"Riley stoooop. We don't need a taxi." Taylor sways slightly as she's standing on the sidewalk and leans into Aimee who giggles.
Good God...
"We're all too drive to drunk." I cover my mouth with both hands and start laughing uncontrollably, Aimee's cousin rolls his eyes at us and tries to suppress a smile as he checks ID's and waves people inside.
"We're all too DRUNK to DRIVE." Aimee corrects me as I squint at my phone trying to look up taxi companies.
"Oh my god, I JUST STEPPED IN GUM" Taylor exclaims before falling to the sidewalk in a fit of laughter.
"You guys wouldn't even be driving anyway, you took a taxi here." Her cousin says, folding his arms in front of him. "You took whatever one it was with the blue taxis and I've already tried calling them to get your asses out of here but they don't have a car in the area for another hour. I suggest calling a friend or walking home if at least one of you is sober, which I have my doubts." He turns to Taylor on the sidewalk. "Girl, get yo ass up that ground is dirtier than half the guys in here." He shakes his head.
"We're not going home George, we're going to a frat party!" Taylor says excitedly, getting up off the concrete and places her hand on his arm, he looks down at her and with two fingers gently picks her hand off.
"My name is Tim, for the hundredth time, and congratulations." He cocks an eyebrow at her before turning back to his line as she flipped him off.
"Let's just walk; it's only a few blocks it'll save us twenty bucks anyways." Aimee says and Taylor and I nod in agreement, while Tim rolls his eyes.
"Aimee, just text me when you're getting where you need to go. With the murders and crime lately you know I'll worry." Tim says as he pats her on the head.
"Yes, dad." She rolls her eyes and waves her hand to us as she starts down the sidewalk.
"Yes, daddy." Taylor gives him a wink before skipping after Aimee; I mouth a quick apology and hurry away giggling while he shakes his head at us.
"You're a hot mess." I grab Taylors hand in mine as we skip beside each other behind Aimee.
"You're both a hot mess; stop skipping you look like children." Aimee laughs as we turn a corner into a fancy neighborhood. The kind of houses with Range Rovers and fancy cars in the driveways, large swimming pools, and the type of houses that have way too many windows and too many rooms.
As we walk down the middle of the street, the only lights on are the street lamps on either side of us. Houses are all dark, holding their families safely inside while the world spins around them. Sheltering the people nestled within from the unknown outside.
As we walked in the dark, boots thumping against the pavement, we were giggling and gossiping about all things women normally talked about late in the night.
"If you could talk to animals, what do you think they would tell us?"
"My cat would tell me to leave her alone."
As we turned another corner, we see a football field and instantly break into a sprint. All three of us run to the middle of the field, as we get there Taylor tackles me to the grass and we fall in a heap on top of Aimee, giggling until our eyes water. We lay on our backs side by side, staring up at the stars.
"So do you think Aliens have different types of spaceships? Like, let's say alien Jim likes to go fast, he's a ladies man. Alien Jim has a sporty spaceship with only two seats, but he needs to move a dresser. Does he call alien Bob? Who has a big spaceship that hauls a space trailer? Do aliens need dressers? My ex, Cole says they don't because they don't wear clothes. But they can keep their space knick-knacks in there, right?"
I lay there, contemplating these thoughts as I stare up. I've always believed we're not alone in the universe, its way too big for it to be just us. Cole, on the other hand, humored me and joked around about extra-terrestrial life but he didn't actual believe in it.
"First off, Cole didn't know any aliens personally so he can fuck off. Second, E.T. is the most known alien in the universe and he has clothes. So where is he gonna put them, he can't just leave them on the floor. What if he has alien hotties over, cause you know he is rolling in that dough from those movie royalties. So he HAS to have a dresser." Taylor sighs after her rant in response to mine and we sit in silence for a second before Aimee chimes in.
"Didn't E.T. come to earth naked though?" She furrows her eyebrows as if this throws a wrench in our whole conversation, twirling a strand of mint green hair in between her fingers, lost in thought.
"Like the show naked and afraid?" I giggle at the thought.
"He lost his luggage while flying a commercial UFO spaceline."
"Ohhhh..." We all say in unison, nodding our heads in contentment at the solved discussion.
"I'm gay..." Aimee blurts and I slowly sit upright, not because I was upset in any way; however this bold announcement at the end of an alien debate shook my fragile drunken mind.
Taylor grinned beside me and clapped her hands together in front of her.
"Finally! I've only met you a few times, I was wondering when you were going to come out." Aimee looked sideways at her confused.
"How'd you know?"
Taylor shrugged and looked at Aimee, "I just have a knack for figuring these things out. The one day you came over when we first met, Riley and I were talking boy drama and you didn't chime in once. Just nodded and answered questions vaguely, not giving away any names or using pronouns. Tonight at the bar just confirmed it, that guy on the dance floor totally grabbed your ass on purpose, but you didn't notice because you were staring at that curvy blonde over by the wall. She was totally hot, you should ask for her number if you see her again."
Aimee stared at Taylor, eyes wide and mouth open in surprise, and for the first time since I met her: speechless. I, on the other hand, am used to Taylor's people judging skills. She's the absolute best person to take to the mall to people watch with you.
"I've had my fair share of tasting the forbidden fruits, no judgement here." Taylor gives her a wink and sits up before bouncing to her feet.
"So, what else can we get into tonight?" I grin at the sparkle Taylor's eye and instantly knew she was up to no good.