May 2nd, 2017

Kinsky, California, USA

Prom

A makeshift station was formed around the large mirror in Kat’s bedroom. Rose helped put on Sadja’s makeup while Maria did the same for Kat’s hair. In the background Emily was organizing the dresses and accessories of the girls on the bed, with Bonny the pomeranian sleeping right beside them.

“Sadj, the silver bracelet is yours, right?”

“Yup,” Sadja said, trying to keep still as Rose did her eye shadow. “It was a gift from my grandma.”

“Oh! I see the engraving on it now. What does it say?”

“I think it’s… iman shma az shma mohafezat mi kand, dostan shma shma ra ranpannamayi mi konand. Your faith protects you, your friends guide you. Something like that.”

Emily put the bracelet back down. “When the year’s finally over, you should teach me some Farsi. It sounds like a really pretty language.”

The girls were interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening. They all turned to see Ash wearing her prom dress. There was something familiar about it – it was the same kimono that Kat had given her, now refashioned to become a brand new, short-skirted dress design.

Kat let out a gasp. “Oh my God, Ash… it looks incredible!”

The other girls shared the same sentiments, cheering and clapping when they saw her. Ash’s cheeks reddened, as she motioned her blue bangs out of the way.

“Brianna helped me a lot, since she does her own amateur fashion stuff. We had to use a bit of extra fabric to get it to work, but… yeah. She did a great job.”

Among the commotion, Bonny woke up, getting off the bed and walking over to Ash to sniff her. Ash leaned down to scratch the back of Bonny’s ear.

“Even Bonny likes it, don’t you, boo-boo?” Rose smiled. “Okay, that’s Kat, Sadja, and Ash done. Emily, you go next.”

Emily nodded, taking her dress and walking into the bathroom, making sure Bonny didn’t follow her in. Ash leaned against the bed rather nervously.

“Still worried about the Isaac thing?” Kat asked as Maria finished her hair. “Don’t be, we got you. It’s just one dance, anyway. Not like you gotta hang out with him the whole time.”

Ash shook her head. “No, nothing like that. It’s just… it’s the first time this much attention has been on me, is all.”

“You’ll do great!” Rose patted Ash on the shoulder to make her more confident, but the girl’s energy always just made Ash more anxious. “Alright ladies, we got another hour ‘til showtime. Let’s keep up the pace!”

…

An hour and some change later, the boys lined up outside the Wilkins mansion. There were three cars with them in total. Mrs. Wilkins was outside making adjustments to Lukas’ suit.

“Oh, don’t worry about it honey. You look great,” She said as she finally padded him down, giving him a smile.

“Thanks, Mrs. Wilkins.”

“Please, Lukas. Call me Cassandra. We’ve known each other long enough for that.”

“C-Cassandra. Sorry.”

Kat’s mom turned to the others. “And you’re all certain you don’t need anything? Last chance bathroom break?”

“No, Cassandra. We’re perfect, but thank you,” Rodrigo announced in characteristic flair. “I do have to say you look incredible this evening, though. Love the necklace especially.”

Mrs. Wilkins let out a laugh. “Oh, Rodrigo!” She covered her mouth as she walked back towards the house. “The girls should be out any minute now, so you won’t have to wait much longer. Have fun, all of you!”

The boys all waved goodbye. When she went inside, Aaron let out a laugh and dapped Rodrigo. Lukas turned towards Russell.

“The jacket just feels so stiff, you know?”

Russell nodded. “Slim fit will do that. If you unbutton it, it gives you a little bit more movement. With the button, you raise your arms up like this – it causes the whole thing to move up, see? So you don’t want to do that.”

“I’m just gonna ditch my jacket once we get to the dance, anyway,” Aaron called out. “I look better with just the vest and the shirt. Maurice, don’t you think I could kill it at a black fraternity?”

Maurice had his hands in his pockets, looking the boy up and down. He smiled. “You plan on joining one?”

“Hell no. My dad was in one, though. Still do shit together every three months.”

