Chapter 4

My arms shiver from the weight of the box.

"I can't!" I yell before dropping something that I'm glad isn't glass onto the tar beneath me.

The moving guy ,Oliver, laughs when picking up the box at my feet with so much ease I'm embarrassed by my lack of strength.

"I told you that you don't have to help them it's the least they can do since they broke my lamp." Lucy snarls at the young boy in the Finridge Movers T-shirt who cowers back inside when picking up a box.

"Lucy." I sigh, feeling awkward on his behalf.

She rolls her eyes and stands beside me, leaning against her car.

"We should go somewhere tonight." She smiles deviously.

"We should get your car serviced before we do anything else.” My words deflate her happiness but before she continues I turn to her to express my seriousness, "I'm upset that you drove around town like that. It's really dangerous, Lucy."

She sighs loudly and rolls her eyes again "I know, mom.” She moves in front of me to rub her hands over my arms, "I'm sorry, we'll find a place to take a look at it." She whines but her words put me at ease.

Sitting on the bar chair I watch Lucy pull two long stem glasses out of a box and place them on the counter that separates us. She then pulls a large bottle of wine from her bag.

"To this apartment and a new year full of new experiences."

"Cheers." I say greeting our glasses.

Lucy takes a full swig of the wine in her glass and I watch, as I usually do, in shock.

"I hate flying." Is all she offers as explanation and pours herself another glass.

"So where do you think we should put the rug?" I ask, looking around our small but spacious apartment.

"I think between the sofas but this..." Pulling my attention back to her I see her holding up my DREAM sign that I left in our dorm but I'm sure she saved it for me, "Has no business being in our apartment."

I laugh at the serious look in her face. I remember the first time she came into my dorm and saw the sign she ranted about how much she hated it and I was laughing so hard my belly ached.

"C'mon Luce dreams are important." I giggle knowing the sign doesn't mean anything to me but a beacon of our friendship. The memory of our first sleepover. My first sleepover.

"Teacher." I reply.

"I could see that." He nods and I don't know why but his words feel validating.

"And you?"I ask and notice his face turn to stone.

His shock makes me wonder if this is the first time someone's ever asked him this before.

"Well it depends on whatever I get but I..." He’s hesitant and I unfold my arms to lean closer offering my attention as comfort, "I kinda like cars and bikes and picking them apart and putting them back together." He says and immediately rubs his hand over his face in embarrassment.

"A mechanic?" I offer the shy large boy sitting on my bedroom floor.

"Yeah but I'm fucking dreaming.” He chuckles dryly, blessing me with his beautiful dark eyes and I'm starting to wonder if Mom was right about me having a crush, "I doubt that'll ever happen." He shrugs going back to read his notes.

"Dreams are important." I whisper but the words echo in the silent room.

He looks up to smile shyly at me and I smile back trying to contain the butterflies swarming in my belly.

"You not drinking?" Luce points to my still full glass.

"Well who's going to drive us to get your car looked at if both of us are drinking?" I ask, seeing her roll her eyes and finish off her second glass.

"What would my unstable life look like if you weren't holding it together at the seams?" She ask, smiling brightly at me.

Wine makes her affectionate and I know it's only the counter separating me from one of her bone-crushing hugs.

Lucy's curly hair whips around her shoulder when she quickly turns to face a particular box and scurries over to it before reaching for a large pair of scissor on the table and stabs the tape with a grunt. She looks up at me pink-faced, from the alcohol with a big smile and large pair of scissors in hand and I should be terrified but I just giggle at how obscene she is.

"We..." She struggles to pull something out the box, "Should go," she finally rips a black strappy heel out of the box, "go out tonight and dance with ridiculously hot guys so I can...” She reaches into the box again with her other hand and retrieves the second shoe with no struggle, "So I can take these bad babies on their first ride." She finishes with a smile despite the fact that she's trying to catch her breath.

"What about Tommy?" I remind her about the waiter she gave her number to a few hours ago.

"Oh Sunny I'll have plenty of time to schedule him in," she waves me off with her red painted fingers, "but we have a whole town of hot ass to explore and if they're anything like your 'friend' from high school we'll have our work cut out for us." She gets up from the floor heels in hand and makes her way over to me.

"He was a friend." I moan but I knew she was implying something different when she put air quotes around the word.

"Baby, even if I did believe you I'd think you're a fool to only want to be friends with a man with that many tattoos." She runs her hands around my hair before bopping my nose. She is tipsy already.

"The tattoos are new." I whisper more to myself.

Luce smooshes my cheeks between her hands and moves her face so close to mine that our noses are touching. "So we're going dancing or what?" She whispers.

"Okay." I reluctantly agree.

"Two hours tops, I promise." She squeals and brushes our noses together before running into the room that houses her box of clothes.

