What Happened at East Houston Street

Chapter 20

An hour later, Stephanie had arrived at the frat house. Though she knew its general vicinity, she wasn't exactly sure which house it was. It wasn't hard to find once she got closer to the triple decker homes on Commonwealth Avenue. The loud bass of the music thumped throughout the neighborhood. Stephanie was amazed that nobody had called the police to file a noise complaint.

She passed a few people who were smoking cigarettes on the front porch. One girl was dressed in a short mini skirt and a glittery half shirt. Stephanie looked down at her own outfit and felt underdressed in a pair of cropped jeans, a simple turtleneck sweater, and Nike high tops on her feet. After she had ascended the stairs and made it to the landing, she hesitated before going inside. She'd never really been comfortable in large groups and needed to take a moment to compose herself. Taking a seat on one of the steps, she breathed in and out slowly.

"Don't want to go in there, either?" a voice sounded from the front lawn.

She looked up toward the familiar voice and a smile of relief washed over her face. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes met Lauren's. She was dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans that had a rip above one knee and a purple deep cut V neck sweater. She wore those same Chuck Taylors on her feet that Stephanie had noticed that day in the cafeteria in the beginning of the year. She hadn't seen the girl since she got back from winter break, but she thought about her constantly, replaying each of the three interactions they had the previous semester.

"I got a distress signal from one of my friends who's stuck in there," she pointed behind her towards the door, "so I came to rescue him. Then I heard the terrible music they were playing and decided not to go in....yet," she said.

"Yet?" Lauren asked.

Stephanie, feeling brave with happiness that she was in the blue-eyed girl's company again, took a chance and said, "Well, if you're going in there then I might have to change my mind." She smiled wide at the girl after she said it.

A blush crept over Lauren's cheeks. She was surprised by the girl's bold statement. Every time she had seen her in the past, she was either distraught or pretty shy. Now she was making suggestive attempts to flirt with her. Lauren found herself smiling back at the girl sitting on the front stairs.

"How about we make a deal? I've got to show my face for at least a half hour. We go in, make small talk, have a drink, rescue your friend, and then I'm all yours." She smiled and added, "Whatever you want to do."

Stephanie nodded. "Deal," she agreed.

They walked into the party together. Stephanie looked around the crowded living room. It was dark and the music was pounding. She had a hard time spotting Tip anywhere. Lauren waved to a group of girls she knew and then turned to Stephanie.

"Those are my sorority sisters over there. I need to go say hi for a minute. Go look for your friend and meet me back here. Take my number in case we get split up." Lauren took Stephanie's phone and typed her number, creating a contact for herself in the girl's phone. She did the same for Lauren.

Stephanie nodded and said, "See you in 20 minutes." She turned to walk down a hallway to continue her search for Tip.

Stephanie made her way through the hall, squeezing past people who were talking with their friends. She hadn't seen Tip in the living room, so she continued into the next room. The kitchen was just as crowded as the last room. She stood on her tiptoes, scanning her eyes around, hoping to see a glimpse of dirty blonde hair. She wiggled her way through the crowd, looking into the corners. There was still no sign of him anywhere. Defeated, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent him a text.

I come all this way to rescue you and you're nowhere to be found! I hope you're okay. You still owe me some blueberry pancakes.

She waited a minute for a response. Looking down at her phone, she didn't notice the large man who had walked up behind her.

"Who are you texting? Your boyfriend?" His voice was deep.

Stephanie jumped at his question. She turned to see a very tall guy standing a little too close to her. She took a step back and bumped into a girl, whose drink sloshed around and dripped onto the floor.

"Sorry!" Stephanie said, giving her a sad smile. The girl sneered at her and walked away.

"Whoa! Careful there, stranger!" he said, touching her shoulder. "Don't want to make a party foul!" He winked at her and sipped his drink.

"Uh, yeah." She gave a nervous laugh.

"What's your name?" he asked. His eyes were bloodshot and his stare was a little too intense for her liking.

