[[Can we just go somewhere for a little while?->car1]]
"Can we just go somewhere for a little while?" Ashley asked.
Sarah looked confused. "I already dropped everyone off though. It's super late and I'm, like, halfway to your house, dude."
It was Sarah's turn to be the driver that night. She, Ashley, and a few of their friends had gone out for pizza after performing with their high schools pep band. This was becoming a bit of a tradition for them all.
"I know," Ashley said shyly, [["I just don't want to go home yet."->car2]]
"Okay, sure. I don't have anything important to do tomorrow anyway. Is there anywhere specific you had in mind? What's the plan?" Sarah asked, beginning to feel excited about the little adventure that seemed to be starting.
Ashley was at a total loss for words. She didn't have a plan. Asking Sarah to go somewhere //was// the plan. She stared out the window, watching the houses and the trees pass by. Trees. Trees like the big ones down by the river.
[["Down by the river?"->car3]] Ashley asked.
What she meant was Maplewood park, tucked in a little corner on the south side of town. It had a small playground, a few acres of open field, and a river that cut it clean in half. On either side of the river were rows of gigantic maple trees, dense enough to feel like a forest but sparse enough so that one could never truly get lost.
"Oh my god, yes!" Sarah yelled, grinning from ear to ear. "It'll be so spooky this late! I love it!"
She spun the car around and started speeding to the park. Ashley chuckled to herself and took a deep breath. Spooky wasn't what she had in mind, but it would do. [[Anything with Sarah would be fun enough.->park1]]
A few silent minutes later and Sarah had parked the car in the dirt lot that served as the entrance to Maplewood.
"I think the park is closed, actually. We could get towed or something." Mumbled Ashley. "What if a cop comes or..."
"Nah," Sarah interjected. "I'm invested now. And it's my car anyway, so if anything bad happens it'll be my problem. Just roll with me, dude."
Ashley looked at her feet. She knew Sarah was right, but it had taken all of her courage to even get that far. Maybe, she thought, she should just [[let Sarah take the lead for a while.->park2]]
They got out of the car and started walking toward the river. Dragonflies buzzed around their ankles as they moved across the empty field, glowing in the moonlight. There was a certain magic in the air. The kind that can only be felt by people too old to ignore how small they are in the world and yet too young to accept it. Almost as though there was some cosmic significance to being in that exact place at that exact time.
It was a feeling that Ashley knew very well, and one that was [[almost entirely in her head.->park3]]
Sarah grinned and said, "So how about that last english test? I thought it went okay, but Meyer was so full of shit with the last essay. //What's a lesson ''you'' can learn from Gatsby's mistakes?// Actually what?"
"Yeah, it was annoying. Not too bad though." Ashley replied.
"What'd you even write about for that?"
"Just some stuff about how you need to keep things in perspective. Not let what you want distort what's in front of you, stuff like that. You?"
"Always drive your own car."
[[Ashley laughed harder than that joke deserved.->park4]]
She racked her brain trying to think of something witty to say back. She wished she was as funny as Sarah, as effortlessly confident, as endlessly interesting. She wished she was a lot of things.
"So..." Sarah said, derailing Ashley's looping train of thought. "Did you watch Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist yet? I know I've been hounding you but I just really want to talk to you about it."
"Yeah, actually, I forgot to tell you. Sorry. [[I thought it was fine, I guess."->park5]]
"Yeah it's kind of bad." Sarah said bluntly.
Ashley looked at her, mildly stunned. "I thought the reason you wanted me to watch it is because you liked it."
"Nah, it's bad, but it's a really interesting kind of bad, you know? Like, take the whole thing with Fluffy, the band whose secret show they're trying to find. They get one clue, it turns out to be a bust, and then at the very end of the movie they just get the announce the address on the radio. No build up, no mystery, no puzzle solving. Boom. There it is. Or how about the whole romance angle wrapping up with Michael Cera magically giving Kat Dennings an orgasm when //nobody else could//. It's like a cartoon, honestly."
[["Yeah."->park6]] Ashley said.
"And that scene where her friend reaches into a dirty toilet that's way grosser than it needed to be," Sarah continued, "I've got this theory that it was actually a Silent Hill reference. Or maybe a Saw reference. But I think Saw was referencing Silent Hill anyway so maybe it's kind of both."
"Bold choice for a reference in a teen romance movie."
