Lynne

Chapter 15

"Are you guys staying after?"

Her sharp laugh echoed through the room. "Of course."

"Len wants to leave."

"You guys are going to drive the twenty-hours home?"

I nodded. "I guess so. Trust me," Halting my impatient movements, I pushed myself off the wall to face her. Even when I was standing tall, the older girl was several inches taller than me. "I think it's a stupid idea, too. He just really seems to hate this place."

"I don't see how," she cast a glance at Len, who continued to examine the list. "I love it here."

I nodded, though I couldn't agree with her.

"Hey, uh, listen," she brushed a strand of pink hair out of her face. "I know I never really... thanked you for that night-"

"Don't worry about it," I waved a hand at her, mentally begging her not to go on. "What are friends for?"

She pondered this for a moment, and sighed. "Yeah. I, um, I know it's a problem."

I cocked my head to the side, casting her a questioning glance. I knew what she was talking about, but had never heard her side of it.

"It's just so hard. And you can blame those two all you want, but it was me who drank those."

My mood soured at the thought of those girls. The stories I'd heard...

Miku and Gumi walked onto the platform and rose. I heard screams of excitement over us as their song began.

"And I'll never do any of that AA shit," she scowled. She had moved a bit closer to me and lowered her voice. "I can't deal with all the God stuff."

She was ranting. There was no reason for me to interrupt her, so I didn't.

"And I try to distract myself whenever I want to go out and do it, but..." Her shoulders slumped. "It's just so hard," she repeated.

"Have you ever gone to the gym?" I asked.

She seemed taken aback by my sudden subject change. "I mean, I used to play sports when I was younger, but-"

"There's a distraction," I reasoned.

"I could never keep the motivation for that," she insisted, her head shaking.

"Why not try? We could go super late at night, when no one is there." I crossed my arms and grinned. "Can't go clubbing if you're lifting weights."

The idea seemed absurd to her at first, but I could tell she was warming up to it. "Maybe."

"I figured it would just be best to trade one addiction for another."

The word addiction darkened her deeply. I almost felt bad, but the first step to solving a problem was admitting there is one.

"Plus," I joked, trying to fix her mood. "There are a ton of hot guys at the gym."

She giggled.

"I think you're up." I nodded to the elevator. There was no TV down here to tell, but the music was loud and clear. Their song was coming to an end.

Luka nodded to me. Gaku was already standing by the elevator, casting glances in our direction.

"I'll think about it," she told me, before leaving me to step onto the elevator. As they disappeared from view, I returned to my spot next to Len. Kaito and Meiko lined themselves up to the elevator early. The music above us began.