"Uh..." the phone in her hand buzzed and she looked down. It was a text from Lauren.

Mission accomplished. Are you ready to get out of here?

Stephanie smiled at her phone.

"Looks like your boyfriend finally got back to you," he said, noticing her smile.

"Uh...yeah," she said turning away from him without another word and making her way towards the living room.

"Lucky guy," Brent said to himself, as he took another sip from his cup, his eyes following the girl until she was out of sight. He let out a frustrated sigh and pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed a text to Lauren.

Hey hot stuff. What u up to! U cumming to the party or do I have to cum to you? (wink, wink)

Stephanie spotted Lauren by the front door. She was looking down at her phone with an annoyed look on her face.

"Hey," she said, getting Lauren's attention. The annoyed look on her face was replaced by a smile now.

"Hey," she replied softly, holding her gaze at the hazel-eyed girl. She was still smiling.

"I didn't find my friend. He either left or was abducted." Stephanie laughed.

Lauren laughed too, but her eyes dropped down to the floor. Stephanie got the feeling that the girl was nervous.

Breaking the silence, she said, "Um, so should we get out of here?"

"Sure," Lauren looked up and nodded.

They walked down Commonwealth Avenue in silence. The temperature was mild for winter, so it wasn't too cold. Stephanie noticed that Lauren seemed a little down, her arms crossed and she looked at the ground as she walked.

Concerned for her new friend, she asked, "Are you okay? Are you cold?"

Lauren shook her head, still looking at the ground. "No, I'm fine. Just happy to be out of there."

"Yeah, me too," Stephanie said. "You didn't really seem that into it, which is kind of surprising."

Lauren looked over at her, arms still crossed. "Why is it surprising?"

Stephanie was reminded of that day in Lyons Hall when she first met Lauren. She had asked her if she was hungry and she told her she wasn't, yet she was standing in the dinner line that was 100 feet long. She had been embarrassed when Lauren laughed at her for waiting if she didn't even want to eat. Stephanie giggled at the memory.

"What's so funny?" Lauren asked, her eyebrows raised.

Stephanie shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "Nothing," she laughed. "Just remembering."

"Remembering what?" Lauren was persistent. She stopped walking and turned to face Stephanie.

Stephanie stared back at her, over her giggling fit now, as she got lost in Lauren's blue eyes.

"What?" Lauren asked again, this time in a softer tone, tilting her head a little. Her eyes sparkled from the glare of the streetlight above them.

Stephanie blinked a few times and took Lauren's hand in hers. She could feel the girl's pulse quicken at her touch. A shade of pink formed on her cheeks.

"If you hate these parties so much, then why are you in a sorority?" she asked the girl in a soft voice, rubbing her thumb over the back of her hand.

A look of defeat came over the older girl's face and she looked down at their intertwined hands. She gave a soft sigh and said, "It's just what I'm supposed to do," not looking up to meet her gaze. She placed her free hand on top of Stephanie's. They stood in silence for a moment.

After a minute, Stephanie spoke. "So where are we going? BU? We're already halfway there."

Lauren shook her head. "No, my friend, Devi, is having people over. She lives down here," she said, pointing toward the brownstone buildings in the distance.

Stephanie nodded and said, "Sounds fun! Let's go then!"

The girls climbed three flights of stairs to Devi's apartment. The hostess, who was wearing a kaftan and had bangle bracelets on both wrists, greeted them at the door and gave Lauren a tight hug.

"Girl! I haven't seen you since the summer! How have you been?" Devi took a toke from a joint she was holding and then offered it to Lauren, who took it and inhaled. She let out a long puff of smoke and replied.

"Good, Dev! It's good to see you. How's Rachel?" Lauren passed the joint back to her friend.

"She's great! She's around here somewhere. I think she's in the kitchen giving a tarot card reading to Liz." Devi offered the joint to Stephanie, who politely declined.

