The Taste of Ink
The Taste of Ink.
Is it worth it can you even hear me?
Standing with your spotlight on me,
Not enough to feed the hungry,
I'm tired and I felt it for awhile now.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
My eyes followed the hands of the clock travel past all the roman numerals on the white face. I thought if my eyes traveled faster, maybe the hands would follow. They didn’t – I just lost track of the time. There was still 12 minutes to go before I had to leave to see her, but I really didn’t think I could last that long. The sneered insults from one family member to another were slowly escalading into a vicious shouting match. The sharp words pierced my ear drums as feet began to slam up stairs. My own feet were just itching to leave the cream colored carpet and to be back the gum splattered side walk, walking back over to her house.
The itch to leave was causing my hands to shake almost as violently as the slamming of the doors in the slum Utah home. 10 minutes to go and I couldn’t take it anymore. I jumped up, straightening my green shirt as I did so.
In this sea of lonely
The taste of ink is getting old
It's four o' clock in the fucking morning
Each day gets more and more like the last day
“And where do…do you th-think you’re goin’, hey?!” Thundered the swaying middle aged man in front of me, half a bottle of Jack Daniels clutched in his stubby fingers. I stared at the pathetic excuse of a man in front of me, feeling no remorse for the trembling figure what so ever. His brown eyes a light with a fire of hatred as he stared down onto his own son. I was glad to say the feeling was mutual. I doubled myself up, as best as I could, and began to walk over to him.
“I’m leaving,” I smirked, bluntly, edging around him and walking into the hallway.
“Are yo…ou fuck! Get your…skinny little ass b-back here, boy-o!” His footsteps were advancing towards me, in a drunken beat. I grabbed my backpack as his intoxicated figure stumbled into the door way. With a single smirk, my body twirled around and battled against the force of the cold wind slamming against my lungs already. The stars hung above me, their radiance reflecting off every surface in sight, especially in the midnight sun.
My feet were metres ahead of my mind and had already begun my journey to her house, 7 minutes earlier than planned. She would understand though – she wanted to leave as much, maybe even more, than me.
Still I can see it coming
While I'm standing in the river drowning
This could be my chance to break out
This could be my chance to say goodbye
It was only a short distance to her house, and, with my unnaturally fast and anxious pace, I made it there in less than 5 minutes. Jolting the black straps of my bag higher, I carefully stood on a accurately placed (obviously not placed by me on an earlier visit) flower pot, swinging one leg – two legs onto the high wooden fence. With a low hiss as the plank of wood crushed a rather delicate body part, I hopped off the fence, landing with a smooth thud on the grass. Keeping my backpack safely strapped to me, I quickly jolted around the corner of the house until I reached the back garden. I gazed up at the only lit window in the house – hers. I could see her silhouette moving behind her cream curtains, like a dancing cloud, only, a cloud could never be as elegant as her.
Before I delved deeper into my mind, my itching palms were grabbing a fist full of small rocks from the ground. One by one, second after second, I cautiously aimed them at her window. I watched as the shadow of an angel came closer and closer until – there she was, her brown hair fluttering in the wind, fully clad in her parka and backpack. I shot her a grin, which she returned hastily, beckoning me closer.
At last it's finally over
Couldn't take this town much longer
Being half dead wasn't what I planned to be
Now I'm ready to be free
“Quinn, you’re early! Like…5 minutes early! We’ll be at his house before he’s even there!” She whispered, occasionally ducking her head back into her room, making sure she was not heard. I shrugged, the grin still plastered onto my face.
“It was Hell – I didn’t want to wait anymore.” She shot me a glare, but I could see the smile cracking through. Her brown hair was blown into oblivion around her porcelain complexion; she gently batted into away, giving me full view of her eyes – wide and bright in the moonlight. Her aqua orbs danced along the back yard, slowly trailing up me and back up into the sky, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her – she took my breath away every time I saw her.
“Yeah well, I’m pretty much ready anyway. Help me with my bags, eh?” She whipped back inside her room, while I was left chuckling to myself at her excessive using of the word ‘eh’. I walked up to the ivy crawling up to her window, held together by a lattice of wood.
