Her look was too heavy, too long for him to comprehend, or even to want to understand at this time of night with this much drunk teenage energy flowing around them. They’d left things unspoken and unsettled and far too uncertain to ever jump back into the conversation without serious preparation. He was pretty sure this wasn’t the time or place for that.
“I’d say I hadn’t seen her, but that would be a complete lie. And we’d both know it. She’s kind of hard to miss these days.” He laughed, but it was a sobering thought, that they were all changing and growing so fast around him that he barely recognized some of the people he’d gone to school with since elementary school. Some days it felt like everybody around him was in on this secret about life that he was missing, like they knew something that gave them purpose and meaning and drive….while he was still trying to figure out if he was too grown up for heely sneakers. “I guess it’s the start of something new for everybody who knows what’s coming next.” It sounds sadder than he means, so he laughs and exhales hard. “Woah, that was so much less depressing in my head. Ignore my angst, please, I’m supposed to bring the party, not take it out back and beat it to death.” He nodded, offering her his arm to escort her onward towards the drinks. “Well in that case…M’lady? Let’s go find each other the grossest and most celebratory drinks we can think of. I’m thinking gin, in a mug, with some orange crush. Deal?” He winks. “You look good, too, Sparks. Just like always.”
Katie laughed as he offered his arm, shaking her head at his ‘killing the party’ comment. As if Steven Beaumont could ever kill a party. She understood though. As fun as it all was, this was an end of an era for them and they were supposed to have things figured out for ‘what comes next’. If you took away everything Katie knew about what was going to happen in Havensdale, she was in the same boat. She had no idea what she was going to do with her life. But she took his arm, throwing back her head as she laughed again, flashing a grin.
“Sounds deliciously disgusting and I can’t wait. Bonus points if you throw a couple of crazy straws in there,” she winked back, nudging him as they walked. “Oh, why thank you,” she added dramatically, tossing her hair with her free hand. Things could be fun and breezy, couldn’t they? It’s what she wanted right now, desperately. Katie bounced on the balls of her feet when they landed at the certified ‘booze table’, red cups and all. “Alright maestro, work your magic.”
She smiled to herself, totally not sneaking looks over at him and his floppy hair, and his stupid, gorgeous smile. “Hey, Steve? Not to bring down the vibes but I, uh, am definitely not one of those people who knows what’s coming next. I don’t even-,” she paused, shaking out her arms, “I don’t even want to go to college. Not now. I don’t even wanna think about it... Actually, I don’t want to think about anything that isn’t just right now, you know? I just want to be present. And drink this super gross drink and, I don’t know, hang out with you. If that’s, y’know, cool?”
