yolo

by Sam Jones

  Chris smiled back. “That just tells me that you’ve been hanging out with the wrong guys.”

  Emily laughed. “And what about now?”

  Chris raised his bottle of Heineken. “Now you’re hanging out with the right ones.”

  chapter 21

  After Chris ordered another beer, Emily told him she needed to check in with her friends.

  “Need company?”

  “They’re just right there,” Emily said, pointing.

  “I know. I just don’t think you should go by yourself.”

  “Because . . . it’s . . . dangerous?” she asked. They might’ve been in a pool hall, but none of the people seemed particularly deadly. Especially considering the rest of her day.

  “No.” Chris looked her straight in the eyes. “Because I’ll miss you.”

  This answer delighted Emily, but she tried not to smile because she didn’t want to appear to be too delighted. She didn’t even know this guy. No matter how nice he seemed, he was just a momentary acquaintance. “Is that what you tell all the girls?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

  Chris looked over both shoulders, scanning the room, then turned back to her. “You’re the only woman under thirty-five in this place. I don’t tell the rest of these people anything.”

  Emily laughed. “Fine. Come with me.”

  They found Brandon beating the pants off a guy at what was apparently a low-stakes table in the corner.

  “What does low-stakes mean?” Emily asked.

  “They’ve only got twenty dollars riding on this game,” Ana explained.

  “Wait, they’re betting on this game?” Emily couldn’t believe it. “I mean, Brandon is trying to make money?”

  “Oh, he’s not trying,” said Ana. “He’s succeeding. He’s up to forty already. This will be sixty.”

  As she said that, Emily watched as Brandon sunk the last two balls on the table with a behind-the-back shot that looked like a move that only worked in a movie. Ana jumped up and down and ran over and hugged him.

  “We’re not supposed to think they’re . . . together?” Chris asked Emily.

  Emily shrugged. “It’s a developing thing.”

  “Sounds like there’s a story.”

  She looked at Chris. “Isn’t there always?” She motioned to her friends. “In their case, they’re both friends of mine who started dating, and then crashed and burned. Things seem to be rekindling today, though.”

  “And how do you feel about that?”

  “I wasn’t for it at first,” Emily admitted. “But now . . . I wonder if maybe the time apart has given them some perspective. Maybe they’d actually be good together, you know?”

  “Well, if they’re both friends with you, they’ve got to have great taste.”

  Emily turned to Chris again and allowed herself to give him a smile this time.

  “You know, you should get your friend to play that table.” Chris pointed to another corner. “He’s good. Really good, considering the types that hang out around here.”

  After Emily had introduced Chris and Brandon, Chris explained the high-stakes table and, without much effort, convinced Brandon to give it a shot. The buy-in was five hundred and Brandon was about to bow out, saying he didn’t have that much cash on him, when Ana pulled a wad of bills out of her pocket. Emily and Brandon both stared at her in shock, but she just shrugged.

  Brandon’s first game went by quickly. His opponent seemed to be loaded, but completely without skill. The second game was against the same player, so in no time at all, Brandon was up a thousand dollars and a crowd had formed around the table to see the new guy, and people had lined up to play him.

  “So how’d your friend get this good?” Chris asked.

  “His dad,” Emily said. “I think they used to play when he was younger. I had no idea he was this good, though.”

  “Everyone’s full of surprises,” Chris muttered.

  Emily glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering what sorts of surprises he might have. Not that she cared. It wouldn’t be long before they parted ways forever.

  It wasn’t long before Brandon had cleared twenty-five hundred. It seemed like people in this town weren’t hurting for cash—farming was apparently more lucrative than Emily could’ve imagined—and everyone seemed more enamored by Brandon’s skill than hurt by their losses. A few of the female patrons were enamored enough to try to slip in next to Brandon to give him a good-luck kiss before shots, but Ana was pretty quick to shut down each and every one of the women, and Brandon didn’t seem to mind one bit.