“Whoa! You could have warned me!” I exclaimed, jumping out the way of a falling bag.
I picked it up, almost breaking my bag with the weight of it. “Melanie, how much do you have in here?!” My eyes almost popped out of my head as I attempted to put it onto my back.
“You shoulda caught it! Do I have to do everything myself, eh?!” Once again, she tried to fight back her smile but the twinkle in her eyes gave it away and she let out a laugh. I rolled my eyes, smiling. I gave up on carrying her back pack full of weights on my back and instead, put it against the wall as she, carefully, climbed out her window. I put my own bag down, making sure I had no restrictions so I could catch her if she misplaced her footing on the wood trellis. Slowly, very slowly, she slipped down onto the grass and into my arms. Almost accidentally on purpose, I caught a sniff off her. She smelt of…of…Melanie. There was no way to describe how she smelt. Her essence made you feel safe, warm, loved. Her whole body language knew you were safe as soon as you were with her. My heart swelled up when I was around her – it felt complete when I could hug her, touch her, kiss her. Her lips sent shockwaves down my spine.
So here I am it's in my hands
And I'll savor every moment of this
So here I am alive at last
And I'll savor every moment of this
We pulled away. Even though it felt like time stood still for us, we knew that we had just lost minutes while we were lost in our embrace. I scooped up her bag for her, she smiled at me in thanks and we began our journey to his garage. Once we step over the threshold of the dingy little garage, our lives would be laid out for us. Our lives would begin again in a matter of minutes.
“Are you excited?” I asked, squeezing her hand. She turned to look at me, the moon reflected off her eyes.
“Yeah, I really am. I…really can’t wait, in all honesty. I mean, this time last night I was…tossing and turning in my bed, trying to make sense of…everything. You know, wishing everything would be okay again. Or, be okay at all.” She stared up at the night sky – the concentration on her face looked as if she was counting the stars.
“Everything will be okay now.” My hand slipped from hers. I slid my arm over her shoulders, pulling her into my side. Her own arms traveled around my waist, squeezing me slightly. “You know what?”
“What?” I could feel her eyes gazing up at me, but my own were looking towards the sky.
“On every star, someone’s made a wish. Coulda been a small wish, coulda been a huge wish. I’ve made a wish, too. Wanna know what it is?”
“You can’t say – it won’t come true,” she said, rubbing her face into my chest, which, I must say, was quite tricky considering we were speed walking.
“It’s already came true.” I looked back down onto her, but I could only see the top of her head. “My wish was to live my dreams.”
“What if your dreams haven’t come true yet?”
“They have, baby, they really have. I have you, I have my best friends, and now I’m about to set off into the world… I’m going to be a guitarist in a successful band. I’m gunna show kids that their world isn’t just on their door steps – I’m gunna show them that it’s wherever your heart takes you.” I got lost then. My mind had begun to ravel off ideas too complex for my brain to divulge, instead, I just let them twist and bend into colourful dreams, the dreams that would be coming true in…
“Quinn…?” She waved my own arm in front of my face. I shook my head and looked as her finger pointed at my watch. “Two minutes! C’mon, hurry up!”
And won't you think I'm pretty
When I'm standing top the bright lit city
And I'll take your hand and pick you up
And keep you there so you can see
As long as you're alive and care
I promise I will take you there
We'll drink and dance the night away
We set off into a jog, grinning as the wind slapped us in the face, our hands reaching out for each others in the dark. Fingers locked, eyes alight, hearts pounding, feet slamming we reached the small, dingy garage. Our running had caused us to double over outside the paint-peeling door, our spare hands gripping our sides, trying to catch our breath, although it left us as soon as we laughed. We could have stayed like that forever, in fact, we wanted to. It seemed like, for the first time in my life, every thing was per-
“Oh my fucking God, they’re finally fucking here!” The door rolled up into the ceiling, revealing a short, black haired boy, smirking wildly. He never changed, that boy. “Whoa, you guys were going to fuck! Damn, I had to interrupt…”
“Oh, take off, hoser! You’re such a pervert!” Mel exclaimed, her hand leaving mine to fall limply by my side. She pulled her back pack straps tighter on her shoulders and went over to hug Bert, who slapped her ass as she walked inside the garage.
