team or am I going to have to make some cuts?”
“I–” Before she could go any further, Starlight doubled over, a wave of bile erupting from her mouth and splashing directly onto Rose’s top. Rose and the Flowers screamed, I laughed. Instant karma can be great sometimes.
“You!”Rose snarled, losing her composure. “I raised you up from nothing, and this is how you repay me? In puke?!” I moved back, heading towards the window, fighting the urge to charge into the fray. We could take on the school another day. On our own time and terms.
“Lick it up, baby,” Starlight shouted back, not just standing her ground, but even stomping forward, getting within inches of vomit-soaked Rose. “Lick. It. Up.”
“That’s it,” Rose shouted. “Come Monday, you and your girlfriend are done for. You’ll have to move out of state before anyone, anyone, will even think of talking to you.”
“Yeah, well…” Starlight looked back to me. “Get the window, Sunset!” I opened the window before she could even finish saying my name, and she shoved Rose, pushing her back out the threshold and into Lily.
“Come on!” I scrambled out the window and onto the patio roof, Starlight coming along right behind me and shoving the window mostly closed behind her. I looked down at the drop.
“Did you see that?” Starlight laughed, running up behind me before coming to a staggering stop, inches away from the drop. She reached out and steadied herself on me. “Rose is going to kill us.” She stopped, looking down at the several feet to ground level. “That’s… that’s a drop.”
“Eight feet at the most,” I said. “I’ll grab onto the edge, hang down, and from there that’s only a three foot drop. Then, you can hop off and I’ll catch you. Ok?”
From the room, we could hear Rose shouting, alarm spreading as the least drunk party goers realized someone was on the roof. “Let’s go,” Starlight said. I got down on my knees, tiles digging in as I grabbed the edge and dropped down.
A shock ran up my knees, but I stayed up and heard people on the patio gasp. Not important. I looked up at Starlight, holding out my arms wide for her. She jumped, and then I was on my back, her great, purple eyes inches from mine, as all the air rushed out of me.
“Hey,” she said, grinning at me. “Funny us running into each other, huh?” She moved a finger to wrap around a lock of my red and yellow hair. Then, the front door banged open. Right, if we just stayed down here like this, Rose wouldn’t need the stupid photo.
“Ok, Starlight, time to get up,” I said, wiggling out from under her, and she took the cue, pushing herself up.
“Don’t let them get to her bike,” Hoops, at least, the one I decided was probably Hoops, said, him, Score, and another couple of their jock buddies heading to my motorcycle. I clenched my fists and stepped forward, just in time to watch Score snap the side view mirror off my bike. They wanted to make things tough? I could be tougher than tough.
“Sunset.” Starlight tugged at my arm. I looked back at her. “Let’s just get out of here, my place is close by.”
Ugh, she was right. Fighting on the enemy’s terms was the quickest way to lose a battle, and we couldn’t afford losses right now. We turned away from the party, and she led me into the dark, running through backyards and hopping fences as flood lights switched on, triggered by our escape.
Starlight gulped for air as we crossed a street, the sounds of the party now absent, no signs of any pursuit. Who knew high school students would rather stay with the alcohol than go chasing after two girls through the suburbs. We slowed down. “So, you were right,” she said, leaning against me. “Bringing you to that party was a bad idea.”
“You don’t say, Miss Genius. Want to tell me just what you were thinking?” Besides her just wanting me around, which, fair.
“We were having a good time, and I didn’t want you to leave me,” she said. “I wish I could say I had some big master plan, but I just really like you, and for some reason, I thought that would be enough.” She pointed back to where we came from. “We’re dead, Sunset. I used to get bullied for having a zit, and now we’re going to stick out like two gay, sore thumbs.”
Starlight reached a two-story house, old and cloaked in shadows and turned, heading off the sidewalk towards a gate leading to the backyard. “Fuck ‘em,” I said. “We’ll be together, and by my count, we’ve only got seven months until we’re blowing this town.”
She laughed, leaning against the wood gate, looking down at the latch. Then, she turned on me, grabbing me and pulling me against her as our lips made contact. Her tongue slid into my mouth as her left hand moved to cradle my head.
The force of our kiss bent me back, her hands supporting me as I dipped. I dug into heras tight as I could. The moment stretched on, the two of us wrapping around each other as the vacuum in our mouths forced us together. Then, she broke the connection, grinning down at me.
“Come on,” she said as I stood up straight. She undid the gate latch with one hand as the other unbuttoned her jacket. “If we’re going to be social outcasts come Monday, then I think we’re owed two days of whatever we want.” She opened the gate and walked back into her garden, holding onto my hand. “And right now, there’s only one option that I like.”
I followed her, and the gate shut behind us.