Page 19 of Hooves & HeartStrings

Stepping out of the shower, I wrap myself in a towel, relishing its softness against my skin. Feeling lazy, I gather my damp hair and twist it into two playful space buns, securing them in place with a couple of hair ties before swiping on some gloss.

If we’re just going to Posey’s for the night then I’m gonna dress casually and comfortably. Turning the light on for the closet, I grab a skort and a T-shirt, slipping them on.

“Okay, let’s go. I swear though, if this is anything other than drinks and a chill night, I’ll murder you,” I warn Stacy as I step out into the living room.

“Scouts honor.” She holds two fingers up like the girl in the Hunger Games movie.

“Wrong symbol idiot.” I laugh.

“Whatever. Get your shoes so we can go. I already got the booze in the car. I grabbed your favorite; Carbliss.”

The ride to Posey’s is filled with us belting the lyrics to every song on the radio and cackling when Stacy doesn’t know the right lyric and makes some shit up.

We pull up to the house right as she screams. “Like my eyeballs stuck on replay.”

“You could just not sing when you don’t know the words ya know,” I tease

“That’s no fun,” she tells me, shutting off the car and grabbing the case of seltzers from the back before she gets out.

Posey opens the front door and is already in her pajamas. “You got her to come!”

“She didn’t have a choice,” Stacy calls. “It was pretty much a kidnapping.”

“Well, either way, I’m glad you came.”

“Dahlia isn’t coming is she? I’ll go home right now. I’m not in the mood to see her,” I ask.

Dahlia’s and my friendship is over until she apologizes to me and I see her treating people better. I’m not putting up with her shitting on someone just because they’re different from her.

“Nope. Haven’t talked to her. She needs a reality check.” Posey shuts the door behind us and leads us up the stairs to her bedroom.

When we get into the room Mindy is sitting next to the TV reciting Legally Blonde verbatim as it plays. Posey throws a pillow from the bed at her and she falls over laughing.

“Hand me a drink, Po?” Mindy asks, holding her hand out.

“Sure thing, babe. Marley, you want one?”

“Yeah, I’ll take a Carbliss.”

Stacy opens the box and hands me a cranberry flavor. I savor the taste as I take my first swig.

“Okay so tell us, Marley, have you heard from Lucius?” Mindy sits next to me on the bed and lays a hand on my thigh.

“No,” I whisper. “I’ve sent texts and called, but nothing.”

“So that’s it?” Stacy throws a hand up in the air. “You find love and it ends just like that? What’s that say for the rest of us?”

“I don’t know. He was thinking of going to CSU but he had an internship he applied for as well. I doubt if he left so close to the start of the semester that he’s coming back for college.”

My vision blurs as tears sting my eyes, but I hold them in. I’m not crying and bringing the mood down for my friends. They deserve this last night of fun before college starts.

“Enough of that sad shit.” Mindy claps, changing the subject.

“Agreed. It’s our last night together just us before school takes over. We should do something fun,” Stacy chimes in.

“Ooh, I’ve been seeing all over the internet about this write-a-prisoner thing. You can go online and pick a prisoner to write to. We could have a convict penpal.” She wags her brows.

“What the fuck?” Stacy is the first to reply.

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