“Watch it, McCracken, or you won’t have a dick in a minute,” I joked, slapping him on the back as I hugged him too.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get yours later.” He winked and walked back inside, sitting on one of the collapsing couches facing the garage door I was having trouble closing.
“You’re such a girl, Allman, jeeze…” Mel jumped up, grabbing hold of the ridged metal, helping me throw it down onto the concrete floor. However, it got stuck half way towards the floor. We both stopped and looked at each other, fighting our laughter. “…Let’s just leave it now, eh?” Giggling, we walked back over to the empty couch. I snaked my arm around her waist and pulled her onto my knee.
“Oh gross man, no sex, yeah?” Emilee said, her nose wrinkling up in disgust. She was sat on the floor, the contents of her back pack sprawled around her. My lap suddenly became empty as Mel pounced on the girl on the floor, the heap erupting laughs and screams.
“Whoa! Girl on girl action! Shit, I don’t have a camera…” Bert laughed, watching Mel and Emilee…hug. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was a hug, or something more sexual, but with those two, you could never be too sure what they would get up to.
Emilee attempted to throw Melanie off her, but that only resulted in the brown haired girl trying to plant a kiss on the blonde hair girl’s cheek.
“Okay, okay, okay, I am splitting this up before Bert gets a hard on, yeah?!” I announced, trying to pull the girls apart, which only left me lying on the floor between them. The floor was cold and hard and the damp seemed through my clothes, leaving goose bumps to burst over my skin – or maybe it was the fact that Mel’s hand was trailing up my arm. Her slender fingers ran up and down my arm, until they finally settled into my hand, lacing my own with hers.
Savor every moment of this…
As long as you're alive
Here I am
I promise I will take you there
I watched out of the corner of my eye as Bert slid off his seat and onto the floor, sitting cross legged beside Emilee. This was the way it was supposed to be – just us, together, happy. Only there was still someone missing…
“Hey, where’s Jeph?”
Almost as soon as my words hit the air, the grunted response came from the corner of the room.
“Here.” He slammed his back pack, jacket and himself onto the floor in front of us, his face resembling thunder. He chewed his lip, almost gnawing it to his piercings.
“Uh, dude? Are you okay?” Bert asked, cautiously.
“Does it look like I’m okay!” It wasn’t a question – it was a demand. He signed and dipped his head, so his knuckles could massage his forehead. We were all sitting up at this point, though her hand was still safely clasped in mine. “He broke up with me…he…he fucking broke up with me, the cunt.” I watched as we all opened our mouths to speak, but none of us really had any of the words to say. “And, yeah, sorry guys, but he took the car…I…I don’t know how we’re gunna-.”
“We’ll walk, it’s no big deal.” How we were supposed to walk to a destination none of us knew was beyond me, but we needed to reassure him, and Bert’s words seemed to do that.
“Thanks guys. I’m sorry he was such a prick, you know, taking the car an’ all.”
“He’s more of a prick for breaking your heart, Jeph,” Melanie sympathized, while Emilee reached forward and hugged him, quickly followed by Melanie, then me, then Bert.
“Right, I think we should celebrate…the beginning of our new lives!” I said, breaking away from the hug and adding the second part quickly. Bert immediately scrambled up and headed for the shelf full of assorted bottles full of alcohol. He shoved a couple of glass bottles into his back pack, but kept a medium sized bottle in his hand. He shook it in front of our faces, his eyes a light as the amber liquid flowed around the bottle.
“The glasses are all upstairs, and I ain’t going back up there, so we’re just going to have to be hardcore and neck it in turn.” We separated out into a pathetic excuse of a circle and he flopped down, unscrewing the lid and taking a big gulp.
