A few months passed, and Kari and I hung out after school. She could never stay as long as she wanted, but her dad would always blow up her phone if she stayed out too long.

Our favorite place was the coffee shop, 35 minutes from where we both lived.

" Why won't he leave me alone? God. I can't wait for graduation. I'm gonna leave and never come back.'' she huffed as I was getting ready to drive her back home. She leaned back in the seat, gazing out the passenger window. I took a moment to look at her. That moment felt like a minute. Her long, smooth legs rested on my dashboard, the passing street lights kissing her skin as if they were all saying good night. I whipped my head back when she started to sit up just in time to notice I was driving on the other side of the road.

" HEY, DON'T KILL US! Not yet, at least," she shouts jokingly.

" Sorry, I'm just tired." I laugh, " Maybe it's a good thing your dad doesn't let you stay out all night, right?" I waited for her to laugh or to say some quippy thing, but she didn't. She looked out the window and the rest of the ride while I spiraled, thinking I'd upset her. When I dropped her off, she didn't even look at me when she got out of the car,

" Goodnight!" I shouted as she continued to walk towards her house. She stopped before walking up the first step when her mother ran out of the house, screaming.

" You son of a bitch! I can't believe you'd accuse me of something like that!" She was so angry that she walked past her daughter without even looking at her. " I'm leaving!" I didn't know what to do, so I pulled off slowly, hoping no one could notice.

" Have a goodnight, everyone," I whispered awkwardly. Still, feeling the need to be proper despite everything happening. I was halfway home when my music was interrupted by an incoming call from Kari. I pulled over to answer. You know me, always the responsible one.

" Hey K, you alright?"

Kari was sobbing. I could hardly understand what she was trying to say but what I did hear was,

" Kimmy, I need you." I didn't give it a second thought and turned around to get her. All the thoughts in my head were racing, replaying over and over. When I got to the gate, Kari was already waiting outside with a backpack, which I assumed was filled with clothes. She hops in and shoves the bag into the back seat, it brushed against my arm, and my first thought was, 'there's no way she has clothes in there.'

" What the hell is in that book bag?"

It took her a second to answer as she put her seatbelt on, sighing as she looked over at me and said,

" We're going to a party. Don't worry, I know the guy throwing it, and It's BYOB, so I stole some booze from my dad's drawing room. Hurry up before my dad notices I left."

I waited until we got further down the road to ask what happened, but she hesitated. Then looked out of the window,

" My dad thinks our driver is my real dad. He thinks my mom was planning to run off with him or something. It's stupid."

I could tell I wasn't 'nothing.' I let it go to avoid making the mood worse than it was.

" Hang a left at the next stop sign." she wipes her face before facing forward. Excitement grew on her face as we pulled off to a street filled with fancy cars from other teens whose parents had too much money.

" How do you know this guy? You never talk about people you've met like that." I try to find an open place to park that isn't someone's yard.

" What? I talk about him all the time. He's like that captain of one of the sports teams or something. I don't listen to him when he talks, but he is great eye candy." she laughs. I also laugh but only to avoid discussing it anymore.

" Gosh, there's like nowhere to park." I was hoping she'd change her mind, ditch the party, and stay the night at my place like we used to, but she was going through something.

" Just- drive down. There's like this crazy cliff no one goes to cause, I think, five people died there."

" Why do you wanna park there then?"

" It's secluded, so no one will trash the car if they're too drunk, and It's empty, so when you get pooped out from the crowd like you usually do, you can come and chill here." I smiled, and a warmness filled my chest and my face. It happened from time to time, but this felt so different. Just knowing that she thought of me like that made me feel seen.

" Would you stay with me then?" I wanted to see how much she cared.

" Yeah, if I get tired of the scene in there or if a guy keeps shooting his shots." I parked, and we took a second to look at the cliff. I didn't find it that scary, but it was pretty. The lights below resembled the night sky but with more visible stars. Kari walked right up to the edge and took a peek down. Her foot slipped, and she almost fell forward. She screamed as I lunged to catch her and pulled her in close.

" Wow, your heart is beating so fast." she huffed, clearly trying to hide the fact that she was scared.

" You could've died! Of course, my heart is racing. I love- I love being your friend. Without you, I'd have no one." she backs up and smiles at me,

" You were gonna say you loved me, weren't you?"

" Let's go to this stupid party already. Get drunk, and go home." I pushed her off me very gently, and we started heading towards the house of drunken delinquents with no parental supervision.