It was close to one in the morning when the bonfire dwindled and the first people started to head home.
Clair wandered over to where Jessica was sitting and dropped to the ground next to her. "Is everything good with you?" Traces of cheap wine lingered on her breath.
"Yes. And with you, Miss McKinley?"
"Peachy keen. Simon always gets the job done." she said and smirked like a satisfied cat. "Bless his little heart for being so consistent. And the idiot finally asked me properly to be his date to prom. Like he had any other option."
"Great." Jessica deadpanned. "He certainly took his sweet time asking. But I'm proud of him for getting there in the end, despite his limited brain power."
Clair gave her a teasing look. "And speaking of boys and their useless ways… I saw you sitting with Tom for a long time. What's going on there? Anything good?"
"He's offered to drive me home tonight. Does that count? I might even accept his offer. That's if I think he's sober enough to get behind the wheel and not end both of our lives in a fiery metal wreck."
"Hmmm. Sounds promising. So it's definitely all over between him and Lauren?"
Jessica nodded thoughtfully. "I think so. He didn't mention her once."
"Very good. Having said that," Clair aimed a sly, laughing glance at her. "I noticed Lauren giving you and Tom death looks all night. But that's more her problem, not yours."
"You're right. It's totally not my problem what some silly bitch thinks about me."
The two girls giggled. Then Jessica remembered what Tom had said earlier. About the settlers who'd founded their town. Who'd felt trapped in the desert, with no other choice but to stay somewhere they didn't really want to be.
Why did his words suddenly make her feel so empty?
"I've been begging Daddy to buy me a new car as a graduation gift." Clair murmured. "I told him I can't be stuck moping around the house all summer, with no form of transport. Unless he wants me to be constantly begging him for rides."
Jessica tried not to feel jealous. To her, there were worse places to be stuck for a summer than in the McKinley's lovely home. "And has he agreed?"
"Not exactly. But it wasn't an outright no either, so I'm not giving up. He said I'm not allowed to fail any of my classes, or a car's completely out of the question. Will you help me with the physics exam next week?"
"Of course I'll help. You know that. If you don't have a car, it kind of wrecks my summer too." Jessica was only half joking. "When do you want me to come over so we can study together? Tomorrow night?"
Clair mimicked pulling a knife out of her heart. "Gross, Jess! Don't make me study all that boring shit! Just let me copy your answers on the day."
"You realise we're going to get caught one day if I let you keep doing that, don't you?"
"I doubt it. I've been copying off you since kindergarten. If the teachers haven't noticed or cared all these years, they're not going to start caring a few weeks before school ends." Clair smiled with stubborn confidence. "Because if it's not you, then I'm stuck copying Simon's exam answers instead."
"What a disaster. You may as well kiss that new car goodbye if you're going to do that. We're trying to impress your dad with your grades, remember?" Jessica raised her eyebrows to make her next point. "And I hope you're not thinking about getting into some kind of serious thing with Simon."
"You don't have to worry about that. When have you ever known me to want to get serious with any guy?"
"Well, especially not him. He's cute and all but definitely not a keeper."
Clair smirked. "What makes you say that? Is it because you're convinced Simon's a total dumbass?"
"Well yeah, that's part of it. You know I cope with stupid people. But mostly it's because if you end up marrying him, you'll be stuck with the name Clair Blair for the rest of your life. Is that really what you want?"
Clair looked at her incredulously, then almost screamed with laughter. "Clair Blair. The horror of it all! Why the hell am I only realising this now?"
Jessica started howling as well. "You're so, so lucky to have a friend like me, who thinks about these things for you! You'd be completely screwed otherwise, Mrs Blair." She wiped tears of laughter from her eyes.
Clair let herself slump over until her head was on Jessica's lap and the two of them continued laughing for a long time. They were oblivious to others who were staring at them, probably dying to know what inside joke between the girls could possibly be so funny.
"Are you going to miss any of this?" Jessica eventually asked under her breath, pointing at the clusters of drunken teenagers.
Clair looked at their remaining classmates for a moment, then stared up at Jessica with a goofy smile. "A little bit, but not really. I mean, drinking with everyone like this is fun and all. It's all we ever do around here though."
"That's because there's literally nothing else to do."
"Exactly. The same boring faces all our lives, the same dumb boys. High school isn't the be all and end all. You have to move on to bigger and better things, right? We have to."
The we warmed Jessica's heart. "Can you take me with you? When you move on to those bigger and better things, I mean." she murmured.
"Of course, bestie." Clair squeezed her hand. "It's you and me against the world. Isn't that how it's always been?"