The Last Night

“Oh my gosh you made it! Finally!” Chrissy jumped up from the stool where she’d been sitting at the bar counter. 

“I’m five minutes late,” Jess replied laughing at her friend’s dramatic demeanor. Good ole Chrissy. She was going to miss her.

“What, five minutes? No, it’s been ages.” She drew out the last syllable in an exaggerated fashion and threw her arms wide. “Besides,” she added in a slightly more serious tone, “it’s our last night together. We have to make every minute count. What if we never see each other again?”

“It’s just college, Chris, of course we’re going to see each other again.” 

“But Charleston and New York are so far apart.”

“They’re not that far apart,” Jess consoled, “plus there is always Thanksgiving break, and Christmas break, and spring break, and summer break.” 

“Well, when you put in like that. But still a lot can change in four years, so we gotta live it up tonight!” 

“Yeah who knows, you might even mature.” 

Chrissy laughed and rolled her eyes. “Not likely! Being an adult is so overrated. We adolescents have all the fire and the fun. Aren’t adults always the one saying that these are the best years of our life. Why waste them in college?” 

Not giving Jess time to respond she exclaimed, “but that’s why we have tonight! Come on girl, let’s order some drinks!” 

With alcohol in their system and high on the energy of the night - the music, the hum of the people around them, and the thrill of saying goodbye to their childhood - the two friends laughed and danced their way through the night hopping from bar to bar until they found their way outside in a nearby park. 

The night was cool and surprisingly not very humid for an August evening. The stars shone brightly as if joining them in their general revelry in life. 

Jess leaned against a tree gazing up at the sky, at the stars and the lights from the skyscrapers, while Chrissy spun around in circles then fell to the ground where she began making snow angels in the grass. 

It was the perfect night. Jess didn’t want it to ever end. 

Chrissy stopped spreading her arms and legs in circles and sat up. “Listen Jess, I’ve got something to tell you,” she said.

“Yeah?” 

“I’m not going to New York.” 

“Wait, what?” 

“I’m not going to college.”

“Why ever not?”

“It’s a waste of time. It can’t take you anywhere. If you want to do something real, make a difference in the world, you’ve got to take action.” 

“Well I agree with you. But college can help prepare you to take action.” 

“No offense, Jess, but what exactly is an English major going to prepare you for?” 

“To be a lit teacher. I want to teach high schoolers. You know that.” 

“Oh right. Cuz high school lit makes such a difference. I don’t know who I would be if I hadn’t learned about foreshadowing and man versus nature. Thank god for Lord of the Flies.” Chrissy rolled her eyes.

Jess had learned not to take the things her friend said personally, but she couldn’t help but bristle at this cutting remark. “High school lit can make a difference if you teach it in the right way. Literary devices aren’t just a theoretical exercise. After all, the reason we relate to stories so much is because they reflect parts of our world. Learning to analyze literature can help us think critically about the world we live in.” 

“Or we could go and do something about all the problems in the world.” 

Jess frowned, desperately wanting to point out the glaring false dichotomy in her friend’s logic. But not wanting to start an argument, she kept silent. 

“Look,” Chrissy continued, “Going to New York, it’s just not the right thing, ya know?”

“No, I don’t know. NYU was your dream school. You worked hard to get in there. They have an amazing law school.” 

Chrissy made a derisive grunt somewhere in the back of her throat. “What good is being a lawyer when the entire justice system is corrupt? It’s broken beyond our repair. Our only chance is to make enough noise that the government finally unstops its ears and starts doing something about the issues.” 

“Where’s this coming from? Is this because of Josh?” 

“Oh yeah, always so quick to blame Josh, aren’t you?” Chrissy rolled her eyes in annoyance. 

“No, I’m not blaming him. It just sounds like something he’d say.” 

“Well, he did say it. But it just so happens that I agree with him. You just don’t like him, don’t understand the way he sees the world, but we’ll show you. You just watch and see. We’re going to make a difference in the world and then you will understand.”

“I believe you can make a difference, Chris. I’m just a little worried about you. Is skipping college and running off with Josh the best idea?”

“I know what you think, and it’s not like that,” Chrissy said dismissively, “we are a power couple. Everything is going to turn out great.” 

“You both have strong personalities, Chris, but that’s not the same thing. You two could blow each other up just as easily as be the spark that ignites a movement. You’re not --” 

Chrissy cut off her friend. “Look, Jess, I appreciate your concern, but you need to chill. Josh is a great guy. You just can’t understand that because you’ve always dated losers.”

“Are you -? Hey, Ricky is not a loser!” 

“Please. He got busted for possessing weed.” 

“It was Josh’s weed!” 

“Yeah, and he wasn’t dumb enough to get caught.” 

“Because he hid it in Ricky’s jacket pocket!” 

“Well if Ricky hadn’t gotten nabbed for speeding the cops wouldn’t’ve found it.”

“Are you for real right now?” 

Chrissy sighed. “Jess, hon, I’m sorry. It’s just that the guys you date - it’s not that they aren’t smart - they’re just tame.” 

“Tame?” Jess sounded scornfully incredulous. 

“Yeah, they don’t know how to have fun. They don’t take risks. They don’t have what it takes to be a man in this world. Josh knows what it takes, and he has the guts to do what needs to be done no matter the cost.” She laid back down and stared up at the moon. 

Silence hung heavy between the two young women. Finally, Jess asked, “where are you going if you’re not going to New York?” 

“Portland. Josh thinks that’s the place we can have the most impact. Things are crazy out there; riots, fires, government goons grabbing people off the streets.” She stood up and walked over to Jess, placing her hands on her friend’s shoulders. “He’s a great guy, you’ll see. We’re going to be amazing, a true power couple.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tonight.”

“Tonight?” Jess echoed, “but I thought tonight was our night!”

“It was. Our night to say goodbye. And this is goodbye. I texted Josh and told him to come meet me at the bar across the street. We’re going to drive through the night.”

“Oh.” There seemed nothing more really to say to that. Finally, she managed, “that’s a pretty long drive, isn’t it? More than a day’s trip?” 

“Yeah. It’s like 35 hours, but Josh has some friends we can stay with along the way. Who knows, maybe we can convince them to come join the resistance with us.” She laughed. 

Jess could tell that she was more caught up in the moment, swept up by Josh’s charisma, his passionate drive, more than anything else. 

“You better call an Uber, Jess. Don’t want to leave you standing out here in the park.” 

“I’ll be fine. I want a little more time before going home.” 

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. It is my last night after all.” 

Chrissy grinned. “You’re gonna do great. Charleston is lucky to have you. And if those poor kids have to read the Great Gatsby, well, then they are lucky to have you read it to them.”

Jess laughed. “Thanks, Chris. Stay safe out there.” 

“I will. Send you a postcard from Oregon.” She winked and just like that she was gone. 

Jess listened to her food steps receding into the distance, thinking this was likely the last time she would see her friend. Swept up into this whirlwind of romance and activism with Josh, Chrissy was never going to return. She would follow him to the four corners of the earth, to the very edge of the universe if that’s what it took. Maybe their cyclonic affair would bring the winds of change as Chrissy thought, but to Jess it seemed that it would be the destruction of them both.