“Look alive, fellas,” Russell’s baritone voice alerted. “Here they come.”

One by one the girls came out the front door of the manor. Every one of them looked great, Lukas thought to himself. But there was one that stood out among all the others, one who shined the brightest. And that one was his.

“My, senorita!” Rodrigo called out, breaking Lukas’ focus. “You are the very definition of beauty. Muy elegante.”

Maria giggled, covering her mouth as Rodrigo reached a hand out towards her. “Gracias, señor!” she exclaimed as she gladly took it.

“Come with me,” Rodrigo said as he began to walk her towards the Bryant car. “I’ll show you how a gay man can treat a girl to a much better dance than any of these chuds.”

“You come with us too, Ash!” Emily called out as she walked towards Maurice. Ash hurried over as the five began to pack into the car.

Kat walked up to Lukas, looking him in the eye. Lukas could feel his heart skip a beat.

“You look great,” Kat spoke in a near whisper.

“You… look…”

Kat smiled. “Jaw-dropping?”

“Hey, love-birds!” Rose called to them. “We’re late enough for dinner as it is, and I’m getting hangry. Let’s move!”

While the four packed into the second car, the final ride – shared between just Russell and Sadja – was already ready to drive out towards their destination.

“Hey… thanks for going with me,” Sadja commented as Russell drove off.

“It’s no problem.”

Sadja looked out the front window. “So, where’s the dinner at?”

“Carmelo’s. You’ve been there?”

“Sheesh. That’s a bit out of the way, isn’t it? Haven’t gone there, just heard of it.”

“Yeah, it’s out near Fort Bragg. But so is the venue. Lukas went there once with his family, said it was good.”

“‘Course he did. It’s white people food.”

“Word.”

There was a bit of a pause as Russell got on the main road towards the city. When they reached the highway, Russell spoke up again.

“So you’re sister… um, Magyar, right?” Russell asked, trying his best to pretend not to remember her name.

Sadja looked at him skeptically. “Yeah. What about her?”

“She… she still in town?”

It suddenly hit Sadja what this was about. She had to stifle her laugh.

“Oh my God, Rus.”

“Wh-what?”

“Nothing! It’s nothing. Yes, she’s still in town. She’s leaving at the end of the month, though.”

Russell looked a bit disheartened. “Oh, gotcha.”

“Buuut, she will be there at graduation. I got to go there an hour early for a choir thing, so if you can come around that time I can get you a full thirty minutes with her uninterrupted.”

“Oh, I-I mean, it’s cool. I’m just wondering how she’s doing, is all.”

Sadja had a big smile on her face as she sunk into the passenger seat. “Sure you are.”

Trailing behind them was the car Aaron was driving. Lukas sat in the back with Kat, and as he watched the couple in the front of him it hit his mind that the two of them seemed to have completely forgotten the incident from last month. He thought to himself that perhaps that’s what friends did.

“I’m just worried I’m gonna get pasta sauce on this thing,” Rose said, looking down at her red dress. “I don’t know if the rental company’s gonna charge me extra if I stain it bad.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Aaron said, using his hand off the wheel to reach over towards Rose’s leg. “You aren’t gonna need that dress for long, anyway.”

“Hey, watch the road! And keep the handsy stuff until after the dance!”

Kat let out a laugh as she watched the two in the front. Lukas laughed too, but it was a little more forced. He felt his entire body had to work to stay positive. He had other stuff on his mind.

…

Kinsky High had rented out the entire Carmelo’s restaurant for its senior class. The friends, of course, all sat together.

“Oh, my God,” Lukas exclaimed, his previous misgivings now temporarily diminished by great food. “Kat, if this fettuccine was a woman… you’d be in trouble.”

Kat shook her head. “Of course you pick the sloppiest food to eat before the dance. Come on, let me see your face.”

Kat grabbed a napkin and reached over to dab Luka’s mouth. The boy had a visceral reaction, shaking his head to avoid her.

“God, you’re as bad as my mom!”

