Earth Dies

Alice stood by the edges of the crowd, holding her second beer of the night. The party was okay, blasting the usual mix of country and rap from a speaker in the back of someone's truck. There was a big bonfire off by one side, split logs lying around as benches, a dozen kegs lined up, and around a hundred people here all told. The biggest clump of people was definitely where Bridgette was hanging out, but there were pairs and other smaller groups here and there, and every so often couples would sneak off into the corn fields when they thought no one was looking. She sighed, holding her cup of beer against her cheek and looking at the crowd. She did want to walk over and be with the crowd, she just wasn't comfortable doing it - especially with so many people around Bridgette. Alice really didn't want that level of attention drawn to her.

She struggled to confront her feelings for her friend. Alice was fairly confident that Bridgette even might reciprocate those feelings, but she knew that Bridgette's biggest goal was to leave Iowa - while Alice was stuck on the family farm. With that thought, why did it even matter what Alice felt, if it was never going to amount to anything? She sighed again, staring at her friend as yet another one of the boys from their school walked up and started talking to Bridgette. Bridgette smiled and said a few words, but her posture made it clear even to Alice thirty feet away that the boy had no chance.

"Looking good there, Alice. Where were you hiding that skirt all through high school?" A tall boy walked up next to her. Colin was one of her few friends. He was another loner, a misfit who seemed out of place in the farm country despite being born and raised there. Colin loved books more than anything else in life, including people. He was planning on going to college and getting a science degree, although Alice couldn't remember where from or even what kind of science. She thought it could have been something about physics? Engineering? Both?

"Fuck off, Colin. It's new. You know I don't wear these things by choice. It keeps riding up and trying to flash the crowd. I don't know how girls do this all the time."

"Well, you look great in it. You should wear skirts more. And I think the girls mostly don't care that everyone stares at them, hoping for a peek."

"Colin, are you hitting on me?" Alice blinked, wondering where this was coming from.

"No, you know you're not my type. I'm just saying that other people might care. On a totally unrelated subject, how's Bridgette? She looks nice tonight."

"She... what? Yes, she's looks amazing - and that dress, I think every almost boy in school has tried to hit on her tonight, some of them twice. Stupid idiots," Alice grumbled. Changing the subject, she shot back, "And you know elves aren't real, right? They can't be 'your type' if they're fantasy."

"Uh huh. All romance is based on fantasy, the view of the person you desire never quite matches who they really are. I'm holding out for a beautiful elven maiden and I believe one day that I will meet her. Until then, the human girls of Iowa will have to survive without me." Colin snarked back. The two continued to stand there, drinking and looking around at the party. Finally, Colin broke the silence again.

"You should go hang out with her. You brought her here, I think that's the custom, right?"

"Only if you're dating, nerd boy. We're adults, we can hang out with who we want to." Bridgette appeared out of nowhere, startling the two who had not noticed her approach. "Although, I wouldn't say no to some dancing, if you're up for it?" Bridgette looked over at Alice, questioningly. She then pointed over at a spot by the bonfire where a few dozen people had started dancing in a rough crowd.

"I ... could be talked into dancing with you."

Alice let herself get pulled over to the crowd and the two started dancing to the beat of whatever the current popular hits were. She couldn't keep her eyes off Bridgette as they danced. Occasionally, Bridgette would get close enough to bump into Alice as they danced, seemingly accidentally, but always flushed and smiled at Alice when it happened. One time, their chests rubbed together in the most amazingly distracting way and Alice almost fell over from shock. Was her friend getting drunk? Normally she was much more coordinated than this. Alice was sweating hard and could feel her heart pounding in her chest as the two danced together. Was she feeling okay? She felt like she might have a fever and was getting short of breath.

"I think I need some fresh air, come with me?" Alice asked Bridgette, as she took her friend's hand. Alice led the way out of the crowd, walking toward some impromptu benches that had been set up. Alice glanced around, realizing that most of the other benches were occupied by couples making out. That hadn't been her intention, but it did seem like a good spot for a talk now that they were here.

