“Well actually, in the original movies, Schwarzenegger arrived from the future buck naked.” As soon as he spoke, Dustin regretted it. Why was he bringing up nudity? He tried to recover by quickly adding, “The whole naked thing was a comedic device, something the director used to add levity to the serious tone of the movie.” Now he regretted sounding like a film geek. “Hey, will you dance with me? When or if we ever get in?”

“I’m surprised you like to dance,” Kimmie blurted. “Sorry, that came out weird. I guess when I think of geniuses, dancing isn’t what comes to mind.”

“Well, clearly I’m no genius because I really want to dance with you.” Dustin now understood what made cocaine so addictive, because it was allowing him to just say anything he thought without worrying about it. He had been reluctant to partake earlier but Steven convinced him a line or two might be just what he needed to get out of his own head. He felt foolish succumbing to peer pressure, but he had been wildly anxious all day over seeing Kimmie and by the time he got to Steven’s he was desperate to feel something else. Now he felt surprisingly optimistic about his prospects with Kimmie for the night, though he had a suspicion the drugs were the reason for that, too.

Kimmie agreed to dance with him, and she meant it. She loved to dance and didn’t want to be one of those girls who only danced with other girls in a circle. She always felt sorry for them. She also felt it’d be a good thing for Vronsky to show up and see her having fun already, so he didn’t think she had been standing around waiting for him.

The dance floor was already packed and a speaker-thumping remix of Craig Mack’s “Flava in Ya Ear” blared as they walked in. The teenage bar was serving nonalcoholic cocktails sponsored by Red Bull, but it seemed like every kid in the place was packing a flask or a vape pen. The lines for the bathroom were also long, giving away those who were into the harder stuff. Steven asked Dustin if he wanted to accompany him to the men’s room, but Dustin shook his head. His mission of dancing with Kimmie was already in motion, so he felt like he didn’t need any more chemical help. He watched as Steven grabbed Lolly’s hand and led her away and turned to see Kimmie holding out two Jell-O shots for him.

“Red or green?” Kimmie shouted at him over the music.

He was about to answer he’d take whichever one she didn’t want, but he reminded himself that girls liked assertive men. “Green, definitely green.” He took the tiny plastic cup she was offering and sucked it down. “What’s in these?”