The holding cell smelled like cigarettes and booze. The girl next to me was puking her brains out, and that girl was Lena. Carlos sat next to her, the rest of the group squeezed alongside them on the bench. Some more of the party goers were seated on the bench across from us, some left the stand due to the lack of adequate seating. The cell held no light except what peaked through the long, evenly spaced bars separating us from freedom.

I jumped when Lena laid her head on my shoulder.

"We're screwed, Kass."

I shrugged the shoulder she wasn't lying on. "That's not true. There is always hope."

"We got caughttttt," she giggled.

I wanted to smack some sense into her. It wasn't funny. We were in the worst situation of our lives and I had no idea how to get out of it. Yet, I felt an odd sense of calm, of numbness. It felt like the time my mom tried to kill herself.

We waited patiently, my uncle offering me a seat in the cramped waiting space since I was the youngest at eight years old. I sat numbly, not feeling a thing.

"Have we heard anything yet?" My aunt asked, entering the room. She still had her scrubs on as she was on duty at the hospital we waited at. Mom wasn't her patient, but she kept checking on her,

"No," My uncle, her brother, said. "Not yet."

Their eyes flicked to me, sitting calmly, legs crossed, staring off into space. They whispered then, and my uncle walked over to me.

"Do you want to play a game? All you have to do is match some things to collect some candy."

I nodded and he handed me his phone, instructing me on how to play the mobile game. It was fun, and it took my mind off the waiting game. I truly felt nothing. Then again, I didn't know much. I just knew my mom was in the hospital and it wasn't looking great; they didn't know if she would make it. I should've felt scared, or sad, or angry. I should've felt some emotion, but instead I was numb and calm. Almost like a tree on a windy day; it bent to the will of the wind, never breaking. In that sense, I just went with the flow, understanding that whatever was going to happen, it was just going to happen.

"It's not funny, Lena. We're in a lot of trouble right now. We could literally be going to jail."

She sighed, loud and exaggerated. "Well, yeah. But Carlos will get us out of it. His dad is the freaking mayor. Once they realize who he is, they'll let us go, easy peezy."

"Yeah, it's called having power. Once they check with my dad, we'll be good to go. Don't even worry about it Kassidy." Carlos said, and I could've sworn I heard a smirk in his voice.

I wanted to tell him to shut up, but I didn't. Instead, I stared straight ahead, at the group in front of us. They were whispering, giggling, and one began puking.

"I can't be involved in this," I said as my stomach twisted. "I want to get into nursing school, and I can't if I'm going to be sitting in a damn holding cell every weekend."

"Remember," Carlos said, his breath hot as he leaned past Lena to speak right in my ear, "There is no way out, unless you want things to get worse for you."

Before I could muster up a snarky comment, an officer came to the bars of the cell. "Carlos?"
Carlos stood, and that's when the anxiety began to kick in. Was I going to get out of this? Was the mayor himself powerful enough to just get a bunch of underage drinkers out of jail, or was there some kind of process? I had never, ever been in a situation like this before. Hell, I never wanted to be in a situation like this again. It didn't seem like I had a choice. My stomach clenched and I thought maybe I was going to be the next one to throw up. I lifted a hand to my mouth just in case, but all that escaped was a tiny sob.

"Your dad said to, quote, 'Keep his ass locked up until he learns a lesson," The officer stated matter-of-factly.

My stomach dropped to my toes. Well, just great. Not even Carlos could get us out of this.

But then, the officer looking past him, directly at me. "Kassie Andrews?"

I awkwardly stood. "Yes?"

He gestured me forward. I stood, slightly pushing Lena off my shoulder, and walked over to the bars. The looks I was getting could kill.

"You're free to go."
I probably looked like a fish with my mouth wide open in shock. He opened the cell door and I rushed out before he decided to change his mind. I looked at him quizzically, and he just began walking. I followed until we reached the outside of the police station.

"Why me?" I asked shakily. I was no one, I had no power, no connections. Why was he letting me, of all people, go?

He looked at me then, and I could've sworn his eyes looked familiar. "Because someone is giving you a second chance. Kassie."

He called me Kassie, even before in the cell. My legal name was Kassidy. Someone must've known me personally, but how?
A crazy part of me decided to be bold. "Can you please let my best friend go, too? Carlos is manipulating her, and she deserves better than this."

He shook his head. "It's either you go alone, or you stay with them. I don't know why a bright girl like you is hanging around with the likes of him. Him and all his friends are the same; bad news."

