I think I got the words out, but my intense case of cotton mouth makes speaking a challenge. Why didn’t we think to grab a pitcher of water from the kitchen when we pilfered my parents’ bottle of Tito’s from the bar cart? I guess we didn’t know that thirst would be a side effect of edibles. Or maybe thirst is not a normal side effect but merely a sign that my organs are shutting down. There’s no point in scaring Gabs because she won’t have the answers anyway. She may be more confident than me, but when push comes to shove, she’s just as inexperienced.

There’s a reason we’re doing drugs alone, in my bathroom, and not at the party across the street at Lizzy Pearson’s house. We are flying solo in a bathtub while virtually every other senior we know (including Andrew Nanaka—our former best guy friend) is probably taking shots of Fireball in Lizzy’s kitchen and finding a dark corner of her house to make out in. But I try not to dwell on those facts. After all, we’re probably safer cooped up in my bathroom.

According to every news outlet in America, the world is on the brink of a global pandemic, one that disproportionately impacts people our age, and if that actually turns out to be true, then I don’t think it’s safe to be trapped in a house with a hundred teenagers. I’d rather be irrelevant than get invited to a death trap. And as much as I’d love to be kissing anyone right now, it’s a hard pass if it means contracting a fatal disease. At my high school, no one’s mouth or tongue or penis is worth dying for. On that topic, I think Gabriela and I can agree.

“Oh, I’m definitely feeling it.” Gabs giggles in that adorable way she always does when something makes her inexplicably happy. “I wish Wes hadn’t bailed on hanging out tonight.”

“Me too,” I manage to say. Wes Bowen is our other best guy friend. Unlike Andrew, he still graces us with his presence at lunch. Mostly because he’s madly in love with Gabs, and because he knows that if he ever tried to ditch us for greener pastures, I would find ways to make him regret it for the rest of his life.

“If I knew I’d have this much fun, I would have done this freshman year. We’ve really been wasting the last three years. What a shame,” Gabs adds wistfully.