"You don't smoke, huh? That's okay. Why don't you two go grab a drink? Enjoy yourselves." Devi walked off after giving Lauren another hug.

The living room was dim, illuminated by strings of fairy lights that hung across the ceiling and around the big windows. A few scented candles sat on a table in the corner, emitting a scent of vanilla that mixed with the marijuana smoke. A colorful tapestry hung on the main wall over a large deep sofa covered in Indian print throw pillows. The music was low and trancelike, having only melody and no lyrics. Some of the people in the room slow danced, while others sat cross-legged on the floor, propped on oversized pillows. Many of the people gave the girls warm smiles when they walked into the room. Stephanie felt at ease.

"Wait here," Lauren said. "I'm going to grab us something to drink." She headed in the direction of the kitchen.

Stephanie found an empty spot on the couch and sat back, giving a shy smile to the girls sitting at the other end. She looked around the room, her eyes falling on a framed picture of two women in a close embrace. She recognized one of the faces as Devi's. The other girl in the picture had long red hair and freckles. Her eyes moved to another picture, this one smaller, in a red frame that had the words "True Love" written at the top. The picture was of the same two girls from the first one, this time their lips were locked in a passionate kiss. Stephanie realized now that Devi was a lesbian and the redhead must be Rachel.

Stephanie felt the couch sink a little and she turned to see Lauren sitting next to her, holding two glasses of red wine. "I hope you like sangria," she said. "Dev makes it with spiced pears instead of apples. It's delicious!"

Stephanie smiled as she sipped the drink, her eyes widening at the taste.

Lauren laughed. "I told you it was good!"

The girls sat back on the couch, watching the other people in the room and enjoying the chill atmosphere. Stephanie had a warm feeling in her stomach, a mix of sangria and comfort. She breathed out a long contented sigh, which got Lauren's attention. She propped her legs onto the couch and turned to face Stephanie, an easy smile on her lips.

"Are you having fun?" she asked the younger girl.

Stephanie turned to mimic Lauren's position on the couch. "Yes," she smiled, her eyes glancing down to the girl's lips and back up to her eyes. "This place is awesome, very relaxing. It's night and day from the frat house."

Lauren smiled. "I know. Dev really knows how to set the mood." She propped her head onto her elbow that was resting on the back of the couch and let her gaze drop down to Stephanie's mouth.

"How do you know her? Does she go to BC?" Stephanie asked, taking another sip of her drink.

Lauren shook her head. "No, she's at Mass College of Art. We used to play field hockey against each other in high school. I made a shot that landed directly at her eye." She laughed as she recalled the story. "Dev was so fucking pissed at me for it. She charged right at me in the middle of the field and tackled me. We were wrestling around. She had me in a headlock and was calling me every name in the book."

Lauren was sitting up straighter now, moving her hands around while telling the story.
"I'm gonna kick your ass, you rich bitch! I'm gonna stick your pearls so far up your ass that your unborn children are gonna come out wearing them!"

Lauren was doubled over in laughter, recounting all of Devi's threats from that day. Stephanie laughed along with her, loving how happy she was at the moment. Her happiness was contagious and she beamed at the blue-eyed beauty next to her.

Lauren continued, "She was so pissed, but SO funny. In the middle of fighting her on the field, I just started laughing. I couldn't help it. Her insults were hilarious!"

Devi, hearing Lauren's laughter, came over at this point and joined the conversation. "Are you telling her about how we beat each other up at field hockey? I love this story!" Devi clapped her hands in delight. "The looks on all of the mothers' faces were PRICELESS!" she added. "I thought that one lady in the fur coat was going to call the authorities!"

The two girls were hunched over, holding their stomachs, and laughing like hyenas.

Once she finally caught her breath, Lauren continued. "Oh my God! They all came up to me after and asked me if I was okay and if I was scared that you were going to break into my house! They were appalled! It was amazing!"

Devi laughed again, "That's what you get for playing against public school girls. Dedham High Field Hockey rules!" She pumped her fist in the air at her statement.