"I know right! God, that'd be wild if it was true. I just wish that I could, like, remake that movie myself. It has so many good ideas and just doesn't... use them."
Sarah glanced at Ashley. Ashley stayed quiet.
"Sorry. I'll tone down rambling." Sarah said. [["I don't want to bore you."->river1]]
"You're not boring!" Sarah exclaimed. "I just didn't really form any strong opinions on it is all. It's the kind of movie you forget right after watching it."
"Accurate." Ashley said as they reached the treeline.
They weaved around the thick trunks of the maple trees until they reached the river. It was about fifteen feet across, gently flowing from east to west. The gurgle of the water mixed with the slight rustle of the leaves above to create an peaceful ambience. Quiet, but not lonely.
Sarah sat on the river bank and looked up at Ashley with a wide smile before patting the ground to her right. Ashley sat down next to her, as close as she could without it being [[weird->river2]], she thought.
The two watched the water for a moment, but Sarah, feeling the encroaching silence, reached for the last arrow in her quiver.
"So I hear Derek has been crushing on you. [[What do you think about that?"->river3]]
"Mixed feelings." Ashley said with a sigh.
"Oooooooo do tell!" Crooned Sarah.
"I mean, he's fine. He's in band, so we have that in common at least, but he's kind of boring. There's nothing about him that makes me perk up and //want// to be around him, he's just sort of there, you know? I do want to at least date someone before I graduate. I've never had a real relationship, and I feel like I'm old enough for that to be weird, so if he asked me out I might just say yes for the sake of it. But then, even thinking seriously about dating him makes me feel so... //eh//."
"Oh shit! I forgot you hadn't dated anybody. Poor baby probably hasn't even held someone's hand yet." Sarah said [[jokingly.->river4]]
"Hey!" Ashley giggled. "I'll have you know that I let Tony Becker hold my hand at the school dance in seventh grade, thank you very much!"
"Slut."
"HEY!"
[[They melted into laughter.->river5]]
Ashley, finally infected by Sarah's energy, was left with a slight smile that refused to leave her face. "Well what about you then?" She asked. "I never did get the whole story about your and Ryan's break up."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "He wasn't my type."
"What do you mean he wasn't your type? You were together for, like, a year and a half."
"Yeah, but the more time passed, the more I realized I didn't like him. So I ended it. What's he been telling people? That I was brainwashed by aliens?"
"That you're a heartless bitch."
"I mean, he's not wrong, but [[fuck him anyway."->river6]] Sarah said with a grin.
She elbowed Ashley. "Who even needs boys? Most of them think Axe is just a shower in a can, and if I choke on one more cloud of //Lady Melter//, or whatever, I'm going to flip."
"True." Said Ashley, letting her smile grow.
There was a pause. Ashley looked at Sarah. Sarah looked at the river. The river flowed west.
"We should do this more." Said Sarah. "Hang out, just the two of us. I love the band crew and all, but this has been really fun."
"Really?" Ashley asked, blushing.
"Yeah. [[You're really fun to be around.->river7]] And besides, it's cool getting to talk personal stuff without the others. They're my friends, but I wouldn't say any of this in front of those gossipy assholes."
Ashley's blush turned to a glow. "Yes! I mean, yeah. That sounds like a ton of fun."
"Perfect." Sarah said. "This can be our first adventure together. Actually, I think... Shit. Okay, I left my bag in the car, but I need to grab something really quick. I'll be right back. I promise I'm not ditching you."
Without another word she stood up and started jogging back to her car, leaving Ashley [[alone on the river bank.->pics1]]
Before Sarah was even out of sight, Ashley's mind began to race.
//I'm not doing anything next Saturday. Should I bring up going to a movie or something? I'll mention that to her when she gets back. No, she just said she wanted to hang out more a second ago, so it's way too soon to make new plans. Don't they say you're supposed to wait three days to do stuff like that? But that's for dating, so I don't think those rules apply. This is just friend stuff. It's casual. I should wait for her to bring up new plans so that I know it's not too soon. If she does it then I know she won't think the timing is weird. But what if she doesn't? What if she's all talk and hanging out with me is such a low priority that she never gets around to it? God, why do I even care so much? I guess I'll just-//
Sarah tapped her shoulder, startling her [[back to reality.->pics2]]
"Pretty neat, right?" Sarah said, holding a polaroid camera for Ashley to see. "I want to start using this more so I can hang up pictures all over my room. Maybe I'll make a mural out of them or something."