And won't you think I'm pretty
When I'm standing top the bright lit city
And I'll take your hand and pick you up
And keep you there so you can see
As long as you're alive and care
I promise I will take you there
As long as you're alive and care
I promise I will take you there
After the bottle had been passed around so many times, everyone’s finger prints could be distinguished from the other. There was still a swill of alcohol left over at the bottom, which Bert decided to pour over Melanie’s head. Evidently, she screamed and lunged at him, but he was laughing too hard to care at her punches.
“Eurgh, Bert, you’re such a…a…ugh!” She grunted, slipping back over to me. Bert was still rolling on the floor, clutching his sides.
“I’m such a what? A hoser?”
“Yeah!” She smirked, throwing the lid of the bottle at him.
I realized I had been rather quiet this evening, considering it was the start of my new life, but I really didn’t feel the need to say much – the smile on my face pretty much said everything. Looking around the cold garage, I didn’t really want to leave…I was much happier here, just goofing around with my best friends. I knew I had to leave, I knew I wanted to, as well. Everything would be like this when we got to…where ever we were going, maybe even better. We would be free. Free to do whatever we wanted. But the best thing was; we would be free together. No controlling, alcoholic father. No hooker of a mother. No disapproving family keeping me away from her. Just…us.
“Are we ready to go?” Jeph said, shattering the silence. We all nodded in turn, the guys standing up first, and then pulling the girls up. Walking out, or rather, crouching out of the door, the stars were more prominent in the sky. I pulled Melanie closer to me, my head close to hers.
“More people have made wishes. And more people’s wishes have came true, like ours, baby.” She shuddered as my breath tickled her ear, her eyes gazing up at me and then into the sky. She turned to me, fully this time, her arms wrapping themselves around my neck, while mine stayed around her waist. Our lips were mere millimeters away…
“Oh my God! What the fuck?! Emilee! I am going to kill you!” Mel screamed, swooping down and picking up a square packet, which had just hit her in the cheek. She held up the condom packet to my face, while I burst out in hysterics.
“I thought you might need it for later! Safe sex is good sex!”
Savor every moment of this.
Standing with your spotlight on me,
Not enough to feed the hungry,
I'm tired and I felt it for awhile now.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
My eyes followed the hands of the clock travel past all the roman numerals on the white face. I thought if my eyes traveled faster, maybe the hands would follow. They didn’t – I just lost track of the time. There was still 12 minutes to go before I had to leave to see her, but I really didn’t think I could last that long. The sneered insults from one family member to another were slowly escalading into a vicious shouting match. The sharp words pierced my ear drums as feet began to slam up stairs. My own feet were just itching to leave the cream colored carpet and to be back the gum splattered side walk, walking back over to her house.
The itch to leave was causing my hands to shake almost as violently as the slamming of the doors in the slum Utah home. 10 minutes to go and I couldn’t take it anymore. I jumped up, straightening my green shirt as I did so.
In this sea of lonely
The taste of ink is getting old
It's four o' clock in the fucking morning
Each day gets more and more like the last day
“And where do…do you th-think you’re goin’, hey?!” Thundered the swaying middle aged man in front of me, half a bottle of Jack Daniels clutched in his stubby fingers. I stared at the pathetic excuse of a man in front of me, feeling no remorse for the trembling figure what so ever. His brown eyes a light with a fire of hatred as he stared down onto his own son. I was glad to say the feeling was mutual. I doubled myself up, as best as I could, and began to walk over to him.
“I’m leaving,” I smirked, bluntly, edging around him and walking into the hallway.
“Are yo…ou fuck! Get your…skinny little ass b-back here, boy-o!” His footsteps were advancing towards me, in a drunken beat. I grabbed my backpack as his intoxicated figure stumbled into the door way. With a single smirk, my body twirled around and battled against the force of the cold wind slamming against my lungs already. The stars hung above me, their radiance reflecting off every surface in sight, especially in the midnight sun.
My feet were metres ahead of my mind and had already begun my journey to her house, 7 minutes earlier than planned. She would understand though – she wanted to leave as much, maybe even more, than me.
