On the Edge

"I think so too!" Parker yelled over the loud crowded room.

"What?" You spoke, looking at him confused.

"Oh," he winked at you. "I thought you said we should go to that room over there." He pointed toward the only bedroom in the small off campus apartment that was packed with people. I rolled my eyes at his lame attempt of a pickup line. I stood a little taller when I noticed how uncomfortable this made you feel. You were better than having a shitty pick up line drunkenly thrown at you. I decided to interfere.

"Parker." I said sternly, eyeing him down. "Where's Kennedy?" I narrowed my eyes hoping that he would get the hint and leave us be.

Although his current state of mind was altered by the mass amounts of alcohol he had consumed in the night, he got the hint. You watched him awkwardly make his exit and then turned to me. You gave me a halfhearted smile after you realized what I had done. "Thank you." You said.

"It's no problem," I chuckled. "He's just extremely drunk."

You nodded then looked over the crowded room, biting your bottom lip. "Well, I should go find my friend." You said with a worried expression on your face.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," You continued to look through the crowd of drunk college kids. "She just has my wallet, which has the key to our apartment so I don't want to end up locked out."

"Oh, that wouldn't be good." I gave a nervous chuckle. Even though I had quite a few drinks in me, I was still nervous as hell. But I never told you how nervous I was talking to you that night. Staring into your eyes as you looked up at me made me feel like we were the only people in that crowded dirty apartment. "What does she look like? I'll help you find her."

"She was the girl sitting on the bus with me." You said, looking back at me. "But It's fine," you shook your head. "I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

"Are you sure?" I smiled.

Even though I was more than happy to help you find where your friend was, I knew that would probably result in you leaving me. I've spent so many days and nights thinking about you that I wouldn't let this chance of finally talking to you pass me.

"I'm sure." You smiled, bringing the red cup you were sipping on to your lips.

I pulled the pack of cigarettes out of my back pocket and I waved them slightly. "Would you like to step outside with me?" I said, "Who knows, your friend may be out there."

"Of course!" You said over the loud festival trap music playing.

You followed me out of the crowded apartment. I lit the cigarette and brought it to my lips. The party was so big that people were spilling out of the apartment and hanging out in the parking lot. I stood there for a moment and watched a big group of people approaching the party. Inhaling the toxic substances, I turned to you and smirked as I exhaled. "So-"

"I re-"

"I'm sorry," I chuckled, apologizing for beginning to speak at the same time.

You looked down and bit that bottom lip of yours again. You were so shy. But why? I never thought of you being the shy type, especially being a bartender and all. It was your job to socialize at the bar. "You go ahead."

"No," you looked up at me, forcing a slight laugh. "You go ahead. I forgot what I was going to say anyways."

I paused for a moment, reading your body language. You didn't forget what you had to say. I could tell there was something you needed to get off your chest. "Do you go to this school?" I finally spoke, uninterested in the question I asked. I was more interested in what you were about to say.

"No," you said, looking around. "I don't go to school. I just moved here from Maryland a few months ago actually."

"Oh really?" I asked as you finished off your drink. "What made you decide to move to Philly?"

And in that moment our small talk was ended by Parker running up to us, out of breath. "Guys, guys." He exhaled, bending over to catch his breath as he grabbed hold of my shoulder to keep his balance. I nearly dropped my cigarette as he weighed me down. Parker breathed again, "the cops are coming."

"Nah," I chuckled in disbelief as I shooed him off me.

But he was right. As soon as he backed off I saw red and blue flashing lights pulling into the parking lot. "Shit." I muttered beneath my breath. I looked around and everyone that was packed into that tiny apartment was scattering like cockroaches through the parking lot.

My very first instinct was to grab your hand and run. And that's just what I did. You dropped your red cup to the ground as we ran for the bushes. I looked back and we were being followed by Kennedy and Parker. Yes, all four of us were of legal age to drink. But being with underage drinkers could have some serious consequences. I also had a dime bag in my pocket. Lord knows what Kennedy had on him.

"I-I have to go back," you stammered as we all knelt behind some bushes watching the scene unfold. The cops were now entering the small apartment demanding for the person that lived there to step forward. "I need to find my friend."

"Well," I began to think. "Lets get out of here for a bit so we don't get caught." I said, standing to walk away casually. "Can't you call her?"

-

Frank was jolted out of his vivid memory by his phone vibrating in his back pocket.