  Everything seemed to be going pretty smoothly until there was some commotion on the other side of the pool hall. Emily didn’t think anything of it at first, and Chris said that someone was probably just stumbling from one too many beers, but when Emily glanced at Ana and saw her friend’s wide-eyed stare, she quickly turned to look.

  Big Dog, along with his henchmen Ruff and Scrappy, was standing by the door, looking around. Looking for them.

  Emily immediately ducked behind Chris, and then behind the pool table. She quickly crouch-waddled her way to Ana and pulled the girl down behind her.

  “They found us,” Ana hissed. “We’re so dead.”

  “How’d they even know we were here?” Emily wasn’t sure why she was asking Ana this. Neither of them would know the answer. It barely made any sense . . . but most of the day made little sense, so they should’ve assumed his would happen.

  “Hey there.” Chris was suddenly crouched next to them, grinning. “Someone loose a contact lens? Or maybe an earring?”

  “This is so much worse, mano,” Ana said, shaking her head

  Emily put her hand back over Ana’s mouth. “Shh!” She turned to Chris, keeping her hand in place on Ana’s mouth. “There’s no way to explain all of this, but some guys are looking for us.”

  “Like ex-boyfriends?” Chris asked.

  “Like drug dealers we ripped off.” Emily couldn’t believe she’d just said this out loud, but there was no other choice. She felt her heart sink. She wouldn’t be getting Chris’s number, that much was certain.

  Chris frowned. “Wait. You mean Stanley?”

  “Does everyone know this guy?” Emily asked.

  “Hang on.” Chris stood up again, slipping into the crowd of people who were cheering Brandon on. Brandon still hadn’t realized that anything strange was going on, and all of his focus was centered on the pool table and his rapidly thickening wallet.

  Chris returned a moment later and said, “They’re making their way down the bar, asking around. I don’t think they’ve seen you yet.”

  “They think Brandon’s name is Chestnut,” said Emily. “And they think I’m a girl named Liz.”

  “I really want to know why, but let’s discuss at a later time, shall we?” Chris reached over and grabbed a pool cue off the wall. With one well-aimed move he waved it under the table and smacked Brandon in the shin on the other side. Brandon yelped “Ow!” and was immediately on all fours, his head appearing under the table.

  “Hey!” he said, frowning at Emily, Chris, and Ana. “I was wondering where you guys went. Did you hit me?” People started attempting to pull Brandon up so he could take his next shot. “Hang on! Hang on a minute!” he shouted up at them. He looked back at Emily. “I have to go.”

  “BIG DOG.” Emily hissed under the table, pointing toward the bar.

  Brandon’s eyes went wide. “Shit.” He crawled on all fours under the table to where they were. “What do we do?”

  Chris jabbed a thumb behind him. “There’s a back door by the bathrooms. Let’s make a break on ‘three,’ okay?”

  Everybody nodded. Chris counted. They stood up.

  Emily realized immediately that they should have either (a) stayed down and crawled to the bathroom, or (b) spaced out, standing up one at a time. As it was, they’d all popped up like a barbershop quartet, immediately turning every head toward them, including Scrappy, who was three t
ables over. For the first time ever, they heard Scrappy speak:

  “HEY!”

  Big Dog and Ruff spun around from their search at the bar, and Ruff leaped into action, immediately jumping chairs and pool tables to get to them.

  “Get them!” Big Dog shouted.

  Chris grabbed Emily’s hand and started pulling her toward the bathroom, leaving Emily just a second to grab Ana, who was already holding on to Brandon. The four of them stumbled and shoved their way to the back of the pool hall and were quickly engulfed by the large crowd that had accumulated to watch Brandon’s billiard game, which kept Ruff and Big Dog at bay.

  “Go! Go! Go!” Brandon shouted as they plowed through the lines at the bathrooms and the pool hall turned into an arena, with fights breaking out in every corner because of the pushing and shoving that was happening.

