“We have to go to the bathroom," Emily said.
“Yeah,” Summer said, “need to freshen up." She gave me one of her full lip smiles and winked. They headed off towards the restroom whispering and looking over their shoulders. I was quick becoming self-conscious they were talking about me especially when Emily said, “You didn’t," before they ducked inside.
I slid in next to Kyle. “Hey,” he said.
“You look happy," Nate said smiling.
“It’s Friday," I said.
“Yes it is, but Fridays don’t bring about smiles like that, if I had to guess—”
I cut Nate off with a punch to the gut, “There’s nothing to guess on and let’s leave it at that."
Nate held up both his hands, “Okay, okay, guy can take a hint."
Kyle flicked Nate’s head. "Ow," Nate said rubbing at the spot, “what was that for?"
“Checking to see how thick it is.” Kyle looked at me, “It’s pretty thick,” he said. We were laughing when the girls returned.
Summer slid into the booth next to me. “Why didn’t you tell me rugby was canceled?” Emily slid in beside her.
“I was busy, and forgot" I said glancing at her lips and the freshly applied gloss. I placed my hand on her leg and squeezed.
“Yeah, he was super happy over it being Friday and all.” Nate smiled at Summer. Asshole.
“Is there anything you can do, you know to get it back?" She placed her hand on top of mine.
Nate ran his hand through his dark hair and looked at Summer, “We could write to our local senator you wouldn’t happen to know his name would you?"
“You’d have a better chance reaching my father than I would.”
“I thought one of you would be bringing Claudia with,” Emily said effectively changing the conversation. The smell of cigarettes and mints overwhelming the small space.
“Nah,” Kyle said, “I bow to Nate, I got to talking to her and she feisty, reminds me too much of my momma for my taste.”
“He’s saying that because he knows I’m gonna win anyway."
The waiter came by and took our order; two large pizzas and a pitcher of Coke.
When the waiter came back with our drinks Nate reached into his jacket and withdrew a flask. He poured a bit into his glass of Coke and offered the rest of it to the table. Kyle and I passed, but Summer grabbed it from his hands and took a whiff.
“What is it?" She made a face and offered it to Emily. Emily took a sip and shuddered before handing it back to Summer.
“It’s rum, I have other stuff in the car.” Nate took his flask back from Summer. "My parents are in the Bahamas for their anniversary.” You could hear the eye roll in his voice. Nate was about as spoiled as one could get but not in the way he craved which was attention.
Kyle grabbed the flask before Nate could slide it back into his jacket. “You better not drink anymore until you get home.” He dumped the rest of the alcohol in a nearby plant.
“What’d you do that for?"
Kyle kept Nate in check. His father was police commissioner and since he was the first African-American to have the position in Maine meant Kyle showed tremendous respect for the law and made the rest of us as well. Nate being an only child to one of the wealthiest families on the East coast meant he wasn’t accustomed to not getting his way, no, wasn’t exactly a word in their repertoire. This constantly put Kyle and Nate at odds, but it also seemed to make them best friends.
Laws are partly responsible for Kyle and I becoming friends. After the mess with my mom, and her accidental overdose––she’d mixed up her prescriptions and took the wrong amount of one then had a glass of wine which caused a very bad reaction—I may have been eleven but even I knew it wasn’t an accident.
My mom had OCD she’d never mixed up anything, especially medication. Truth is she committed suicide. Her depression was obvious to anyone who knew her including me, but I never said anything. One
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