Zach rushed to Mia’s side. “Are you okay?” he asked, putting an arm around her.
Mia swayed unsteadily, wiping her mouth. “I doan feel so good. ”
“Amanda?” Zach said. “Can she stay at your house? I can’t bring her home like this. ”
“As if,” Amanda said, making a sour face. “I’m not leaving the party this early. It’s barely midnight. ” She gave Zach a long kiss and then walked away, flipping her hair as she headed back toward the keg.
“Mia can spend the night at my house,” Lexi said. “Eva will be asleep by now. ”
Zach looked at her. “Really?”
“Sure. ”
Zach guided Mia back to the Mustang and put her in the backseat. It was like trying to make cooked spaghetti stand, and by the time he was finished, Mia was laughing uproariously and spread out across the seat. Snapping her seatbelt in place took forever.
Lexi got into the passenger seat while Zach started the engine. He backed up slowly and drove out to the main road.
As they sped down the highway toward the bridge, his fingers tapped out a rhythm on the leather-covered steering wheel. The music coming through the stereo was unfamiliar to Lexi, but its beat was strangely addictive. Mia was humming in the backseat, out of tune, as usual.
At the trailer, Lexi got out of the car, and Mia was right behind her, stumbling out, laughing as she fell to her knees in the damp grass. “Less go to our hill,” she said, staggering back to her feet.
Zach rushed to his sister’s side, held her up. “Hey, Mia,” he said gently, “maybe you should go to bed. ”
Mia smiled drunkenly. “Yeah. Tha would be good. ”
Zach looked at Lexi. “I’ll wait until she’s in bed to leave, okay?”
“You don’t have to do that. I know you want to get back to Amanda. ”
“You have no idea what I want. ”
Stung, Lexi went to Mia, took her from Zach. “Let’s go, Mia. ” She guided her best friend across the damp grass and up into the mobile home. In the living room, Mia collapsed to the floor, giggling and moaning. “Sshh,” Lexi said.
“I’ll jus sleep for a sec…”
Lexi left Mia on the carpeted floor for a minute and went back outside. From the porch, she stared at Zach. Slowly, she moved toward him. He was looking at her now, watching her even, and his attention made something in the pit of her stomach flutter. “S-she’s fine,” she said.
“What’s your hill?” he said.
“Mia and I hang out there. It’s nothing. ”
“Can I see it?”
“I guess. ”
Lexi was aware of his footsteps cracking on twigs and branches as they pushed their way through the heavy salal and brush. The path was so thin you could only find it if you knew where it was. When she emerged into the open again, it was onto a high bluff of untended land that overlooked a busy strip of the highway, the glittering casino, and the black Sound beyond. “I come out here all the time,” she said.
“It’s cool. ” Zach sat down on the soft ground.
Lexi reluctantly sat beside him. They were so close she could feel his leg against hers.
She waited for him to say something, but he didn’t.
Silence stretched out, turned uncomfortable. “So you guys are checking out colleges next weekend. That’s cool,” Lexi finally said. It was all she could think of.
He shrugged. “Whatever. ”
“You don’t sound very excited about it. ”