Survive the Night by Danielle Vega Page B

his jaw, the strained sound of his voice.
    â€œLike I’m broken,” I say finally. Shana raises an eyebrow. “Like I remind him of James,” I add.
    Shana brushes the hair back from my face and kisses my forehead. “You’re nothing like James,” she says.
    â€œYou weren’t there,” I say. My voice cracks, and I have to stop and take a breath. I don’t want to cry in front of Shana, not with Sam just a few feet away, but I don’t know how to talk about Mountainside without bringing up all these weird emotions. “Those girls in rehab,” I continue. “They were—”
    â€œStop.” Shana cuts me off. “They might have been broken, but that doesn’t mean you are. You’re stronger than that.”
    I don’t answer right away. Her voice gets harder. “Do you understand?”
    I sigh and nod, wanting to believe her. Ahead of us, Julie leans her head back, staring up at the sky. Dark curls trail down her back. She hums “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” under her breath.
    â€œ This is where you belong,” Shana adds. “With us. Tell me you didn’t miss this.”
    â€œWandering around New York in the middle of the night?” I ask.
    â€œIt’s like eleven . Hardly the middle of the night. And I meant hanging with your friends. Going on an adventure.” Shana elbows me. “Remember that night at the playground?”
    I groan, thinking about the time Shana showed up in the middle of the night and woke me up by throwing pebbles at my window. She used to do that sometimes, when she and her mom had a fight and she needed to get out of the house to cool down. I had expected her to take me to some illicit party, but instead she drove to the playground two blocks away. She grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the swing set.
    â€œRace you,” she said, plopping down a swing.
    â€œTo where?” I asked.
    Shana shrugged. “The moon.”
    Shana swung higher and higher, pumping her legs until the chains groaned and the swing set lurched in place. Then—when she was so high it looked like she’d tip over and fall backward—she jumped.
    She fractured her ankle in three places. I had to carry her back to the Buick and drive her to the hospital. I called her mom at least seven times, but she never even picked up the phone. My mom answered on the first ring.
    â€œI’d prefer not to end up in the emergency room tonight,” I say, leaning my head on Shana’s shoulder. “Maybe this adventure can end with food?”
    â€œMan cannot live on bread alone, Casey,” she says.
    â€œWhat about pancakes? I’m pretty sure man can live on pancakes.”
    A rat scurries across the alley, its pink tail whipping behind it. It freezes in the middle of the street and stares at us with red eyes.
    â€œHoly shit!” I take a quick step back.
    Aya screams and stumbles over her feet. Julie bursts out laughing but grabs Aya’s arm so she doesn’t fall. The rat twitches its nose. I flinch. I imagine it darting toward us, snapping its long, sharp teeth. But it creeps along the curb and out of sight instead. I sigh in relief.
    Shana takes a swig of Jack Daniel’s. “It’s just a rat, guys,” she says, tucking the bottle back into her pocket.
    â€œIt’s disgusting,” Aya mutters. Julie kicks a soda can into the shadows where the rat disappeared, and something darts across the pavement. Aya releases another high-pitched shriek, and Julie laughs even harder.
    Suddenly, Lawrence stops walking. He, Sam, and Woody crouch down in the street.
    â€œThis is it!” Woody shouts, wiping the dirt off a manhole cover. The rest of us crowd around him.
    â€œFeel that?” Lawrence asks. Music vibrates through the ground, making the street hum.
    â€œCool,” I say, crouching next to Sam. I’m close enough that I can smell him, the combination of soap and pine