Lauren shook her head, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "After the game I knew I had to get her number. No one had ever made me laugh that hard before and I wanted to be her friend."

Devi interjected, "You were obsessed with getting me to be your friend after that. You were like, 'You. My. Friend. Now'!"

Both girls laughed again. Stephanie was entranced by their happiness. She could feel warmth emanating from Lauren's excited body next to her.

"Wow, that is an awesome story!" she said. "I'm glad no one pressed charges."

Lauren giggled at her, leaning back onto the couch again, a little closer to Stephanie now. She let out a long breath, still looking over at the hazel-eyed girl.

Stephanie returned her stare, her face on absolute fire. Her stomach flipped several times. The tops of her ears tingled. She was feeling bold after finishing her second glass of sangria, moving her hand to the back of Lauren's neck and brushing a strand of her long brown hair away from her face. Lauren's eyes smoldered in the dim lights, her mouth slightly open. Stephanie took another moment to look at her, silently asking her permission. Lauren answered by looking down at Stephanie's lips and back up to her eyes, her pupils dilated. This was all the permission Stephane needed and without another moment of hesitation she placed her lips on Lauren's. The older girl responded by moving her mouth in sync with Stephanie's, as if they had kissed like this a million times before. It was soft and effortless.

Not having seen Stephanie since Devi's party a week before, Lauren began to miss the new girl in her life. When her mother told her they'd be away at a Dickinson College alumni event in Pennsylvania for the weekend and Pete would be at a Boy Scouts conference in Connecticut, she jumped at the opportunity to invite Stephanie to her childhood home. The girls would have the whole house to themselves.

Lauren had been filled with nerves for the two days leading up to Friday, when they would take the train to Milton and sneak in through the back door, not wanting her neighbors to know that she was home. She had told Brent that she was going skiing up in Maine with Abby's family, so he wouldn't be suspicious when she didn't show up to the Saturday night Kappa Sigma party.

When Friday finally arrived, Lauren repacked her bag, which she had already packed the night before. She was nervous. She and Stephanie had only really hung out once before, but not alone. Though their time together had been minimal, they had texted and talked on the phone since the party. She hoped, once they got to know each other better in person, that Stephanie would feel the same way that she did about her.

Ever since the kiss at Devi's apartment, Lauren's obsession grew. She thought about Stephanie all the time, no matter what she was doing. During Alpha Epsilon meetings, throughout her entire Calculus class, while switching her laundry from the washer to the dryer, she was always on her mind. She had never met someone like Stephanie before. At first, she was mesmerized by her hazel eyes, smitten with the way they sparkled when she laughed. Once they started to text and talk more, she couldn't believe how quickly they had formed a connection. Stephanie embodied both smarts and a healthy disdain for snobbery.

"How do you survive in a place like BC?" she asked her. "You're surrounded by so many rich kids who can barely spell their middle names and whose parents had to buy their acceptance here."

Stephanie laughed and said, "It's a real ego boost being one of the only students in my math class that can solve a word problem about grocery budgeting and also know what a grocery store actually looks like on the inside."

She was impressed with the way she would easily brush off the glaring disparity between her upbringing compared to those of her classmates. She's so cool, Lauren thought. Does she even really like me or am I just a rich girl fantasy to her? If she only knew the true story about my family, she'd probably drop me like a burning bag of dog shit.

The girls spent the train ride listening to music, sharing an earbud between their heads. From an outside perspective, they looked like they had been best friends for years. Lauren's heart would beat faster whenever Stephanie would quickly, but gently brush her hand over her knee when one of her favorite slow songs would play. Lauren liked the girl's respectful boldness.

When they finally got out of the taxi that dropped them off on the road behind Lauren's house, she pulled Stephanie in for a quick hug and whispered in her ear, "We have to climb a fence. I hope you're cool with that."

