Serena chokes on a laugh. “Girl…god, I can’t even with you. You’re killing me.”
Marty flips us off and stalks over to where he dropped his underwear, then pulls them on. “Aw, come on,” Serena calls. “We were just teasing.”
“Nope.” He struts up to the edge of the pool, and I’m glad to see he isn’t actually upset. “You girls had your chance. You didn’t appreciate the cockness monster so now he’s hiding.”
The next few minutes are fun while we all swim and wrestle around in the water. Diving under again, I swim closer to the shallow end. A light breeze chills my skin when I roll over to float on my back, staring up at the starry sky. Yeah, this is good.
Too bad nothing good lasts.
Apparently, drunk people are not quiet in a pool and it doesn’t take long before we’re noticed. A spike of fear shoots through me, and my arms paddle frantically to reach the edge when I see a police car pull up outside of the fence.
“Cops!” Marty yells, swimming for the ladder.
I scramble out, and Serena grabs my hand just as Remee catches up with us. Two officers enter the gateway, and yell at us to stop.
“Run, they can’t get us all,” Serena orders, shoving me toward the fence.
“Our clothes!”
“No time! Do you want to go to jail half naked?”
That gets me moving. Serena and Remee are right beside me when I climb the fence. We land in the grass on the other side and dart down the street. A glance back shows me the others have scattered as well, running in all directions with the officers chasing them. Luckily, we were the farthest away and none seem to be close to us.
We run like crazy, and I’ve never felt anything like this in my life. The fear and adrenaline, the exhilaration, the night air against my wet body.
“There!” I exclaim, when I see a row of dense bushes. We’re three streets away from the pool now. Best to hide. It won’t be hard to find three girls running around in their underwear.
We clamber under the bushes, and I feel a few of the branches scratch my skin. We’re hidden just in time.
Blue lights race across the buildings as two police cars creep by. They’re looking for us. “Ugh,” Serena scoffs. “We went for a swim. Don’t they have some drug dealers or real criminals to bust?”
“Shh!” Remee hisses. “I’m not going to get arrested and have that on my record! It’ll kill my career! No one is going to trust a psychologist who went to jail in wet panties!”
A snort of laughter leaps out of me, and I cover my mouth. Serena looks at me, and we both shake with silent laughter.
“It’s not funny!”
It is. I know we could get caught and it’d be humiliating and probably cost me money I don’t have, not to mention a night in a cell, but right now, I can’t stop laughing. The old Kelly would’ve been at some boring business dinner with Stanley or maybe shopping with the catty women I never really fit in with. Imagine what they’d think if they saw me hiding in bushes, wet and nearly naked, with cops looking for me.
The absurdity is hilarious.
Serena is the first to get control and whisper to Remee. “Girl, relax. We’ll stay right here until they’re gone.”
“What about Zara?”
“She was with Owen when we split up,” I tell her.
“I have my phone. I’ll text and check on her when the cops stop circling,” Serena says, nodding at the car cruising by again. Thank goodness it’s dark in these bushes. “I don’t want them to see my phone light up.”
“Do you think they caught her?”
Serena’s smile is barely visible in the darkness. “I’m sure they’re sorry if they did. She’s probably telling them they’re all tools of the patriarchy and demanding a supreme court trial.”
It’s quiet for a few minutes as we wait, lying in the dirt. My bladder starts screaming at me, and I’m quickly learning that you can’t hold it as long when you’re drunk.
“I didn’t have to pee until right now,” I groan.
“Don’t you dare,” Remee says.
Serena lays her head on her arm, her body shaking with laughter, and I can’t help but giggle. “Stop! Laughing just makes it worse!”
After glancing around and seeing no cops, Serena turns her phone on and texts Zara. Hopefully it isn’t buzzing in some cop’s pocket while they arrest her. After a few minutes pass with no response, she curses and texts Graham.
“I really really have to pee.”
Serena grins at me and gestures to the right. The brick wall of the building behind us takes a turn, forming a corner about ten feet away. “Go back there.”
“No way.” I am not pissing behind a bush.
Serena’s phone lights up, and she sighs, “No one was arrested. Zara is safe at the apartment. But cops did search the apartment and are parked across the street. We can’t go back there.”
Remee’s eyes are wide. “What are we supposed to do? We can’t Rideshare home like this!”
Damn it all. I’ve done my best not to call Trey for help, but we need a ride. “Let me call my brother and see if he can come get us.”
For one brief, paralyzing moment I can’t remember his number. Who really memorizes anyone’s number anymore? Thankfully, it comes to me.
“Yeah?” Trey answers.
“Um…hey, it’s me.”
“Kelly? Where are you calling from?”
“A friend’s phone. Listen, I um…need a favor. Me and my roommates are kind of…stranded. Can you come and get us?”
“You can’t get a Rideshare?”
“It’s a long story and I’ll explain when you get here, okay? Oh, and please bring three shirts or towels or something we can cover up with on the ride home.”
A long pause makes me afraid the call may have dropped. “Cover up? Are you naked!”
“No! Just please, we’re at the corner of Terrace St. and Wilcox Way in the Doe Run apartment complex. Just hurry, okay? And don’t stop if you see a cop.”
“Fucking hell, Kelly!”
I quickly hang up, letting the phone go dark as I see a police car roll past. “He’ll be here,” I assure the girls. He didn’t exactly say he was coming, but I can always count on Trey.
“Ow!” Serena cries, shifting around. “A branch just tried to take my anal virginity.”
“You’ve never done anal?” I ask.
“Is this really the place to discuss this?” Remee hisses.
“Rem, you have to chill, we’re going to be fine. Her brother will give us a ride home.”
It’ll take Trey at least fifteen minutes to get here and I can’t wait that long to pee. “Keep watch for me. I can’t hold it anymore.” Serena chuckles when I get to my feet and move as fast as I can down the wall. It’s a dark corner surrounded by bushes. I can’t be seen from the street or anywhere else as far as I can tell but I still can’t believe what I’m doing when I pull my panties down and shove them out of the way. For a moment, I don’t think I’ll be able to. My bladder has stage fright or something, but finally the urgency takes over.