( * ; — LISTEN FOR THE ECHO. )

“—Laurel— I… Why am I friends with you?”

“Because I’m a walking embarrassment and I’m here to keep you entertained.”

      ‘ okay, but, consider this: we play hooky tomorrow & head to bangor to see if the shit i’ve been hearing is true. they say if you throw one of stephen king’s novels over his fence he’ll sometimes come out,  sign ‘em for you & toss ‘em back over. how fuckin’ sick would that be ? ’

“That seems kind of...weird. But I guess Stephen King’s a little bit weird, isn’t he? Okay, I’m in.”

“Wait, really? Did you try to stop him? Buses are filled with mistakes waiting to happen, honestly.”

“I didn’t, really. I guess I saw it coming but I wanted to believe that he would stop himself before he actually, you know, sat on me. As usual, I was wrong.”

“Of course it’s safe,” Harlan reassured the other girl, placing a gentle hand on her arm. “I don’t believe they do. They’re henna pens. I only use sharpie on people who don’t care about getting cancer,” She teased, showing Laurel the bag of pens she owned.

“Oh, okay,” Laurel smiled softly. “In that case, sure, go ahead. I’ll take my shirt off, but if you want my bra off, you’re gonna have to buy me dinner first.”

“Yesterday made me realize that I’m actually… really alone,” Tegan laughed softly at her remark, though it wasn’t a laugh out of humor. She was drunk, sitting on the floor of the hallway with her back to the wall. “Everyone had someone to defend them. Nothing happened to me, but like, just watching… you know what? Nevermind. Cheers to parties that end in fist fights!”

Laurel looked up, startled, as she heard the voice coming from below her. She took a moment to assess the situation. “Hey, you’re not alone,” Laurel told the girl softly, taking a seat beside her. Laurel didn’t know the girl well, aside from having seen her across campus a few times, but she could tell that Tegan was upset. “Lots of people like you, you know that? All your friends care about you. And if you’re worried about someone defending you in a fight, I know I don’t look like much, but I took karate for five years. I’d totally knock someone out for you.”

“…Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Nope. I wish. You know what they say, the best comedy comes from truth.”

“Oh.. Wow.. Maybe he’s like blind or something? I mean, it’s not that possible to really miss you. People usually check their seats before they sit down.”

“I guess that’s one explanation. Other than that, I really don’t know.”

“oh my god i’m so sorry, that’s awful. well if its any consolation i’m pretty sure i’m invisible to boys as well.” 

“It is, actually. That makes me feel a little better.”

“That’s around the time that you punch him in the face.”

“In retrospect, that was probably a better plan. I was so startled I actually apologized to him.”

“I figure this is as good of a time as any,” She shook her bag full of art supplies. “I need a human canvas. There’s this woman who wants the fiercest tiger tattoo I’ve ever seen, and well, I guess what I’m asking is if you’ll strip out of your shirt and let me paint you all night. you can have some weed as payment.”

“A human canvas? Like, you’re going to paint on my skin? Is that safe? Do your paints have a lot of chemicals in them? Because, you know, some types of paint are one of the leading causes of cancer. They’re like a silent killer.”