Passed Out on Your Lawn

Before we knew it school was due to be out. The year was up and I had an entire summer to play. That was until Max broke the news.

“What do you mean you won’t be here?” I pouted.

“I’m sorry. My mom’s sending me to my aunt’s. The best I could do was get her to let me come back halfway through the summer,” he shrugged.

“I don’t want you to go,” I whined.

“It’ll be ok. I’ll be out of summer school and back before you know it,” he wrapped me in a tight hug, which I returned.

‘This was gonna suck’ was an understatement. We’d become virtually attached at the hip these past few months and it’d be the best time of my life.
‘Damn’ just doesn’t cut it.

**

With Max gone things were more boring than a lecture on rocks so I did two things mainly; got myself a little job delivering papers and spending that money on pizza every night.
I stayed in my room the rest of the time or ventured as far as the back yard where I listened to Ratt or Warrant on the lawn with a book.

I was pulled from a chapter on pathology by someone calling my name.

“Guh?” I looked around from behind my aviators until I found Bryan…I think.
“Bry? What the fuck?” I heaved myself up and wandered barefoot to the tall gate he was trying to peer over, and opened it.

“Took ages to find you! How’s it goin’?” he rushed excitedly and hugged me.

“I’m fine,” I told him, happy to see someone, “How’re you?”

“I’m cool. Whatcha up to?” he looked around my small garden.

“Just reading.”

“Oh my god you have a trampoline! Can I go on it please, please, please?”

“Ran out of Ritalin?” I giggled, “Sure.”

He ran through the garden and dived head first onto it.
“These are so awesome!” Bryan grinned bouncing up and down.

“How did you find out where I lived?” I questioned, sitting back on the grass in my cut off black shorts.

“Max told me vaguely when he called. Said he didn’t have your number with him or he lost it,” Bryan explained between jumps.

“Oh cool. How is he? He never gave me a number to call him on,” I peered up with intrigue.

The mere mention of Max’s name reminded me of how much I missed him; something I’d been trying to distract myself from the past week or so.

“He’s alright, wants to come back though. Say, Ronnie’s having a barbeque later I think, you wanna come?” Bryan stopped jumping and dropped into a seated position as the trampoline springs steadied.

“Yeah sure,” I agreed.

“Good cause I would’a had to force you otherwise. I’m under strict instructions,” Bryan nodded at me secretively.

“From who? To do what?” I raised my brow with a smirk.

“Who do you think,” he rolled his eyes, “I’m entertaining you until he returns. If I didn’t know better I’d say Max has a huge gross crush on you,” Bryan giggled to himself.

My heart stopped for a second and I swallowed the lump in my throat before smoothly replying; “But you do know better, we all do.”

At this he just laughed some more, “We should leave soon, takes ages to walk to Ronnie’s.”

“It’s two blocks. How do you walk, sideways?” I scoffed.

“Like a crab!” Bryan hopped onto the lawn and began a crab impression, sideways walking and pincer hands, which made me giggle a little.

“Crab people,” I mumbled in an odd voice, “I’ll be a second then. Stay here,” I insisted before ducking inside.

I left a note for my mom, grabbed keys and slipped on some high-heeled sling backs before dragging Bryan out of the front door and locking everything up.

We arrived in Ronnie’s back yard in the fashion of me on Bryan’s back after about twenty minutes of slow walking.

“Heyyy!” Bryan announced us.

“Hi guys,” I said afterwards.

“Hey, hey,” Robert greeted us.

“Really Bryan? Stealing Dakota while Max is away,” Ronnie scoffed, stepping into the back yard.

“Dude it’s not funny. He can’t get mad when he’s not even here to make fun of. Besides can’t you insult someone that’s not me,” I commented and sat on the picnic bench with my back to the table.

“Hmm that’s true,” Ronnie replied thoughtfully staring at me, “Would you like some wine?”

“Yes…yes I would please,” I agreed.

Ok wine isn’t nice but booze is booze and so far good times.

**

Ronnie singed his hair, Bryan set the barbeque on fire and Robert accidentally flipped burgers over the fence with his new sport of ‘extreme flipping’. This instigated ‘extreme flipping-off’ causing each of us to keep at least one of our middle fingers raised solo at all times.

“Dude whatthefuck!” I pulled my hand back and wiped my finger across my shorts.

Ronnie cracked up first as he was the one to put his nose onto my finger when I wasn’t looking. See I had my elbow resting on the table and hand in the air.

“You’re out,” he pointed out while I viciously wiped at my finger.

“Mother fucker, I’ll kick your ass, that wasn’t fair!”