Rose and Emily both watched them, laughing at the encounter. From Kat’s right side, Sadja spoke up as she paused her conversation with Maria.

“Hey Kat, what’s the song you’re singing at the dance?”

“It’s Only God Knows.”

“That’s the Beach Boys, right?” Maria asked, leaning backwards to see Kat.

“Yeah. But it’s the Betty Everett arrangement. I’ve been studying her stuff this year, she’s really good. The song I sang last semester, um… 1900 Yesterday. That was also hers.”

Aaron leaned forward to join the conversation, raising his voice to be heard above the ambient conversations. “You should’ve done some Debbie Deb. When I hear music, it makes me dance! You got the music, here’s my– see, Maurice knows what I’m talking about!”

Kat smiled. “I don’t think that’s gonna fit the tone too well.”

As Kat turned her head, she noticed something peculiar off at a distant table. As her eyes lingered, she was able to confirm it: it was Isaac, alongside most of his football buddies and their girlfriends. Next to him was Delilah, the girl who Kat felt might as well be her biggest nemesis. As Isaac looked up, he suddenly caught Kat’s face. This was interrupted when Delilah leaned over to Isaac’s shoulder, smiling as she nuzzled him. Isaac reached over to caress her shoulder, then turned back towards Kat.

Kat looked disgusted. Yet, in that moment, she got an idea. She turned around to Lukas, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Hey, Luke. Look over here real quick.”

“What is it this ti-”

Kat suddenly leaned forward and kissed the boy on the lips. She made sure to linger, her left hand reaching up towards his hair. Then in one swoop she let go, turned back towards Isaac, and winked. Isaac simply shrugged, his hands facing outward, giving her a look of exasperation.

While Ash ate her salad, she felt a tap behind her. She turned around to see Carmichael.

“Hey, Ash. They want a photo with you and Isaac outside. They got like a… flower wall, or something.”

Ash covered her mouth as she finished a bite, nodding her head. “I’ll be right there.”

Carmichael left, and Ash followed not long after. There was a photo shoot area arranged outside by the photographer the school had hired, made primarily up of a prop arch entwined with fake roses. It reminded Ash of a wedding shoot, and felt tacky and a bit weird. Isaac came over not long afterwards.

“Alright you two, if I can just have you stand right there, on the tape…” the photographer instructed them. “Yup, right there. And if you can just angle yourselves towards each other, slightly. Sir, your collar is out a bit- there you go. Alright, perfect! Now say, ‘Eagles’!”

Neither said the word, just gave a forced smile. The man took the photo anyway.

“Alright, that’s wonderful! Here, give me a minute to change lenses here…”

As the man fiddled with his camera, Isaac leaned towards Ash.

“Hey, if you don’t want to do the dance together… we don’t have to. I asked Mrs. Morris, she said it’s chill.”

“I’m fine with doing it,” Ash said, still looking towards the camera. “Unless you don’t want to.”

“Nah, I’m okay. Just want to do whatever you want to do, y’know.”

The photographer took one more picture of the two, then let them go back to their seats.

…

After dinner the senior class walked over to the dance hall. It was a repurposed warehouse near the fort. In the center was a large area set for dancing, while soft velvet seating was arranged in a wave shape on the border. The lights hanging from the warehouse ceiling gave the impression of stars.

Rodrigo and Maria were sitting together, watching their friends and the other teenagers dance. Rodrigo had a Coke with him – Maria opted for the water.

“So… how are things, hermana?” Rodrigo asked as he turned towards the girl.

“It’s getting better. I think.” She rested her head and arms on the table as she tried to spot her other friends in the crowd. “I’ve been talking to my mother a lot, more than usual. I think the one good thing about all this is that I feel closer to her than I ever have before. I also started doing watercolor again, for the first time since I was a kid. Nothing serious, just… therapeutic. Ash taught me the basics so I at least knew a little bit about what I was doing.”

Rodrigo leaned forward. He watched the crowd as well. “That’s good. That means you’re healing. We all gotta heal, in our own ways. Some people take longer than others. Some people do different things. But I think yours is healthy.”

