“So, where are we headed?” We were riding in Chani’s Corolla, headed away from the campus and out of the city. I had yet to be North of Denver but was excited to see where we were going.

“Great Western Sugar Mill. It’s an old abandoned sugar mill.”

“Sounds interesting.” I nodded. “Is the reason we’re going at night so we don’t get caught?”

“Partially. It’s not exactly legal what we’re doing.” Chani shrugged.

“Sounds like fun.” I smiled. “Never really be one to do illegal things. Always just stayed home.”

She laughed. “Guess I’m bringing you to the dark side. So…” She trailed off. “You said you never really dated. Why’s that?”

“Well, I went to a small school and knew everyone there and never really liked anyone. I’d say I’m more attracted to girls anyways, so coming out as gay would’ve made my school experience that much harder.”

“I hear you.” She nodded. “I went to a small charter school, so everyone was always in everyone’s business too. I got outed by one of my ex-friends pretty young, so it made a great target for anyone who wanted to make fun of me. Of course, that also meant finding a girlfriend became harder too, so I ended up joining sports teams from a different school and had a handful of flings through that.”

“Dating, or well, sex too, never really interested me.” I admitted. “I was too busy trying to help my parents keep the farm running, doing my homework, and keep my friendship up with Alice that I didn’t really have time for much else.”

“You make it sound like friendship issues aren’t new.”

“Alice is great, but she can be a bit selfish.” I admitted. I didn’t like talking poorly about her, but I trusted Chani not to tell her. “She always ditched me for her current boyfriend or friends group. I was always her one solid friend, but she always had a ton of other friends too.”

“Doesn’t sound like a very fun time.” Chani glanced over at me sympathetically.

“School wasn’t good for me.” I shook my head.

“That’s like…most of your life so far.”

“Yeah…” I sighed, before smiling. “College has been a lot better, though. Especially finding you.”

“Aww, you flatterer.” She laughed quietly, before glancing over at me. “I’m glad I found you too. Sometimes fate really has your back.”

“It owed me after all those shitty years previously.”

“For sure.” Chani nodded.

“So, I took some pictures in the lingerie and sent them to Arthur last night.”

“Ooh. I bet he liked those.”

“He insisted on paying for the lingerie I bought.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“I guess.”

“You’ve just got to get used to it, right?”

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“Yeah.” I nodded. “It’s nice to have someone help you out since my parents never really could, but it’s just weird to exchange nudes for money, you know?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Chani chuckled. “But I get what you’re saying. Just take things at your own pace and if he’s not willing to do that, ditch him.”

“We had talked about sex and how I wasn’t ready for it yet. He was understanding of it at the time, so hopefully, that sticks.”

“Sounds like a good sign.”

The drive was most of an hour. We chatted the whole time, between singing along with the punk music. We finally arrived at the abandoned sugar mill and made our way into the property. Only lit up by our headlamps Chani had brought, it was hard to see the size of the place, but from the pictures Chani had shown me in the car, the place was huge.

We began exploring together, careful of our steps. The place was old but covered in graffiti from people who had been here before us. If the graffiti weren’t here, it would almost look like something out of one of the Metro games.

Chani told me that she first went with some friends in high school, but nowadays she goes by herself. She told me she was happy to have me here though and it made it more fun. So far, I was really enjoying it, kinda feeling like a badass. After exploring for a little, Chani found us a place to sit and have a little picnic. Mostly just beers and a handful of snacks, but it was nice.

“Do you wanna be a psychologist, or do your parents want you to be one?”

“Mostly my parents.” I shrugged, taking a sip of the beer. “I guess it’s like my second option. I don’t mind the idea of it, but I didn’t really want to go to college in the first place.”

“You have to go to medical school afterward to get your doctorate, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Seems like a lot of work to do for something you don’t wanna do.” She pointed out.

“Yeah. I guess it is, but I get it. Neither of my parents went to college and have always lived in their small town. I guess they just want more for me.”

“A lot of parents have those kinds of expectations. My parents are the same, honestly. They wanted me to go to college, even though I didn’t really care much for it. I was fine with just making art and becoming a starving artist.”

“Well, what I’ve seen of your art, you wouldn’t be starving.”

Chani laughed. “I appreciate you saying that, but being an artist isn’t easy.”

“Why didn’t you do art school instead?” I tilted my head to the side slightly.

“‘It’s not real school’.” She finger quoted. “My dad doesn’t think art is real work, so here I am. Luckily they’re helping me pay for it. I’m the oldest, so I’ll probably be the only one they can realistically pay for. I had some money saved up from my aunt that passed away, so I’m paying for part of it too.”

After finishing up our beers and snacks, we packed up once more and continued on. Things were going fine, until I slipped and fell, cutting my hand open. Chani quickly whipped out her first-aid kit and started bandaging me up. I could tell she started to panic a bit, worrying about me. We piled back into the car after finding our way back and headed to the nearest emergency center.

We spent the next couple of hours in the emergency center waiting, getting a tetanus shot, and stitching my hand up. Thankfully they didn’t ask too many questions about where he had been or how I got hurt.

It was nearly two in the morning when we got back to campus. Chani looked over at me as we pulled up, worry all over her face.

“I’m so sorry, Mali. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “I’m fine, Chani.”

“How are you feeling?”

“It only hurts a little. Nothing that’ll kill me.” I shrugged casually.

“I shouldn’t have brought you there…”

“Nonsense. I had a lot of fun!” I smiled widely. “I’d love to do it again sometime.”

“Real--really?” She looked at me with wide eyes.

“Yeah. Just once my hand is healed up.”

A small smile grew on her face. “Deal.”

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