𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙.𝟽 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎-

"emotional affair, overly sincere / smoking in the car / windows up / crocodile tears."

~

Dead Calm

"You are... absolutely stunning," JJ said, his voice steady, his fingers running over Tate's bare thigh.

Tate laughed softly and nestled down further in the bed of Topper's pickup truck. "You're drunk," she giggled. "And this was such a bad idea."

"It's a free ride," said JJ, giving her a goofy grin that made all of Tate's worries go away. "Why should we walk anywhere when we got idiots like Topper who have pickup trucks for no good reason? We're just... taking advantage... of our assets."

Tate shook her head, smiling softly down at JJ's hand on her leg. They were sitting across from each other in the cramped bed of the truck, speeding down the main stretch of road on the island. It had been JJ's idea to catch a ride to whatever party Topper was going to that night and crash it. They'd had a few drinks on the beach beforehand and had smoked maybe a little too much weed and now there they were, hair blowing in the wind, possibly risking their lives just for a party. It was fitting, in a way. "At least we're not boring," Tate murmured, more to herself than to JJ.

"Damn right we're not!"

"Shhh, keep your voice down," Tate scolded, but her shoulders were shaking with soft laughter. It was the kind of night where everything felt funny. Tate was feeling loopy, like her bones were bending in weird ways and her head was buzzing.

When at last the truck slowed down and turned up a dark street, heading towards one of the bigger mansions on the other side of the island, Tate and JJ had the sense to crawl from their hiding spot under the back window and get ready to jump. If Topper found them, it would be disastrous for sure. "Okay, ready?" JJ asked, his hand slipping into Tate's as they crouched together at the edge of the bed. "We'll jump together on the count of three." Tate nodded her head and squeezed his hand harder. "One... two... three-" They toppled out of the slow-moving truck and landed haphazardly, both rolling on the ground and not even attempting to stand up. Tate was so high, the entire world felt heavy under her. "Man, gravity's so weird," JJ murmured as they watched the tail lights of Topper's truck disappear into the long line of cars parking outside the mansion.

"Come on, weirdo," Tate said, forcing herself to stand up and then taking JJ's hand and making him do the same. "Let's check out what these rich kids get up to."

JJ and Tate leaned on each other for support as they made their way up the hill to the huge house, teeming with people and booming with loud music. Tate held her head up high and pretended to belong. "I'm hungry," she said to JJ, who leaned down to hear her and then nodded. They made their way over to the food table.