Still I can see it coming
While I'm standing in the river drowning
This could be my chance to break out
This could be my chance to say goodbye
It was only a short distance to her house, and, with my unnaturally fast and anxious pace, I made it there in less than 5 minutes. Jolting the black straps of my bag higher, I carefully stood on a accurately placed (obviously not placed by me on an earlier visit) flower pot, swinging one leg – two legs onto the high wooden fence. With a low hiss as the plank of wood crushed a rather delicate body part, I hopped off the fence, landing with a smooth thud on the grass. Keeping my backpack safely strapped to me, I quickly jolted around the corner of the house until I reached the back garden. I gazed up at the only lit window in the house – hers. I could see her silhouette moving behind her cream curtains, like a dancing cloud, only, a cloud could never be as elegant as her.
Before I delved deeper into my mind, my itching palms were grabbing a fist full of small rocks from the ground. One by one, second after second, I cautiously aimed them at her window. I watched as the shadow of an angel came closer and closer until – there she was, her brown hair fluttering in the wind, fully clad in her parka and backpack. I shot her a grin, which she returned hastily, beckoning me closer.
At last it's finally over
Couldn't take this town much longer
Being half dead wasn't what I planned to be
Now I'm ready to be free
“Quinn, you’re early! Like…5 minutes early! We’ll be at his house before he’s even there!” She whispered, occasionally ducking her head back into her room, making sure she was not heard. I shrugged, the grin still plastered onto my face.
“It was Hell – I didn’t want to wait anymore.” She shot me a glare, but I could see the smile cracking through. Her brown hair was blown into oblivion around her porcelain complexion; she gently batted into away, giving me full view of her eyes – wide and bright in the moonlight. Her aqua orbs danced along the back yard, slowly trailing up me and back up into the sky, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her – she took my breath away every time I saw her.
“Yeah well, I’m pretty much ready anyway. Help me with my bags, eh?” She whipped back inside her room, while I was left chuckling to myself at her excessive using of the word ‘eh’. I walked up to the ivy crawling up to her window, held together by a lattice of wood.
“Whoa! You could have warned me!” I exclaimed, jumping out the way of a falling bag.
I picked it up, almost breaking my bag with the weight of it. “Melanie, how much do you have in here?!” My eyes almost popped out of my head as I attempted to put it onto my back.
“You shoulda caught it! Do I have to do everything myself, eh?!” Once again, she tried to fight back her smile but the twinkle in her eyes gave it away and she let out a laugh. I rolled my eyes, smiling. I gave up on carrying her back pack full of weights on my back and instead, put it against the wall as she, carefully, climbed out her window. I put my own bag down, making sure I had no restrictions so I could catch her if she misplaced her footing on the wood trellis. Slowly, very slowly, she slipped down onto the grass and into my arms. Almost accidentally on purpose, I caught a sniff off her. She smelt of…of…Melanie. There was no way to describe how she smelt. Her essence made you feel safe, warm, loved. Her whole body language knew you were safe as soon as you were with her. My heart swelled up when I was around her – it felt complete when I could hug her, touch her, kiss her. Her lips sent shockwaves down my spine.
So here I am it's in my hands
And I'll savor every moment of this
So here I am alive at last
And I'll savor every moment of this
We pulled away. Even though it felt like time stood still for us, we knew that we had just lost minutes while we were lost in our embrace. I scooped up her bag for her, she smiled at me in thanks and we began our journey to his garage. Once we step over the threshold of the dingy little garage, our lives would be laid out for us. Our lives would begin again in a matter of minutes.
“Are you excited?” I asked, squeezing her hand. She turned to look at me, the moon reflected off her eyes.
“Yeah, I really am. I…really can’t wait, in all honesty. I mean, this time last night I was…tossing and turning in my bed, trying to make sense of…everything. You know, wishing everything would be okay again. Or, be okay at all.” She stared up at the night sky – the concentration on her face looked as if she was counting the stars.
“Everything will be okay now.” My hand slipped from hers. I slid my arm over her shoulders, pulling her into my side. Her own arms traveled around my waist, squeezing me slightly. “You know what?”