I sucked in a breath, staring down at my shoes, at the concrete beneath. "I just don't understand why me, and not someone powerful like Carlos, you know?" Speedily, I answered, "But I'm grateful, of course."

He shrugged. "You must've made the right friend, or the right decision, somewhere along the line. It's best if you get home."

I looked around the large parking lot. "I don't actually have a ride."

He rummaged around in his pocket before handing me something small and rectangular; my phone. I silently took it as he walked away. The wind caused my hair to whip me in the face, and I took in a long breath of fresh air. I wished I knew who to thank.

______

The Uber smelled like rotting fish, and I considered carrying peppermint oil to put in my nose at all times. I reached my car in no time, got in, when a message popped up on the screen.

Dallas: Are you free today by chance? We could grab coffee and I could help you with the chemistry homework.

I had forgotten I told him that I couldn't finish my chemistry homework. In fact, I forgot that I had started texting him a little more, and maybe we were even becoming acquaintances.

Okay, deal.

Maybe a part of me was tired from spending half the night in a holding cell, but another part of me felt fully wired and alive. I wasn't sure what possessed me or made me want to meet with him at eight in the morning to learn chemistry, but my grades would be glad for sure. And maybe, just freaking maybe, a part of me needed a friend, too.

I drove to the address he gave me and ended up at a small coffee shop I had never heard of. It wasn't very far, and the top of the building looked like ocean waves. I clutched my phone as I entered, finding him sitting in the back of the establishment with a mug of coffee.

"Hi," I said awkwardly as I took a seat across from him.

The smell inside there was heavenly, like dark roast coffee mixed with espresso mixed with something sweet and delightful.

He smiled. "How's it going? I like the outfit."

I looked down at my party outfit and realized I had forgotten to change, or shower. Great, he probably thought I was a mess.

"Thanks, It's definitely going, that's for sure."

He laughed, and I oddly liked the sound.

He turned around and pulled out his laptop. "So, from zero being nothing and ten being everything, how much do you feel like you know?"

"Negative infinity," I snorted. I looked down at the wooden table, at the tiled floors. To my right sat a long counter where the barista stood behind. To my left was a set of clear doors that lead to the outside seating.

"I can work with that," he said, snapping me back to reality. "But, are you okay?"

I stared at him. I wasn't used to people asking me that. "I mean, I guess."

"No, but really. You keep to yourself in class, you're quiet, and you always look like you're thinking of something. Today, you just look like a lot is on your mind. So, be honest, Kassie. Is something bothering you?"

You see, this is where I wanted to set boundaries, to let him know we weren't friends and we never would be. But that wasn't true, the never would be part, because he was persistent and I felt like I really needed a friend. Maybe I wanted to be nice to him, to tell him everything, to finally be honest to someone. However, I couldn't be too honest. I couldn't tell him I'd just killed a man a few days ago and then I ended up in the drunk tank for underage drinking the night before. In the end, we were still practically strangers.

"Not really," were the words that decided to come out of my mouth.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Yet, I really couldn't believe someone was actually concerned about me. I had always felt that no one cared about me, that I didn't matter, that my feelings never mattered. I had spent my whole life being labeled as other or not good enough, and that messes with your head and your perception of your self worth.

I set my arms on the table and laid my head on top of them. "No one wants to hear my sob story, really. Just some friend drama, that's all."

"Well, can't be worse than the bunch of students that got arrested last night."

My stomach dropped. If only he knew.

"But I don't mind listening. Really, who am I gonna tell? My one friend?" He chuckled to himself. "Really, it might be good to get it off your chest."

As much as I wanted to tell him to just focus on chemistry, I said, "I'm stuck with a group of friends I don't like, but I can't leave them."

He scrunched up his face. "Why not? You always have a choice."

"But I don't. Let's just say they have something on me, and if I drop them, then it'll mess up everything. I want to get into the nursing program. I want to be a nurse, it's been my dream since I was younger."

He sat there and listened. It surprised the hell out of me. Usually, people have to get a word or two in, but he sat there, dead silent. It comforted me a bit, but it also made me nervous.

"It can't be that bad."

"Well, it's bad to me, okay?"

He stood after packing his laptop back in his bag, took a sip of his coffee, and gestured to me to follow. I awkwardly did, also realizing I didn't even have a computer.

He pulled out his phone, typed something, and mine buzzed shortly after. An address.

"Meet me there?"

"Now?" I asked stupidly.

He nodded.

"And what about chemistry?"

"Trust me, I know you're not in the mood to learn right now, and that's okay."

And so I blindly headed to this random address hoping I didn't get murdered.