Page 20 of Fade into You
Hence we are all standing near the Cotsland Theater this balmy Friday night, in the midst of the bougie Cotsland Mall, where adults go to drink expensive wine at expensive restaurants and peruse some high-end hardware store that has a restaurant in it. (Good god, where is the world going?) Those of us who followed directions are wearing grungy clothes. Me in my torn jeans and Loreena McKennitt tee, Bird in a T-shirt and some cutoff shorts that are just short enough to see a swath of gorgeous creamy thigh…Shut up, brain, and focus!Dade is in his least nice suit pants and a vest and that goddamned trench, and I can tell he’s about to get super grumpy. Kayla… Jesus, Kayla looks ready to attend a rave, hold the glow sticks. Everyone looks nervous, and I gotta say this isn’tmy bag of tea either, but when desperate…
“What movie are we seeing?” Dade asks again, even though I told him no movies on the ride over, but he seems to think I’m gonna force him to go see another special showing ofSilkwood. He hasn’t let me choose a movie since.
“Tonight,” I say, pausing for anticipation, “we will have the inaugural Fountain-Hopping Expedition of 1999.” I look to Bird, and she looks… displeased. I don’t think she knows how much Dade hates being wet in clothing, and how much like a wet dog Kayla will look once all that water hits her face paint.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Dade hisses.
“Hey, I’m trying to branch out and be spontaneous here. Kayla seems excited.”
Kayla does not seem excited. Kayla seems confused.
“Look, it’s simple. We hop in a fountain, splash around, have some fun, and when security arrives, we bust ass back to my car and drive to the next fountain. Rinse, dry, repeat. Except no drying. Or rinsing.”
“I don’t know…” Bird starts.
“It’s gonna be a blast,” I assure her, and wink, trying to let her know this will definitely free us of our friends’ significant others.
“Plus, it’s the last real weekend of heat, so we might as well enjoy cooling off a bit.”
Kayla’s face brightens up. “Sounds fun! Let’s do it!”
Dade sighs behind me, but he won’t argue with her.
“Do you think there will really be security?” Bird asks, as usual the very boring voice of reason. I roll my eyes.
“Maybe, but I think most of us can outrun a mall cop,” I say,knowing that out of the quartet, Dade is the most likely to get left behind, and an arrest might separate him from Kayla a bit. Lots of birds, lots of stones in that outcome.
“Okay, folks, let’s do this!” I yell, and Kayla rushes alongside me to the fountain planted in the middle of the mall plaza in front of the theater, both of us hitting the water at the same time. Some adults headed into the theater watch us, then continue on, like it’s not their problem we’re being dumbass kids. Meanwhile I suck in a breath, ’cause even though we’re only in mid-September, the water is cold as an Arctic witch’s left tit.
Dade and Bird are still holding back, looking about as happy as owls in the rain. I’m still trying to figure out how to get Dade to participate when Kayla launches a wave of water at him. “Come on, you chickens! Get in! The water is fine!” The sorceress has her spell on him, and he obeys. Bird shrugs and moves forward too, both stepping gently in, as if the water will bite. Depending on what’s in this slime, perhaps something will.
“This is so rad!” Kayla is currently the only person actually enjoying this. Dade grumbles and she kisses him, and I look away to find a very nervous and uncomfortable Bird.
“What the hell, Jessa?” she hisses at me.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time?” I shrug.
“Really, fountains? You didn’t see the romantic potential in that?”
“Excuse me for not being the poetess,” I snap back. “But cold, wet, hungry Dade is grumpy, see?”
“Well, he seems pretty happy to me,” she says, pointing to them making out under the fountain, Dade’s spiked hair flattenedfrom the water, his trench wicking up moisture. Damn, those clothes gotta be heavy.
I’m trying to think of a comeback when I hear, “Hey!” and see a security guard headed our way.
“Time to split!” I yell, and grab Bird’s hand mostly to keep from slipping. I slide into my flip-flops and notice her sandals are soaked but still runnable, and we tear ass to the parking lot. I figured Officer Doughnuts would drop off as soon as we left the plaza, but he is some kind of packhorse and keeps chasing us. I look back and see him narrowly miss grabbing Dade’s trench coat…. That fucking coat.
I pull harder on Bird’s hand, guiding us down a ramp off the plaza toward the lower levels of parking. I duck us to the right and into an old maintenance elevator I found back in my preteens while waiting for my mom to pick me up. Bird follows, a terrified look in her eyes that Officer Doughnuts might actually catch us. I slide the steel horizontal doors up and drag us in, then close them behind us. I hear the familiarthunk, thunkof Dade’s Docs and the slapping of what must be Kayla’s bare feet, but the mall cop boots don’t resound, and I let my heavy breath get a bit louder. Reaching past what I think is Bird’s shoulder in the dark, I flip on the emergency light, and red illuminates the big boxy room.
“Shiiiit,” I say, and let out a laugh, slicking my hair back out of my face with one hand.
Bird hisses at me to shush.
“No worries, he’s not following. I bet Dade and Kayla are already at the car.”
“Crap, Jessa, they’re gonna leave us!” She looks panicked, and she’d be correct except I have the keys. I dangle them in front of her face.
“They won’t get far.”