“I go back and forth about it a lot. Whether I want to move on and just go back to living in the moment again. Part of me has this… this pain. Pain of regret, that I’d be betraying her. I keep having these nightmares, that make me want to go back… that all of this is still unsolved, that there is no justice.”

“Te entiendo. But I don’t think that’s something you should beat yourself up over. Some things in life don’t have definitive endings. I think the death of a loved one is one of them.”

Maria turned towards him. “Oh God, I forgot. Your mama died a while back, right? I’m so sorry.”

Rodrigo gave a little chuckle. “You’re the last person who should be sorry about that. If anything it might just put us closer together. You’ve been going to Santa Madre?”

“Honestly, no. Not since the funeral.”

“Good. I’m nervous to go there. Pastor Davis wants to see me now that mama has passed. Maybe we go together, this Sunday?”

Maria smiled. “I’d love to.”

The girl leaned on the shoulder of her friend as she took another sip of her water. Rodrigo looked up as he saw someone approach. He greeted them with a nod.

“Is it okay if I sit here?” Maurice asked, a plate in his hand.

“Yes, of course!” Maria called out, enthusiasm in her voice. “Right here!”

Maurice sat down at an open spot to Maria’s right. Rodrigo inspected the plate in his hand.

“Shit, man. Where’d you get that?”

“The cake? It’s out by the bathrooms. There’s a big table with a bunch of different stuff.”

“Alright, how about this-” Rodrigo’s attention was now directed towards Maria. “We both find dessert, pig out, then work it all off on the dance floor?”

Maria nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

As the two got up to make their way through the dance floor, there was an announcement from the DJ station. Carmichael was there, a microphone in his hand.

“Alright, everyone. Sorry to take a break from the bangers, but in the ongoing tradition of Kinsky High, it’s time for us to get into the slow dance portion of our prom.” There was a mixture of hollering and groaning in the audience. “To lead us off, we have Kinsky’s very own prom king and queen – Isaac Broderick and Ashlyn Monticello!”

As the crowd cheered, Isaac guided Ash clumsily by the hand as the two walked in the gleam of the spotlight. The two approached inward, taking each other by the hand – a task that was rather awkward, considering Isaac was nearly a foot taller than the girl. Isaac leaned his head down.

“I won’t lie… I haven’t slow danced in my entire life. So I have no clue what I’m doing.”

“No problem. Just follow my lead.”

“Wait… you do?”

Before anything more could be said, the music kicked in and Isaac felt his body moved forcefully into position by Ash. Her movement was elegant – her feet swept across the floor in rhythmic arcs, and while Isaac tried his best to keep up with her it was clear that he was more or less deadweight to a solo performance. As the song reached its end, there was a line of polite cheering and claps for the two. Isaac turned to say something but by the time he had the girl was no where to be seen.

Lukas had watched all of it, in his own booth he had been sharing with some of the others. But he wasn’t thinking about the dance. His mind has slinked back to his failure. He had fallen back into his feelings.

“Here you go,” Kat approached him, sliding a plate with two cookies his way. He scooted over so she could sit next to him. “You having fun?”

“Yeah.”

“Your face says otherwise.”

Lukas shook his head, readjusting himself. “It has nothing to do with this, it’s… um…” He kept his eyes on Rose and Aaron dancing in the center so he wouldn’t have to look at Kat in the eyes. “I’m still thinking about Cole, I guess.”

Kat nodded. She leaned forward and cusped her hands over Lukas’. “Yeah, I get it. I wish he was here with us. But…” She trailed off, looking to the side as if to think of the best way to form her words. “I think, maybe… I think you’ve been putting a lot of pressure on yourself over it recently. I think you should take this time to relax a bit, to be here with us now. I think that’s what Cole would’ve wanted.”