“What?” I could feel her eyes gazing up at me, but my own were looking towards the sky.
“On every star, someone’s made a wish. Coulda been a small wish, coulda been a huge wish. I’ve made a wish, too. Wanna know what it is?”
“You can’t say – it won’t come true,” she said, rubbing her face into my chest, which, I must say, was quite tricky considering we were speed walking.
“It’s already came true.” I looked back down onto her, but I could only see the top of her head. “My wish was to live my dreams.”
“What if your dreams haven’t come true yet?”
“They have, baby, they really have. I have you, I have my best friends, and now I’m about to set off into the world… I’m going to be a guitarist in a successful band. I’m gunna show kids that their world isn’t just on their door steps – I’m gunna show them that it’s wherever your heart takes you.” I got lost then. My mind had begun to ravel off ideas too complex for my brain to divulge, instead, I just let them twist and bend into colourful dreams, the dreams that would be coming true in…
“Quinn…?” She waved my own arm in front of my face. I shook my head and looked as her finger pointed at my watch. “Two minutes! C’mon, hurry up!”
And won't you think I'm pretty
When I'm standing top the bright lit city
And I'll take your hand and pick you up
And keep you there so you can see
As long as you're alive and care
I promise I will take you there
We'll drink and dance the night away
We set off into a jog, grinning as the wind slapped us in the face, our hands reaching out for each others in the dark. Fingers locked, eyes alight, hearts pounding, feet slamming we reached the small, dingy garage. Our running had caused us to double over outside the paint-peeling door, our spare hands gripping our sides, trying to catch our breath, although it left us as soon as we laughed. We could have stayed like that forever, in fact, we wanted to. It seemed like, for the first time in my life, every thing was per-
“Oh my fucking God, they’re finally fucking here!” The door rolled up into the ceiling, revealing a short, black haired boy, smirking wildly. He never changed, that boy. “Whoa, you guys were going to fuck! Damn, I had to interrupt…”
“Oh, take off, hoser! You’re such a pervert!” Mel exclaimed, her hand leaving mine to fall limply by my side. She pulled her back pack straps tighter on her shoulders and went over to hug Bert, who slapped her ass as she walked inside the garage.
“Watch it, McCracken, or you won’t have a dick in a minute,” I joked, slapping him on the back as I hugged him too.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get yours later.” He winked and walked back inside, sitting on one of the collapsing couches facing the garage door I was having trouble closing.
“You’re such a girl, Allman, jeeze…” Mel jumped up, grabbing hold of the ridged metal, helping me throw it down onto the concrete floor. However, it got stuck half way towards the floor. We both stopped and looked at each other, fighting our laughter. “…Let’s just leave it now, eh?” Giggling, we walked back over to the empty couch. I snaked my arm around her waist and pulled her onto my knee.
“Oh gross man, no sex, yeah?” Emilee said, her nose wrinkling up in disgust. She was sat on the floor, the contents of her back pack sprawled around her. My lap suddenly became empty as Mel pounced on the girl on the floor, the heap erupting laughs and screams.
“Whoa! Girl on girl action! Shit, I don’t have a camera…” Bert laughed, watching Mel and Emilee…hug. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was a hug, or something more sexual, but with those two, you could never be too sure what they would get up to.
Emilee attempted to throw Melanie off her, but that only resulted in the brown haired girl trying to plant a kiss on the blonde hair girl’s cheek.
“Okay, okay, okay, I am splitting this up before Bert gets a hard on, yeah?!” I announced, trying to pull the girls apart, which only left me lying on the floor between them. The floor was cold and hard and the damp seemed through my clothes, leaving goose bumps to burst over my skin – or maybe it was the fact that Mel’s hand was trailing up my arm. Her slender fingers ran up and down my arm, until they finally settled into my hand, lacing my own with hers.
Savor every moment of this…
As long as you're alive
Here I am
I promise I will take you there
I watched out of the corner of my eye as Bert slid off his seat and onto the floor, sitting cross legged beside Emilee. This was the way it was supposed to be – just us, together, happy. Only there was still someone missing…
“Hey, where’s Jeph?”
