“L-lil, stop, wait.” Wren stumbled, her worn Converse sneakers scruffing against the concrete sidewalk. She yanked her hand back, and this time Lily let her go, rolling her eyes at the way Wren swayed, her gaze glassy and unfocused as she leaned against a parking meter. “Why are you being like this? It’s my birthday. Everyone was having fun. Syd did?—”
“Oh my god, stop talking about Sydney!” Lily hated the way her voice cracked, betraying her in a time like this. Hated how childish it made her sound. “She spent the whole night taking credit for everything I did. Spent the whole night taking dig after dig at me, acting like I’m some kind of anchor dragging you down, and then you stood there and called her yourgirlfriend.”
A dizzy giggle left Wren, her hand waving dismissively in a way that only pissed Lily off more. “It was an accident, Lils. Look at me.” She used both hands to motion to her current state. “I’m kind of trashed and having fun. I didn’t mean it. Don’t be so dramatic.” She reached a hand into her coat pocket, pulling out a miniature bottle of vodka with a bow tied around the neck.
Lily watched in disbelief as Wren started to unscrew the cap of the tiny bottle in her hands. The sight of it snapped the last bit of rational thought Lily still had. Before Wren even had a chance to bring the bottle to her lips, Lily lunged forward, smacking the bottle from her hands. It flew out of her reach, hitting the pavement with a sharp clink as the cheap glass shattered, liquid slipping out across the cracks of the sidewalk.
“What the fuck!” Wren yelled, her face twisting with drunken anger. “That was a birthday gift.”
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough? You literally just told me how trashed you are.” Lily crossed her arms, but Wren wasn’t listening as she reached back into her pocket, producing anothertiny bottle with a defiant glint in her eyes. “Wren, stop!” Lily begged, half blinded by the tears that were freely falling now.
Wren’s grasp on the tiny bottle slipped, the two of them watching as it fell from her hands to the ground, shattering next to the first. “Shoot,” Wren grumbled, attempting to bend down, but instead swaying on the spot.
“Don’t! You’re going to hurt yourself.” Lily huffed in exasperation. The last thing she needed was for Wren to cut herself on one of the jagged pieces of glass. “Can you stand over there for a second?” She motioned to a parking paystation a few feet away.
Wren took a step to the side as Lily made to bend over to pick up the shards of glass on the ground, not wanting to leave them where someone could get hurt. But as she reached, her foot caught on a piece of uneven sidewalk, taking her balance with her.
A sudden whoosh of air blew in her ears as she fell, holding out her palms to break her fall, slamming into the remains of the broken bottle on the ground.
Pain, sharp and sudden and searing, exploded in her hand. She gasped, pulling back to see a gash along her palm, blood already beginning to seep from the wound.
“Lily!?” Wren took an uneasy step, reaching an arm out towards her, but stopping mid-movement, swaying, steadying herself against the pay station a few feet away from where Lily still crouched, cradling her hand.
“Everything okay here?” came a low, authoritative voice.
Lily glanced up, her stomach dropping.No, no, no.A female police officer was approaching them from a parked police cruiser. She took in the scene before her in three short seconds: the shattered glass, the smell of alcohol, Lily crying on the ground, and Wren looking green and moments away from throwing up.
“She’s fine. We’re fine,” Wren started, her words clumsily tumbling over each other. “She tripped on the sidewalk—an accident—it’s my birthday—we’re celebrating?—”
“Wren. Stop talking,” Lily grumbled, getting to her feet, still clutching her hand.
“Girls, I’m going to need you to take a step away from each other,” the officer said, her hand resting on her belt. She looked at Lily’s hand. “That’s a deep cut. I’m going to need both of you to come with me. We’re going to the precinct to get this sorted out.”
The officer turned, talking quickly into the walkie-talkie positioned on her shoulder. In the snippets Lily caught she heard the words additional units, public drunkenness, and other things that made her stomach twist.
“No, no, we can’t go. I have training tomorrow—” Wren’s voice was high-pitched and only getting higher.
Lily could feel Wren’s panic rising as she realized the severity of the situation they’d found themselves in and its potential implications. She elbowed Wren hard, urging her to, for once, be quiet and contain her need to ramble nervously.
“Wren, shut up!” she said frantically, the pain in her hand finally getting the best of her. “Don’t say anything else until my mom gets here. Understood?” She looked intently at Wren, silently urging her not to speak until they could fix this.
The officer moved Wren to the other side of the cruiser as a second car pulled up and another officer stepped out to join them.
“What’s going to happen to her?” Lily asked shakily.
The officer looked at her, then glanced over his shoulder to where Wren and the original officer were talking.God. Why wouldn’t Wren stop talking?
“I’m not sure. Give me a second and I’ll find out.”
Lily stood rooted to the spot still clutching at her hand, blood dripping from the open wound. The second officer reappeared, this time wearing blue rubber gloves and holding a first-aid kit. “Let’s get you cleaned up, and then we’re going to take you and your friend to the precinct.”
“Am I in trouble?” Lily asked tentatively, holding her hand out to the officer, wincing as he dabbed at it with a clean piece of gauze.
“You’re not, but your friend is most likely getting booked for disorderly conduct and creating a glass hazard that injured someone. Once we’re at the precinct, you’ll get the chance to make a statement and press any charges?—”
Her heart pounded in her chest at that word. “Charges? What charges? I don’t want to press any charges. Nothing happened, I tripped on the sidewalk,” she said quickly.
“We’ll talk about it more once we get downtown. Is there anyone you want to call?”
