Page 49 of Fade into You

“I’m good, I’m waiting on Bird and Kayla. Gotta drive home tonight too.”

She pouts and puts them back in her box, then pulls out a joint. “A little green?”

I think about it, it definitely would make everything easier. But Bird isn’t a fan, and I can abstain if it means not ticking her off. “Gotta keep a clear mind this time, Natalie.”

She leans back and looks at me, squinting a little, sizing me up. “Damn, woman, I think you might be changing.”

“Just trying to get something done. Not transforming into Ms. Responsible.”

“Something like Bi-ird…” she trills. All of a sudden I’m flushed and suuuuper uncomfortable.

“Not exactly,” I say, and then I see Bird and Kayla enter. I catch Bird’s eye and nod, then see a funny expression cross her face when she notices Natalie, and my mind goes back to our initial bathroom meeting. I disentangle myself from Natalie and stand up.

“Thinking of hitting the show at Touchstone later,” I say. “If you want, we can toke up there.”

She follows my gaze, gives a slow, exaggerated wink to me, then leans back into the couch. “Sure, Jessa, see you there.”

Her eyes are drooping in chemical satisfaction as I head over to Bird and Kayla, now grabbing a table.

“Ladies,” I say nonchalantly, and make a business out of pulling out the extra chair, flipping it around, and straddling it in the most badass fashion I can summon. Kayla rolls her eyes, Bird doesn’t.

“Hey, Jessa,” Bird says. “Anything new since fifth period?”

“Just a shitty precalc test, but I survived it.”

“You take precalc?” Kayla seems genuinely surprised.

“I’m queer, not stupid,” I snap back, and Bird starts to sputter on the sip of coffee she was drinking.

Kayla scoffs, but there isn’t time for her to get in another dig, because Emmanuel is right on time.

“Ladies,” he says, and hovers by the table. I smile at the repeat.

“What’s up, E?” I say.

“Uh, so my band, Fat Baby Moose, is playing Touchstone tonight, I was thinking y’all might wanna join.” He is not that smooth, but it seems like Kayla is sucking it up.

“Oh my god, Emmanuel, I didn’t know you were in a band!” Yes she did. “That is so hot!”

I catch Bird’s gaze and we both roll our eyes at each other.

“Yeah, uh, we do noise rock, a little screamo, I mean, we’re still finding our sound….”

Understatement of the year.

“I would looooove to see you play.” Kayla’s voice is saccharine sweet and I think she could care less about his sound, but our plan is working.

“I don’t mind driving us to Touchstone if you wanna catch the show,” I mention offhand-like, as if this wasn’t a plan.

“That would be awesome!” Kayla shrieks. Bird is nodding,but I can tell she’s uncomfortable at the thought of going into Touchstone.

“Cool, doors open at seven. See you there,” Emmanuel says, and nods at Kayla. “Looking nice today.”

He scurries off before she can respond, and then she drags Bird to the bathroom, no doubt to discuss Emmanuel and our evening plans. I gather the now-empty mugs and look to Natalie, who’s currently hanging over a long-haired kid attempting to pull some kind of a sound out of a giant didgeridoo. Ugh. Not all music fads are a good thing.

The drive to Touchstone is uncomfortably quiet, so I toss in a disc. I feel like a clash of styles with the garbage noise rock I’m about to hear, so Dar Williams is supporting women everywhere with “As Cool As I Am” and actually making a didgeridoo work, while Kayla looks out the window—she demanded shotgun. Bird is making meaningful eye contact in the rearview, but I must be too dumb to understand the message she’s sending.

When we pull in, Kayla is as charming as ever. “Ew, this place is kind of ghetto….”