𝑇𝐻𝑅𝐸𝐸 𝐷𝐸𝑀𝑂𝑁𝑆

x 13 x

x LAURA x

x Fifteen Minutes Earlier x

"C'mon, run quicker," Jessica whispered as we snaked our way through the trees. I was tipsy as hell and Jessica was holding the bottle against her skin, the glass container hidden by her large jacket. Somehow, we had made our way to Northwest Park, honestly not that much of a distance from my home. After Jessica had gotten off from work at Checker's, we had decided to steal some of her mother's liquid happiness: alcohol.

I stumbled to the ground, and Jessica fell next to me. "This is great. Today was hell without you," my best friend sighed. "I felt like Southwest just isn't the same without my best friend," she sung at the end.

"I missed you too," I admitted. I had already told Jessica about the wild start to my day and everything all the way to my even more frightening ending.

"I wish I could go up to Northwest and beat those bitches asses, but alas, I can not," she said dramatically, a hand on her forehead. She pretended to fight the air, showing me exactly what she would do. I chuckled, rolling to my side and pressing my face against her neck. No way in hell I'd be on the ground cuddling if I was sober, but I obviously wasn't.

Her breath was warm against my forehead, and the bottle was cool on my fingers, not hidden by her jacket anymore. We stared up at the dark sky for awhile, watching the sun set and giving the spotlight to the moon.

"We're gonna be freshmen all over again next year," she grinned. "Who would've thought that those four years would pass by so soon?"

The night was quiet, the trees gently rustling.

"I wanna kiss you right now."

Jessica peered down at me, laughing. "Now miss ma'am," she started. "C'mon," I grinned, "the last time we kissed was like freshman year. Since we're talking about being freshmen's again," I smirked.

"I said almost freshmen's," she rolled her eyes.

We both sat up, dusting the wet grass off of us. We leaned in at the same time, bumping our foreheads. I already had a pending migraine from how much I had drunk. We both giggled off the mistakes, then her warm lips were on mine, the faint taste of alcohol on her tongue, and now heavy on my tongue too.

"This was-

"What's that?" Jessica suddenly said.

She was pointing behind me off in the distance, but I thought she was just trying to trick me into another kiss. "Jess, stop playing with me. But ima be real with you, that kiss was stale as hell. I don't think fems do it for me anymo-

"No, look," Jessica said, quickly standing. She wobbled a little, then grabbed the bottle off the ground. "It looks like a knife. Or something sharp?" she said unsurely, squinting. I turned to look at what she was seeing, knowing that my vision was a little better than hers.

"Is that- Nahh, that can't be," I frowned.

I found myself dragging Jessica along with me towards the glint of light, but just as quickly as it had appeared, it was now gone. "Where did it go?" I wondered. "C'mon," Jessica pulled me forward in the direction it had been, "It might still be there."

We made it to the end of the tree line, the rest of the space before us smoothly cut grass and a large, looking pavilion that shaded us. Northwest Park.

"That's them," I gasp quietly, "Demon, Syn, and Dior."

"Those bitches," Jessica glared at them. She raised up her bottle to throw it and I shooed her hand down, "Stop. You have to be really quiet so we can get closer to hear what they're saying."

We moved closer, trusting the trees to shade us from their view. "I wonder what they're doing out here," I mumbled. I watched Demon roll her weed, Syn and Dior wearing pissed off expressions.

"I mean, Demon is fine as fuck. I'd let her-

"Jessica," I hissed.

"...not here for nothing. What are we gonna do?" I heard Dior ask. "They must be talking about you. How they're gonna deal with you," Jessica frowned. My heart beat quickly in my chest. A knife to my neck was enough for me. I'd gladly sit on any egg.

Shit, call me a hen bitch!

"We should all date," Demon stated.

Jessica and I looked at each other at the same time.

"No way, bruh," she laughed into her hand.

I looked at all the girls in the trio. They were all studs. I know that masculine females sometimes dated each other, but it just seemed so comical for them all to end up in a throuple.

"This is definitely...interesting," I commented.

I felt more sober, taking in their conversation.

Jessica and I stayed for their whole ordeal, and I was damn near falling asleep hearing their drama when Demon flung her blunt on Syn. "Oh, God. That bitch is crazy," Jessica whispered loudly. "Shhh. We're gonna get caught," I snapped at her. My heart was beating too fast. First she allowed them to hold a knife to my throat, then she was tryna set bitches on fire? What else was Demon willing to do?

"We needa get outta here," I tell Jessica seriously.

"Right now," she finished my sentence, agreeing, hands shaking, her eyes wide.

"Stay away from me. You're a real fucking monster! It isn't a nickname anymore," Syn cried out. My head snapped back at Syn's words as Jessica started for the protection of the trees. I heard a loud crack and saw that her bottle had fell. It was half full, and stuck in a little crevice of Earth that had turned into a mock hill.

"Jesus, Jessica," I whispered. I looked back and she was already gone. I didn't know whether to leave the bottle or not. Would her mother notice? Would she get in trouble?

"I'm not the monster here," Demon said coldly.

I saw her heading my way, content on leaving the park as the two girls ran off. I decided to leave the bottle behind and chase after my best friend.

I stumbled my way through the forest, thinking, Demon...who are you? And hoping, You didn't see me.