"After we come back from getting someone to look at your car." I yell, hoping it reaches her bedroom.

Before college I was not a very outgoing person but then I met Lucy and she taught me that letting go sometimes wasn't going to bring upon the apocalypse. I don't like saying no to her. She’s the first friend I've ever had and I never want her thinking I'm a wet blanket.

"How do you know you're going the right way?" Lucy asks, turning the AC up for the third time.

"Because the GPS says we are." I point to the phone between us saying we're a minute away.

"This place looks kinda sketchy, Sunny." She says, rolling her window up when we see two large motorbikes pull up next to her and the guys driving are as big and scary looking as their bikes.

"I'm sorry it was the closest one."

"It's okay just go, the light turned green." She tells me and I go right like the red line on my phones suggests.

We pull up in front of faded and rusty garage door with a faded sign that reads LUTHER'S AUTO & REPAIRS. Before I'm able to switch off the engine the rusty garage door squeals loudly and the next moment a man appears beneath it who looks to be fifty something years old and is wearing black stained jeans and a red plaid button up shirt.

I turn off the engine and hop out of the car, Lucy following behind.

"Hi sir, do you work here?" I ask the man.

As the man opens his mouth to speak Lucy beats him to it, "I need someone to take a look at my-"

"Engine." He offers the tall girl, ignoring her rude behavior.

"You think it's that?" She frowns.

"Me and everyone else on the block who heard it," He chuckles lightly, "I'm Luther."

In an odd gesture Luther offers both hands to Lucy and I. We make eye each other in cynically but reach for his hands anyway and shake.

"Now c'mon in and I'll have a look at it for ya girls." He waves us over and before I can chase her down Lucy reaches for her keys in my hand and runs to the drivers seat to start the engine.

Rolling my eyes I follow Luther into the garage and notice the overwhelming smell of oil.

"Where does that damn boy put my things." I hear him mutter while shuffling things around on the table behind us.

He sighs and reaches for a clipboard. He offers me a pen and the board, instructing me to write down Lucy's first and last name.

When she's parked inside the garage Luther tells her to keep the engine running while he has a look.

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." He repeats.

"Well what time then?" Lucy exhales in exasperation.

"Can't say for certain but hopefully by noon."

I watch Lucy open her mouth in protest but I pull her hand in mine and thank Luther before she can pester him with any more questions.

"You ladies got a ride back to wherever you came from?"

"Uber, my mode of transport until noon tomorrow apparently." Lucy pouts and begins ordering a lift on her phone as she dramatically exits out of the garage.

"I'm sorry." I shake my head at my tipsy friend, "She's lovely most of the time. I swear. We just moved here. Well actually I just moved back after 3 years."

"I thought you looked familiar." He says, eyes scrutinizing my features and before he speaks again Lucy calls my name from the rusty steel garage door.

"He's here lets go, Sunny!"

"Well it was nice meeting you, Luther." I offer my hand and he hesitates before shaking his head and offers me a warm smile.

"Nice meeting you too, Sunny."

Lucy pulls me into the backseat and I notice the sky painted pink and orange.

"We should probably pre-game a little more before we head out." She says not looking up from her phone.

"I think maybe we should get some food in you first." I laugh when I see her rolling her eyes at me.

"But with or without the earrings?" Lucy's big green eyes look at me expectantly.

I mumble a "With." But my mouth is stuffed with fries and I know it wasn't coherent because she grunts and stomps into the other room announcing to no one that I am not being serious.

I chuckle to myself thinking about how nervous I was to move back home and if the dynamic between Lucy and I would change now that we're in a new environment but her two storm offs today proved that I have nothing to worry about.

"C'mon Wallace you got this baby!" Lucy encourages me while raising her clear shot glass to mine. It taste like poison going down and leaves a fiery pit in my belly. I hate gin.

"He's here." Lucy says reaching for her purse and opening the bottle again to do another shot.

She pulls me forward and pulls at the top I borrowed for this impromptu outing. My boobs nearly spill out and I slap her hands away and pull the straps back up.

"What?" Lucy squeaks and looks up at me innocently.

"We need a reason for the bouncers to ignore the fact that we're both a few months shy of 21."

My mouth is open in shock but it shouldn't be considering the amount of times she's tried to pursued me along with the rest of her friends to in her words 'use our assets to the best of our ability' and since apparently my personality isn't my best asset she opts for my breasts. I don't understand why because even on a bad day Lucy could have anyone fall to their feet and offer to do her bidding.

"Thank you kind sir." Lucy salutes our driver and I decide in this moment I will be the sober one tonight since she's disqualified herself from that position.

The music outside the club is loud and I see a large man in front of a large line of people that are being herded inside the club.

I look up at the pleasing colors of the lights in the sign set up outside the club.

"Sunset." Lucy reads before pulling my hand to follow her to the back of the swift moving line.