"How very hipster."
"Oh whatever. It's cool and you know it. Now stand up so we can take a picture together. I want to document tonight."
Ashley hesitated. "I, uh, don't look good in pictures. My face always looks like I'm about to cry no matter what I do, and I hate it."
"Okay," Replied Sarah without missing a beat, "Then we'll just make weird faces so it'll be [[bad on purpose."->pics3]]
Ashley laughed. She thought it was a ridiculous idea, but ridiculous was easier to handle than bad. She got up and stood shoulder to shoulder with Sarah, who was already holding the camera at arms length.
"Okay Ash, film for this thing is expensive as shit, so we only get one take. I'll count us off. Give me the //worst// face you got. One, two, three..."
[[Click!->pics4]]
Ashley and Sarah watched excitedly as the picture printed and began to develop, slowly revealing their faces in the foggy gray of the polaroid.
"This is amazing!" Sarah chirped.
"This is awful." Ashley mumbled. "Are you sure we can't take another one"
"Yes I'm sure! The point of this isn't to be perfect, it's to be real. This is really what tonight looks like, even if that's just us being dorks. I'm keeping it."
Sarah walked back to the river bank and sat down, still admiring her photo. Ashley followed shortly after, refusing to let it ruin her excitement. She sat [[closer to Sarah this time.->end1]]
Sarah cleared her throat. "Not to jump too far back in the conversation or anything, but I think you can do a lot better than Derek."
Ashley looked surprised. "You think so?"
"Hell yeah, dude. Look at you! You're adorable! And you're really fun, and funny, and way smarter than him. You're also way smarter than me, but that's beside the point. What I mean is that you're a catch. You're way out of his league, and I'm sure he knows it."
"Oh come on." Said Ashley.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, trying to hide that she was blushing again, before letting her arms drop at her sides. Her right hand landed on cool, green grass. [[Her left hand landed on the tips of Sarah's fingers.->end2]]
They both turned and locked eyes. Neither of them moved their hands. Neither of them said anything. A thought, a desire, crossed Ashley's mind that she hadn't considered before.
And yet, she was deadlocked by anxiety. She didn't want to be confused. She didn't want to be complicated.
[[Kiss Sarah->end3]]
[[Turn Away->end3]]
Before Ashley could decide anything, Sarah leaned forward and kissed her.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Every kiss sent electricity shooting through Ashley's body. She felt everything more intensely. The sound of the river was a symphony. The smell of Sarah's shampoo was a field of flowers. The taste of her lips was sweet taffy.
Four times. Five. Six.
Her heart was full to bursting. The thrill of being vulnerable and yet feeling safe. The rush of new connection. It was all but completely overwhelming her.
Until [[Sarah pulled back.->end4]]
Reality quickly struck Ashley and she turned to stare at her feet. After a moment she mumbled, "Derek is going to be pretty upset."
She wasn't there anymore. She was next week, explaining this to their friends. She was next month, coming out to her parents. She was next year, bringing Sarah back to that spot for their anniversary.
Sarah laughed and snapped her fingers a few times. "Ash. Ash! Stay with me girl."
Ashley turned to make eye contact with her again.
[["Was that okay?"->end5]] Sarah asked quietly.
"Yes." Ashley said, her smile returning to her face. "More than okay."
Sarah pulled her in for a tight hug. They sat there for several minutes, holding each other in silence. Talking could have only [[diluted that moment.->end6]]
Finally, Sarah spoke. "I think we should get you home. You're way later than your parents were probably expecting and the bugs are starting to come out."
"Yeah, I know." Ashley said reluctantly. [["Let's head."->end7]]
The two walked back to the car and drove to Ashley's house in a comfortable silence, holding hands the whole way. Sarah parked on the street out front and Ashley quietly gathered her things and left the car.
Sarah took a deep breath and looked at herself in the rearview mirror. Her confident shell started to peel away as the night caught up with her. She felt absolutely crazy, but didn't regret a second of it.
She heard a [[faint knocking.->end8]]
Ashley was standing at the driver side door with a smile on her face. Sarah rolled down her window, feeling confused, and Ashley gave her a quick kiss before jogging away toward the house.
Sarah chuckled to herself and started to drive home. She fantasized about how she'd get Ashley back for that dorky move, and took pleasure in knowing that she would have [[plenty of chances to do so.->end9]]
The End <3