Page 133 of Serenity Falls

‘Nice,’ Milo said.

I threw myself down next to him on the sofa and accepted the bottle. I’d never drunk vodka before. Never drunk anything stronger than a stolen cup of punch at the Pumpkin Patch party. I took a deep swig and almost choked. My throat was on fire. I gagged, coughing and spluttering. Milo whacked me on the back.

‘Jeeesus!’ I eventually gasped.

He chuckled. ‘You might want to take it a little slower.’

‘You think.’

He took another swig himself, and it occurred to me that this was not the first time he’d drunk the spirit. I held out my hand for the bottle. He wasn’t going to show me up. I took a smaller swig, and the burn was more pleasant. I could feel a hazy glow start to envelop me.

I reclined next to Milo.

‘We should have brought a camera or something to prove we got here.’

‘Nah.’ He shook his head. ‘We can’t tell anyone.’

‘Why?’

‘Because then they might find it and ruin it.’ He pauses. ‘This should be our secret.’

He threw back more vodka and handed it to me.

‘Our secret place,’ I said, and giggled.

‘Why’s that funny?’

I didn’t really know. My body felt oddly heavy. I took another sip of vodka and handed it back to him.

‘We could come out here and hang out,’ Milo continued. ‘Away from our parents and the kids at school.’

That did sound good. But …

‘We wouldn’t get away with stealing a boat every week. I mean, it’s too risky.’

‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’

‘But maybe once in a while.’

‘Yeah.’

We fell silent for a moment, handing the vodka back and forth. Then Milo said: ‘You ever think about what you’ll do when you get out of here?’

‘Go home. Sleep.’

‘No, I mean out of Serenity.’

‘Oh.’

I opened my mouth, closed it again. I had, of course. There was no way I wanted to stay in Serenity Falls, but I realized I had no real plans for ever leaving.

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I mean, I’m not really good at anything. I don’t even know what I want to do with my life.’

Milo glanced over. ‘You could do anything.’

‘Yeah, right!’

‘No, seriously.’ His voice had started to slur. I guess mine had too. ‘I mean, you’re clever, funny, beautiful.’