  At the back doors Emily looked back to see that Ruff and Scrappy were both involved in pretty big fights, which they seemed to be losing, and Big Dog was being held down on a pool table as he kicked and screamed to be released immediately. She couldn’t help but let out a laugh of joy when she saw the perfect scene before her.

  “Come on, troublemaker,” Chris said as he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her toward the doorway. “You can laugh at the brawl you caused when we’re safely away from your drug-dealer pursuers.”

  Outside, the four raced around the corner of the building and came out in the front parking lot where Emily’s SUV was waiting for them in front of Frank’s, thankfully intact and untouched. The car lights flashed when Emily hit the button on her keychain, and Brandon dove into the backseat, causing a barking fit from Pickles, who was either happy to see them or angry about being woken up.

  “Come on, Em!” Ana shouted as she jumped into the passenger side and hit the side of the car. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  On the driver’s side, Emily stopped and turned to Chris, who was standing next to her with his hands shoved into his jeans pockets and a small smirk.

  He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head toward the pool hall. “So . . . that was fun,” he said. “Didn’t expect that kind of excitement when I woke up this morning.”

  “Me neither,” Emily said, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry I got you involved.”

  “Don’t be,” he said quickly. “It was nice. Things can get pretty dull around here. Monotonous. You guys livened things up.”

  Emily hesitated, not sure what to do or say next. She knew they had to go—Brandon’s moans and mumbling from the backseat made that abundantly clear—but she felt like she and Chris had some kind of connection. Maybe it was because he’d just saved her from some drug dealers . . . but maybe it was something more than that. And she felt like she wanted to explore the possibility of . . . what? There wasn’t any possibility. She didn’t know him, he didn’t know her, and this was just a momentary hiccup in the day’s plan. Nothing more.

  “So I’ve gotta go,” she said, regretting the words even as they left her mouth.

  “You should,” Chris said, nodding.

  The pause that happened was on the sort of epic scale that Emily thought could only happen in romantic comedies and on daytime soaps she used to catch bits of when she stayed home sick. It was like everything around them, everything other than Chris, ceased to exist, and there was nothing she wanted more than to just jump into his arms, press her body against his, and make their lips touch and never stop touching.

  “I’ll find you,” he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.

  “How?”

  “I have my ways.”

  “But . . .”

  “A girl like you doesn’t come along every day,” Chris said. “And now that I’ve found one, I’m not going to let her get away that easily. Stanley be damned.”

  “Come onnnnnn, chica!” Ana shouted. “Vámonos!”

  Chris reached behind Emily and pulled the door open. “Trust me,” he said as he gently pushed her into the car.

  Emily wasn’t sure how or why, but she knew that she did trust him. Without another word, she closed the door, started the car, and pulled out of the parking lot. In her rearview mirror, Chris became smaller and smaller until she turned the corner and couldn’t see him anymore. But she knew, or hoped at least, that it wouldn’t be the last time.

  chapter 22

  “Earth to Emily!” Ana called out. “Come in, Emily.”

  “Huh? What?” Emily refocused and glanced at her friend in the passenger seat. “What is it? I’m fine. I’m paying attention.” She looked ahead to be sure, but her driving was on point, as usual.

  “I’m not worried about your driving,” Ana said. “You’re a perfect driver, and you know it. Even when your head is in the clouds and your heart is about to explode.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her heart was racing, though. But that might’ve had to do with the fact that they’d just dodged a potentially major bar fight.

  “Come on, dime todo,” Ana said. “Tell me everything!”

  “Everything about what?” Emily knew exactly what Ana was talking about, but she refused to make it easy for her. If she wanted information, she was going to work for it.

  “Pah-leeze,” Brandon said. “Even I could see the tension there, and I’m emotionally and romantically stunted, according to Ana.”

  “It was nothing,” Emily said.

  “Looked like something to me,” Ana shot back. “But he was cute, so I totally approve. Maybe a little on the older side, but I think you need that kind of maturity. You’re much too sophisticated for high-school boys.”

  “When did you become the queen of relationships?” Emily asked.