She giggled at the confused look on the girl's face. "I don't want Mrs. Kramer coming over to bring me her God awful burnt brownies, pretending that she wanted to 'check' on me." She bent her fingers to make air quotes. "I want to be alone with you," she took Stephanie's hands in hers, feeling bold now herself "No interruptions."

Stephanie's confused look turned into a smile. "I'm from Worcester. I know how to climb a fence," she laughed, taking both hers and Lauren's bag in her hands. "Lead the way," she signaled.

Once they got inside, Stephanie was in awe. Only standing in the kitchen, it was still the fanciest room she had ever been in as far as she could recall. Lauren poked her shoulder and said, "Hey, don't go dark on me now, Steph. Are you okay?"

She shook her head and swallowed. "Yea...yeah, um, what did you say your father did for a living again?" she asked, removing her sneakers that were wet from the snow in the yard.

Lauren giggled, shaking her head. "Come on, I'll show you the rest of the house."

Stephanie followed her around, careful not to touch anything. She knew she could be clumsy when she was nervous, so she kept her hands in her pockets. "Does he run a drug cartel?" she teased, eyeing the fancy artwork on the walls. "Or maybe he owns one of those oil rigs in the middle of the Pacific Ocean," she said, looking at the heavy velvet curtains.

Lauren stopped in front of her, close enough for Stephanie to see the ring of black around her irises. She had a look of playful annoyance on her face.

"Do they even have oil rigs in the Pacific? Maybe I'm thinking the Gulf of Mexico," she stammered, nervous under Lauren's stare. "Or maybe..."

Lauren put a finger to Stephanie's lips. They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment before Lauren leaned in and kissed her. When she pulled away, Stephanie opened her eyes, speechless and blushing.

Lauren smirked, noticing the girl's pink cheeks. "I guess that's one way to get you to shut up."

She turned and continued the house tour. Stephanie followed her like a Basset Hound through the remaining rooms, obediently listening to each description.

When they got to her bedroom, the tension was palpable as they both looked at Lauren's full size bed. It wasn't small, but there wouldn't be very much extra space once they were both in it. Swallowing hard, Stephanie moved to a bookshelf, picking up a framed photo of Lauren in a tutu and wearing pearls, with a very choppy bob haircut. She turned, holding it up to show Lauren.

"I can't figure out if you're 6 or 62 in this picture," she laughed, easing the awkwardness of the moment.

"Hey!" Lauren feigned offense. "I was a very respectable 5-year-old there!"

Stephanie smirked. "Respectable, huh? What happened?"

Lauren pushed her, huffing about the rude comment.

Stephanie laughed, wrapping her arms around her. Their hug turned into swaying, as if they were slow dancing. Soon, they were kissing and fell back onto the bed. Hesitantly pulling away from Lauren a little, she asked, "Is this okay?"

Lauren nodded, returning to the kiss. They spent the afternoon in bed.

Later in the evening, they ventured into the kitchen in search of food. Stephanie sat on the counter, looking around the room, while Lauren leaned into the pantry, calling out possible dinner items. They had already checked the refrigerator, which, to Stephanie's surprise, was almost empty. I guess rich people don't eat, she thought when she peered into the open door and only saw a half empty carton of milk and a few indiscernible Tupperware containers.

"We have a can of black beans, a package of crackers that expired last June, or," she said, emerging from the pantry holding a box of Betty Crocker, "we could bake brownies."

Stephanie scrunched her nose and jumped off the counter. "Laur, we need to eat some real food. You wore me out today! I need to get my energy back." She took the box from Lauren's hand and looked at the label. "These brownies expired two years ago, babe."

Lauren hung her head in shame.

"I'm going to order a pizza. We'll have it delivered," Stephanie said, pulling out her cellphone.

"No!" Lauren anxiously yelped.

Dropping her hands down to her side, Stephanie cocked her head. "What's wrong?" she asked, utterly confused by the sudden reaction.