Almost as soon as my words hit the air, the grunted response came from the corner of the room.
“Here.” He slammed his back pack, jacket and himself onto the floor in front of us, his face resembling thunder. He chewed his lip, almost gnawing it to his piercings.
“Uh, dude? Are you okay?” Bert asked, cautiously.
“Does it look like I’m okay!” It wasn’t a question – it was a demand. He signed and dipped his head, so his knuckles could massage his forehead. We were all sitting up at this point, though her hand was still safely clasped in mine. “He broke up with me…he…he fucking broke up with me, the cunt.” I watched as we all opened our mouths to speak, but none of us really had any of the words to say. “And, yeah, sorry guys, but he took the car…I…I don’t know how we’re gunna-.”
“We’ll walk, it’s no big deal.” How we were supposed to walk to a destination none of us knew was beyond me, but we needed to reassure him, and Bert’s words seemed to do that.
“Thanks guys. I’m sorry he was such a prick, you know, taking the car an’ all.”
“He’s more of a prick for breaking your heart, Jeph,” Melanie sympathized, while Emilee reached forward and hugged him, quickly followed by Melanie, then me, then Bert.
“Right, I think we should celebrate…the beginning of our new lives!” I said, breaking away from the hug and adding the second part quickly. Bert immediately scrambled up and headed for the shelf full of assorted bottles full of alcohol. He shoved a couple of glass bottles into his back pack, but kept a medium sized bottle in his hand. He shook it in front of our faces, his eyes a light as the amber liquid flowed around the bottle.
“The glasses are all upstairs, and I ain’t going back up there, so we’re just going to have to be hardcore and neck it in turn.” We separated out into a pathetic excuse of a circle and he flopped down, unscrewing the lid and taking a big gulp.
And won't you think I'm pretty
When I'm standing top the bright lit city
And I'll take your hand and pick you up
And keep you there so you can see
As long as you're alive and care
I promise I will take you there
As long as you're alive and care
I promise I will take you there
After the bottle had been passed around so many times, everyone’s finger prints could be distinguished from the other. There was still a swill of alcohol left over at the bottom, which Bert decided to pour over Melanie’s head. Evidently, she screamed and lunged at him, but he was laughing too hard to care at her punches.
“Eurgh, Bert, you’re such a…a…ugh!” She grunted, slipping back over to me. Bert was still rolling on the floor, clutching his sides.
“I’m such a what? A hoser?”
“Yeah!” She smirked, throwing the lid of the bottle at him.
I realized I had been rather quiet this evening, considering it was the start of my new life, but I really didn’t feel the need to say much – the smile on my face pretty much said everything. Looking around the cold garage, I didn’t really want to leave…I was much happier here, just goofing around with my best friends. I knew I had to leave, I knew I wanted to, as well. Everything would be like this when we got to…where ever we were going, maybe even better. We would be free. Free to do whatever we wanted. But the best thing was; we would be free together. No controlling, alcoholic father. No hooker of a mother. No disapproving family keeping me away from her. Just…us.
“Are we ready to go?” Jeph said, shattering the silence. We all nodded in turn, the guys standing up first, and then pulling the girls up. Walking out, or rather, crouching out of the door, the stars were more prominent in the sky. I pulled Melanie closer to me, my head close to hers.
“More people have made wishes. And more people’s wishes have came true, like ours, baby.” She shuddered as my breath tickled her ear, her eyes gazing up at me and then into the sky. She turned to me, fully this time, her arms wrapping themselves around my neck, while mine stayed around her waist. Our lips were mere millimeters away…
“Oh my God! What the fuck?! Emilee! I am going to kill you!” Mel screamed, swooping down and picking up a square packet, which had just hit her in the cheek. She held up the condom packet to my face, while I burst out in hysterics.
“I thought you might need it for later! Safe sex is good sex!”
Savor every moment of this.
♠ ♠ ♠
ily, babe. ♥