Page 3 of Wings of a Butterfly

Yeah, I figured that.

I meet her in the foyer before we walk out the front door of our town house. We walk in sync to her powder blue Volvo XC40. That shit is fancy. I’ve asked her where she gets this kind of money, but she always blows me off saying her waitress job makes a killing. I’m doubtful, but who am I to judge? She covers my part of the rent sometimes because my bookstore job doesn’t pay much, but I love it. Plus, I’m hoping it’ll help when I finish my English degree. As if being surrounded by books will help inspire me.

We’ve been friends since middle school. We made a pact that as soon as we were eighteen we’d move out of our parents’ houses. Hers because she has tons of siblings, and she needed space and, well, for me, it was much more complicated.

She is my best friend. I’ve always hoped that one day she’d see me as more than a friend.

We get into her luxy ride. She’s so excited and it fills me with glee by proxy. She turns on the SUV and “Love Me or Hate Me” by Kelsey Karter comes blaring out of her speakers. She moves quickly to turn it down before she blows our eardrums out.

She laughs nervously. “Sorry.” Here we go!” She backs out of the driveway. She passes me the AUX cord and I playNF, whose lyrics reflect the dark emotions I’m feeling at the moment.

As Nicci drives, I look out the window, watching the colors of the trees and cars blend together. I’m zoned out. It’s always a good feeling to disconnect and just feel the music letting the world spin around you. I wish I would have brought a book with me, so I could get lost in another universe entirely.

***

“We are here! Do you see this?” Nicci is leaning out the window and letting the breeze blow her dreads back.

Her voice shocks me back to reality. I shake my head and reconnect with myself. The crowds of people and cars are overwhelming. Everyone is heading to these large stages and tents in droves. We’re at this large national park in Memphis that is surrounded by trees. I actually didn’t think this place was as big as it is or that this many people would show. This is supposed to be a Coachella-mimicked event, I think.

Nervous excitement runs through me. “Yeah, I see it.” I feel my face cringing at the idea of a crowd. This is not my thing. I usually just follow Nicci like a shadow. I think it’s because I want her to finally notice that I love her as more than a friend. I’m friend-zoned and not even sure if she’s into girls. I know she’s only ever been with guys, but has she ever been curious? She gets under my skin at times. I’m not sure if she does it on purpose or not, but it does things to me. Such as when she plays with my hair when we’re watching movies on the couch together. It makes my body burn up and brings a low throb between my thighs.

Pulling carefully through the crowds to find a parking spot in the grass, I see the event organizers signaling us where to park. Nicci gets us where we need to go and turns the car off.

“So are we doing this?” I’m extremely nervous, but I’m convinced this will be the only way I can get through all my nerves and just enjoy this moment with her.

“Oh, yeah. Let me grab them.” She leans into the back and grabs our bag with water bottles, blankets, and snacks. It has everything we need to get through this comfortably. “Okay, here you go,” she says, handing me a little piece of paper with an alien face printed on it.

“This is it?” I’m skeptical as I inspect it on her finger.

“Yes, for Christ’s sake, Sky, just trust me.”

“Okay. Okay, I trust you.” Holding my hands up to wave her defenses down. I’m with Nicci. She is my rock. I’ll be okay.

She looks at me with her eyebrows quirked up and sticks her finger out. She has a smirk on her lips, and I know what she wants me to do. I stick my tongue out for her to place the little paper on my tongue. I feel an electric rush over my body just from her touch. I’m tempted to lick her fingers clean. She lingers for a moment, and I see something in her eyes, but it’s gone before I can read too much into it. She pulls back and the paper has dissolved, leaving a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.

She hands me a bottle of water to wash it down. “Here, take a drink of this.” I grab the water from her hand and take a mouthful, swish it around and rid my mouth of the bitter taste. “And here,” she says, handing me a sucker. “You’ll need this later.”

“Oh? Okay.” I grab the sucker from her and put it in my back pocket.

“Are you ready for this?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

We get out of the car, and she grabs my hand, dragging me to the check-in booths. The lines are pretty long, and we pick one to wait in. I look around, checking out the people around us. They’re all wearing something similar to us. All alternative aesthetics with band tees, fishnets, and vibrant-colored hair.

I look back at Nicci and see she’s checking out this guy with tattoos and brown hair. His side profile is all I see of him. The look in his eye says he’s plotting something wicked. Maybe he’s thinking of how he’ll rip all of Nicci’s clothes off. That wouldn’t be the first time she’s run off with a guy we’ve met during an outing. He looks scary honestly.

She smirks at the attention he’s giving us. When Nicci sees what she wants she goes for it hard, as in hard to get and a big fat tease. She turns to me and grabs my face in her hands. Her lips are on mine at lightning speed. I’m in shock, but it’s like a switch flipped in my head, and I take it all in. They are so soft, and her tongue runs over the seam of my lips. I part them to let her in. I’m melting into her touch, and if we could be melded together like this forever, I would die for that. My head is swimming. I can’t believe this is happening. Her tongue is massaging mine, and I bring my hands up to cup her face pressing her lips harder to mine. I’m soaring with the feel of it. I pull her bottom lip into my mouth, sucking on it before dragging it between my teeth. She pulls back. Her eyes are still closed. She looks like she’s blissed out and she gives me a mischievous smile and cuts her eyes to the guy that was eying us before. My heart sinks a little. She used me for this. She has never done that before. I don’t even think she knows how I feel about her. My heart is crushing a little at the thought, but I push it away. I should have known what this was.

“God, you were amazing. Where did you learn to kiss like that, my meek little bookworm?” She sounds breathless, but her demeanor is cool and calculating. She’s playing games with this guy in the other line. She doesn’t know that she just played me too. I give her a weak smile in response and shrug.

We make it up to the front after a few more minutes. We had a lot of space to move up after our little performance. Nicci pulls out her phone and shows the attendant our e-tickets, and he waves us on to the check-in where they’ll inspect our belongings for any weapons. As soon as they’re done we’re cleared to go in.

I can see the sun setting below the tree line. The sky is purple with pink hues. Soon the real fun will begin.

I can feel myself gritting my teeth because my jaw starts to ache. Nicci looks over to me. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, just starting to feel a little anxious.”

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