Lauren looked down again. "I...I don't want anyone to see a delivery driver pull up to the house. They'll know I'm here."

Stephanie frowned, pursing her lips.

Seeing the disappointment in her hazel eyes, Lauren felt guilty.

Stephanie grabbed her coat and slipped on her shoes. Lauren watched her, fearing that she was leaving because she was angry. Seeing the worry on the girl's face, she giggled and took Lauren's hands in hers.

"No worries," she whispered, giving her a soft kiss on her cheek. "I'll be right back."

She walked out the back door, trudged through the snow in the yard, climbed the fence and walked out of the small woods to the back street. She walked over to the closest house and mentally noted the metal numbers that hung on the mailbox. She then walked to the end of the street, reading the sign on the pole. She pulled up the internet on her phone and found the closest restaurant, called the number, and ordered two large veggie pizzas to be delivered to the house she had just seen.

"I'll be waiting out front," she told the person taking the order.

Lauren paced the kitchen, worried that Stephanie had gotten lost in the dark. She had been gone for 45 minutes and she wondered if she should go looking for her. She wrung her hands and continued to pace. Deciding to go search, she took her coat off the hook. She jumped when she heard the back door open. She spun around to see Stephanie, her face red from the cold, holding two slightly damaged pizza boxes.

Lauren dropped her coat and sighed. She smiled at her, melting at the heroic gesture. Stephanie had battled the winter night and a fence in an unknown town, just to feed her. At that moment, Lauren's obsession turned into love.

Ever since their weekend together, Lauren couldn't get enough of Stephanie. She would find ways to run into her on campus during the week, even if it meant going four buildings out of her way to see her.

Stephanie's freshman year at BC had gotten so much better during the spring semester. Tip had become a friend outside of class and she had been getting closer to Lauren. She had even managed to form a connection with her roommate.

Though Mikayla spent every weekend with her boyfriend, she had actually been sleeping in their dorm room during school nights. They would eat dinner together in the cafeteria just about every evening, giggling at each other's stories about the rich kids around them.

"Yesterday, that girl from LA in my history class asked me where I got my top. You know the one with the embroidered flowers that I got at H and M? I told her it was vintage Chanel and she FREAKED! She was like, 'Oh yeah, I knew that.' Fucking idiot!" Mikayla rolled her eyes, popping a baby carrot into her mouth.

Stephanie giggled, poking her fork into her Caesar salad. "Billy, the night security guard, told me that the Dean of Arts and Sciences has a life size portrait of himself in his living room." She shook her head, laughing. "Like, what the fuck, man? You have two kids! Maybe you should hang their pictures over your fireplace instead!"

"No shit! I guess he needs a big mansion for the size of that ego," Mikayla retorted. "My dad told me his guys find nudie mags in his trash bin all the time when they clean his office. CREEP!"

They both laughed loudly, causing students at the other tables to look over at them. Mikayla wiped a tear from her eye, still giggling.

"You should totally come with me to Quincy this weekend!" Mikayla said. "We're bringing a keg to the quarries! You have to see this place. It's covered in beautiful graffiti art and the cops don't care that we drink there." She moved her hands around animatedly as she spoke. "Come on! Get away from BC for a few days! It'll be fun!"

Stephanie thought about it for a moment and gave Mikayla a nod. Grinning, she said, "That sounds awesome! I can't wait!"

"Can't wait for what?" Lauren suddenly appeared at their table, smiling at the girls' enthusiasm.

Mikayla's smile left her face and she looked down at her plate. Stephanie noticed her roommate's change in mood and looked back at Lauren.

"Mikayla invited me to Quincy this weekend! We're going to have a blast!" she said, looking back to Mikayla, giving her a big grin. "Right, Kayls?"

Mikayla looked up and smiled back at her roommate. "Damn right we are!"

Her goofy mood had returned now and she held up her palm to offer her a high five, which Stephanie met with a loud slap, drawing attention to their table again.

"Hell yeah!" Stephanie cheered, causing both girls to giggle.

