They Loved Us

We walk down the street at night, Parker and I usually stop at the skating park and flirt with the horny 14-year-olds. They give us cigarettes and we tease them. Tonight, we walk past them and they all whistle.

“Hey! You guys made it!”
Kyle is leaning against a brick wall. Next to him is the entrance of the club. Bill stands in front of him and lights up a cigarette with a smile on his face as soon as he sees Parker. We’re not too close to them so Parker whispers in my ear something like “musicians are so hot” and then she smirks. We walk up to them, Parker takes Bill’s cigarette from his mouth and takes a drag. “We wouldn’t miss it”. Bill looks like an infatuated idiot. He can’t believe this goddess is getting him laid.
I feel Kyle hugging me from behind. “Hey you”, he nibbles on my ear. I chew on my lower lip. His voice is smoky and his scent drives me crazy. It’s like I’m addicted to his touch and whenever he pulls away, I need more. I turn to face him, his arms still around me. I peck his lips. “When does the show start?”
“In ten minutes. You’ll be my good luck charm, yeah?”
I roll my eyes.
“Ew! You guys are so corny”, Parker exclaims as she takes a final drag from Bill’s cigarette before handing it back to him. “Leave the rom-com somewhere else”
I see Bill trying to put an arm around Parker’s waist, he’s trying to be smooth, but he’s too self-conscious. We all know that. He thinks Parker really likes him. He doesn’t know she’s using him for sex. According to her, bass players are the best in bed. I lean towards drummers, Kyle is my obvious choice.
“We should go get ready. You coming, Bill?”
Bill nods and awkwardly smokes the last of the cigarette before dropping it. His hand leaves Parker’s waist and he looks at her, there’s a charming-yet-pathetic sparkle in his eyes. “I’ll see you inside?”
I know Parker’s smiles so well. That little twist on her right corner, she knows he’s where she wants him. “Sure babe”, she says and kisses so passionately that his bottom lip is left swollen. Kyle and I chuckle. “You guys go inside”, I say, “Parker and I have some shit to do. No worries, it’ll only take ten minutes”
Kyle bites my ear and lets me go. I feel my heart racing so hard I think I could faint.
As soon as they go inside, Parker takes out a lighter and sighs. “Corner”, she says. I know what she means, like always. We head to the corner and we hide behind a light pole. We light up the joint I’d been carrying on my bra.
“Poor guy, you should let him off the hook”, I say as I hand Parker the joint after my first drag.
Parker rolls her eyes, “I can’t help that he worships me. It all started with that stupid cop car”, she smiles and takes a drag. I chuckle at the memory.
“Jezz. I always forget the cop car. I know it’s been like three weeks, but it feels like much longer”
“That’s because when you’re in love, you lose track of time”
I look at her with silly eyes. “I’m not in love, and besides, who are you to talk about love? You’re basically a soul-less hottie”
Parkers grins and hands me back the joint, she exhales. “Thanks, sweetie”. I roll my eyes and she takes off her jacket, revealing her toned arms in a red halter top. “Come on, Sienna. Kyle was so fucking into you before the cop car. I actually have the theory that he got in to impress you”
“Care to explain?”, I laugh and take the last drag of the joint, I toss the butt on the ground.
Parker has a new twinkle in her eyes, she’s high, so am I. “His dear Sienna and her friend Parker got busted for possession and he walks by and sees them in the police car, he gets in and hurries Billy to get inside as well, because Bill does everything Kyle says. Kyle started driving so fast I don’t even know where we ended up”
I chuckle at the memory. “The city dumpster”, I remind her.
She grins. “Good old days”

Inside, the place is packed. There are a few tables available and we manage to sit. Kyle’s band is already playing. A minute into the song, a waiter sets two drinks in front of us. “From them”, he points at a table behind us.
Parker takes a sip from the glass and I turn around, these dudes look older, maybe thirty-somethings, they’re still hot. I mouth a thank you to them and Parker is finished with her own drink. The music’s loud and I can’t help but notice that Kyle is an exceptional player. He looks like an animal and I’m so turned on right now. I watch the entire show drinking drink after drink that guys send us and Parker is flirting with all of them.
Show ends at 1 AM. Party starts. Kyle gets down from the stage and he’s all sweaty and he smells like music. He grabs me by the waist and presses me against him. “That was amazing”, I murmur. He thanks me and kisses me.
Bill is trying to get Parker’s attention, but she’s not interested. She’s decided she wants to dance, and when that happens, no one can stop her. I know she’s going to end up dancing on a table and I laugh. Kyle asks me what’s so funny. “I just want to be your drum set tonight”, I smirk. He gets the hint and immediately walks me out the door. I manage to shout a HAVE FUN BABES at Parker but she’s too drunk to notice me. I smile and let Kyle guide me to his house.
I love when his parents aren’t home, we can be as loud as we can.
“You can’t go to the store like that”, Kyle says from the bed. I’m wearing the outfit of the previous night, a high waisted skirt and a crop top. “They’ll fire you”
I roll my eyes. “My personality will convince them I’m their best seller”. He laughs. “Has Parker called?”, I ask as I look for my phone. Kyle shrugs.

There are no costumers by the time I get to the store and there are no costumers for the next five hours. Greg, the boss, has been on his laptop since I got here. I look around the items; stupid clothes that nobody wants. Somewhere around three, Greg looks at me, “where’s Parker?”
I look up from my magazine and shrug. “I tried calling her, haven’t heard from her since last night”
The door opens. Parker walks in with a bottle of water and huge sunglasses. She’s wearing all black. I go up to her. “Hey! I tried calling you, what the fuck?”
I notice she’s crying. Fuck. “Parker?”
“Oh, Sienna. How I hate those guys”. She takes off her sunglasses and there’s an ugly bruise all over her left eye.

At the back of the store, Greg shares his flask of whisky while Parker tells us her story. “I was just dancing, Bill wanted me to get down to dance with him, but I didn’t want to. I was up and everything was great. Then this guy climbed on the table with me and we were dancing and Bill got mad. Sienna, he got so angry I got scared. He pushed the guy off the table. I stumbled and fell, I hit my head. I spent the night at the hospital”
“Shit”, I sighed.
Parker’s phone rang.

We are sitting down at the train station; Parker’s bags are on the ground. Her dad found out about everything, he was pissed. He had threatened her to send her away to boarding school before, but never did. He was serious this time. Proof, we were waiting for Parker’s train.
“I’m sorry”, I said after a long silence.
Parker looked at me, confused. “Why?”
“Because… I should’ve been there”
She nudges my shoulder and smiles. “It’s fine, Sienna. I knew this day would come eventually. I didn't think it was going to be so soon. But, you know, c'est la vie"
"But if I hadn't been with Kyle..."
She interrupts me. "Honey, this is what makes us girls", she says and puts a hand on my shoulder. "We can't stick together cause love is our priority. We'll always put boys first. And it's not fair, it's not nice, but it is what it is. And that's okay"
I stay silent for a second, "I'm still sorry", I say.
She sighs and shrugs. "Well, you know... At least they loved us. They all did"
The smile on my face tastes bittersweet. "Yeah", I nod, "they loved us"