HOPE
“Ican’t believe they let you drink right on the street,” I said, bumping into Chance on the busy sidewalk and sloshing my drink over the side of my long cup. Shit.
He chuckled and bumped his long party cup with mine. The sun had set on the city and the streets filled with people. We were still two days from the new year, but everyone came to Vegas to party.
A woman jolted into Chance from the other side and pushed him into me. I grabbed on to his shirt.
“Hey, he’s mine.” I waved a fist in the air at the woman’s retreating back.
She didn’t even turn around to see why she had a crazy woman yelling at her.
“Hurry, Hope,” Chance said, giving me a tug on my elbow. “The show is starting.”
Lights flashed at the end of the block a few feet from us. The flashing beams lit up a huge pirate ship, and then music blasted from in front of it. Chance pulled me to a spot right at the front of the pirate ship as a crowd formed behind us. The music called them in like sirens sitting out on rocks and singing the men in for destruction.
They never learned.
Chance wrapped his arm around my shoulders and held me tightly as the show started. He watched the performance with a crinkled expression on his face halfway through.
“What’s wrong?” I yell-whispered at him.
He jerked his head, and glitter shot out from a ship cannon. “I expected… more.”
I laughed. “More than half-naked women dancing on a big fake ship?”
He stared longer and then shook me a quick no. “More something.”
Someone hit us from behind as they tried to move closer. I laid my head on Chance’s shoulder to finish watching the show. He hugged me tighter, and the lights flickered across his face as he stared at me rather than the almost naked pirates.
I cherished these moments with my best friend. We’d promised to be friends forever, and I’d beat him up if he ever went against that promise, but I worried we’d lose something as we grew older and graduated. Would we stay friends if I didn’t see him every day? I didn’t want us to drift apart. That would be the worst fate.
I didn’t want to lose him. I’d loved Chance since fifth grade. Who didn’t instantly fall in love with a boy who gave you his cupcake for a bag of crackers? The cupcake made me notice him, but Chance is the one who made me fall in love with him.
I’d cheered him on when he played high school football and he’d helped me study for precalculus our senior year. He was the guy you wanted on your side every day. I didn’t know when, but at some point, I’d fallen in love with him.
As more than just friends.
But he’s never given me a hint he had feelings otherwise, and I’d never ruin our friendship just because I’d gotten stupid and fallen in love. His friendship was worth more to me than that.
A woman pirate dressed in way less than traditional pirate gear hung from a beam of the ship and swung around like she thought it was a stripper pole. Wow, she had to have serious arm muscles.
Growing up and facing what came next in our lives was terrifying. I’d rather stand on the sidewalk in front of Treasure Island and watch a horrible, historically incorrect pirate dance show than consider the future.
Anywhere with Chance was my happy place. I might have been in love with him, but I didn’t want to lose him. If that meant keeping my feelings to myself forever, I would.
I’d miss seeing him every day after college. Even our apartments at college were only four doors down from one another. We’d signed leases at the same time to ensure we were close. I’d never faced anything without him by my side since elementary school. And I wasn’t looking forward to starting now.
I sucked on my drink and swayed with the new song. The music slowed, and finally the lights dimmed as the crowd cheered.
Chance clapped a few times and then let the people filter out around us. They bumped into us as they left. “What’s next?”
“More liquor!” I yelled, holding my glass higher and in his face.
He pushed it away. “I think you’re good.”
“Bah.” We’d been slowly drinking all day as we made our way around the strip and waited for the party to start, but I had a long way to go before I hit drunk.
“We’ll get your cup refilled and then on to the next adventure,” he said and bumped his cup against mine.