Lauren watched Stephanie as she smiled and laughed, noticing how bright her hazel eyes looked. She couldn't help but to smile too.

"Quincy?" she asked. "I've never been there. I definitely want to check out those quarries one day though. I hear they're rad!"

The girls looked at each other, exchanging looks of surprise because Lauren had mentioned the exact location of the party that weekend. Stephanie raised her eyebrows at Mikayla, who knowingly smiled back at her. She sensed that her roommate had a crush on the sophomore, watching the way she smiled in her bed whenever she texted the girl.

Turning to Lauren, Mikayla said, "Why don't you come too? You can keep poor Stephanie here company while Brian and I make out all night!"

Both girls broke into a fit of giggles again. A slight shade of pink covered Stephanie's cheeks as she shyly looked up at Lauren, who was beaming back at her.

"I'd love to," she answered, keeping her eyes on Stephanie.

Three days later, the girls waited in the visitor parking lot for Brian to arrive. When they saw his blue Chevy pick-up truck pull in, Lauren gave Stephanie a look of hesitation, wondering how all four of them would fit in the little front cab.

"Hey, babe," Brian waved to Mikayla.

"Baby!" she squealed, leaning up to give him a kiss through the window. "This is Lauren and you know Stephanie," she pointed to the girls. They slung their bags over their shoulders and walked to the truck, giving small waves.

Stopping once she got closer, Stephanie eyed the small cab. "So what's the deal, Brian? Am I sitting on your lap the whole ride? I don't think Kayls would appreciate that very much."

She poked her roommate in the side, giggling at her.

"Shit! I didn't even think about how we'd all fit in this beast," Mikayla said, kicking the front tire and shaking her head.

Brian got out and took his Red Sox baseball cap off, scratching his head. "Um, I guess I could make two trips?"

The girls rolled their eyes at each other. Stephanie noticed Lauren frowning, looking at her feet. She figured she felt badly because she had basically invited herself. The three of them would have fit in the truck, but the addition of a fourth person now posed a problem. Hating to see the girl feeling down, Stephanie sprang into action.

She unzipped her bag and pulled out a small blanket. Holding it up, she said, "Lauren and I will ride in the back!" She ran to the bed of the truck and jumped in, arranging the blanket. She reached her hand out to Lauren. "Come on, I won't let you fall out. Promise." She grinned, hoping to reassure her.

Brian said, "Uh, I think that's pretty dangerous...and illegal."

Stephanie looked at Mikayla, silently pleading for her to step in. Mikayla acknowledged her request and nodded at her.

"Come on, babe!" She slinked her arm in his. "It's not that far and we can take the backroads through Southie." She looked up at him with big eyes, rubbing his forearm gently. "Come on, live a little," she nudged.

He looked down at her like a puppy dog. Stephanie could almost see hearts in his eyes. She grinned and said to Brian, "I promise to hold her tight back there. I won't let anything happen to her." She gave Lauren a meaningful smile.

Mikayla gave Brian a sweet kiss on the cheek and whispered in his ear. He blushed and smiled shyly at her.

Stephanie cleared her throat, waiting for an answer.

Brian regained his composure and said, "Um, okay."

"Woo hoo!" Stephanie extended her hand again to Lauren, who broke out into a huge grin and took it, climbing into the truck.

"Play that music loud so we can hear it back here, Kayls!" she yelled, laying down flat on her back next to Lauren. She looked over at her and smiled, giddy to be so close to her again. Lauren returned her smile and, once the truck started moving, grabbed Stephanie's arm, burying her face in her shoulder. With each bump in the road, her grip tightened. Stephanie laughed at her, turning to lay on her side.

"Come here, babe." She held her arms out, inviting Lauren in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around the girl and rubbed her back, peppering her hair with little kisses. "I've got you," she promised, holding her tightly when the bumps got bad. Stephanie gave a silent prayer of thanks for whoever invented pickup trucks.