Lukas was irritated by the comment. A deep sense of dread pulled over him. Earlier he thought as though Aaron and Rose had said nothing, had moved on, had done what he felt a good friend should do. He was happy about it. Now he realized, based on the way Kat talked, that they must’ve told her. They must’ve told her everything, because Lukas never mentioned it to her himself. As the thought chipped at him more and more his fists began to clench and he almost threw Kat’s hands away from him, but he saw all the people around and began to sweat that they couldn’t know anything. He couldn’t let his composure down. Besides, he didn’t even have any proof. He was just feeling paranoid about a betrayal that maybe never happened.

“Yeah, maybe,” he said, saying whatever would get Kat to go away the quickest.

Kat smiled. She put her hands away. “Rose and Aaron really know how to dance, huh?”

“Yeah.”

The girl could tell that her boyfriend was shutting down. She turned towards him, her face more concerned.

“I’m going up to perform my solo in a bit. Will you watch me?”

Lukas loosened up a bit. “I’ll watch from right here.”

“Actually… there’s a little balcony upstairs, not sure if you saw it. I think it’ll be pretty packed when I start, but I just checked it out and there’s not many people up there right now. I’ll be able to get a good look at you from that high up.”

Lukas turned to her. He could smell her rose-scented perfume. She still looked as beautiful as when he first saw her. His brain wondered if she’d leave him next. Part of him wanted to cry, part of him wanted to shut the fuck up and get over it. He settled with a neutral reaction somewhere in the middle.

“I’ll head there now.”

Kat’s smile came back. She rubbed his shoulder. “Okay. I’m gonna head backstage then.”

The two got up and went their own separate ways. But before Kat could reach the backstage herself, Isaac – who had left his crown there – went inside, only to find where Ash had gone off to.

He approached her carefully, not sure if he was invading a personal moment. No one else was in the room at this point besides them, and there was no sound besides the muffled thumping from the outside DJ and the soft droning of the air vent.

Ash saw him in the reflection of the mirror. Her eyes turned down.

“You get it now, right?”

Isaac wasn’t sure what she meant. His face tilted skeptically. She rotated the seat towards him.

“You get why I feel the way I feel… about men. I have my reason. Maria has her reason. Half the girls I know have a reason, one way or another. Why we get angry, why we get scared. But it was never about you specifically. I hope you understand that.”

Isaac nodded his head. “Yeah, I do. I get you. I guess… never really had too many girls in the family, is all.”

Ash got up from her seat. “The only people in the world who know about my assault are my parents, Emily, my friend Shelby, and now… you.”

“It’ll stay that way. Not a word. I’ll keep it secret ‘til my dying breath.”

“I know you will. You don’t have to prove it to me.”

Ash began to walk away. Isaac, still a bit confused, turned his head around to follow her.

“Oh, um…” the boy let out rather awkwardly. “Great job out there, by the way. Didn’t know you were such a good dancer.”

Ash turned towards him. She smiled. “Thanks,” she said, turning back away. “You need to work on moving your feet more.”

Before Isaac could say anything else, she walked out. Isaac sighed and grabbed his crown and water bottle from where he had left it. As he walked out Kat opened the door. She noticed the strange look in his eyes.

“I was just leaving,” Isaac said rather curtly. Kat’s head trailed to follow him until left out the open door. She was perplexed – from experience she knew something had just happened which left a profound impact on him.

As Kat prepared, Lukas found a good spot at the center of the balcony. While he waited patiently, he suddenly felt the force of someone slinging their arm over his shoulder.

“Yo!” Aaron said, whose arm it belonged to. Rose wedged into the other side of Lukas. “You and Kat are coming to the after party, right? At the Kawakami residence, of course. Rus can’t go because of a family thing tomorrow.”

Lukas was still a little annoyed. “We planned on it.”

Aaron patted him on the shoulder. “Good, good! Just makin’ sure.”

“Ooo, Kat was right! This is a great look at the whole place,” Rose commented as she looked down at the dancers below.

Lukas was still paranoid. He didn’t feel any reason to trust either of the two beside him, and their presence just made him more upset. He wanted to be alone, to leave the warehouse and go somewhere along the coast and just sit down and be by himself. It was at moments like these that the only person who could usually make him feel better was Cole. The thought just made him feel worse. He felt so incredibly alone.

