Chapter 10 #3
Chicot yelped as Monty took three quick steps forward, but she managed to lock hands with Martina.
Martina grinned, trying to push Chicot back, her arms strong, but Brad hadn’t gotten close enough yet, so she was leaning forward.
She didn’t have the core strength behind her, so Chicot tried to take advantage of that, twisting their arms to push Martina to the side, hoping that putting her off balance would be enough to bring her down.
They struggled for a few seconds before Monty let go of Chicot with one hand, just nudging Brad’s shoulder. It caused him to let go of Martina, and with no counterweight holding her down, Martina promptly squeaked and plummeted into the water.
“Hell yeah, Chicot! Go, Monty!” Lyza was yelling from the deck next to Elvis, who had his fingers in his mouth to whistle next to her.
Chicot threw her hands in the air, whooping in response to Lyza before she looked down at Monty between her legs.
Monty was grinning, and between the drinks and excitement, Chicot had half a mind to lean down and kiss her.
She didn’t. She realized quickly she shouldn’t do that, and Monty let her go so she could fall back into the water.
When she came up, Monty was grabbing her hand and leading her back to the side of the pool, so they were out of the way of the next match.
They cheered for Elijah and Ken, hollering as the turkey drumstick stand worker and the cheesecake on a stick girl fell into the pool together.
The two came up laughing and swam up next to Chicot and Monty.
Chicot high-fived them both, downing another margarita quickly as they watched another match between four boys that Chicot didn’t know.
She thought they might work in one of the kitchens, but Chicot hadn’t seen them before.
The group that won were both sort of buff and looked like they might have cared more about football than the ren faire.
At least until they opened their mouths.
Then they were shouting Dungeons in fact, too much. She was stumbling and shaking her head as she changed back into her dry clothes in the small, wet bathroom she’d been in earlier. When she wandered back into the screened-in porch sometime later, Monty was holding a slice of ice cream cake for her.
“You’re an angel,” Chicot said. The cake had been too small, the pieces going quickly with all the people there, but Chicot couldn’t stay in her damp swimsuit a second longer, so she’d given up to change. Monty had seemingly realized how much of a struggle that had been for her.
“No problem, I only got one though,” Monty relayed. Chicot shook her head.
“We can share.” She wobbled on her feet as she followed Monty back out to the yard, sitting on the lawn chair on the deck again.
Elvis and Lyza had disappeared at some point, Chicot wasn’t sure where, but she was happy to be mostly alone with Monty, trading a plastic spoon back and forth as they ate.
Though, there was a group of boys in the yard now loudly playing a game called rock, paper, wizard, and while Chicot couldn’t tell how it differed from rock, paper, scissors, they were having a lot of fun.
Chicot’s head swam, a small smile on her face as she sipped a water bottle Monty had pushed into her hand.
She wasn’t sure how much of the night she’d remember, but in that moment, the sun long gone and the heat of the day slowly ebbing away, she hoped it would stay with her always.
The last party she’d been to was for a cousin’s graduation, only that had devolved into a political screaming match between her uncle and mother.
“Do you want a ride home?” Monty asked as they finished their slice. Chicot suddenly felt dizzy, but she paused.
“Wait, we’ve been drinking,” Chicot noted. Monty chuckled, shaking her head.
“You’ve been drinking. I stopped several hours ago.” Monty tossed their spoon and paper plate into the trash, offering Chicot her hands to help her up. Chicot’s brow furrowed as she tried to recall the last time she’d seen Monty with a drink.
“You did?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Monty looked around, making sure to grab her bag and then also grabbed Chicot’s. “C’mon.”
“Okay.” Chicot couldn’t think of anything better to say as she followed Monty out to her car. They were alone, no Lyza or Elvis or Elijah, and admittedly Chicot didn’t think to ask where they were, even as they pulled out of the driveway.
They started down the long country road toward the faire grounds, the windows down with Fall Out Boy blasting through the speakers.
It was just whatever had turned on according to Monty, but something about listening to “Young Volcanoes” while the wind whipped through her hair made the night feel so much more magical.
When they parked, Chicot hopped out, opening Monty’s door for her. Monty remembered to grab their bags, laughing as Chicot practically skipped toward the dog park. It was past midnight, there were few people still awake among the RVs and trailers, and Chicot felt more awake than ever before.
“Want to come in for a night cap?” Chicot asked. They were nearing her and Elijah’s RV, and she was pretty sure that Elijah would be staying at Ken’s that night, so she figured this would be fine. She was not considering that they had nowhere to really sit inside besides the bed.
“I think you’ve had enough,” Monty joked. Chicot took her hand, sticking out her bottom lip and pouting. Monty’s head jerked back, her face pink in the low lights on the path around the dog park.
“I’ll drink water? But we have whiskey.” She took a step closer to Monty, smiling more. Monty looked up over Chicot’s head, nodding slightly.
“Okay, but only if you promise to drink a whole glass of water.” Monty followed Chicot inside as Chicot pumped her fist in the air.
“Yay!” Chicot said. She only paused when she looked at the kitchen table they’d converted into a closet space for their costumes. “Wait.”
“Do you guys not have anywhere in here to sit?” Monty asked.
“We do,” Chicot said quickly and then grimaced. “Okay, no, we don’t.”
Monty laughed, shaking her head. “Maybe you should just—”
She stopped as Duchess hopped up on the countertop, examining Monty closely. Monty stared at the cat, her mouth a perfect “O” before she held her hand up for Duchess to sniff.