In his fragile state, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the phone. He shut his tear filled eyes tightly, half hoping that it would be your name flashing across the screen as the phone continued to vibrate. Bringing his weak hand up to his pale face, he gently wiped the tears from his eyes that remained shut.

He took one deep breath, trying to keep his composure as he prepared himself to look at the caller ID. Deep down he knew it wouldn't be your name flashing across the screen. Unless some sort of miracle were to happen, you would never call again.

He glanced at the phone, looking at the bright name written in bold letters on his phone through tear filled eyes. He sniffled, wiping his nose with the end of his jacket sleeve. "Gerard." He whispered with his voice full of sympathy as he thought about his best friend.

Frank went to go answer, but something inside him made him hesitate. His heart sank as his body began to tremble again. A single tear dropped directly on Gerard's name that was still plastered across the screen. "I'm so sorry." Frank apologized to his best friend before extending his arm, barely grasping the phone above the freezing water of the Delaware River. The last thing he wanted was Gerard to blame himself for this. Frank clenched his eyes shut tightly, slowly losing grip of the vibrating phone and prepared himself to watch it sink to the bottom of the river.

"Excuse me sir," Frank jumped as he heard the sudden voice next to him, quickly shoving his phone back into his pocket to hide any suspicion. But his bloodshot eyes and weak frame gave this tourist every right to have suspicion. Frank relaxed a bit as the tourist pulled out an unnecessarily big map, not paying any attention to his distraught appearance "Can you point me in the direction of where Chinatown is located?"

Frank scanned the map and pointed as he saw the name of a familiar venue that is located in Chinatown. Smiling widely, the tourist looked at him to thank him. His smile suddenly faded when his eyes met with Franks. His grateful expression suddenly turned into a look of sympathy as he barely whispered "thank you." Frank nodded and turned his back to the tourist, leaving him to go on with his day.

He heard laughter directly behind him and he darted his eyes to the dull cement to avoid any other unwanted questions. The family made their way by him, leaving him unnoticed. He began to steady his breathing just in case another happy tourist had any other questions for him.

The sound of heels on the busy bridge approached him as he glanced to his right, laying eyes on a beautiful business woman looking at her phone. Her eyes lit up as she brought the phone to her ear. "Hey!" She exclaimed, smiling widely. This could only remind him of the way you answered your phone that night.

-

"Hey!" You exclaimed as you spoke into the phone. Every expression of worry and stress on your gorgeous face had been replaced with relief and excitement. I watched you as your friend began to speak into the phone.

We had been walking through the University of Pennsylvania campus to escape the wrath of cops that were shutting down the party. I lagged behind with you as Kennedy and Parker stumbled through the dark courtyard, leading us to god knows where.

"You what?" I overheard you say sternly with a sigh. You looked up at me as the worried expression painted across your face once more. "No, no it's fine." You said, biting your bottom lip. "I'll catch a cab to my brothers place. It's no big deal."

You pulled the phone away from your ear abruptly and looked at it. "The bitch hung up on me." You mumbled.

I couldn't help but chuckle at your expression but I quickly composed myself when I realized something was wrong. "Everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," You sighed as we continued walking. I noticed we had ended up on the end of south street. I suddenly hoped my night with you wasn't coming to a complete end seeing that we were only five minutes away from my apartment. "She ran off with some guy. I can just catch a cab to my brothers place. It's no big de-" You stopped walking, stunned at the thought that just crossed your mind. "Shit!"

I stopped as Kennedy and Parker continued on. You bit your bottom lip once more, looking up at me even more worried than before. "She has my wallet, which has all my money in it so I can't get a cab..." You were almost ashamed to say it.

I chuckled with an attempt to lighten the situation. "Don't worry," I spoke, gently placing a hand on your shoulder. I quickly pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and looked through it. "Damn," I sighed in embarrassment "I only have ten bucks on me. Would that be enough to make it to your brothers place?"

You giggled at the thought. "Definitely not..." You looked to the ground, thinking of something to say. You shrugged and began walking again. "It's okay, I'll figure out somewhere to go."

"Are you sure?" I asked, weary of the thought of you being stranded on the dirty streets of Philly again.

The next words came out of my mouth faster than I could even think of them. I knew for a fact that if I hadn't of said them I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. Every ounce of worry had escaped your small frame as I stated, "You're more than welcome to stay at my place tonight."