Cheyenne biked on the path through the park to her apartment. The trees turned black against the evening sky and there was a jittery air of excitement all around her body. The basket on her bike had a grocery bag filled with a bottle of wine, a pack of cigarettes, and blackberries. A group of high school boys skateboarding in the park whistled and yelled at her as she rode past.
Her mind drifted to the tarot reading appointment in the park today. The customer was a balding man with a business suit who saw her flyer on a telephone poll and thought it would be a funny joke to hire a psychic. It made her feel stupid and childish. A squirrel ran in front of her bike and she jolted from her daydream. She screeched to a stop and toppled off her bike hands first, scraping her palms and knees into the gravely cement. A jogger stopped to help her up and her face burned. Stinging tears streamed down her face. She took a shaky breath and told herself to grow up.
When she finally arrived to the apartment, it was empty. She looked in the mirror at her reflection. "I look like a wild woman" she thought, grinning. She put glitter into her tangly messy hair and onto her face. She wore a thin sheer dress which covered bruised knees. Cheyenne was never close to any of her neighbors but she knew it was good to let new people in tonight. She put on the mix tape she made for the party and then turned the volume up as high as it would go, so the music vibrated through the smokey air. She replied to Arielle's text.
To: Arielle and Nilah
come and dance with me