Page 69 of As You Walk On

Aleah crosses her arms. She’s managing to maintain an invisible force field, keeping us all out, but the edges are cracking. Her resolve’s fading.

Her next words are drowned out by a wave of music, the bedroom flooded with hallway light as the door opens.

“Finally! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

14

SINCERELY YOURS, THE EDIBLES CLUB

I stare blanklyat the two people huddled in the doorway. It’s hard not to. They’re scolding the half-empty bottle of Jim Beam whiskey Makayla procured from the kitchen like it’s a toddler. One is tall, gangly, and has a snapback sitting crookedly on a bed of brown curls. The other is short with shockingly red hair and ghostly pale skin, and is wearing what can only be described as a grandma-knitted sweater. They’re like something out of a bad, drunken dream.

Aleah stands between the two new space invaders and the bottle.

“Who the hell are y’all?”

A clumsy, giggly explanation ensues. They’re Jamari, the tall Black boy, and Courtney, grandma-sweater wearer. Freshmen. High as hot-air balloons, thanks to the baggie of gummy bear ediblesJamari’s clutching. As it turns out, to elevate their current euphoria, they’d been sneaking shots from the very bottle they’re now staring adoringly at.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for her,” Jamari says, his eyes soft and reddening by the second.

“Him,” Courtney corrects.

“Them,” chirps River, smiling anxiously.

That alone sends Jamari and Courtney into another fit of loud, gasping laughter. Whatever is in those gummies could mellow out an army of Aleah Birds.

“We’re also looking for a place to finish off these babies,” Jamari announces, shaking the baggie like a set of keys to a brand-new Bugatti.

Luca’s face wrinkles. “Aren’t you only supposed to eat one of those?”

Jamari says, “Technicalities are a scam.”

“More like medically proven facts to keep you from, I don’t know, overdosing,” Makayla says, bundling her hair up into a loosely knotted bun. “I’m notPulp Fiction–ing anyone tonight.”

“What?” Jamari and Luca say in unison.

Before Makayla can launch into a rant, Courtney ambles into the room, smiling weirdly. She has huge, green-gold eyes and a pug nose. “Would you consider bargaining for the return of our new friend?”

“No,” Aleah snaps just as Makayla says, “What’re the terms of your negotiation?”

I rub impatiently at my eyes. Once again,my—technically River’s—sacred space is being overtaken by unwanted interlopers.

“A few of these...” Courtney jerks her head toward the baggie. She drops her voice into a creepy, raspy tone, rubbing her hands together. “In exchange for theprecious.”

Aleah cautiously steps back, clearly missing the Gollum reference.

(Thank you, Jacobs family, for inviting me to suffer through a marathon of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.)

“Wait!” Jamari shouts, gauchely spinning to face Aleah. “I know you!”

River says, “She’s Aleah Bird, star point guard for the Brook-Oak Ballers” with the kind of pride a parent has when discussing their child’s achievements with the neighbors.

“Former,” whispers Aleah so quietly and dejectedly, I don’t think anyone else hears it. But I do.

“No, no, no.” I’m shocked Jamari’s snapback doesn’t fly off with the aggressiveness of his head shake. “That’s not it. I don’t do sportsball.”

“I play soccer,” Courtney chimes, for no reason at all.

“You’re the girl who broke up Delexi,” says Jamari, snapping his fingers while smirking. His ability to multitask is respectable considering his current state.

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