  “Girl, I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

  “Ouch!” Brandon said loudly. “Harsh.”

  “All I’m saying,” Ana continued, “is that he seemed like a good guy, and you should get to know him a little more. Invite him to the party.”

  “I’ll second that,” Brandon said. “I liked the dude.”

  “Well . . . you see . . .” Emily let out a sigh. “I don’t have his number.”

  “What?!”

  Ana’s screech sent Pickles into a barking frenzy, and Emily had to actually concentrate to get the car back on track after an unintentional swerve.

  “Please don’t do that again,” Emily said.

  “Please don’t forget to ask for a cute guy’s phone number!” Ana shouted.

  “We never really had a chance to talk about it,” Emily said. “I didn’t really expect Big Dog to show up right then.”

  Ana sighed and collapsed in her seat. “Just when I thought you’d made some progress . . .” Ana sat up quickly and looked in the side mirror. “What’s going on behind us?”

  Emily checked out her rearview and frowned at the car flashing its lights behind them. “Is something wrong with the car? Are they telling us to pull over?”

  “Dude, that car is moving pretty fast,” Brandon said. “It’s gaining on us . . . do you think?”

  “It can’t be.” Ana shook her head. “Could it?”

  “Can’t what?”

  “Is it Big Dog?” Brandon turned forward. “We have to call the police.” He pulled his phone out, but Ana snatched it from him a second later. “Hey!”

  “We’re not calling anyone.”

  “Give me my phone, Ana! I’m calling.”

  “We don’t even know who it is,” Ana argued. “And if it is Big Dog, what’s calling the police going to do now? We won’t have the money, and we’ll probably get arrested.”

  “If we’re not calling the police, then we have to outrun them,” Brandon said. “Emily, you’ve got to forget all of those driving rules and put the pedal to the metal.”

  Emily would’ve laughed at Brandon’s clichéd phrase, but the situation wasn’t particularly funny, so she just did as she was told. Her hands gripped the wheel and immediately started to sweat, though she wasn’t sure if it was because of the speed or because the
car was still gaining on them.

  “Go faster!” Brandon shouted.

  “I can only go so fast!” Emily shouted back. She was going as fast as she dared to, but it still didn’t seem to be enough. But she didn’t want to push it and end up killing all of them. They were starting to reach the mountains now—not too far from the Steins’—and the curves on the highway were made more complicated and dangerous because of the wind and trees . . . not to mention the potential for deer.

  “These assholes are crazy!” Brandon said as the car came up on their left side.

  As the car pulled into view, Emily saw why: Liz was leaning out the passenger window screaming at the top of her lungs while Chestnut honked and flashed the lights, cursing and swerving all over the place.

  “PULL OVER!” Liz was cursing a blue streak and waving her arms. The look in her eyes chilled Emily to the bone.

  “What do I do?!” she screamed.

  “Hit the brakes!” Brandon shouted.

  “What?!” Ana interrupted her pretty-much-nonstop screaming to ask.

  “But—”

  “They’ll surge ahead and we’ll be able to get away,” Brandon said. “I’ve seen it in a million movies. Do it!”

  Emily wasn’t sure they should be taking driving tips from action movies, especially since cinematic life advice hadn’t worked particularly well for them the rest of the day, but she barely even got a chance to consider the option before Chestnut jerked his car to the side, crashing right into the SUV.

  Emily felt the car begin to skid, and she gripped the steering wheel as the right back wheel caught the edge of the pavement and they spun onto the shoulder of the road. The momentum carried the passenger side of the car up into the air, and Emily heard Brandon yell, “Oh shit!” It felt like they might keep rolling all the way over, but they skidded for a few yards on two wheels and then the passenger side slammed back down to the ground, causing the air bags in front of Emily and Ana to explode out of the steering wheel and dash as they skidded to a stop, the whole car rocking back and forth.

  Before Emily could even take a breath, Liz was banging on the hood. Chestnut was right behind her.