"That was a lot of fun, we should do that more." Bridgette said, smiling at Alice, still holding her hand, drawing Alice to sit next to her on a bench.

"Mmm, I agree. I don't think I've ever danced that much before, but it was so much fun."

"LESBOS! KISS!" One of the teenage boys came drunkenly stumbling out of the crowd pointing at the two girls. "No wonder Bridgette won't go on dates with anyone! She loves tacos not sausage!"

"Fuck off, Jim. It's not like that at all." Alice shouted back.

"Oh yea? Prove it. Kiss her!"

"Why in the world would I want to kiss her? Don't be gross, she's my best friend, not my lover. Idiot." Alice snapped back as she turned away from Jim and back to Bridgette. She caught a stunned and profoundly unhappy look on Bridgette's face for a split second, before Bridgette recovered and blanked her face.

"Get lost, Jim. You're such a fucking moron." Bridgette cried and threw her beer cup at the boy before hopping off the bench and stalking away from Alice and the drunken teenager. Alice sat there, stunned, trying to understand what just happened to her friend. What just went down? Alice felt like she was missing something major.

"So tell me, Alice - what do her tits look like? Is she as hot naked as she is in that dress? Is she wearing any underwear tonight? Who wears the strap on? You or her? What does she taste like?" Jim continued to spit questions at Alice.

"Quit being a sleaze and just leave me alone, Jim." Alice slapped Jim and walked off into the night, feeling like she'd just made a huge mistake but not being able to put words to exactly what it was. Something about Bridgette's reaction did not seem to line up with everything Alice thought she knew about her friend.

Alice found her way over to the kegs and poured another beer, downing it and pouring herself another. She had said something very wrong, but couldn't quite understand what it was. She glanced down and saw her cup was empty. That was weird, so she poured another beer. Bridgette seemed very upset because of Alice, but Alice hadn't said anything wrong, had she? Honestly, she could barely remember what she said at this point. Something about yelling at that asshole, Jim. Huh, her cup was empty. Weird. Maybe if she drank faster, she could actually get some beer before the cup was empty again? Also, what was it that she had said that made Bridgette unhappy?

"Alice, are you okay?" Colin asked as he walked over.

"No I'm not okay, Colin," Alice slurred. "Can you get me a new beer cup? I think this one has a hole in it." Alice filled up her cup again, determined to actually drink this beer before the hole in it drained all the beer away onto the dirt below. She leaned to the side, stumbled, and propped herself up against the tall boy, part of her drink sloshing to the dirt below.

"I think you need to slow down. What just happened? I heard Jim yelling his typical sleazy shit, but then Bridgette walked by in tears, and now you're here trying to drown yourself in cheap beer."

"I don't remember what I said, but I think I made a huge mistake. Bridgette was so upset. I need to find her and fix this. But seriously, can you help me get a new cup? This one is fucking empty again." Alice gestured to Colin, showing him her empty cup. As she held up the cup, she saw Bridgette in the crowd over Colin's shoulder.

"Bridgette, wait! I need to talk to you!" Alice shouted and started to run toward her friend, but tripped over a rock and landed on her stomach hard, her skirt riding up to her waist in the process. Colin quickly picked her up, while Alice flushed and tried to straighten herself, and then suddenly felt dizzy as she started trying to walk toward Bridgette again.

"I don't feel so good, Colin." Alice mumbled, suddenly in a panic as she felt the nausea rising. She turned her head to the side, away from Colin, and started vomiting. Once she started, she couldn't stop, the vomit coming in waves. She sank down onto her knees, puking onto the dirt between her hands. The world spun, she vomited again, and she found herself laying on her side covered in her own vomit and struggling to keep her eyes open.

She saw Colin and what looked like Bridgette, standing over her and looking worried, before she vomited all over a pair of feet and everything faded away.