All She Can Take

F O R T Y - T W O

The door took ions to slide open. The slow passing of each second was excruciating. In her mind she saw him tumbling, losing his footing, screaming as he plunged. If she didn't get there in time...like she hadn't with her dad... the boy she loved forever would be gone and she'd be...so many things. None of them were realities that she wanted to experience.

But she was there. Through the door. Her arms wrapped around Aiden's waist from behind.

Now behind him, she heard what he'd been screaming.

"I fucking love you! I love you!"

"I love you too!" Tomi shouted back from the patio below between her incessant giggles. They were wasted, Sid realized. Completely wasted. On their best days, her boyfriend and best friend merely tolerated each other.

Aiden whirled around in her arms and looked at her. His eyes were drawn low into little slits that barely let the white of his eyes show through.

"Hi," Sid gave him a relieved smile that he returned. "You okay?"

"I'm like, mad wonderful." His words were being dragged along like a petulant child. Mad. Wonderful.

"That's wonderful." She told him joyfully. Sid would usually reprimand him for getting so pissy drunk but with graduation tomorrow--the rest of their lives ahead of them it didn't seem important. Aubrey was still lingering near. Sid caught the slight frown that skidded across her face when Sid arrived on the balcony. Whatever occurred the year before at the spring dance wasn't enough to break up Aiden, Aubrey, and Jamals' little trifecta friendship. For about a week Sid watched as they all avoided one another and then out of the blue they were all chums again, sitting around a table at lunch. They'd swept whatever beef under the rug. It made Sid happy to see Aiden back to himself so she didn't dig but still, she kept a close eye on the girl. She threw a look at her, a territorial one, before turning back to Aiden. "You want to head out?" She asked.

"No, no, no. Dance with me. You're so so sessy." His syllables mashed against one another. He pulled her into him until his groin was mashed against her, the knee of his jeans rested between the stiff fabric of the shorts between her thighs. They both stumbled a bit, back toward the railing. Sessy or not, they needed to get off of the patio before they both tumbled to their deaths.

"Come on. We'll dance downstairs." Sid suggested. Aiden agreed with a loose nod of his head and she grabbed his hands, one in each of hers, and led him off of the wooden death plank and into the loud TV room.

"Wait, Aubrey should come. Sid, Aubrey should come. She's my business partner. We're going to open so many hotels!" Aiden stumbled over, again dangerously close to the railing, and grabbed Aubrey's hand. Sid ran hot with anger. Sid didn't like it but agreed to add her to the rescue mission anyway. Anything to get off that death trap.

Once they reached the backyard, the grass had barely gotten under their feet when they ran smack into Jamal, who swayed a bit from the impact. He caught his balance quickly. Sid was impressed. She'd witnessed him puff through three blunts on his own during the party. He'd built up quite a tolerance over the years. After he almost flunked out freshman year, due to anxiety, he discovered the wonderful world of weed. By the end of sophomore year, he was class president and permanent fixture on the dean's list.

She took him in. His slim light washed jeans, fitted black and blue flannel button-up, and black Timberland boots oozed Brooklyn swag. Sid remembered how Aiden introduced her to Jamal. He was so happy to connect with someone else from Brooklyn.

Jamal adjusted his hat. He regarded Aiden briefly before turning to Sid.

"I think your girl needs you," Jamal said, gesturing a thumb over his shoulder. She shifted around his tall frame to see Tomi on the grass, her shoulders shaking with sobs. Two people were crouched around her trying to console her. Sid rolled her eyes and trotted over to the heap in the grass that was her friend.