Then, suddenly, he had an idea. He’d test them. He’d see which part of his brain was right – that way, when they inevitably said the wrong thing, he would know his theory was correct. That they didn’t want him anymore. That he was the only one still rooting for his best friend. At that point, he’d make a run for it. He’d leave the warehouse and run far, as far away as he could. But that way he’d have some bit of finality to the whole thing.

“Hey, guys…” Lukas spoke up as authentically as possible. “I know this sounds really dumb, but… I appreciate you guys. I really do.”

Rose was the first to react. “Oh, Lukas!” She reached in to hug him tight. Awkwardly, Lukas accepted. “I appreciate you too, honey.”

Aaron grinned at him. “It ain’t dumb. I know what you mean. Moments like these… I’m really glad I get to share it with you guys.”

It wasn’t the response Lukas was expecting. He was expecting them to double back, to qualify their statement, or perhaps to smugly admit that they were right and Lukas was wrong. But he didn’t get that from either of them. They were more genuine than he was. Maybe he was wrong, he thought. Maybe there was nothing.

As his brain circled around this idea, the front stage suddenly turned bright. He could hear Rose scream as loud as she could right next to him. It was Kat, approaching on stage. She looked up towards the balcony, and found Lukas. Her face shined brightly. This time, Lukas knew for sure that it was for him.

…

“So yeah,” Emily finished up her story, a glass of wine in her hand. She was sitting in the living room armchair at Rose’s place, with Maria, Kat, Maurice, and Rodrigo all listening to her. “Don’t give Carmichael too much credit. I’m just glad he didn’t screw up the prom enough that me or Ash had to intervene.”

“That’s so devilish of him,” Maria said frustratedly. She had a glass of wine too, the first time she had drank at a party in awhile. “I can’t believe he just took the award from you up on stage like that. And no one did anything?”

Emily shook her head. “We didn’t want to make a scene at the ceremony. Ash told Mr. Prescott but as usual he just gave some sort of excuse. I think Carmichael just sucks up to him and uses it as a way to do whatever he wants. And apparently it works.”

Rodrigo, already a few drinks in, leaned back on the sofa and pointed to Emily. “See, this is why you can’t trust political niggas. Guys and girls who are always scheming like their life is an episode of House of Cards or some shit.”

Lukas, who was on his phone, put it away. “Yes, true! The worst people at Kinsky are the ones trying to go into law or poly-sci. Like seriously, the laziest people in every class. I fear for our country’s future.”

Maurice turned to look behind him. He saw Aaron and Rose, sitting together on another armchair, away from the others, whispering and caressing each other.

Sadja came in through the kitchen, a bottle of vodka in her hand. “Hey, Em. Is Ash coming?”

“Nooo, she dipped.”

“Okay. Just didn’t know if we were waiting on her.”

Sadja, now having the attention of most of the others, grinned to herself. She raised her vodka hand and, in an exaggerated and pronounced fashion, squatted down to the floor – then put the handle of vodka down onto the coffee table.

Kat blew up into a fit of laughter. Rodrigo looked on at her in a state of confusion. “The fuck was that?”

Sadja giggled. “You haven’t seen that Vine? The one where she just starts dropping ass every time she enters a room?”

Kat wiped a tear from her eye. “It’s the… it’s the f-funniest thing, I’ve ever seen. Oh! By the way, Lukas –” Her head rolled around to find her boy. “ – Sadja and I decided we’re going to have a cunty 2017. Like, full Regina George. All throughout the rest of the year.”

Lukas gave her a look. Maria, Emily, and Maurice all stifled laughter.

“Well, Lukas?” Rodrigo asked. “How does that make you feel?”

“How does that- I don’t even know what the fuck that means, man. How am I supposed to react to it if I don’t even- I don’t understand it.”

The whole room erupted in laughter. As it did so, Maurice noticed something off – in the moment, Aaron taking Rose by the hand and leading her down the hallway.

