Adrenaline

17 | time to pretend

"Are you sure you're not up for it?" Seira asks.

        Lauren drags her finger along the dusty blue comforter of Seira's bed, rubbing her nose briefly before lowering her hand. A pile of used tissues sits crumpled beneath her on the floor.

        "I'm sure," she laughs, biting back another sniffle. "Have fun, though."

        Maver is in the living room, chomping on a bag of chips loudly enough I can hear him. My impression of the French has been ruined since getting to know him.

        Neither of us is heartless enough to disinvite Maver, so we decided earlier to suck it up. If we're lucky, we end up running into someone Maver knows and he does the polite task of ditching us. No hard feelings. Promise.

        "We'll stop and get some tom kha gai on our way back."

        Lauren sends Seira a thankful half-smile. "Thanks."

        "Did you hear the final cut of The L?" I ask.

        After Rami finished piecing the vocals together and working his magic, he sent the song to Maverick to add any production he thought would help elevate the song. Surprisingly, it was sent back quickly, and I was lucky enough to be with Rami, so I got to hear it with him for the first time.

        "Not yet," Lauren pouts. "Maybe I'll have him show me when you guys leave."

        "It's so good. You're gonna love it."

        "Great. It'll distract me from the fact I can't breathe through my nose."

        I sweep my thumb across Lauren's cheek. "Get some rest. We can watch Jurassic Park again and debate the continuity errors in Lost World."

        "Sounds like a plan. See you later."

        Maver glances up at us, reaching for the remote and lowering the volume as we drop onto the sofa next to Jun's sleeping frame.

        "Are we ready to go?" he asks, sliding the bag of chips onto the coffee table. I silently eye the clip next to it until he gets the point and clamps it over the bag.

        I reply, "Have you considered keeping your sick girlfriend company?"

        Maver dusts his hands off on the front of his clothes. "Believe it or not, I tried to tell her I'd stay home with her tonight but she insisted I go out."

        "Hmm."

        Maver tosses a pillow at Jun, startling him awake from his nap. He bolts upright, glancing around on high alert. Seira leans over to tap the top of his head before flicking him on the nose.

        "Pretty sure you slept until noon."

        Jun slaps her hand away. "Pretty sure that was still an hour before you woke up."

        "Let me be incredibly lazy and text Rami that we're leaving instead of walking five feet to his room," I mumble.

        Maver's on his phone, calling to make sure his car is outside. I walk over to the credenza where I placed my clutch and check to make sure all of my essentials are inside. By the time I do my last-minute check-ups in the mirror, the other two have rejoined us.

        We race along the highway skyline to Maver's request of Time to Pretend by MGMT, a breeze steadily skipping past us. Los Angeles lights flash off in the distance, and the closer in to the city we find ourselves, the louder the sounds echo around us. At some point, my daydreams pull me so far out of my head I forget I'm even sitting in a car.