Floating (boyxboy)

The fall of a nation -13-

Nonetheless, I just decided not to press it. She'd tell me at some point, hopefully. "So, what time are we leaving again?" I said to change the subject.

She took her phone out of the pocket of her skinny jeans. "About now, actually. It's a little past nine, so hopefully things will have already started. Grab that envelop over there on my bedside table, please." I did as she asked and handed it to her.

"Where did you even get that from?"

"Cindy. If you had been with me when she was handing them out, I don't think she would have given me one." We left her room, and she grabbed her keys that were in the little dish beside the door. "What does she even have against you?"

I pushed open the door and sucked in a lungful of the sharp fall air. "Remember, the first day of freshmen year? I bumped into her and she dropped her stuff on impact. Then I ended up being her partner in some class, and I spoke too softly and the teacher took off a lot of points. She was really mad about that. Not like I wasn't, that was the worse grade I had gotten ever..." I trailed off. Dannie scoffed beside me and I turned towards her as we walked. "What?"

"That's it?" She shook her head and unlocked her car door. "God, she's so petty."

I headed to the passenger side, and opened the cold door. "Well, I don't know if that's exactly it, but I can't think of anything else." Dannie just scoffed again and started up the car. After a few minutes we were on our way to the address, which neither of us had ever been to. This felt vaguely dangerous, but I tried not to focus on that. I was a teenager, right? Danger comes with the title.

After about fifteen minutes filled with Idle chatter and some Ed Sheeran, we pulled up to the house. It was a large house with a few people milling around outside. Dannie parked the car at the curb and we both got out of the car. She pulled her T-shirt down over her dark jeans, and started walking in front of me, her Chucks slapping the asphalt. I hurried after her, watching as she waved to a few of the people on the front lawn. I recognized a few of them from school.

We walked up the stone steps to the porch, where we saw a guy dressed in a black T-shirt and low-hanging jeans, his long brown hair brushing the tips of his shoulders. Dannie sighed audibly beside me. I looked over at her questioningly. She ignored my look and turned to face him. "Samson." She said dryly, sarcasm dripping into her words.

He grinned, showcasing a set of straight white teeth. He was very attractive.

Wait what?

I shuddered, realizing that I had just thought of another guy in terms of looks. I mentally scaled back, realizing this had happened before. I didn't know what to do about it, so I did my best to ignore it as he said, "Hey, Dan."

"You lost your right to call me that a long time ago." I looked over at Dannie, who had crossed her arms and was smiling slightly in spite of her tone. They obviously had some kind of history together.

"Dannie, who's this?" He looked slighty familiar. Maybe he had been at the last party...?

Her eyes were still locked on his as she said, "This is my ex, Samson Zachery. He thought-- well thinks-- he's allowed to do anything because he knows a few songs on an acoustic guitar and his voice doesn't totally suck ass. He managed to play his way into my heart a few years ago," Her smile twisted. "Along with Parker." He had cheated on her with Parker? I could only imagine the kind of telling-off he must have gotten from her.

He must have remembered too, because his smile faded a bit and he looked over at me. "So, uh, this is your boyfriend?"

She put her arm around me and kissed my cheek. I tried not to laugh. "We've been dating since I broke it off with you and you switched schools." He nodded and cleared his throat, his smile completely gone.