“Dude, dude!” Maurice quickly got up and slapped Rodrigo on his shoulder. “You see that?”

Rodrigo looked at him. Sadja looked at him, too.

“What’s up?” Sadja asked.

Maurice turned his voice low. “Aaron and Rose just went up the stairs. Isn’t that where her room is?”

Maria gasped audibly, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes got excited. There was a low murmur across the room.

“No fuckin’ way man,” Rodrigo said, getting up. “We gotta get’em.”

“Nonono, wait a bit! Wait until they think we haven’t noticed!” Sadja told him, motioning to him in a hushed tone. Rodrigo nodded and sat back down.

The friends all looked at each other with huge devious smiles on their faces. “We should, keep talking though…” Maria piped up. “So that they don’t get thrown off by the silence.”

“So how was your day, everyone?” Lukas asked aloud.

The take didn’t work. They were all amped up about the thing and just sat in silence, hoping to hear something in the other room. Rodrigo looked down at his phone.

“Aaah!” Rodrigo broke the silence with a loud moan. He looked around acting confused. “Damn, that bitch done already?”

No one laughed except a quieted snickering behind Rodrigo. He turned around and smiled.

“See, she loves it!” Rodrigo exclaimed, pointing his phone at Emily. “She loves my jokes!”

“No, no!” Emily exasperatedly denied, curling up into the armchair, and waving away her face. “It’s just- it’s so, it’s so stupid, and dumb, that it comes back around to being funny.”

Emily held her mouth to stop her laughing fit. Sadja looked up towards the hallway.

“I think we waited long enough. Who’s gonna be brave enough to check?”

Immediately Rodrigo and Maurice got up and quietly rushed towards the hallway and up the stairs. The others followed them, trying their best to be stealthy.

Rodrigo put his ear up to the door, while Maurice tried the knob. He looked shocked, turning towards the others.

“What is it?” Lukas whispered.

Sadja, who was the third closest to the door, turned to him. “They didn’t even lock it.”

Rodrigo waved the others away from the door – they all obliged. He took a deep breath in then, on the count of three, roughly took the knob and shot the door open.

“Hey, you kids need any help in h-”

“AHH! Rodrigo, get the hell out!”

Rodrigo flinched as Rose’s dress came flying at him at full force. The group all scattered, laughing hysterically as they ran down the stairs. Lukas took a quick turn towards the sliding door on the back porch, opened it, and ran outside. As he took cover behind the wall, he noticed Kat was sitting beside him.

“If anyone asks, we were always here,” she told him. She turned to the door, waving at Maria who was hiding inside, then shut the door closed.

Lukas looked up at the porch table in front of him. He gasped. “Yo, look!”

He got up and took the bottle of red wine off the table. There were a few unused glasses sitting there, and so he poured some for himself and some for Kat. They picked them up and clinked the glasses.

“I feel so smart drinking this shit,” Lukas said, twirling his glass around in his hand and sniffing it. “Ah, vintage! Good grape flavor here. I get an oud from the barrel, must’ve been oak.”

Kat giggled. “This is the only alcohol we’re gonna be allowed to drink when we grow up. Isn’t that so sad?”

The two looked up in silence at the forest for a while. They heard yells and laughs from inside, but they were muffled and didn’t interrupt their concentration. At some point, Kat broke the silence again.

“This is pretty random, but…” her voice turned soft, nostalgic. “You remember that treehouse we made? In fifth grade?”

Lukas’ eyes widened. A shock went through his system.

“Yeah, I do.”

“You think it’s still there?”

“Absolutely. It’s gotta be.”

Kat turned to look at him. “You sound confident. You want to go there sometime?”

Lukas snapped out of it. He looked at her, shaking his head rather hesitantly.

“Uhh, no, I- maybe we could. Someday.”

“Yeah, we should.” Kat turned back to the forest. “Before we leave, we should check it out.”

Lukas felt the air on his face. He felt his heart pound. His finger anxiously rimmed the side of his wine glass.

He knew where Cole’s final notes would be.