Just a 20-Minute Walk

Not long after the rest of the party had left, Chloe decided it was time for her to leave too. It was late — going on 2 a.m. — and she could tell Ian was getting tired, trooper that he was.

“I drank a lot of water but I’m still pretty tipsy. Is it cool if I leave my car here? I can get it in the morning.”

“Oh yeah, totally. Or you’re welcome to crash here.”

Chloe had already decided against that. Three more drinks, maybe, probably. But not tonight. “I know I don’t have a curfew per se but if my mom wakes up and I’m not there, it’ll be a whole thing. I can just walk home, it’s a nice night. It’s 20 minutes, tops.”

“Alright,” he smiled, resigned. “Fuck, I’m so tired. Text me when you get home?”

“You got it,” she hugged him. A couple beats longer than she needed to, but that was how it was now.

She stepped outside and into Ian’s parents’ driveway. Their houses were on the same street, on opposite ends of a lake that sat in the center of their subdivision. The street itself was nondescript, deserted this late at night, and lined with modest, newish homes.

No more than ten steps into her walk home, her thoughts returned to Ian, and the same questions she’d been obsessing over for weeks. Had she made the right decision to rule out anything romantic with him…