chapter 12 | gas station milk

80.8K 3.1K 201
                                    

Six Months Ago

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Six Months Ago

Monday (Eight Days After Graduation)

I feel silly, meeting in the early hours of the morning like this. It isn't daylight yet. Dressed in all black with my hair tied back, I watch as Penelope's red Malibu pulls into the parking lot. Mia's in the passenger seat.

"OK, here it is!" Mia carefully sits a large striped gift box, complete with a huge bow, down on the picnic table. "It's been sitting, fermenting for a week. I used my roommate's milk kefir recipe. She warned me that fermenting too long causes it to explode, especially when sugar is added during the second fermentation. She drinks this stuff ninety going north. Don't ask!" She holds her hands up in disgust.

"OK, so how does it work?"

"I put it in a plastic container, so you don't have to worry about glass shards or anything like that. The bottle top is glued to the box top. It's sealed shut, so as soon as the box top is pulled off, the seal will be broken. The milk will explode everywhere."

Nervousness rises in my chest. "Are we sure we want to do this?"

"Are you serious? Don't you remember what he did to you?" Penelope asks. "It's harmless really. I mean milk kefir? Health foodies drink this stuff for fun. Really, we're doing him a favor."

"One that he never asked for . . ."

"Well, chica, he gave you something you never asked for, so I say we're even."

"Trust me, Penelope is right. It's harmless. I tried a mini version out in my back yard. It just splatters everywhere."

"And by now, it probably smells like caca." A sly smirk takes over Penelope's face.

"This is gonna be lit!"

Mia and Penelope stare at me, waiting for my response.

"OK. If you say so . . ."

"This is epic! I borrowed my neighbor's drone, so we can watch from a distance. We're recording this!" Penelope rubs her hands together like an evil villain.

"We should post it online too," Mia adds.

"Under an anonymous profile!" I add, still clearly afraid of what we're about to do.

"Ari! We got you!" Mia wraps her arm around my shoulder as we all walk back to Penelope's car.

"Wait! We're taking Penelope's bright red ride? Someone's gonna notice us," I squirm.

"Well, we can't take your trap. It's too hard to get in and out of that thang." Penelope turns her nose up at my car.

Mia gives Penelope a look that tells her to lay off. She turns to me. "Relax, girl. We'll be careful. Worse comes to worst, we won't drop it off. We'll just drive away."

Electric ImpulseWhere stories live. Discover now